Authors: Unknown
"Any casualties?"
queried Holmes.
"A couple of the Orientals
were wounded. We've got
them
down at the Yard but they dinna speak a word of English or wouldna'
admit to it. Several of the Baron's
lads
got hurt as well. That's all we know. It's possible
that
there were more either wounded or killed but the bodies were removed
before we got there."
"This certainly sounds like a
large scale affair. Can
you
divine a reason?"
"Not offhand, Mr. Holmes.
Dowson has his finger in
a
number of sticky pies, we ha' known that for years.
Since
the passin' of Professor Moriarty he may well be
the
leading criminal of London. We've found it convenient to let him
run his gaming house since we generally
keep
our eye on the place and sometimes secure valu
able
information. The Chinese element have numerous fan-tan houses but
Dowson's clientele wouldna' patron
ize
them so it doesna' add up as some territorial dis
pute."
The dour Scot, who had been gazing
into the hearth
fire,
suddenly threw a shrewd glance at the great detec
tive.
"I was rather hopin' you
might shed some light on
the
matter."
"It is singular, Mr. Mac that
you should come to me
about
the Nonpareil Club since Watson and I were
there
but recently."
Surprise blossomed on MacDonald's
face and he
quickly
surpressed it.
"I had wanted to give the
place a looking-at," contin
ued
Holmes, "and Watson and I left the losers. Not
from
the games of chance, which I suspect do not provide the player
with the true gambling odds. My sword stick was missing when we
departed from the premises
and
also Watson's army revolver, which he had left in
his
greatcoat pocket."
Fortunately, I was able to
suppress my astonishment
at
this pure fabrication on the part of my friend.
"I was in hopes,"
continued Holmes, "that the two
items
would be recovered and, in the normal fashion of things, posted a
letter only this morning to Lestrade reporting the missing
articles."
MacDonald's lips were compressed
in a firm line.
"Well, they are missin' no
longer, sir. A cane sword
was
found on the stairs of an adjacent warehouse,
stained
with blood. And a Smith-Webley army issue was
found
at the head of the same stairs with all chambers
fired.
I might add that there was blood in the vicinity
but
no bodies were found. Some bits of clothing indicate
that
the victims were Oriental, as were the attackers of
the
Nonpareil Club."
Holmes did not carry his pretense
of innocence too
far.
He had a hearty respect for the acumen of the
Aberdeenian.
"It would seem that the
attackers were familiar with the history of the club and the fact
that numerous hid
den
exits exist from it. Some, if memory serves me well,
involving
the adjacent warehouse."
MacDonald knew when he was licked.
"Well, Mr.
Holmes,
I'll see that the articles are returned to you. I'm
disappointed,
for a fact, since had you been on the
premises
during the fracas, you might have provided us with a key to the
affair. We're baffled."
"Perhaps I can uncover
something," said Holmes. "I
gather
that this battle was not an attempt by one crimi
nal
group to demoralize or displace another. It seems reasonable to
assume that Dowson had something that
the
Oriental group was after."
The police inspector nodded.
"Have you any idea what this
might be?" continued
Holmes.
"No, sir. There's been no big
robbery on the docks,
or
anywhere else, that I can associate with this."
"Then let me take another
approach. Who, in your opinion, Mr. Mac, would have had the
organization, the manpower, to attack the Nonpareil Culb?"
"Assuming it is an Oriental,
and that seems indicated,
it
could only be one man."
It was Holmes's turn to nod. "Chu
San Fu."
"Aye," agreed MacDonald.
"That tiger can wave one
of
his fingers and there's a hundred to do his biddin'."
"I have heard," said
Holmes, slowly, "that Chu is not
as
active as he once was."
" 'Tis an impression he's
most anxious to. create. I
can
recall times when he was crossed and there were
bodies
for sure and no doubt as to how they met their
end.
Warnings of his power."
I could contain myself no longer.
"Good heavens,
who
is this Oriental monster that you both discuss so
calmly
and how is it that I have never heard of him?
Chu
San Fu, indeed."
Holmes's eyes were on the fire and
his voice had a dreamy quality. "The Chinese are an inscrutable
and unobtrusive race, my dear Watson, completely devoted to the
customs of their homeland. Their entire strata of society is a secret
closely guarded. They remain completely enclosed and while we
see them, know they exist, we really know little about them."
MacDonald was nodding and chose to
add to
Holmes's
words. "For years, Chu has been the power in the Chinese
community. All the opium dens, the gam
bling
houses, the drug traffic, have been under his thumb.
