Miss Sherlottie's Adventures

It may have seemed like a tragic comedy, however, it could be seen as a comic tragedy. It cost a man his sanity, it cost me a bloodshed, yet another man experienced multiple punishments of the law enforcement. Yet, some qualities could be described as comic ones. Well, I shall urge for you to make up your own mind about the matter. I recall the season time quite well, for it was in the same cold October month when Sherlottie Holmes did not accept the Nobel Prize for the implementations, which may perhaps be brought to light for the public someday. I am in particular merely implying at the matter, for a man in my standard of partner and friend I am strictly tied to be delicate in order to act with respectful manners. I restating, however, this moment makes me not in position to fix the date, which, was the later end of October 2000, shortly after the tying up the loose strings of the Scania-Stockholm War. Miss Sherlottie had retired herself for multiple days in her leisure, as she had moments when this ritual of hers appeared, however, in this particular morning Miss Sherlottie emerged with a document in her hand, and a spark of an excitement was appearing in the shade of icy grey eyes of hers.” There is a possibility for you to receive an excessive payment, Winston” Miss Sherlottie said. “Can you recall the name Garrideb in any context Winston?”  I answered that I had not. “Well, if you stumble upon a Garrideb, one can have the certainty for the huge value of it.” Why is that? Winston asked. “My dear companion there is no time to go into details with this complicated story”. “However, I shall mention to you my dear Winston, that we might have not attended an investigation of this kind with this amount of intriguing pieces to the puzzle.

“I gazed at the yellow cover of the telephone dictionary in front of me, and I delicately touched and turned the pages to find this mysterious man Mr Garrideb. And to my astonishment the name was there, poorly noticeable with this cracked up font on the old page but it was there, and I exclaimed with pride “You are welcome, Miss Sherlottie, I found it! Miss Sherlottie reached for the book from me and had a look when she responded “Garrideb, N” and continued “Malmöhusvägen 6, 211 18 Malmö, W “Unfortunately my dear Winston but this is the man himself. As you can note the address is match with the letter the man had sent to us. My dear we are looking for another man with the same name. Mrs Hudson entered the living- room with an envelope at a silver coloured and shining tray. I grabbed the envelope from the tray and gazed at it. “How come, I have it!” I expressed with great surprise in my voice. “The initials are differentiating themselves from the last ones. John Garrideb, Counsellor at Law, Hyllie, Malmö, Sweden. Miss Sherlottie expressed and friendly tone in her voice when she had looked at the card and said “I am sorry my dear but you have to give it another try. “ My dear Winston this gentleman is involved in this matter as well already, however, I was not prepared for his arrival this noon. But of course we are able to make an exception, when it comes to receiving valuable information we could use in our investigation. “A minute later he attained the living - room Mr John Garrideb, Counsellor at Law, had short legs, influential man with round and newly shaved face where one could see many similes in his appearance and other American businessmen.

Yet, the actual impression of the gentleman was a chubby posture with a childlike appearance, for a man with this type of friendliness clearly imprinted at his face. And his eyed were mesmerizing which is rare combined with the intentness in the gaze of his, so jolly, so rapid, so responsive while reacting to every thought. His manners of speaking were identical to a Native American. “Miss Sherlottie?” the gentleman asked “Ah yes!  Your pictures do not make you any justice Miss. I recall you are in a position of a letter from my namesake, Mr. Nathan Garrideb? “Please have a seat,” said Miss Sherlottie. We intend to and we have a plenty of topics to cover” She fished up the stencil and said “You must be the Mr. John Garrideb as we can note in this document. Moreover, I am certain that you have visited Sweden.” “How come, Miss Sherlottie?” I could note a particular intensiveness in those eyes.” The clothing of yours seem identical with the Swedish fashion. Mr Garrideb tried to form a smile. “I am acquainted with your expertise, Miss Sherlottie, however, I would have never guessed that I would be in the centre of them. Furthermore, why would you say that? ” “The model of the dark brown coat, the tip of the dark leather shoes. “ Oh my, Oh my I was not aware that my clothing was so clearly in tune with the Swedish fashion. But if I should be honest with you sir then I will share with your some of the professional errands which forced my presence here in Malmö. Moreover, I am merely sure we did not schedule this meeting for us to have a conversation about my clothing or sense for fashion, so let us discuss the piece of letter you are in your position in your hand, shall we? “Patience, Mr. Garrideb!” said my companion Dr. Winston with a friendly tone. But let me ask your sir how come Mr Nathan Garrideb did not arrive with you? “Why on earth would he even have a use of you anyway?” said John Garrideb and Miss Sherlottie could tell the inexplicable outburst effect the question caused by the tone of Mr Garrideb in his voice. The gentleman Mr Garrideb visited Miss Sherlottie in the morning, where she started to become little suspicious of the gentleman`s agenda.

