Sherlock Holmes and the Dance of the Tiger (46 page)

She motioned to the table of three with her chin.
 
“Might we at least finish our lunch before we hurl ourselves into life-threatening danger, Mr. Holmes?”

“Indeed,” Dr. Watson muttered, rubbing his wrists as if the memory of the chains was still fresh in his mind.
 
“Why did they have to show up
now
?”

“That is precisely my question,” muttered Mirabella, taking the last piece of bread from the center of the table and buttering it with gusto, as if she were engaged in a sword fight with her worst enemy.
 

Sherlock raised his eyebrows at her, but she observed pride and amusement in his stormy silver eyes.
 
“My dear, it is providence.
 
Show us what you can do
, my esteemed Miss Belle.”

Another Case brought to a Successful Close

Or was it . . . ?

If you enjoyed this book and wish to see more of the series, the surest way to insure that an author can continue writing for a living is to write a review.
 
Reviews are the bread and butter of authors today:
 
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Also by Suzette Hollingsworth
 

Sherlock Holmes & The Case of the Sword Princess

THE PARADOX:
 
The Soldier and the Mystic

THE SERENADE:
 
The Prince and the Siren

THE CONSPIRACY:
 
The Cartoonist and the Contessa

To be released in 2016
:

Sherlock Holmes & The Chocolate Menace

Acknowledgements

Naturally, first and foremost, I must acknowledge Arthur Conan Doyle, who created the captivating characters of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson, who are so real in our minds that many consider them as historical figures rather than as fictional characters.
 

This book is inspired by one of the radio shows which starred Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce.
The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
 was an 
old-time radio
 show which aired in the 
USA
 from October 2, 1939 to July 7, 1947. Most episodes were written by the team of Dennis Green and 
Anthony Boucher
, to whom I owe particular thanks.

I wish to thank my extraordinary editors:
 
K.J. Charles (an award-winning author), Caroline Tolley, and Callie Burdette.
 

This book would not be possible without my husband, Clint Hollingsworth, who is artist/writer/editor and the light of my life.

If I could, I would kiss the feet of the voice actor who produces the audiobooks, Joel Froomkin, but I haven’t met him. Joel is a phenomenal talent who brings my books alive and truly turns my books into theatre.
 
He is an amazing actor and director (Joel has directed Molly Ringwold and Charles Shaughnessy, of “The Nanny” fame.)

Thanks to Clint Sterry, who is fluent in Russian and Russian culture.
 
I am certain I did not do his expertise justice, and he will no doubt take issue with my depictions, but I am better for having spoken to him.

I sincerely thank the community of brilliant authors who offer assistance, inspiration, and guidance.
 
I particularly wish to thank the
Beaumonde
chapter of RWA for their incredible insight and research assistance.
 
No one becomes an author overnight, and the assistance and inspiration these talented authors/marvelous people provide is invaluable and critical.
 
In particular, Susanna Ives, Nancy Mayer, Delilah Marvelle, Delle Jacobs, Charlotte Carter, Jo Beverly, Leslie Carroll, Allison Lane, and many others who have helped me over the years (knowingly or unknowingly!), giving generously of their time and encouragement.

And to those persons who have believed in me throughout:
 
my husband Clint Hollingsworth, my BFF Charlsie Sterry, Harvey Gover, Sue Bartroff, Donna Weiss, Keli Lock, Gloria Stookey, and THE BEACH GIRLS (Girls of SHS ’75), my forever friends.
 
I also wish to thank Amy Brazil, Virginia Hashii, my mom Mary Denison; and readers and friends Rena Kohr, AnaMaree Ordway, Rex Gordon, Denae Lancaster, Wendy Edwards, and Patsy Cantrell.
 
Also check out Wenatchee Book Co. on facebook, my favorite bookstore.

I am forever grateful to Pam Bruner for my book signing party, for being the truest of friends (to everyone she meets), and for being the most unique, charismatic, and effective person I know.
 
