Sherlock Holmes in Russia

I

That was the year the Emir of Bukhara visited Russia. Accompanied by a considerable retinue, he travelled displaying all the splendour and opulence of the East.

Having paid a visit to Petersburg, he was returning home, but decided not to travel by rail but along the Volga. The weather was fine, with clear sunny days which lured him out of his stuffy carriage to breathe the open air. Orders were dispatched from Petersburg to Nijni-Novgorod to prepare a ship exclusively for the Emir and the town prepared to welcome this important guest.

At the time, Holmes and I were travelling along the Volga and stopped over at Nijni-Novgorod for a few days. We delayed our departure because of the Emir. We had been about to leave, when we heard of his impending arrival and stayed on to enjoy the brilliant spectacle. He arrived on the appointed day. With his retinue, all in gold and jewels, he literally flashed through the town and vanished aboard their ship. Holmes and I, and a crowd of curious sightseers, accompanied them as far as the wharf and then went home.

Less than an hour passed. Holmes and I were chatting, I think it was about Eastern peoples, when the door of our hotel room opened slightly and the lackey who looked after our corridor poked his head through the door and told Holmes that he was wanted by the Bukharans.

‘What’s happened?’ asked Holmes.

‘The Chief of Police and some Bukharans wish to see you,’ he said.

‘How strange!’ Sherlock Holmes wondered. ‘As far as I know, I have never met a single Bukharan. Oh, well, show them in.’

The head was withdrawn and a couple of minutes later the Chief of Police, accompanied by a couple of Bukharans, one of whom was an interpreter, came in. Sherlock Holmes introduced himself, then me, and asked the reason for such an unusual visit.

‘Not as unusual as it may appear to you,’ said the Chief of Police. ‘Something very unpleasant has happened to His Highness, the Emir of Bukhara. I was sent for to assist in the matter, but I, knowing that you are temporarily staying here, advised that you should be brought in, in connection with the matter. With your assistance, the lost item will be recovered ten times faster.’

‘I am flattered,’ Holmes bowed. ‘Of course, I shall try to be worthy of your opinion, but surely you have enough qualified policemen of your own?’

‘Hmm… how shall I put it?’ The Chief of Police was clearly uncomfortable. ‘Yes, we have more than enough, and if I were to include the entire membership of the Union of the Russian People, there’d be more than are necessary, but … how can I put it better? You understand … in the last few years much has been annulled by the revolution and they are all specialized to good effect where political investigation was involved, much to the detriment of criminal investigation. But you are an expert in criminal investigation, never having touched political matters and, of course, are bound to be infinitely better, and this is why I pin more hope on you than all my underlings.’

‘Every state has its own way of doing things,’ said Holmes with an imperceptible little smile. ‘By the way, what you say is true and I am willing to help to the best of my abilities.’

‘That’s wonderful!’ exclaimed the Chief of Police. ‘And now that this matter is settled, I can go. I have matters to which I must attend. My task was only to convince you to take this on. I have the honour of taking my leave.’

He bade farewell to us and the Bukharans and was gone.

II

Sherlock Holmes invited the two strangers to sit and tell him what was the matter. The older of the two was richly dressed in silk robes with stars on his chest. With a self-important air, he sank into a sofa and said something to Holmes in his incomprehensible tongue. Holmes heard him out with the patience of a statue.

When the Bukharan had finished, the interpreter took over. First of all, he announced that before us sat none other than a Minister of the Court of His Highness, the Emir of Bukhara, Hadji-Mehti-Mashadi-Mahomet-Sultan.

Next, speaking on behalf of Hadji-Mehti-Mashadi-Mahomet-Sultan, he came to business, heaping masses of praise on the famous detective, every possible flattering mention and thanks that Holmes had undertaken to help His Highness to find the missing memento of his mother, so dear to him. And only after having delivered himself of all this and given a few answers to Holmes’s queries, at a sign from the Minister of the Court, the interpreter set about explaining the heart of the matter.