The gentleman`s angry face gradually cleared. “Alright then, if you are content just to help us find the man, there can be no harm in that.” “Well, since I have your attention we would appreciate that you enlighten us in this specific matter. Since my companion has no knowledge of the specifics.”  “Yes, please give us a clear explanation of your case,” I said, feeling confused. Mr. Garrideb gave me a judgmental look while observing me. “Is there a necessity for him to know?” he asked. “We usually work together.” “Well, I should not find a reason in order to keep it hidden. The name Garrideb is very rare, so rare I thought I was the only one with that name until one day a man named Alexander Hamilton Garrideb visited me in my law office in Chicago, USA. He earned his fortune while being in contact with real estate. Thereafter, the gentleman bought a huge amount of land as one man could have in his possession. “I could not recall that he mentioned any acquaintance relations nor any relatives” However, the man made a quite a proud statement of the name Garrideb. Furthermore, in that moment we felt we had a special bond. I attended the law studies at Topeka, and one day the elder man payed me a visit, and while the man noticed we had the same name he exclaimed an excited reaction. The elder man was firmly decided to find more persons with the name Garrideb in the world. “I urge you to find me more!” he said. I replied to him that I was a serious man with serious business to attend to, and I had not no time to devote to search for more Garridebs.

However, he said “this is what you will do if things will proceed as planned.” I did not think that he was being serious, but one could notice the intensive cling of the meaning in the words. “Since the elder man died within a year apart from making that statement.” Furthermore, it was certainly the strangest will which has ever been made in the State of Kansas. The property of his was divided into three parts, and the primary condition was to find two more Garridebs, in order to share the heritage of five million dollar for each. However, we will not have the possibility to see even a penny, unless we all three stand in a row. Moreover, I almost ignored the legal aspect of it and started the search for the Garridebs. However, I could not set my eyes on a single one even though the extreme devotion of effort I did put into this matter. I did not succeed even while having an expectations while looking in the old country. Certainly one was able to find a gentleman by the name Garrideb while searching in a telephone dictionary. Furthermore, I took myself the liberty to go after him in order to have a conversation with him and explain the circumstances. However, he was a timid man with similar characteristics as myself, with a limited interactions with women, but no men.  Moreover, as you can see in this will that the written condition is that it should be three grown men. Therefore, you can note that we still are in incomplete company when it comes to the conditions of the will. And if you will contribute with some help we will make sure that you will receive a share of the heritage sum. “Well my dear Winston Miss Sherlottie said with a jolly face expression while addressing her companion, “I told you this case would be intriguing one now did I not? “   

