g THE TEN ORLANDO
THE TEN ORLANDO PART ONE
The greatest detective in the world was worthy of the greatest empire in the world but not just that but the greatest example of life on earth the place that was the heart of it all London.
As SherlockHolmes left the shop where he had his cigarettes made to measure he thought about the fact that life had become boring.No more the erstwhile detective in search of an answer but now just whiling away his days with the old per cent solution of cocaine and Watson telling him how bad it was for his health. He was dressed in a dark blue suit and black top hat.
"I looked at the symptoms Holmes. I removed the disorders that did not relate to you and narrowed the list down to Asperger’s Syndrome, Bipolar Disorder, and Savant Syndrome. Next, I found specific examples from Freud's latest book that exhibit you demonstrating the symptoms of each mental disorder." Said Watson. Watson was sitting in front of the blazing fire and smoking a cigar. He looked pleased with himself.
Irritated Holmes replied "Please Watson! Refrain from these wanderings of your imagination, let us say,over-complicated but innocent mind !!!!
Watson shut up. Holmes went on.
"The truth is Watson is I find people boring but I do not find their problems boring if they are good ones and the fact is when was the last good one?
The average person's opinion and mind are like a postal package. It arrives and they take out the opinion and then post the same opinion to someone else convinced that some radical intellectual thought has taken place."
Watson was riled and annoyed at Holmes distaste for the common mind.
"But Holmes ! People are people and cannot be expected to be like you ".
Holmes ignored him and suddenly said.
"Watson! We have a visitor! Coming down Baker Street at this moment and recently let down in love. She writes poetry and is interested in the Romantic period. And last but not least loves the music of Chopin".
Watson was flabbergasted.
"Good God Holmes how is it even humanly possible to deduce all that ".
Miss Jennifer Cumley a gentile woman of Hampstead took the stairs towards Holmes and his deductions. She entered the room led by Mrs Hudson. Holmes had his back to her as he stood looking out the window but then turned in a snap and said.
" My dear lady pray take a seat you look exhausted. Mrs Hudson! Tea and quickly"!
Miss Jennifer Cumley sat down and said: "Oh thank you Mr Holmes Im so tired ".
Holmes half bowed his head in the form of a salute and said.
"Please Miss Cumley tell us all there is to tell".
She gathered her thoughts.
" Well, Mr Holmes I work in a ragged school in Southwark. It is my duty in life to help the poor especially children. Let me be totally frank with you. A certain Mr Orlando Brown took advantage of me,. Mr Orlando Brown of Savvanah in the United States of America arrived in this country shortly after the civil war. He was a young man then but grew into a man whose profession in life was to take the heart of young gullible women. I, I am ashamed to say, am one. Holmes suddenly felt bored by the outpourings of the young woman and nearly said." To the point woman"!
But his underlying kindness shone through and he said instead "Let us begin at the beginning then proceed my dear young lady".
THE LADY EXPLAINS
I was born in Rawalpindi in India and my father was an Indian army, Major. We lived a good life for my Father had somehow come into money but he was obsessed with the army. Let us say a real army man. Unfortunately, my health was not up to that climate and I was a sickly child so my father sent me back to England to live with my aunt. It was a pleasant life with her. she lived upon Hampstead Heath in the Vale of Health but as I became a young woman I realised that I had to do something solid with my life. I would never want money but I saw all the injustice around me and felt that I needed to help. A certain Mr Peter Forbes Fordham was a friend of my Aunt and he was a campaigner for the rights of poor children. One day on my 18th birthday he asked me to work with him in a school he was setting up in Southwark for poor children but there was another question. He suddenly went on one knee and proposed matrimony. To say I was surprised Mr Holmes is, to say the least, because Mr Fordham was very much older than me by ten and 40 years. I accepted the job but not the second offer. You see I was 18 and he was 70 years old and although still a fine figure of a man I felt we were incompatible. He accepted my decision like a gentleman and still offered me the work which I hungrily drove onto and it was such a pleasing work, Mr Holmes, I know this is silly to say but I felt like a Mother. At the end of the day, all the children would cling to my dress and well what can one say, Mr Holmes ".
Holmes offered a slight smile. "You became a kind of Goddess, let us say, amongst the unfortunate dear lady, but that said a Goddess who wanted to do good". Watson looked alarmed at Holmes response and under his breath said, "oh dear".