‘It happened today,’ he began. ‘His Highness, having toured the town, made his way with his retinue to the wharf of the “Along the Volga” shipping line where the ship prepared for him was waiting.

‘It must be said that His Highness has one precious item which he particularly cherishes. This is a ring with a huge black pearl in the form of a pear. This pearl came to him from his mother, whom he loved very much. After her death, he had it set in a ring, but as he was afraid to lose or damage it, he wore it only at official functions, and as soon as a function was over, he would take it off immediately and hide it. The black pearl is regarded as a gloriously beautiful rarity. Foreign notable valued it at a million and a half roubles in your currency.’

‘Oho! That’s worth going to some trouble over,’ exclaimed Sherlock Holmes. ‘Such an amount must be the size of a Bukharan state loan.’

‘Of course,’ agreed the interpreter. ‘Today, in advance of his arrival in Nijni-Novgorod, His Highness placed the ring on his finger. He wore it as he rode through the town and when he went on board. When the first whistle blew, His Highness went to his cabin to change out of his offical dress and change into his travel clothes. There were guards outside his quarters. He was helped to wash and change. Before he washed his hands, he took his ring off and placed it on the washbasin. He sent away his valet and the Emir remembers that when the valet left, the ring was still where he had put it down. On his way out of the bedroom, His Highness neglected to put on the ring, but when he went out on deck, he remembered and returned immediately.

‘Imagine his consternation when the ring was no longer there. The alarm was raised. The sentries swear that nobody else had followed His Highness in or out of his bedroom. The soldiers who came with us on this trip are the Emir’s most loyal and faithful men. Moreover, they are so arranged that they watch each other. So there is no foundation for doubting their word. Nonetheless, they were all searched, but there were no clues to indicate anyone had entered the Emir’s quarters.’

‘Strange,’ said Holmes. ‘Perchance the Emir put the ring somewhere and simply forgot where.’

‘Oh, no,’ was the interpreter’s rejoinder. ‘His Highness has a very good memory and, besides, values the ring highly.’

‘What else has been done to find the ring?’

The interpreter addressed Mahomet-Sultan in Bukharan and listened respectfully to his reply, which he then translated for Holmes. ‘The ship is ringed on all sides by Russian police and our sentries both on shore and on the water.’

‘On the water, how?’

‘Around the ship, on the Volga, there are boats with sentries.’

‘How soon after the theft were the sentries put in place?’

‘As soon as the Emir announced the theft had taken place, that very moment Mahomet-Sultan ordered the ship to be surrounded on all sides and nobody was to be permitted on or off without being searched.’

‘But did anyone get off the ship after that?’

‘No.’

‘Do you know this for a fact?’

‘Yes, but you had best ask the sentries.’

A brief silence ensued.

‘Yes … a strange occurrence,’ Sherlock Holmes at last said thoughtfully, ‘an occurrence that is actually beginning to interest me. I’ll get everything I am likely to need this very minute and we’ll go.’

The interpreter translated this for Mahomet-Sultan, who nodded his head in approval.

Sherlock Holmes fetched his travel case. ‘My dear Watson,’ he turned to me, ‘I’d advise you to take a couple of sailor’s uniforms, make-up and a weapon. It is very possible we might not be able to get back for a few days.’

I complied instantly. Within a few minutes I had everything packed in a bag I could carry easily and was ready for any more instructions.

‘You’ll have to carry our things,’ Holmes said to the interpreter. ‘I am going to call a cab. Our things shouldn’t be a problem. We’ll travel light and neither you, nor anyone, must reveal anything about us.’

Sherlock Holmes called the cab himself, escorted the guests out and they took our baggage and two pieces of hand luggage.

III

‘Well, my dear Watson, time for us to start moving,’ said Holmes after a few minutes.

We made our way to the wharf. On the ship, alarm showed on every face. The interpreter met us and told Holmes he had been assigned a separate cabin in case he had to cross-examine or talk to anyone privately.

‘You did very well,’ said Holmes. ‘Are our things there?’

