Some Adventures of Mr. Surelock KeysBeeman, Herbert
General
Some Adventures of Mr. Surelock Keys
Beeman, Herbert
Detective and mystery stories; Doyle, Arthur Conan, 1859-1930 -- Parodies, imitations, etc.; Fiction; Humorous stories, Canadian
"Well, you can now, here is our old friend, Inspector Morebusiness"
(You, dear reader, can guess his real name). "Tell the Inspector what
you saw."
"It was a leg of mutton hanging up in a butcher’s shop," shouted the
miserable would-be humorist, as he made a dash out of the door, just in
time to escape the bottle of ink that Keys sent hurtling through the
air, only, alas! to smash on the rapidly closing door.
The Inspector rolling on the floor in a paroxysm of laughter could
hardly get out the words. "First of April," and Keys sank back in his
chair muttering the monosyllable "Stung!"
*V.*
*THE ADVENTURE OF THE THIRTEEN CABS*
London was in the throes of a general strike, and the labour world in
such a seething ferment that many of the unions had broken from the
control of their leaders, while others were led to lengths that many of
the members deeply regretted, but were unable to prevent, so that deeds
of violence were of daily occurrence.
As we sat at breakfast Inspector Morebusiness was announced, and Keys
bade him to enter, not very cordially I am afraid, as it was the first
time we had seen him since his display of—to put it mildly—undue levity
over the unfortunate case of Theophilus Brown. However, on seeing how
white and worried the Inspector looked, Keys’ look of annoyance passed
away, and heartily inviting him to join us at the table, refused to
listen to his story until he had done justice to our ham and eggs and
coffee.
It was a terrible story that the inspector had to tell us. nothing less
than the destruction of the National Gallery, with its priceless
treasures, and of course loss of life, or injury, to anyone happening to
be in the neighborhood, for nitro-glycerine was the destructive agent
used.
He went on to say that the police had no clue, and in despair he had
come to Keys, a genuine acknowledgment of the Great Detective’s
marvellous powers, if a somewhat tardy one.
Keys closely questioned him as to anything unusual having been noticed
in the vicinity, and the inspector said that one of his men had seen
thirteen cabs passing shortly before the explosion.
"Arrest the President and all the Officers of the Bakers’ and
Pastrycooks’ Union, at once," said Keys. Greatly wondering, but willing
to catch at any straw, the Inspector hastened to obey him.
One evening, some little time after the conviction and subsequent
confession of the men whose arrest Keys had ordered, the Inspector
dropped in, he said, for a smoke, but it was easy to see that he was
dying to ask a question, so presently Keys said, "Well, Morebusiness,
you want to know how I did it."
The Inspector nodded an eager assent.
"Well, my friend, it was quite simple. Dynamite is heavy stuff, and in
such a quantity could not have been carried by hand without exciting
suspicion, but what more harmless looking than a four-wheeler, and
thirteen of them—isn’t that a baker’s dozen!"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account