Kronberg Crimes 01 - The Devils Grin

all, was, well… amusing.’
    ‘Amusing?’
    ‘Mr Holmes, you are the most observant man I ever came across, yet you want me to believe that you don’t know the impression you leave on others?’
    ‘I have a theory, but I am involved and thus not entirely independent in my judgement.’
    ‘You scare people,’ I stated simply. He could digest it as he pleased. But Holmes’s response surprised me — he chuckled.
    Accidentally, I cast a look at the woman on the mantelpiece.
    ‘Another theory I would like to hear,’ he said and I knew he had put me under the microscope the moment I entered his rooms.
    Seeing my startled expression, he produced a flood of explanations. ‘I noticed you glancing around as you entered. You looked rather taken aback. What a contrast when coming in from that neat staircase. My piles of papers and the spots on the walls and ceiling amused you. I could almost see the pictures of explosive experiments forming in your head. Very refreshing, indeed! Then you discovered the photograph,’ he pointed to the woman’s picture, ‘and your eyes lingered there for two seconds. You have formed an opinion.’
    He put his hands back in his lap and sat there relaxed while monitoring his surroundings without the slightest movement of his head. The man had very long antennae indeed!
    ‘I am curious, Mr Holmes — if you don’t want to involve me in this case, why not simply ask me to leave? Another thing I was just wondering was whether you ever met someone who learned how to avoid your analytical skills. Someone who could observe you well enough and then avoid being analysed by you, avoid being obvious, so to speak.’
    ‘You are evading my question.’ He still had that calm voice and I started wondering what could possible rattle his composure.
    ‘What question? I must have forgotten it,’ I mumbled and then, seeing him pointing his chin at the photograph, I said softly, ‘Your weak spot.’
    Upon that he pulled the corners of his mouth down and looked deeply disappointed.
    ‘You are reading Dr Watson; how ignorant of me!’ he announced, slapping his forehead.
    That was an odd answer. In my mind I scanned through the last publications I had read, but couldn’t remember any by Watson and colleagues. Holmes noticed my confusion.
    ‘Are you reading the papers occasionally?’ he enquired, a little perplexed.
    ‘Er… No, not really. What does that have to do with her?’ I waved my hand at the picture.
    ‘If you would have read my friend’s stories, you would know who Irene Adler is,’ he answered.
    ‘Your friend writes stories about you in newspapers?’
    ‘Unfortunately, yes. He publishes in The Strand , but that’s of no import—’
    ‘Is it Dr Watson you live with?’ I interrupted, suddenly curious. I had noticed a somewhat worn-looking coat hanging next to the door. It was made to fit a stocky man of approximately my height. Also, the two armchairs appeared as though both were regularly used. I could not quite imagine Holmes receiving visitors every day and openly inviting them to wear down his furniture. Probably, his distressed customers preferred to pace the room and ruin the carpet instead.
    After a moment of a measuring stare he grumbled, ‘He lives with his new wife now. You are evading my question again.’
    I quite enjoyed my own sauciness. Besides, I had a plan now.
    ‘You are rather impatient, Mr Holmes. May I?’ I asked, gingerly picking up the picture. He didn’t look too happy but let me proceed, and I started pacing his sitting room.
    ‘There are few pictures on the walls and they are almost completely hidden behind that chaos of yours. I should assume they hung there before you moved in and are of no importance to you?’
    He raised one eyebrow and I continued, ‘That is in sharp contrast to her, though. She is the only picture on the mantelpiece; possibly because you don’t know how to drive a nail into the wall?’
    A frown on Holmes’s face indicated that he did know how to use a hammer. Good for him. ‘There is all that stuff of yours on the mantelpiece, too. If she were insignificant she would be hidden, at least partially. But there she is, in full view. However, she is not someone you are fond of, because you never take her off her place; although I’m not entirely sure you would ever do such a thing even if you were fond of her.’
    Holmes appeared very alert now and I, not knowing whether he could sense my plan, put a little more distance