‘Yes.’ We were escorted to the cabin.

‘Now it’s necessary for me to have full access everywhere,’ said Holmes.

‘This has already been arranged,’ answered the interpreter. ‘You and your friend have already been pointed out to the sentries.’

‘In that case, leave us alone for now,’ said Holmes.

The interpreter bowed and departed.

‘Stay here for now, Watson.’ Holmes said to me. ‘I’ll go over the ship, look at one or two things and return to fetch you.’

‘Very well,’ I replied.

He left and I was left to myself. He was back a quarter of an hour later.

‘Let’s go, Watson,’ he said shortly.

A few steps along the corridor and we were outside the Emir’s quarters. The sentry at the door admitted us. The Emir’s quarters comprised four cabins with doors between all of them, and a reception room, which had been a first-class dining room. The Emir’s office was to the left of the entrance, then his bedroom. To the right were the sitting room and a parlour. Holmes and I turned left into the office and then the bedroom. The floors here were covered with thick, luxurious carpets.

Holmes paused at the threshold and began to scrutinise the premises closely.

This scrutiny appeared to penetrate every little nook and cranny. Then he squatted down and crawled along the floor, examining it through his magnifying glass. Then he examined the divan, bed and washbasin, carefully looking behind them; next he knocked on the walls and shook his head in perplexity. Finding nothing in the bedroom, he went into the office. One after another he examined the other rooms, but there were no clues anywhere.

Suddenly he smacked himself on his own forehead. ‘Now, now, Watson! We haven’t yet lifted the carpets.’

I smiled involuntarily, ‘I don’t suppose you think someone is sitting under them?’ I asked.

‘Not entirely, but … you see, Watson, I haven’t the slightest doubt that the thief didn’t come in through the door. The sentry would have seen him. Nor would the windows have been of any use to him. They are seemingly locked from inside, while the putty around the pane shows the glass was installed some time ago. This means the thief must have found a hidey-hole on the ship … and if that so, he is still aboard.’

We moved the furniture around now here, now there, one after another, and lifted the carpet, carefully examining the floor underneath. We did all this in total silence, even walking on tiptoe.

Suddenly Holmes uttered a triumphant cry. ‘Have a look, Watson,’ he whispered and motioned for me to come near. I crawled up to him.

Holmes suddenly lifted the corner of the carpet by the head of the bed, ‘The first thing that struck me was that the corner leg of the bed was not pressing down on the carpet,’ he whispered.

I looked at the floor under the carpet and all the same noticed nothing.

‘You don’t see it?’ smiled Holmes.

‘Absolutely not,’ I replied.

‘And all the same, it is so simple.’ Holmes still smiled and said softly, ‘Look at the floor boards. In all the other places where we examined the floor, you noticed, of course, that the cracks between them had been filled with paint and where the paint cracked, dust and other dirt particles had collected. It’s different here. The cracks are not filled with paint and there is no dirt, which shows that these floorboards are not immoveable.’

Holmes produced a thin spike, stuck it into a floor board and gently raised it. The board shifted.

He moved it just a little and then replaced it. He then covered it with the carpet and moved the bed so that all four legs pressed down on it. ‘Now the entrance is sealed,’ he said, getting up. ‘The most important is done. There’s only trifles left to be attended to now. The criminal is on board, because he has nowhere to go and the sooner the ship moves, so much the better. Watson, let’s go to Mahomet-Sultan.’

We left the Emir’s quarters and went on deck.

IV

We found the Minister of the Court standing with the Emir and quietly conversing with him. We waited till he looked in our direction and Holmes gave him an imperceptible sign. He indicated with his eyes that he understood. He ended his conversation with the Emir and, accompanied by the interpreter, made his way to Holmes’s cabin. We followed.

‘The sooner the ship leaves, the better,’ Holmes said to him. ‘Rest assured, the thief will not escape.’

‘Really,’ exclaimed the Minister joyfully, when he heard this announcement from the interpreter.

