The Devil’s Due. Bonnie Macbird

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СКАЧАТЬ about meetings?’

      ‘None. It is not a society in that sense,’ said Andrew.

      ‘No lunches? No annual Christmas dinner?’ persisted my friend.

      ‘You are being facetious. No, just the honour. Mycroft is a Luminarian, by the way.’

      ‘You are forgetting that I declined,’ murmured Mycroft, pouring himself a Scotch.

      ‘How is this honour bestowed?’ asked Holmes.

      ‘At a private ceremony at our house,’ said James. ‘Plenty of champagne.’

      ‘Of course, we invite the Luminarians thereafter to our parties,’ said Andrew. ‘Usually.’ Neither Holmes brother reacted. ‘It is a rather coveted invitation,’ he added.

      ‘Indeed!’ I blurted out.

      The group turned to look at me.

      ‘I, well, my wife Mary enjoys reading about your parties. In the papers. They have quite a reputation. The food. Music …’

      The four men stared at me. I felt myself colouring.

      ‘Well then, surely you should come sometime. Dr, er … sorry, I have forgotten.’ said James.

      ‘Dr Watson. Make a note of that, James,’ said Andrew.

      ‘Please recreate the list for me, the best you can, then,’ said Holmes, beginning to lose patience.

      ‘Oh, I can’t think,’ said Andrew with a wave of his very white hand.

      ‘Neither can I,’ added James. ‘We have been up all night working on a bill we will bring to Parliament next month. Lunatic law. Inhuman as it stands. Oh, and deciding on the menu for tomorrow.’

      ‘And who to invite shooting in the country next week,’ added Andrew.

      ‘It is quite important. Please write down those you can recall.’ Holmes extended his notebook and pencil to Andrew, who hesitated, then dashed off a few names, showed the list to James, who added one more. James handed the notebook back to Holmes.

      ‘These are all we can think of at the moment,’ said James.

      Holmes looked over the list. ‘Please try to remember more and send the rest of the list to me later today.’

      ‘We shall,’ said Andrew. With a few more goodbyes, the two brothers departed as chaotically as they entered.

      As the door closed behind them, Holmes eyed his brother Mycroft with some amusement. ‘You turned them down, did you?’ he murmured.

      ‘I have turned down any number of honours, Sherlock,’ said his brother. ‘Now get to work on that list.’

      ‘Why are they holding back on naming its members?’ asked Holmes. ‘Do you have a list?

      ‘No. And I do not think they are holding back. This is merely a hobby, not something they take seriously. Now, do apply yourself.’

      ‘Doing what, Mycroft? I am not equipped to provide protection for seven or eight random men in London, nor can I detect in advance of a crime.’ He glanced again at the list. ‘An M, an R, an S and a V. There is no B here. Perhaps this Luminarian connection is a coincidence. Ah, but here is an earlier letter. F. How odd. Oliver Flynn!’

      ‘The playwright!’ I exclaimed. ‘Mary and I loved Lord Baltimore’s Snuffbox. Brilliantly funny!’

      ‘Watson, please,’ Holmes said. ‘Mycroft, I have discovered that Flynn is connected to a French anarchist group here in London. I have infiltrated them and, in the guise of an artist, I have been invited to a party in three days’ time. I expect—’

      ‘Oliver Flynn is well-meaning, and has sympathy with the downtrodden,’ said Mycroft, ‘but he is rather misinformed about the methods he is helping to fund. Socialism is one thing, anarchy another.’

      ‘Oliver Flynn with the anarchists?’ I exclaimed. ‘This seems improbable! Why would a famous playwright and bon vivant fund bombers?’

      ‘Odd bedfellows. But yes, Watson. I shall explain later,’ said Holmes. He turned to his brother. ‘What of his connection to the Goodwins?’

      ‘Social, I presume. He gets about. If our alphabet theory is correct, Flynn, as an F, could be a target quite soon,’ said Holmes’s elder brother. ‘I shall use my influence to convince him to take a sudden vacation. That should keep him safe while you pursue the alphabet killings, Sherlock.’

      ‘Mycroft! The anarchists are my current focus. Flynn’s party is vital to my investigation.’

      ‘I know about the trail you follow, including that grocer in Fitzrovia. Those anarchists are terribly dangerous, Sherlock. They are inexperienced young men fooling with explosives beyond their capabilities, driven by youthful fervour and misplaced idealism. One will blow himself up accidentally, mark my words. Stay away.’

      I thought that odd. In the past Mycroft Holmes had shown he was more likely to send his brother into danger than to warn him off it.

      ‘Your concern is touching, Mycroft. But, no.’

      ‘Drop it, I say.’

      ‘Why?’

      ‘The French have someone on it.’

      ‘Ah, here we are,’ said Holmes. ‘Tell me it is not who I think.’

      ‘I am afraid so,’ said Mycroft, ‘The French government adore him.’

      ‘Not Jean Vidocq?’ I blurted.

      Mycroft’s silence was confirmation.

      Vidocq was a handsome, arrogant French operative who considered himself a rival to Holmes. He had occasionally joined forced with us but had proven to be a dangerous and unreliable man. Even his name was a sham. Vidocq was no more related to Eugène Vidocq, the famous founder of the French Sûreté, than I was. He had merely adopted the name for its cachet. The man was responsible on a previous case for pushing me down a flight of stairs!

      ‘Jean Vidocq is a scoundrel,’ I said. ‘Not even terribly competent.’

      ‘He is useful, gentlemen. And you forget, he is well respected in France,’ said Mycroft.

      I was unconvinced.

      ‘I will not drop the anarchist investigation, Mycroft,’ said Holmes. ‘I am close to cracking a group via that grocery in Fitzrovia, and I intend to connect them to Flynn.’

      As we stood to leave, Mycroft pinned his brother with a look that would strike fear into most. ‘Drop it, I say, Sherlock, and attend to the Alphabet Killings. One by one, men who are creating great works of charity are being eliminated. Think of the loss to those in need. Think of the greater good.’

      At that precise moment, a page came in, approached Mycroft and whispered СКАЧАТЬ