He
also runs a sizeable import-export business that is
legitimate,
as far as we know. Of late, he's gone underground, as far as his
illegal activities are concerned. Oh, he still wields the power of
life and death, but his enemies just disappear now. Into the
waters of the Thames
estuary,
nae doot."
Holmes's dreamy thoughtfulness had
disappeared. He was regarding the Scot intently.
"Do you have some theory
regarding his change of
modus
operandi?"
MacDonald nodded. "I also
have a fear of a gang
war
and an intense int'rest in last night's battle at the
Nonpareil
Club."
Holmes rose and knocked the dottle
out of his pipe
and
into the fire. "Could it be that you are suggesting a trade, Mr.
Mac?"
The Scot didn't hesitate. "That's
exactly what I'm
doin'."
"You may be the loser. I've
not much to tell and
your
sources in the Chinese quarter are undoubtedly su
perior
to mine."
"I'll take me chances."
"Very well." Holmes's
fingers reached into the Per
sian
slipper for more shag. "I think that Dowson was
hired
to secure an ancient
objet
d'art
and Chu
wants it."
The Scotland Yard inspector
digested this. "Would
this
object be of great value?"
"Not of the type you're
thinking of. It's no
Mona
Lisa,
or
even close to it."
"Very strange, Mr. Holmes.
But your theory is pro
vocative
since Chu San Fu has one of the largest collec
tions
of Oriental art in the wurld."
I have seldom seen Holmes register
surprise, but he
did
now. "Does he indeed? But the object I have in
mind
is not Oriental."
"Hmmm. Well, there's no
tellin' what else Chu has in
his
treasure chest. 'Tis me feelin' that collectors are a
breed
apart."
"A very sage observation, Mr.
Mac," said Holmes.
"I've a wee bit more for ye,
but tell me, if Dowson had this object and Chu was after it, who has
it now?"
"That I don't know,"
said Holmes, with regret.
"But ye'll certainly be
tryin' to find out?" MacDonald was answered by a quick
affirmative nod from
Holmes.
"Well, sir, herre's a bit of
social news that int'rests our lads in the Limehouse squad: Maurice
Rothfils, re
lated
to the famous international bankers, is to be mar
ried
come spring."
"I've heard of that," I
said, glad to have a hand in
the
conversation. "It's something of a nine-day sensa
tion
in Mayfair since his bride-to-be is a Chinese prin
cess."
"Aye, Doctor," said
MacDonald. "Now Rothfils just
may
have a title by the tune he's married and there
could
be a presentation at court involvin' his wife. So
the
special branch has been quite concerned. For there's
a
whisper that this Chinese princess is the daughter of Chu San Fu."
Holmes stopped filling his pipe.
"You are a treasure
trove,
Mr. Mac. This puts a new light on things and explains why the tiger
is trying to sheath his claws."
Noting
my puzzled look, Holmes added to his state
ment.
"The more dastardly the brigand, the more pre
cious
the cloak of respectability. You may recall, Wat
son,
that Henry Morgan, who sacked Panama and was the terror of the
Caribbean, later became the Governor of Jamaica."
"Not a very respected one,"
I said, somewhat stiffly.
"Touché!"
responded my
friend.
MacDonald, sensing that the well
of information had dried up on both sides, rose to his feet.
"I'll not be takin' up any
more of your time, Mr.
Holmes."
As I handed him his coat, he regarded the
great
sleuth shrewdly. "I'll be hearin' from you, sir?"
"I hope very soon,"
responded Holmes.
Then the official and unofficial
detective did a
strange
thing. They shook handsâa social formality I
had
never seen them indulge in before. But then, a bargain had been
made.
The next three days provided no
further information
regarding
this strange case that Holmes and I had be
come
involved in. I saw little of my friend and surmised that he was
tapping his sources of information and frequenting strange
places in any one of the variety of disguises that he affected
with such expertise.
The journals had a short-lived
romance with the bat
tle
in Soho. Then the matter disappeared from print.
The
management of the Nonpareil Club claimed they
were
victims of an attempted robbery. Since the author
ities
had been unable to locate gambling devices or
prove
that the club was a haven for it, Dowson and his
crew
were officially blameless. The two wounded
Chinese
claimed, through an interpreter, that they were
making
a delivery to the club and just got caught in the
middle
of hostilities. A reputable Oriental merchant appeared to
identify them as employees and produce a de
livery
order for two Chinese rugs. The Orientals were released for lack of
evidence and the entire affair col
lapsed
in the hands of the police. Everyone involved
knew
the gunfight was no small thing, but no one could
prove
it. It was as though nothing had happened.