‘Yes,’ said Holmes. ‘He is on board and, of course, won’t risk escaping as long as the ship is ringed by sentries.’

‘Oh! Oh! In that case I will inform His Highness at once!’ the Minister exclaimed through the interpreter and the two Bukharans ran out of the cabin.

The second whistle sounded a minute later. A few minutes later, the third whistle sounded, sailors rushed about the deck, the military band thundered and the ship began to move gracefully away from the wharf.

‘Now, then, my dear Watson, we have to become sailors,’ said Holmes, opening his travel case.

But first, before changing, Holmes went out of the cabin and, returning after a little while, said, ‘Splendid. Everything’s done. The interpreter has asked the ship’s captain to instruct the bosun to sign on two more sailors who will now appear before him. So, look lively, Watson, change and let’s go to meet our new chief. And to look younger, a new fair-haired wig for you, into which rub wood-oil instead of pomade.’

I obeyed therewith. In twenty minutes we were ready. The interpreter arrived just then. Holmes told him briefly what he had noticed and advised him to get the Minister to assist him in switching the Emir’s bedroom and office and place sentries there for security. When all this had been said, the interpreter left and we were off to see the bosun.

The signing-on ritual was short and simple.

We were shown our places, our watch was assigned, our surnames written down, Holmes as Gvozdeff and I became Panshin. After that they let us go. By a fortunate coincidence our watches coincided. There were still three hours before our first watch, so we wandered up and down the lower deck.

Holmes wanted to pay special attention to that part of the ship lying under the Emir’s quarters. But to carry out any substantial observation of this part of the vessel was completely impossible, because here the whole of the lower deck was filled with the baggage of the Emir and his retinue, the chests being solidly packed from the deck to the ceiling. This discovery put Holmes in an especially good mood.

‘Undoubtedly, there is a way of getting between the chests to the Emir’s bedroom. The thief isn’t going to stay there for long and, one way or another, will emerge,’ he said, having finished his inspection. ‘But he has to have an accomplice on board. The accomplice blocked this particular area with chests in such a way that nothing could be checked between them. My dear Watson, let’s find out who supervised the loading.’

‘That shouldn’t be too difficult,’ I answered.

‘If that’s what you think, you do it,’ said Holmes.

V

Without a word, I made my way to the bottom deck where those sailors who were not on watch took refreshments and rested. And as soon as I appeared amongst them, I began to abuse one of them, ‘How the hell did you stow away the luggage, so that nobody can get through or even crawl through!’

‘And what the hell are you barking at me for,’ he bit back. ‘Wasn’t me indicated what to put where.’

‘Then who was it?’

‘Who? That new fellow, Skalkin, or whatever his name is!’

Hearing his name, an older, bearded sailor looked at me intently and said angrily, ‘Well, it was me, and what got in your way?’

‘The devil take you!’ I yelled. ‘I can’t get through.’

‘No need for you to get through there,’ he muttered. ‘So shut up or I’ll bash your face in.’

I managed to smooth over the quarrel, went to Holmes and told him everything I had discovered.

‘Splendid!’ exclaimed Holmes. ‘That means he is new. It’s worth knowing and he will have to be watched.’

Three hours passed and we reported for our watch. Holmes’s watch was on the lower deck. I was on the upper, by the wheel. My watch began at eight and passed quietly. But when I had completed it and went down to meet Holmes, who had completed his, from the look he threw at me, I realized something unusual had happened.

But it wasn’t possible to have a discussion. We weren’t alone and could be overheard. We went down to the sailors’ quarters, undressed and went to sleep.

It was still completely dark when Holmes woke me up. He slept beside me and a slight touch from him was enough to bring me to my feet. I yawned several times and tossed and turned as if to show that I had slept enough and began to dress. We went up unnoticed and crept into our cabin.

With intense curiosity I waited for what Holmes had to tell me. ‘And so, in a couple of hours, the situation should be clear,’ he said softly.

‘You’ve found something out tonight?’ I asked.