We were all still sitting in the living- room not too spacey and not small one while Miss Sherlottie was telling me what she had to say about our visitor. As I was sitting and at the same time paying attention to what Miss Sherlottie was saying, I also noticed the cracked up yellow wallpaper which could need some redecoration. The furniture we had was old fashioned but was decent and comfortable considering, the lack of luxury I had been used to during the war I served in as a doctor at the field. As Miss Sherlottie proceeded our conversation Mrs Hudson entered the living-room with some tea. Mrs Hudson poured the oozing tea and asked if I wished for some milk as well. By now Mrs Hudson had no need to ask how Miss Sherlottie wished to have her tea, since Mrs Hudson had already learned the routines of Miss Sherlottie by this time. Mrs Hudson left some crispy vanilla cookies spritzed with chocolate at the small dark wooden table and left the room. I shall mention that it was transparent with the agony column of yours in the paper.” Miss Sherlottie said that she would take a look at it at her leisure. While proceeding their conversation the gentleman expressed her connection to have a reporter. They even brought up the Dr Lysander Starr who was already dead, but still respected around the neighbourhood. As we were sitting and discussing the case I could tell Miss Sherlottie would soon have a theory because of that one frown that always appeared at the forehead while she was concentrated while thinking. While Miss Sherlottie was reflecting she mainly enjoyed to have an open view from the window at the water outside, which according to her calmed her down. As Miss Sherlottie once said to me “to a great mind, nothing is little”. And at one moment Miss Sherlottie got an epiphany and mentioned that she is suspicious of our visitor we had earlier in the noon. Miss Sherlottie called him a complex and ingenious individual which eventually started to make some sense. The American chubby gentleman was trying too hard to hide his true identity, by trying to deceive Miss Sherlottie with some tacky somewhat looking alike British suit and accessories. However, Miss Sherlottie did not get fooled by it and let the man think that Miss Sherlottie bought it. I did not pay attention to those details until Miss Sherlottie expressed her suspicions about it.

“Dear, Winston if you were to make people to believe something usually you try very hard, now don't you?” “I suppose so” I said but still somewhat confused about all this. I mean why would a man go to so much trouble for money? Or could it be another reason for that American chubby middle- aged man to search for the other Garrideb descendants. So I was asked to make a call to the gentleman so I dialled and he picked up the phone and said “Yes, yes, I am Mr Nathan Garrideb. May I speak to Miss Sherlottie? My companion took the ringing device in the meantime I could hear the conversation. Miss Sherlottie asked the individual at the other end “Will you be at home this evening” and then I heard Miss Sherlottie respond at another question presumably “we will attend at six o'clock and I will bring Dr Winston with me, and I hope that will not be an issue. This was the last line of the conversation, and afterwards Miss Sherlottie turned to me and said “make yourself ready Winston we have some business to attend” On our way to the gentleman`s house we witnessed the twilight where the moon was shiny with a light breeze spring weather, which made me eager and excited to get some clarity on the matter we were investigating. When we arrived to the house we were about to meet up with the gentleman, which was an enormous one with old- fashioned Georgian architecture décor. He appeared quite on time and showed us the way through the house. Miss Sherlottie noted the common stair, and the names that were painted at the wall. While wandering around the house I noticed how Miss Sherlottie observed closely every detail we passed by I the house. The gentleman must have had a great thing for science even I could tell that. We passed all sorts of scientific creatures or statues that could be included in many scientific fields.” I have a great passion for science as you can certainly notice” So he showed us the different species he had collected over the years while he was studying. “Here you can see a line of plaster skulls they are named the Neanderthal” Mr. Nathan Garrideb had an appearance of a tall, loose- jointed, bald and lifeless man within age of sixty years old. While the American was talking and praising his collection I could tell that Miss Sherlottie was thinking and connecting the dots, and it was only a matter of time before I would get a recap of how she put the puzzle together. The gentleman did not seem to notice any of the suspicion Miss Sherlottie had towards him, so he went on with through house tour. Moreover, Miss Sherlottie asked “so you are going to buy an American estate?”