If you want something to happen, give it to Pam.
 
Therefore, I am giving Pam a challenge:
 
world peace.
 
If Pam accepts the challenge in between her other gigs, I guarantee it will be here by 2020.
 

And, of course, to all true friends everywhere who keep our dreams alive when they falter in our hearts.
 

Dreams are more real than reality itself, they're closer to the self.

--GAO XINGJIAN,
Dialogue and Rebuttal

Author’s Notes

This is a work of historical fiction, meaning that some of the settings and characters are based on actual historical fact and that some of the characters and settings, as well as the plot, are fictional but possible given the right set of circumstances.
 
In the best of worlds one wishes to time travel through books.

In line with Arthur Conan Doyle’s depiction of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson:

January 6, 1854:
 
Sherlock Holmes’ birthday.
 
Mycroft 7 years older

John H. Watson's birthday on July 7, 1852
     
1.5 years older than Holmes

Mirabella’s birthday:
 
Nov. 7, 1863
 

Many of the characteristics depicted in this book were introduced by Arthur Conan Doyle, e.g., the description of John Watson’s campaign in Afghanistan and resultant insomnia, the description of Mycroft as a lazy but brilliant mid-level bureaucrat, the description of 221B Baker street, and the statement of Sherlock’s parents as being country squires.
 
Although not explained by Arthur Conan Doyle, it is a fact that a country squire might live on the largest manor, and would very likely be the local Justice of the Peace.
 
All the explanation surrounding the local J.P. is consistent with the history of the day.
 
The location of Sussex as the family home is my own invention, but is in line with Doyle saying that Sherlock retired to Sussex.
 

Arthur Conan Doyle made very little mention of Sherlock’s family, parents, home, and no mention of siblings outside of Mycroft.
 
My additions were in line with the framework established by Arthur Conan Doyle and were written with the idea of “making sense” within that framework.
 
Mirabella Hudson is my own creation.

It does seem very likely that Sherlock Holmes would need a female operative, doesn’t it?
 
Some readers have made it clear that they do not want a feminine presence in any books containing Sherlock Holmes as a character.
 
Because, naturally, there were no women in Victorian times.

Perhaps it is the greatest irony in the history of the world that the future of Russia and her ninety-seven million inhabitants (at the time) was determined by the terrorist Ignacy Hryniewiecki who threw the bomb which killed Alexander II, Czar of Russia, on March 13, 1881.
 
On that very morning, Alexander II had signed a duma initiating a constitutional monarchy (a monarchy which shares power with a democratically elected branch).
 
The duma was thrown out by the new Czar Alexander III with the death of his father.
 
In that moment Hryniewiecki destroyed any hope of democracy for his people and sentenced
twenty million
to death in the century to come under the regime of Joseph Stalin, not to mention all the lives affected by living in a communist regime in the forfeit of a government by the people.
 
There can be no doubt that the Czarest regime was replaced by another, and more brutal, autocratic regime.
 
This is not a political statement but a recording of history: this author has nothing to say against socialism or even communism in theory, which, on paper is a government which puts the people first (unlike Fascism, which makes no secret of the fact that it dislikes certain groups of people and which has racism built into its by-laws).
 
Unfortunately, it is a fact that Joseph Stalin ruled with an iron hand, had no regard for human life, and killed twenty million of his own people.

http://www.ibtimes.com/how-many-people-did-joseph-stalin-kill-1111789

Essentially Alexander II was trying to help the peasants, it backfired, he put together a new plan which would have helped, a terrorist shot him before it could go into place, which sealed his son’s (Alexander III) conservatism, who retaliated against the peasants, which led to the eventual downfall of the Czars (Nicholas II, 1917, Bolshevik revolution).
 
The terrorist killed the only person in power who was on his side.
 

It is true that Alexander III (along with Nicholas II) witnessed the brutal murder of his father.
 
The Czar was transported to the palace and lived another 15 minutes in that mutated state and, in fact, died, in the room where he had signed the “Emancipation of the Serfs” almost twenty years prior to the date.
 