‘Yes,’ he answered. ‘It was just before eleven o’clock at night. I was on my watch and observed Skalkin carefully emerging from the sailors’ quarters. I pretended to be dozing. He looked at me suspiciously, but was apparently reassured and dived in amongst the luggage. There was nobody there. I sat with my back to him, watching intently through a mirror which I had taken the precaution of hanging up on the wall and which he hadn’t noticed. Thanks to this mirror, I could see everything behind me. He threw another glance at me, was still reassured that I wasn’t watching, and carefully approached one of the chests. Pushing it aside, he quickly disappeared in the gap that appeared. I leaped up from my place, carefully approached and put my ear to the edge of the gap he had created. It was just as I expected. Out of the pile of chests I overheard a conversation.

‘“It’s dangerous to come out,” whispered one voice.

‘“I know,” said another.

‘“Low water at the Jiguli sector of the river would be best. Are the fellows ready?”

‘“Yes, they’re none of them locals. They unload barges offshore. Nobody knows us. Is the cofferdam in order?” you probably know, Watson, that’s the compartment that separates two bulkheads.

‘“Yes, it’s fine,” the other assured him. “Nothing else?”

‘“Nothing. Be off.”

‘I heard a rustle and rushed to my place, keeping up the pretence that I was dozing. Skalkin moved the chest back to its previous position and went to the sailors’ quarters.’

‘But what does this conversation signify,’ I asked.

‘I don’t know exactly,’ Holmes shrugged. ‘But Jiguli is not far and there is some sort of sandbank, not far from which a barge will be unloading on shore. That’s where you and I, Watson, must keep our eyes peeled. That’s where the thief has to vanish, and it would be a great shame for us if we were to let him slip through our fingers.’

‘And according to you, what’s all this about a cofferdam?’

‘I don’t know,’ Holmes said thoughtfully.

VI

While we were talking, dawn had broken. We left our cabin and, unnoticed, descended to the lower deck to go our separate ways. At eight o’clock in the morning our watch began.

This time Holmes was by the wheel, while I was instructed to stand on the upper bridge, nearly next to him. I had to transmit certain instructions and wave signalling flags when we met other ships, which in those busy days sailed up and down the Volga one after another.

Our ship was sailing along the Jiguli sector. Carefully scrutinizing the river banks, I still kept on looking stealthily at Holmes. He stood there turning the wheel like a seasoned sailor.

Suddenly, as I looked at him, with his eyes he was indicating something at a distance. At this point the Volga widens. I looked at the side Holmes was looking at and there, on the right bank, men were working on a barge. We were nearly parallel to it. It was probably being unloaded.

I was hardly able to get a good look at it, when I heard a noise from the bridge, ‘Where, where are you going?’ It was the captain and in an unnatural voice he was yelling, ‘Turn the wheel to the left, to the left!’

The wheel began to spin madly. But the ship, instead of turning left, continued straight on, if anything, more to the right. The helmsman and Holmes appeared anxious and lost. The captain himself leaped to the wheel and began to turn it in a frenzy. But the impossible was happening. Instead of veering left, the ship headed straight for the sandbank.

‘Stop! Back! Back!’ the captain yelled through the megaphone at the engine room.

But it was too late. A crackling noise came from beneath our feet, we felt a light shudder, and our ship ploughed up the sandbank virtually at full steam. There was an incredible rumpus. The engines were put into reverse, but did not obey. No matter what the captain and his crew undertook, the ship wouldn’t budge.

‘Watch out!’ Holmes whispered.

The captain now gave orders for distress signals to be raised. These were seen from the barge by the shore. Soon enough, a crowded longboat glided away from it in our direction. As it approached, Holmes began to count the number of labourers aboard it coming to help. There were twenty-three of them, ordinary porters, and the overseer.

The captain and the men in the longboat agreed on the remuneration and the overseer ordered twenty of the men up on the ship. The longboat was by the right-hand ladder. Holmes and I scrutinized carefully everyone coming on board, but nobody excited our suspicion. This is when the interpreter came up to me.