“No, why on earth would I do that?” the gentleman replied, and explained that he would never leave his enormous collection behind. “I merely called to meet because I was curious, and I prefer to establish a personal understanding” Miss Sherlottie said. Furthermore, I would like to ask you sir some questions, for I have a quite clear understanding from my notes in my pockets, and I have corrected the misconceptions I had thanks to the call of the American gentleman. Miss Sherlottie was lost in her own thought. I could see that she was puzzled. “Do you own any belongings of great value?” she asked Mr Garrideb. No miss, I do not own anything of value, I own many things but nothing of value.” “You do not fear burglars?” “Not at all.” “How long have you been living here?” “Almost five years now. “Her interrogation of Mr Garridebs was interrupted by an aggressive knock at the door. Just as Mr Garrideb opened the door the American lawyer flew in the room. “Here you are, Miss Sherlottie!” He sighed, holding a piece of paper above his head. “I hoped that I would be here in time to get you. Nathan Garrideb, Congratulations! You are a wealthy man, sir. Our business together has been successful and final. We deeply apologize for any inconvenience that we have created for you, Miss Sherlottie.” He gave the paper to our client, who stood there staring at a marked advertisement. Sherlottie and I read it over his shoulder.

HOWARD GARRIDEB 

CONSTRUCTOR OF AGRICULTURAL MACHINERY

Binders, reapers, steam and hand plows, drills, harrows, farmer’s carts, buckboards, and all other gadgets.

Estimates for Artesian Wells

Apply Grosvenor office, Gothenburg

“Marvellous,” gasped our host. “We have our third man.”

“I opened up some investigations in Gothenburg,” the American said, “and my agent sent this advertisement to the local newspapers. Now we need to hurry up and meet this man, I have booked a meeting for you tomorrow at four pm.” “You want me to meet him?” “Don’t you think that it would be better if he goes instead of me since I am an American with a beautiful story? Why would he believe me? But you are a swede with good references, and he is compelled to give attention to what you have to say. Also I am very busy tomorrow so I would not be able to attend.” “It has been a while since I went on such a journey.” Do not feel concerned, I have organized the trip for you, you will be leaving at about one pm and will arrive around three pm. you will be back in the same day. You will only be there to explain why you are there, and to collect evidence of him existing. By the lord!” he added fiercely, “I have travelled all the way from America so it is only fair if you travel a hundred miles to complete our mission.” “Absolutely,” said Miss Sherlottie. “I believe that what this man is saying is the truth.” Nathan Garrideb shock his shoulders with an unhappy feeling.” If you insist” he said. “Find it hard to turn down anything you say, since you have brought hope into my life.” “Then it is agreed,” said Miss Sherlottie, “and don't forget to bring me a report as soon as possible.” “I’ll see to that,” said the American. “It’s time for me to leave, I will call you tomorrow, Mr Nathan, and see you off.” I noticed that the face of my friend cleared as soon as the American left, the look of thoughtful amazement was gone. “I would love to look through your collection, Mr Garrideb, “she said. “In my line of work you can use all kinds of knowledge, and this room is a storehouse of that.” Mr Garrideb beamed with delightment and his eyes glowed from behind is big glasses. “I have always heard that you, miss, are a very intelligent woman,” Said he. “I could show you around now if you have the time.” “Sadly, I have not. Thankfully your collection are well labelled and classified that they barely need your personal presentation. If you don’t mind, I would be able to come over tomorrow to have a look.” “Of course not. You are always welcome. The place will be locked, but Mrs Saunders will be in downstairs and should be able to let you in with her key.” “I happen to be clear tomorrow so if you don’t mind telling Mrs Saunders that I will be popping by. By the way, who is your realtors?” Our client was baffled by the question. “MOHV Malmö, Regementsgatan 17. But why?”

