The Reichenbach Plan

Chapter 7: A Price Greater Than Rubies

At first Lady Travers stood in shock, and then shrugged her shoulders. She walked over to a bookshelf extracting a book, Tales of Mary of Adelaide, from which she removed the envelope from the safe concealed inside. She placed the envelope into Sherlock's waiting hands. Holmes verified the contents and then turned toward the lady. She motioned for the gentlemen to take a seat.

Lady Travers placed the book back on the shelf, and then turned and faced the two men. "I am not a fool Mister Holmes. I am aware that my husband married me for my looks; and my accent is charming to his fellow politicians. He also chose me because I will not embarrass him at company parties. Bertram, in his own way, has been a good husband to me. He has one vice, and as far as I know, has only had one dalliance." At this point she arched her eyebrow at Sherlock, "correct? I know you would know; and you have no problem in telling." Sherlock shook his head, "I am only aware of the one." Lady Travers paced the room. "Carbuncle" she said, the words she muttered under her breath made John abashed to hear. "Your brother would be abashed to hear you talk about him like that." Sherlock said nonchalantly. Lady Travers stopped her pacing and stared at him for a second, then she laughed. "I've seen your brother deduced familial relations before, is it a family gift?" Sherlock shuddered and shook his head, "My brother was the teacher, I am the master."

Lady Travers sat down on a small chaise longe before continuing, "My brother passed away, two years ago. Hidden in his personal papers were two letters written by my husband to Carbuncle. A cleaning lady, of whom blames my husband for her brother's deportation, had discovered them. She sold them to Eduardo Lucas, who held onto them till two nights ago. It is only by fate I was the one who checked the post that night. I went to Lucas demanding proof. He showed me the letters, I of course recognized my husband's formal handwriting. Lucas saw that I was determined to preserve my husband's happiness. He informed me that one of his spies in the Ministry had heard rumors of a document that would soon be in my husband's possession. I was to procure the document and bring it to him. He, on his honor, would allow me to destroy the letters."

"My husband has one private vice that he does not know renders him incapacitated. He indulged in it that night and I was able to use his key to open his dispatch box. I then ran straight to that vile man's residence.  I gave the horrid man the letter, and he gave me the Carbuncle letters. I saw him place the letter in a false book, similar to what I have. With our business finished, I left his flat. As I descended the stairs, I met a woman with a French accent made heavier by alcohol. She asked me which flat I had come from, and then flew into a rage when I pointed to Lucas' door. I left quickly not wanting to be involved in a police inquiry."

"I awoke the next morning to the sounds of wailing. I have never seen my husband so distraught, he was on the verge of a mental breakdown yesterday. I went to your brother, hoping to see how valuable the document was. I have observed Mycroft Holmes several times, especially at my husband's card games. I've learned his tells." Holmes smiled to himself, before the crisp voice brought him back to reality. "You'll never see them, Sherlock, as he would be guarded with you, as I am a woman. I have figured out that a blubbering female can turn most men into jelly." Holmes turned to Watson, "I believe Watson that we have discovered the most dangerous woman in England. Is that what you did today with the policeman? Turned on the waterworks." A small smile came over her face. Her voice took on a decidedly British accent. "Oy! no, Mister 'olmes, I acted like a wide-eyed, brainless girl who lived down the street. 'I've never seen a real life crime scene before.' A few kind words to the Bobby, an' he was puddin' in my 'and." Her voice resumed it's native charm, "I pretended to grow faint at the sight of the blood; and again the young man did what I expected. I extracted the letter from the safe, and made it safely home. I was just going to try and figure out how to return it when you showed up."

Holmes rose from his chair, "May I see the place your husband keeps his dispatch box when he is at home?" The two men were escorted up to a small study, where sat a large safe. Holmes gestured toward the safe, "Do you know the combination?" Lady Travers nodded, "We keep other family documents in there. My husband never suspected me of entering his box. He did have a bio-metric reader on his case that only high ranking Ministry employees can access. Holmes face lit up at the news, and quickly sent a text.

Noises from below indicated the arrival of Lord Travers. Homes and Watson descended the stairs to find Mycroft also in attendance. It was obvious that the missing letter was weighing heavy on the young minister. "Any news, Mr. Holmes?" he asked, his voice on the verge of breaking. Holmes smiled slightly, "Not entirely, but I am here to test a theory." Travers face filled with rage, "There is no time for theories, the deadline is in less then twelve hours." Holmes held up his hand, "I have dealt with an elephantine proportion of  idiots in this case, and your talking only adds to it. Now, if we were dealing with a common criminal, the document would have already been found. If we're dealing with one of the criminal elite, there would still be undercurrents. There are none. So having eliminated the impossible we are left with the possible. The only person that I have not examined is you, and if I had this would have been solved yesterday. I believe that it is your incompetence that has caused the document to be gone for so long." Watson had truly never seen any living person turn purple, but he was now seeing it. "Are you saying, MISTER HOLMES, that I am the one to steal that document!?" Holmes chuckled, "no, you lack the self-possession to be of any worth in the espionage game. No, you are more the type of person who thinks something is lost, when you probably just overlooked it. Travers' face turned an even deeper shade of purple, "HOW DARE YOU!" Holmes came within inches of his nose, "I dare because someone was incompetent enough to entrust you with a document on which the fate of England's future rested. Prove me wrong, open your case and show me that the letter is not in there. John almost felt sorry for the young minister, almost. He brought his case in with a smug smile. With a flourish he ran his thumb over the sensor. He turned toward Myrcoft, if you would be so kind as to come over here as your brother is not cleared for some of the contents of this case...or any of it for that matter." Mycroft nodded and walked toward the case as Sherlock walked away. They started going through the documents, when Watson spotted a trace of blue in one of the folded letters. "What is that Mycroft?" Watson asked pointing, "inside that letter there?" Mycroft opened the letter in question and the envelope hit the tile floor, followed quickly by young minister. He rose in shock, "I don't believe it, I searched this thing a dozen times." He yelled up the stairs "Mary, come quick!" when Lady Travers reached the second to last step, she was swept off her feet by her husband. "It has been found, Oh my dear, this is is a miracle, the document has been found." He continued to gush. John caught Lady Travers' eye catch Sherlock's and give a barely perceptible nod. Holmes clapped his hand, "Well, I see that we are no longer needed, we will head out. Without another word, Holmes and Watson exited the apartments.

As Sherlock and John were about to walk out, they were stopped by Mycroft. "So that's it then? No blackmailers, no secrets? Just overlooked in the case?" Holmes eyed his brother for a second, "why would you suspect otherwise?" Holmes' eyes rolled to the ceiling; and a smile crept on his face, "Ah, you knew." Mycroft assumed an air of dignity, "knew what, pray tell." Holmes stared at his brother for a second, "You knew that it was spirited from the box, but you didn't know who had it, or you would have raided the place. You didn't know who took it or how, or that person would already have been arrested. Of course you knew, but either couldn't ... or didn't most likely, stain the hands that controlled England. Well, mine are going to stay clean too, this time. I have retrieved your document, if you press me about my methods, I will reveal to the press how I was able to procure the ID I used at Baskerville." Mycroft stared at the floor for a second, "Blackmail doesn't become you brother; but you have a deal." Sherlock adjusted his balaclava and walked out the door.