‘Be prepared,’ Holmes whispered to him. ‘Point me out to the sentries and order them to obey my orders. Prepare to lower a boat. The outcome is at hand! Hurry!’

The interpreter rushed off to do as he was told.

In the meantime, work on the ship went on at a furious pace. After two hours of intensive effort, the ship somehow shifted from the sandbank and the barge labourers began to go down the ladder to their longboat. I began to count them again. One after another, twenty men went down that ladder.

And suddenly Holmes whispered anxiously, ‘Look! Look! There’s twenty-four leaving.’

I hastily recounted the number of men in the longboat. To my amazement, I noticed there was just that one extra man aboard. This was all the more surprising, because I had personally counted that out of the twenty-three originally in the long-boat, twenty had come up and twenty had gone down.

‘Yes! Yes!’ Holmes whispered anxiously. ‘He got out from under. That’s what the business with the cofferdam was all about. Under water there must be an exit leading into a cofferdam affixed to the bottom of the ship. He went out through that!’

And turning round, he shouted loudly, ‘Arrest the sailor Skalkin. Guard! Into the boat!’

The alarm was raised. Skalkin was instantly seized, tied with ropes, while a minute later, together with the sentries, we were speeding in pursuit of the longboat on its way at a fast clip. The heavy longboat began to slow down. With every minute, the distance between us lessened.

‘Halt. Or we fire!’ yelled Holmes.

I thought there would be a riot on the longboat, but the threat worked and it stopped yards from the Jiguli shore.

In that moment, we saw a figure leap into the waist-high water and move towards the reeds.

‘Shoot him!’ commanded Holmes.

The man dived, came up and dived again. Shots rang out but missed their target.

‘Dammit!’ yelled Holmes, beside himself. ‘Follow me!’

With one leap he was in the water and flung himself towards the fleeing man. ‘Arrest the crew of the longboat. Five men follow me!’ he shouted.

Knee deep in water, we chased after the unknown man. Holmes, revolver in hand, was in front. Now the fleeing man, in water a little deeper than his ankles, suddenly stumbled and an inflated ox bladder flew out of his hand.

‘Get the bladder!’ shouted Holmes without turning round. I grabbed at it.

The escapee made a gesture of total despair, as if the loss had been of everything at stake. He reached into his pocket and out came a revolver. All of a sudden it went off twice at Holmes and the man vanished into the reeds. Holmes shot thrice and then he, too, vanished amongst the reeds.

A few minutes later, their figures appeared atop the steep bluff above us and from which we heard more shots.

Then, as we stumbled upwards, we saw the two opponents fall on each other and heard Holmes cry out, ‘Kartzeff!’

And the end came. No matter how long we searched for Holmes, no matter how loudly we hailed him, the deserted river bank remained deaf and dumb to us. Holmes and his enemy had vanished and we even couldn’t establish where they had gone.

VII

Tired and despondent, we returned to the ship after a four-hour-long search. ‘What’s this?’ asked Mahomet-Sultan through the interpreter, pointing at the bladder in my hand. I handed him my wretched trophy and something rolled around inside. Intuitively, I took back the bladder, tore it apart with my bare fingers and suddenly a huge black pearl rolled round our feet.

What happened to Holmes, I know not. All I know is that I went no further. I stayed at the scene of this sad occurrence with four sentries but a three-day search yielded no results.

From the papers, I was later to learn that the sailor Skalkin was the escaped prisoner, Foma Belkin. He confessed to being an accomplice of the notorious swindler and burglar, Kartzeff, in the theft of the pearl aboard the ship. An inspection of the ship revealed that under its right side there was some sort of cofferdam, through which the thief had crept out through an exit below the water line. The barge overseer was another member of the gang, but the barge labourers were completely innocent. Apart from all this, on the right-hand side of the ship, a cunningly attached rudder was found. It was this that Kartzeff had been able to operate, to bypass the ship’s rudder, making it plough into the sandbank.