"I had never received much praise for anything I had ever done and it was not that I had ever done that much. Sewing and water colouring Mr Holmes but now I was, well what can I say, yes! a kind of Goddess to the poor children who hung on my every word. I had found an audience and a vocation Mr Holmes,"
Holmes disguised his boredom and simply said "Shall we continue to the aforementioned Orlando Brown latterly of Savvanah Georgia dear lady" It was not a question more a command.
ORLANDO BROWN
"We had through strenuous effort transformed an old factory into something that resembled a school but after a while, we gained more students and we needed another teacher. One day Mr Fordham arrived at the school and introduced me to his companion. "This is Mr Orando Brown ". He was dressed in an orderly fashion and was deeply browned from the sun. His black hair had started to grey slightly and a scar ran from the corner of his eye to the side of his mouth. It did not disfigure him but gave him a mystery Mr Holmes. He was of medium height and had extremely vivid blue eyes. He held out his hand to me and shook my hand just as if I was solely another collaborator on the road to help the poor children of Southwark. He impressed straight away. He started to teach and one day I asked to sit in his class so I could see how he taught as I had heard some good things about him. Well, one of the children a certain Johnny Smith was one of those children who very little could be hoped for. He was a child of little intelligence and had to be helped more than the others. On that day something incredible happened. Orlando Brown drew a very difficult mathematical problem on the board and then asked Johnny Smith to come to the board and resolve it. Johnny was hesitant at first and said "I don't think I can Sir " but Orlando Brown insisted and finally Johnny Smith came to the board and resolved the problem that would have been nigh impossible for an Oxford graduate Mr Holmes. As Johnny Smith walked back to his desk Mr Brown said "See Johnny all our hard work has come to something has it not"? I was very impressed Mr Holmes for Johnny Smith to have resolved that problem was nothing short of a miracle".All the while that she spoke Holmes had assumed his meditation position with his left hand on his head and the right hand holding his unlit pipe. As she came to a halt in her dialogue Holmes said one thing. "You said he was browned from the sun did you not ?"
THE MYSTERY
"Yes, Mr Holmes that is correct ".
"Continue if you will" Replied Holmes
"Well, the school became quite popular. The parents who were at first reluctant to send their children to us started to see the school as something positive and we were able to create something quite unique. Mr Orlando Brown was very popular and taught a variety of subjects. Well, I became quite interested in him as his attention to me was always based on a professional basis. I felt like a real teacher even though I had little experience but I suppose something was better than nothing for the poor children. One day I asked Mr Brown where he lived and he replied. "I have decided to live as the people do here to fully understand them and I have a lodging above a tavern not far from the school . Very rough and ready but that is how I want it to be".
I admired him even more for I was trapesing between Hampstead and Southwark every day. I suppose on hearing that I felt a bit of a fraud, Mr Holmes. Well, I asked Mr Brown what tavern he resided at but he replied that it was better if I didn't know for it was not exactly the Mall or Mayfair he smiled at let out a little laugh as he said that but I wanted to know everything about him. I suppose I was falling a little bit in love with him. Its the kind of thing we, do as human beings when we feel like that isn't it Mr Holmes, what would you say_
Holmes made a quick gesture with his hand and another with eyes both of impatience and said
"Pray to continue".
"Well, I followed him, Mr Holmes, Shamefully through the dirty Southwark streets the filth is incredible but I followed.
Past the Palace of Varieties until he entered a very run-down pub in a side street. I thought that was where he lived but through the window, I could see him drinking one glass after another of what I can only assume to be whisky. I thought it odd Mr Holmes. To be honest I was somewhat shocked and turned away but as I did he came out and walked away from the pub. I followed.
I followed him some way before he entered into what must have been an old and empty municipal building. I entered inside and there was a central staircase. Orlando Brown was going up it. I followed and he went along a corridor and then entered into a room. He let the door swing shut and I caught it silently so I could peer into the room. Before I was the most astonishing sight. Ten Orlando Browns all seated around what was a kind of Board table but for all intents something like abominable knights of a devilish round table, all the same, Mr Holmes,all exactly the same. I have not said one word to anyone Mr Holmes for fear of the institution for those weak of mind. I know from Mr Watsons writing in the Strand magazine that you do not dismiss those in need of help Mr Holmes".
"You are right and now Doctor Watson will call you a Hansom and I want you to listen to me carefully. To resolve this case I need you to go home and stay there until I call for you. That cannot be stressed more than enough. "
"But my children Mr Holmes"
"They will still be there when we have resolved this case and we will "
After she left Holmes still at the window and watching her as she left the house and his eye following her till she hailed a hansom. Watson said. "Might I offer an explanation, Holmes "? "Pray do" replied Holmes.
