Sherlock Holmes: The Army of Doctor Moreau

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

Kane didn’t keep us long. It was nine o’clock precisely when the door bell rang and we once more heard Billy move to answer it.

“Now, Gentlemen,” I said, “keep your eyes open and your wits sharp, our enemies are at our throats from this moment forth.”

We listened to Kane’s heavy feet on the stairs, Johnson making sure his disguise was safely in place. The door opened and, again, I was struck by the daunting stature of the creature that filled the doorframe.

“A party of adventurers indeed,” he said, a harsh sniff emanating from beneath the heavy veil as he set his sensitive nose to work. “Might I be introduced? I like to know the names of gentlemen I am expected to blithely trust my life to.”

He might brag of his intelligence but he could split an infinitive with the best of them.

“They might reasonably say the same thing,” I replied, “to a man in a disguise as heavy and theatrical as yours.”

“I hide nothing,” he replied, stepping into the room and pulling away his hat and veil to reveal the dog’s head beneath.

There was a drawing in of breath as they took him in. Precisely the effect he had hoped for of course.

I had described him accurately but words could not convey the monstrousness of Kane’s appearance. I had discussed the resonance and timbre of his voice, even speculated how it must be produced considering the limited dog’s palate, but to hear it was something else again. I told them precisely how many teeth he had, and their approximate length, but to see them glint in the lamplight was far more inspiring. Like good opera and a perfectly cooked chateaubriand steak, Kane was a thing to be experienced rather than discussed.

“Astounding!” Challenger said, stepping closer. “You, Sir, are a positive miracle. I have never seen the like.”

“After tonight you never will again,” Kane replied. “Kindly keep your distance! I am not a museum exhibit to be gawped at.”

Challenger raised a bushy eyebrow. “I was hardly gawping, Sir. I am Professor George Edward Challenger, a foremost authority on … Well, almost anything you might choose to mention. So when you have my attention you might bear in mind it is the attention of the very best.”

“Never heard of you,” Kane replied. “But then I have very little time for experts. Their inability to agree the truth makes me want to chew their faces off.” He looked to Johnson. “And what facial non-conformity are you trying to hide, eh? Given what you see before you, you must be a very ugly man indeed to stay so bashfully covered.”

“I’ve had a few complaints in my time, it’s true,” Johnson said.

“But it’s my anonymity rather than your comfort that I’m trying to preserve.”

“We all have our secrets, Kane,” I said. “And the better they are maintained, the less we need to worry about each other.”

“But you already know all my secrets I think,” said Kane.

“I doubt that,” I told him. “I doubt that very much.”

“I’m sure we have better things to do than stand here talking,” Mann said. “Might I suggest we get on with them?”

“Quite so,” I agreed. “I suggest you let us know the area we’re heading in and I’ll have Billy commandeer us a pair of cabs.”

“King’s Cross,” Kane said. “We can walk from there.”

“Very well,” I replied, before calling to Billy.

Kane turned to Mann. “And who are you?” he asked. “You have the unwelcome smell of the constabulary to you. I made it clear to Mr Holmes that I didn’t wish there to be any official law enforcement here this evening.”

“Then he followed your wishes,” Mann replied. “I’m a private agent, much like Wiggins here. Though I do most of my business in the country.”

“Hmm …” Kane gave another loud sniff. “I can smell it on you— greenery and mud. I don’t like it.”

“Then I shan’t make the mistake of inviting you to tea,” Mann replied.

I stepped into Watson’s room, helping myself to his revolver. If the night went as I hoped, I would be able to hand it to him in person.

Billy called up to us that he had secured transport. Cautiously, with Kane back beneath his veil, we made our way down onto the street.