“I am a bit of an archaeologist myself when it comes to houses,” said Miss Sherlottie, laughing. “I was wondering if the house was in Georgian style or Queen Anne.” “Georgian, beyond doubt.” “Really. I should have thought about that earlier. However, it is easily confirmed. Well, good bye for now and may you have a wonderful journey to Gothenburg.” The realtors was closed for the day so we went back to the apartment. After dinner Miss Sherlottie returned back to the subject. “The little problem of ours is soon solved,” said she. “No doubt you already know the solution in your own mind” “I can make neither head nor tail of it.” “The head is surely clear enough and the tail we should see tomorrow. Did you not notice anything curious about the advertisement?” “I noticed that the word ‘plough’ was misspelt. ”Oh, so you noticed that? Follow me, Winston, you are improving. It was written in American and not English. The newspaper had printed it as it had been received. Then the buckboards, which is spelt in American. It was an American advertisement, but shown as a Swedish advertisement. What do you think of that?” “It seems like the American put the advertisement in himself. Why, I do not know?” “What seems to be clearer is that the American wanted to get rid of the old man. The rest will be clear tomorrow.” Miss Sherlottie awoke early and left the apartment early. When she came back around lunchtime her face looked very concerned. “This is more serious than i had thought, Winston,” She said. “It is only fair that I tell you this, even though I know that you will have even more reason to put yourself in danger. I know my Winston by now. But there will be danger, and you should know about it.” “Well, this is not our first time, Sherlottie. I hope it won’t be our last. What danger will we be facing this time?” “We are facing a very horrifying case. I have found Mr John Garridebs real identity. He is none other than the ‘killer’ Evans, which has a murderous and sinister reputation.” “I do not follow yet.” “You are not used to carry a Calendar in your memory. I went down to meet Lestrade at the police station and found out the identity of John Alias ‘Killer Evans’. He murdered three men in America and is native to Chicago. He escaped jail by having political influence.  He shot a man here in Sweden that also came from the US, Rodger Prescott. John went to jail again and was released six years later. He is a dangerous man that carries a weapon and is not afraid to use it. That is our bird, Winston - a sporting bird, as you must admit.”

“But what is his endgame?” “Well, my dear Winston, the endgame begins to define itself, you see. I have been to the estate agent. In my inquiries I found out that our client, as he told us, has been there five years. Nobody lived there a year before that, but the previous tenant was a woman named Tina. Tina was well remembered at the office, quite the popular woman. Then one day, she had suddenly vanished and nothing more been heard of her. She was a tall, lanky woman with short, blonde hair. Now, Prescott, the man whom Killer Evans had shot, was, according to Malmöpolisen, a short, dark man with a beard. As a working hypothesis, I think we may take it that Prescott, the American that Killer Evans shot here in Sweden, used to live in the very room which our innocent friend now devotes to his museum. So at last we get a link, you see.” “And the next link then?” “Well, that is something we must go and look for.” Sherlottie took a revolver from the drawer and handed it to me. “If our friend John tries to live up to his nickname, we must be ready for him. I’ll give you an hour for a quick nap, Winston, and then I think it will be time for our Baltzargatan adventure. “It was just four o’clock when we reached the apartment of Nathan Garrideb. Mrs. Saunders, who was the caretaker, was about to leave, but let us in since Sherlottie had promised to see that all was locked and safe before we left. Now that Miss Sherlottie was certain that we were alone in the lower floor of the house, the search for the next link began. She made a quick scan of the premise and in a whisper outlined his intentions. “He wanted to get him out of this room—that is very clear, and, as the collector never went out, it certainly took some planning to do it. The whole invention of this Garrideb-story was apparently for no other reason than this. I must say, dear Winston, that there is a certain devilish ingenuity about it, he plotted this with remarkable cunning.” 

“But what did he want Miss Sherlottie?” “Well, that is what we are here to find out. It does not have anything to do with the man who sought us out, so far as I can read the situation. It is somehow connected to the man he murdered—the man who may also have been his partner in crime. At first I thought the collector might have something in his collection much more valuable than he ever knew, but the fact that the late Rodger Prescott lived in these rooms makes me wonder if there is a deeper reason as to why he wanted the collector out of this place. Well, dear Winston, now we wait and see what the hour may bring.” That hour passed by fast. Then all of a sudden came the sharp, metallic snap of a key, and John “Killer” Evans was in the room. He closed the door behind him, took a quick glance to make certain that he was alone and walked up to the central table in  a manner of one who knows exactly what he is supposed to do. Killer Evans pushed the table to one side, tore up the carpet underneath and revealed a locked door of some sort. He then knelt down, pulled up a jemmy from his coat pocket and worked vigorously upon it. We heard the sound of planks moving and then Killer Evans lit a stump of candle, and vanished from our view. Miss Sherlottie touched my wrist as a signal that our moment had come, and together we hurried across to the open door in the floor. We tried moving as gently as possible, however, the old floor must have creaked under our feet, for the head of Killer Evans suddenly emerged from the open space.