"Doppelgangers!
Completely ignoring Watson's remark Holmes suddenly turned to Watson and said"Fashions come and go Watson, but we as a people have never had a dedication to being honey-coloured, the bronzing of the face means one or two things does it not? Summer campaigning or hard navvies work on the railway but it does hide a multitude of sins and my dear Watson, Brown fits that bill.
"Absolutely right Holmes " Replied Watson.
"It is déclassé. Bronzed skin is for those soldiers or labourers who toil or fight under the elements. Mr Orlando Brown is one or the other".Replied Holmes.
"Do you not remember When Elizabeth Bennett, the heroine of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, broke out a freckle or two after a shade-less walk, she caused a mild scandal among her fictional peers"? asked Watson
"To be honest Watson I think you read the wrong things " Replied Holmes
"Well, may I ask what you read," said a riled Watson.
"I read the things pertinent to my work and as you should know my dear friend ". A long pause . " everything else is superfluous to the serious mind"
Watson pulled up the page of his newspaper so Holmes couldn't see his face anymore. Behind it, he did not read.
But Holmes was enjoying it and said "How do you find the young lady Watson". He asked.
"Well Holmes perfectly decent " replied Watson still riled.
"I would say perfectly is the word Watson but bordered by dull "
"Good God Holmes have you not got a decent thing to say about anyone"
"Calm yourself Watson for I think you will agree that nothing is as dull as those on moral crusades with nothing to do with their time as in the manner and in respect of any consequence. You have met many in the art of quacking I'm sure"
Watson laid down his newspaper put on his coat and hat and started to walk out of Baker Street, As he left Mrs Hudson said " Doctor Watson will you be back for the dinner " Watson replied, "Yes Mrs Hudson ". Upstairs Holmes heard and smiled. It was good to know Watson would be back.
The only real friend Holmes had ever had, not that Holmes had ever tried to cultivate friendship. It was something that did not worry him at all but Watson was, as they say, someone to put a theory to and while listening to the inevitable wrong reply immediately come to the crux of the matter
While dwelling on this his mind wandered back to the woman he still loved Irene Adler. He asked himself why he dwelt on her so much in his lonely hours and remembered an old quote by a famous psychologist. "We choose not randomly each other. We meet those who already exist in our subconscious". He looked out of the window again always hoping against hope that she would stroll into view for she never walked but strolled. He found himself wondering what she might be doing in any given moment of the given day and suddenly chastised himself. And said inside his mind you are no better than the young woman you have just mocked.
After a while, Watson came back and Mrs Hudson had laid the table. It was the usual meat and vegetables with a soup starter. There was a bottle of very old Tokay though and as Holmes and Watson sat to eat Holmes said "Will you partake my dear Watson"?
"What is it Tokay again "?
"From the princely house of Bretzenheim . I'm sure you will enjoy it "
"Can we not have some claret, Holmes"?
"A house that became extinct in 1863 Watson but my good man Berry has procured a case for us. This wine has been walled up since the revolutionary wars in Hungary. The family thought that their wines would be seized "
Watson taste the wine and said
"By Jove Holmes it is superb. But how much did this cost? It is like the manna from above"
"Do you remember the case of Carillo "?
"Yes the priceless Hungarian stallion that disappeared "
"Well the owner sent me this as payment Watson. And I must say that it is a very capital way to earn ones living".
"I will second that Holmes . Can I have another please ".
"You may and tonight we will finish the bottle and open another for tonight we must create our plan of action".
When the second bottle was finished Holmes said "Have you ever taken up the rod Watson"? Watson looked surprised "Exactly what do you mean"?
Holmes smiled and then said "the fishing rod Watson". Well in my younger days I did but its been many years since I sought the Pike who terrorised the local lake ".
"Well tomorrow watson we will be encamped upon the lake in front of what they now call the Vale of Health on Hampstead Heath. The road to Orlando Brown leads there "
"But should we not examine his rooms at the Elephant"?
"No Watson that would probably be of little use . Tomorrow we are fishermen.
"Listen said Forbes Fordham and listen well. Holmes is on the case I think we should maybe forget the whole thing. If Holmes is on your tail it never ends and ends badly.
Orlando Brown angrily replied to Fordham "Listen Fordham anyone who goes against me is a son of a bitch and can kiss my ass. Holmes too."
"Holmes is dangerous Orlando, If we have him on our tail then there is trouble on the horizon as they say".
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