Sherlock Holmes In America

you have taken pride in your ability to make your own way in the world. Although you have not yet remarried, you have a gentleman friend who has engaged your affections, but he is also your social inferior. Your mother encourages you to mingle with her friends, but you seldom do, preferring your own circle of acquaintances.”

She stared at him in amazement, so thoroughly awed she didn’t even notice when the maid set the next course down in front of her. “How on earth could you know all that about me?” she asked, but then answered her own question. “Oh, of course, Theodore must have told you.”

“I promise you that our host has told me nothing about your background,” Holmes assured her.

“Then how could you possibly have known all that from simply meeting me tonight?” she challenged.

“You asked me to demonstrate my abilities, Mrs. Brandt, so I shall. First of all, I knew you were a widow because you were introduced to me as Mrs. Brandt, yet you are not wearing a wedding ring.” She instinctively looked down at her left hand as if to verify his observation. “If you had been recently widowed, you would be in mourning, but enough time has passed since you lost your husband that you are wearing colors again and have removed your ring.”

“I see,” she said, nodding her approval. “But how could you know anything at all about my late husband’s social standing?”

“The name Brandt is of German extraction, and even Americans are still a bit selective about whom they accept into the upper reaches of society. Your mother is obviously a member of that group.”

“How could you know my parents didn’t approve of my marriage, though?”

Holmes smiled apologetically. “Parents never approve when their daughter wants to marry a man they consider beneath her.”

She conceded the point to him. “But how could you know I didn’t return to my parents after my husband died?”

“I must apologize, but I can see that gown you are wearing, as lovely as it is, has been altered slightly to fit you, which means it was made for someone else. Your mother, perhaps? Did she lend it to you for the occasion because you had nothing suitable of your own and she was determined to take you out in society?”

She was speechless again, so Holmes continued.

“I surmised that you take pride in making your own way in the world because you have that air of confidence about you that women do when they are pleased with themselves.”

“Is that a compliment, Mr. Holmes?” she challenged.

“Some men might not think so,” he admitted.

“You’re right there,” she said. “And finally, what makes you believe I have a… a gentleman friend?”

“Because when Mr. Roosevelt introduced you and your mother, your mother made no mention of your many accomplishments or tried in any way to make Dr. Watson and myself think more highly of you.”

“Why would she do a thing like that?” she asked in genuine confusion.

“Mrs. Brandt, Dr. Watson and I are bachelors of independent means. This makes us objects of interest to every woman with an unmarried daughter. The fact that we are also British for some reason makes us even more desirable here in America. You would hardly credit how many poor damsels have been thrust into our notice by their proud mamas since our arrival on your shores. Each and every one of them, to hear the mothers tell it, are paragons of virtue and achievement and perfectly suitable as wives to any Englishman, particularly Dr. Watson or myself.”

By now she was covering her mouth to keep from laughing out loud. When she had recovered herself, she said, “Please accept my apology, Mr. Holmes, on behalf of all the desperate American mothers. I’m afraid they can’t help themselves.”

“Perhaps not,” Holmes said. “But your mother feels no need to thrust you under anyone’s nose, Mrs. Brandt. She knows your affections are engaged elsewhere.”

The color bloomed in her face. “By yet another socially unacceptable man, I assume,” she said, feigning bravado.

“Yes,” Holmes said, “or else he would have accompanied you this evening.”

“Perhaps he was simply otherwise engaged,” she suggested.

“Then our hostess would have inquired about him.”

Before she could reply, Mr. Roosevelt drew everyone’s attention by making a toast to his English guests, proclaiming himself dee-lighted to have us in his home. Apparently, Mr. Roosevelt had been blessed with at least ten more teeth than most humans, and his smile displayed every one of them when he was dee-lighted. As I have already noted, this occurred frequently.

After the change of topic, Mrs. Brandt made no further mention of Holmes’s vocation until much later, when the gentlemen had rejoined the ladies in the parlor after indulging in their brandy and cigars. Mrs. Roosevelt had claimed my attention, but Mrs. Brandt drew Holmes aside, as if by prearrangement with our hosts. After only a few minutes, however, Holmes summoned me to join him in the far corner of the room where he and Mrs. Brandt had found some measure of privacy.

“Watson, I would like for you to hear what Mrs. Brandt has been telling me about a very interesting case,” he said, indicating I should take a seat beside her. “Mrs. Brandt, you may speak as freely in front of Dr. Watson as you would to me alone. Please continue.”

“As I was telling Mr. Holmes,” she began, “a young lady recently disappeared under mysterious circumstances. She is the daughter of one of the most highly respected ministers in the city, the Reverend Mr. Penny of Christ’s Church. She was doing volunteer work in the church basement one morning, and she simply vanished, as if into thin air. No one has seen or heard from her since, and that was nearly two weeks ago.”

“I believe I read something about this in the newspapers,” Holmes said. “Although the accounts were a bit confusing, and some were even contradictory to others.”

Mrs. Brandt shook her head. “The New York newspapers pay very little attention to accuracy, I’m afraid. They are much more interested in sensation, because it will sell newspapers. I’ve seen theories that Harriet Penny was abducted by everything from spirits from another world to Barbary Pirates.”

Holmes smiled indulgently. “What is your theory, Mrs. Brandt?”

“Mine?” she asked in surprise. “I don’t really have one. I only know what the police think.”

“What do they think?” he asked with interest.

“That she was kidnapped and has been forced into a brothel.”

I’m afraid I could not conceal my surprise that a lady of Mrs. Brandt’s breeding would use such a word in polite company.

“I’m sorry if I shocked you, Dr. Watson, but Mr. Holmes was correct when he guessed that I have continued to make my own way in the world, as he so politely phrased it. I am a trained nurse and midwife, and I have seen far more of the world than my parents would have approved, I’m sure.”

By now I had recovered from my surprise, and of course Holmes had not even batted an eye at her candor. “I assume the police are searching for the young woman in the… the places where they might expect to find her,” I said.

“Yes, but without success. There are so many of those places in the city, and none of them are likely to admit to keeping an innocent young woman against her will. As you can imagine, her parents are distraught, as are the people in her father’s church. In fact, the sense of outrage by all decent people in the city is growing daily.”

“A serious matter, indeed,” Holmes agreed. “Is Miss Penny a friend of yours?”

“No, I don’t know her personally, but her plight has affected me deeply, as it must affect all who know of it. I have determined to help in any way I can, even to enlisting the assistance of the best detective in the world,” she added with her charming smile. “Do you think you could find her, Mr. Holmes? I know you aren’t familiar with the city, but-”

“I would be glad to be of assistance,” Holmes assured her, “if the police are agreeable to consulting with me.”

“I know one of them will be. Mr. Roosevelt has already said he would give his permission if you were willing. I’ll send word to Detective Sergeant Malloy first thing tomorrow to meet you at your hotel.”

Holmes’s expression never changed, but I knew he was thinking, as was I, that Mrs. Brandt had indeed given her affections to someone socially inferior if she had chosen a policeman.

Holmes and I had hardly finished our breakfast the next morning when the expected Detective Sergeant presented himself. From his expression, he either had a bad tooth or he deeply resented having to consult with