“Well, well!” said he as he struggled to get to the surface. “I guess you have been one too many for me, Miss. Sherlottie. Saw right through my game, I suppose, and played me for a sucker from the start. Well, Miss, I hand it to you; you have me beat and—” Suddenly he took out a pistol from the inside of his coat and fired two shots. I felt a sudden hot sear as if a red-hot iron had been pressed to my thigh. There was a crash as Sherlottie’s pistol came down on the man’s head. I saw him laying upon the floor with blood running down his face while Sherlottie searched him for more weapons. Then my friend’s wiry arms were round me, and she was leading me to a chair. “You’re not hurt, Winston? For God’s sake, say that you are not hurt!” It was worth a wound—it was worth many wounds—to know the depth of loyalty and love which lay behind that cold mask of hers. The clear, austere eyes were dimmed for a moment, and the firm lips were shaking. For the one and only time I caught a glimpse of a great heart as well as of a great brain. All my years of humble but single-minded service culminated in that moment of revelation. “It’s nothing, Sherlottie, just a mere scratch.” Sherlottie cried with a sigh of relief: “You are right, dear Winston, so right.” She turned her face towards Killer Evans and her expression changed from worried to serious. “If you had killed Winston, you would not have got out of this room alive. Now, sir, what have you to say for yourself?” He had nothing to say for himself. He only scowled.

    We left our prisoner be, for the time being, and looked down into the door - it was still illuminated by the candle which Evans had taken down with him. There, down in the room, was rusted machinery, great rolls of paper, a litter of bottles, and, arranged upon a small table, a number of neat little bundles. “A printing press!” gasped Sherlottie. “Yes, miss,” said our prisoner. “That is Prescott’s machine, and those bundles on the table are two thousands of Prescott’s notes worth a hundred each and fit to pass anywhere.” Our prisoner began trying to make a deal by offering us the money in exchange for his freedom. Sherlottie laughed out loudly. “We don’t do things like that, Mr. Evans. There is easy way out for you in this country. You shot this man Prescott, did you not?” “Yes, miss, and got five years for it, though it was he who pulled on me first. Five years—when I should have had a medal the size of a soup plate. No living man could tell a Prescott from the National Bank, and if I hadn’t put him out he would have flooded Malmö with them. I was the only one in the world who knew where he made them. Can you wonder that I wanted to get to the place? And can you wonder that when I found this crazy boob of a bug hunter with the queer name squatting right on the top of it, and never quitting his room, I had to do the best I could to shift him? Maybe I would have been wiser if I had put him away. It would have been easy enough, but I’m a soft-hearted guy that can’t begin shooting unless the other man has a gun also. But say, Miss. Sherlottie, what have I done wrong, anyhow? I’ve not used this press, nor have I hurt anyone so where do you get me?” “Only at attempted murder, so far as I can see,” said Sherlottie. “But that is not our job. Please give the Malmöpolisen a call, dear Winston.”It was a glad day at Malmöpolisen when Prescott’s printing press was found, for since the death of the man, the police lost all hope of ever finding it. Evans devilish ingenuity had done great service, though he might not agree, and helped several worthy policemen to sleep sounder at night. So those were the facts about how Killer Evans invented the three Garridebs in hopes of building his castle in the air. It was a cunning plan, but the dream castle was brought down and the Killer had to return to those shades from which he had just been let out from.