The inner thoughts of Alexander III and the conversation inside the carriage I cannot know of course.
 
It is true that Alexander II rescinded the duma the next day and that his regime was totalitarian.

The Russian way to spell Czar is Tsar.
 
Tsar and Tsarevich is the next in line, the equivalent being the crown prince.

There was a person Arkadiy Harting, who was both a convicted terrorist and the chief of the Okhrana.
 
This stuff is so good I could not make it up.
 

OKHRANA:
 
THE PARIS OPERATONS OF THE RUSSIAN IMPERIAL POLICE

By Ben B. Fischer

“Harting may be the most interesting character in the essays, see "The Illustrious Career of Arkadiy Harting". He rose from informer to master spy to spymaster, eventually becoming chief of the Paris office. As noted above, his top agent, Zhitomirsky, penetrated Lenin's inner circle during the Bolshevik party's underground days. Before he quit the espionage business in 1909 following his exposure by the French press as a Russian spy, Harting had served tsarist Russia, imperial Germany, and republican France, receiving decorations from all three.

Harting met his match in Vladimir Burtsev (see the third reprinted article, entitled "The Sherlock Holmes of the Revolution"). Burtsev was a revolutionary by profession but a counterespionage expert by talent. He organized what in effect was a highly professional counterespionage bureau for Russian radicals. In 1909 Burtsev personally unmasked a major Okhrana agent, Evno Azef. Also in 1909, after years of relentless effort, Burtsev succeeded in proving that a terrorist known as "Landesen", who had escaped from the French police in 1890, actually was Harting. This was leaked to the press, prompting Harting to flee to Brussels, where he went into hiding and was never heard from again.”

So far as I know, Harting did not jump out a window.
 
In addition,
I have no reason to think that Harting withheld any information from the Czar or was in any way disloyal to the Czar
.
 
He was no doubt a hero and extremely brave:
 
being a double agent is a notoriously dangerous profession.
 
As in the book, the fact that Harting was a convicted “terrorist”—and the head of the Okhrana.
 
I can’t make this stuff up, people:
 
it’s too far-fetched.
 
Yes, truth is stranger than fiction, that is why historical fiction is my genre of choice.

Prince George, the Duke of Cambridge, cousin to the Queen and head of the British army, was an actual historical figure as was Sarah Fairbrother, his mistress and the mother of this three illegitimate sons.
 
The Royal George, as he was called, did NOT have an affair with a circus barebacked rider to my knowledge.
 
I canNOT know Prince George’s true character or conversation.
 
It is clear that Prince George was a devoted father and that he was apparently in love with one woman in his lifetime (Louisa Beauclerk), which is more than many men can say.
 
He did provide for Sarah Fairbrother and the address of 6 Queen Street in Mayfair, London was her abode.

Prince George was considered to have an eye for the ladies, but I question his reputation as it may have only referred to his relationship with the great stage actress of the day, Sarah Fairbrother, his three sons with her, and the false marriage ceremony he had with Miss Fairbrother.
 
All those facts are accurate.
 
His relationship with Sarah Fairbrother did not appear to be a happy one despite their having three children.
 
However, it is apparent that the Duke of Cambridge was in love with another of his mistresses, Mrs. Louisa Beauclerk, and that their relationship spanned over thirty years (1849 – 1882 when she died).
 
Prince George himself claimed to love Mrs. Beauclerk above all others, stating that she was the sole source of his happiness.
 
He
called Mrs. Beauclerk the “idol of my life and my existence”, and, when
referring to her death on 28 December 1882 stated that "Friday next, 28th, was the sad day which ended my happiness in this world".
 
Therefore, despite Prince George’s numerous affairs, I think it must be concluded that Prince George was able to love a woman, he did not require a younger woman, and Sarah Fairbrother’s advancing age was not the cause of his lack of devotion and the lack of harmony in their relationship.