The House Of Silk

himself in trouble, is there anyone he would turn to, any place where he might seek refuge?’
    Wiggins shook his head. But then he seemed to think again. ‘Is there another guinea in it for me?’ he asked.
    Holmes’s eyes narrowed and I could see he was struggling to compose himself. ‘Is the life of your compatriot worth as little as that?’ he demanded.
    ‘I don’t understand “compatriot”. ’e was nothing to me, Mr ’olmes. Why would I care if ’e lived or died? If Ross were never seen again, there are twenty more that would take ’is place.’ Holmes was still glaring at him and Wiggins suddenly softened. ‘All right. He was looked after, for a while anyway. There was a charity what took ’im in. Chorley Grange, up ’amworth way. It’s a school for boys. ’e told me once that ’e’d been there but ’e ’ated it and ran away. That was when ’e set up in King’s Cross. But, I suppose, if ’e was scared, if someone was after ’im, maybe he could have gone back. Better the devil you know …’
    Holmes straightened up. ‘Thank you, Wiggins,’ he said. ‘I want you to keep looking for him. I want you to ask anyone you meet.’ He took out a coin and handed it over. ‘If you find him, you must bring him here at once. Mrs Hudson will feed you both and look after you until I return. Do you understand me?’
    ‘Yes, Mr ’olmes.’
    ‘Good. Watson, I trust you will you accompany me? We can take the train from Baker Street.’
    One hour later, a cab dropped us off in front of three handsome buildings that stood next to one another on the edge of a narrow lane which climbed steeply for at least half a mile from the village of Roxeth up to Hamworth Hill. The largest of these, the one at the centre, resembled an English gentleman’s country home of perhaps a hundred years ago, with a red-tiled roof and a veranda running its full length at the level of the first floor. The face of the house was covered in vines which might be luxuriant in the summer but which were bare and spindly now, and the entire habitation was surrounded by farmland, with a lawn slanting down to an orchard filled with ancient apple trees. It was hard to believe that we were so close to London, for the air was fresh and the surrounding countryside most attractive, or it would have been had the weather been more clement, for it was very cold again and had begun to drizzle. The buildings on each side were either barns or brewhouses but had presumably been adapted to the school’s needs. There was a fourth structure on the other side of the lane, this one surrounded by an ornate metal fence with an open gate. It gave the impression of being empty for there was no light or movement there. A wooden sign read: Chorley Grange Home for Boys. Looking across the fields, I noticed a small group of boys attacking a vegetable patch with spades and hoes.
    We rang the front bell and were admitted by a man who was sombrely dressed in a dark grey suit and who listened in silence as Holmes explained who we were and on what mission we had come. ‘Very good, gentlemen. If you would like to wait here …’ He admitted us into the building and left us standing in an austere, wood-panelled hall with nothing on the walls apart from a few portraits, so faded as to be almost indecipherable, and a silver cross. A long corridor with several doors stretched into the distance. I could imagine classrooms on the other side, but not a sound came from within. It struck me that the place was more like a monastery than a school.
    Then the servant, if that was what he was, returned, bringing with him a short, round-faced man who had to take three steps for every one of his companion’s and panted loudly in his efforts to keep up. Everything about this new arrival was circular. In shape, he reminded me of the snowmen that I might see any time now in Regent’s Park, for his head was one ball and his body another and there was a simplicity about his face that could have been suggested with a carrot and several lumps of coal. He was about forty years old, bald, with just a little dark hair around his ears. He was dressed in the manner of a clergyman, complete with dog collar, which formed another circle around his neck. As he walked towards us, he beamed and spread his arms in welcome.
    ‘Mr Holmes! You do us a great honour. I have of course read of your exploits, sir. The greatest consulting detective in the country, here at Chorley Grange! It is really