met him but I know a little of him. He was a relative, but a distant one. He was an amiable churchgoer, living quietly and dedicating his spare time to the service of Rome. This prevented his taking more than a cursory interest in our estate, or indeed in the family. I am afraid we rather lost touch with him over the years. What problem has he produced?'
Holmes explained the matter, concisely summarizing Garrison Bolt's visit, the extraordinary letter and the chain of reasoning which had led him to this return visit to Hurlstone. Nathaniel Musgrave examined the envelope carefully.
'I have no correspondents in the west of Canada,' he said. 'I know no one there. I can make nothing of the letter other than to applaud your extraordinary deductions. You were clearly intended to bring the letter to Hurlstone, but what we are meant to do with it is utterly beyond me. Frankly I am amazed that you have deduced so much. My cousin told me of your extraordinary powers, Mr Holmes, and I can see that he was not exaggerating. As you know,' he continued, 'we have the crown which you so dramatically identified for us. We have had it fully restored. Perhaps you would like to see it. Incidentally, we have learned that it graced the brows of the Tudor, as well as the Stuart, kings. It was reportedly used at every coronation from that of Henry VIII until the dispersion of the regalia following Charles I's trial and execution in January of 1649, when it was, I understand, broken into pieces by Master Cromwell and his notso-merry men. We have always kept the linen bag in which the Crown was retrieved from the mere, too. It seemed a sacrilege to separate them after nearly two hundred and fifty years together in solitary confinement in Brunton's strongbox, as we call it.'
Holmes looked sharply at Musgrave, an expression of extreme alertness and concentration on his face. He paused before speaking again. 'What do you infer, Mr Musgrave, from this reference to 'coffins', and a date of 1050, or 1100?' he asked. 'It is clearly a directive we are meant to follow.'
'There at least I see no difficulty,' said the young heir. 'The old part of the building, like the rest of the estate, does indeed date back to feudal times. It has always been one of the duties of the incumbent at Hurlstone to preserve the original burial sites of those who lived here before us. Some are merely marked by rude stone markers with the ancient engravings obliterated by nine hundred years of wind and storm but others, mostly wooden caskets and stone sarcophagi, have been sheltered from the elements. Those of the Norman period you mention are situated in an ancient catacomb abutting, as it happens, on the very cellar in which you and my cousin found the body of our unfortunate butler.'
Holmes rubbed his hands in satisfaction. 'Let us lose no time in examining these coffins. Our unknown correspondent has gone to considerable lengths to see that we do and I know of no reason why we should not oblige her. By the way, Mr Musgrave,' he added, 'are the Hurlstone relics, graves and coffins arranged in any particular order, or system? Do the phrases 'control system' or 'control sy' have any meaning for you?'
'The words mean nothing to me,' replied Musgrave, 'but yes, the graves are sited in chronological order. I suppose that is the way of graves. In any case it could not be otherwise at Hurlstone. Many of the stone cases are very heavy. It would be no easy matter to move them.'
The entrance to the catacombs was a sloping tunnel. Its moss-covered flagstones provided firm footing as we entered from the daylight but became treacherously slippery as we descended. The dank, fungus-covered walls dripped with moisture – a reminder of the nearby Hurlstone mere. Our host carried a flare, by whose light we picked our way down the ancient ramp of the ossuary. The odour of nitrates was unmistakable. In many places the old wooden coffins had rotted and collapsed; skeletal remains of ancient Musgraves were glimpsed as we descended – mute but eloquent testimony to our host's ancient lineage. Nathaniel Musgrave halted at a small group of crumbling stone containers, one of which had a lid, slightly ajar.
'These are the coffins of the Norman period;' said he, 'most of their occupants were recorded in the Domesday Book.'
'Please excuse my lack of ceremony, Mr Musgrave,' said Holmes, stepping forward. 'I mean no disrespect but something of immediate significance, in addition to the remains of your ancestors may, I believe, be found inside these coffins. Help me to slide this lid further, will you, Watson?'
Musgrave and I turned our shoulders to the task Holmes watched closely, then thrust his arm into the half- opened casket and withdrew from its depths a linen bag, tied at the throat with twine. He regarded it thoughtfully for some moments before speaking.
'You paid me a compliment today, Mr Musgrave, when you alluded to the deductive powers I had the pleasure of bringing to the aid of Sir Reginald. These same powers will, I believe, now enable me in turn to surprise you! Before we open this bag it would please me to tell you precisely what we shall find inside it.'
I could not help laughing at this preposterous suggestion. 'It seems to me,' I managed, with some difficulty, to articulate, 'that only a psychic, or a thief who has had access to this chamber, could make such a prediction. Since I know that you are neither, I take the liberty of doubting you! There is no way in this world in which you could possibly foretell such a thing!' 'I must second Dr Watson's opinion,' said Nathaniel Musgrave, also grinning broadly. 'It is not possible.'
'Very well,' said Holmes. 'I take up your gage!' He paused and continued, measuring his words in the manner of an orator addressing his audience: 'In this bag you will find, certainly tamished, probably discoloured, possibly damaged but nevertheless recognizable, an orb – a ball of gold – and a sceptre. Unless the corrosion of three centuries prevents it, a smaller orb, surmounted by a cross on which rests a dove, will attach to the sceptre. When I add that the great orb is itself surmounted by a cross and that its weight is one pound, five and a quarter ounces, you will have no difficulty in verifying my prediction.'
And so, to our amazement, it proved! One by one Nathaniel Musgrave withdrew the contents from the bag and placed them on the lid of the sarcophagus. The pieces were indeed horribly stained but they glittered nevertheless in the light cast by Musgrave's flare. 'Rubbish they appear but rubbish I know they are not!' cried Musgrave. 'They are just as you say, Mr Holmes. Whatever can they be? You astonish me!'.
Sherlock Holmes bowed low in humorous acknowledgement, a look of immense satisfaction on his face.
'By Jove!' cried Musgrave. 'This linen bag is identical to the one in which we recovered the crown from the lake, when you solved the puzzle of our Ritual.'
'You are certain of that?' said Holmes. 'Your cousin showed me the bag at the time, but I did not, as I now regret, make any special examination of it.'
'Yes, I am certain. What can it mean?'
Holmes did not reply at once. He sat on the coffin, deep in thought. It was only when our host's flare sputtered out, leaving us in darkness, that he spoke again. 'Musgrave,' he said, 'you mentioned that these catacombs abut the cellar in which we found Brunton's body. Where precisely is that cellar?'
'Within ten paces of this spot!' replied Musgrave, relighting his flare; 'Up these stone steps and through that archway!' Thus we found ourselves at the site of the old Hurlstone tragedy.The stone slab that had snuffed out Brunton's life had been replaced, no doubt for reasons of safety, by a wooden trap door but, as Holmes commented, little else had changed. As before, on a barrel stood a large lantern, evidently still functional for Musgrave lit it at once. Wood was still stacked around the walls. Holmes was even able to show us two of the dented billets that Brunton and the girl Howells had used to raise the flagstone from the sepulchre. He had, he remarked, put them to one side, years ago.
On my first visit,' said Holmes, 'I sat here for twenty minutes, thinking over the meaning of what we had found. I must now do so again. We have much data to consider. May I suggest that you, Watson, and you Musgrave, take these historic relics to a place of safety in the house while I remain here. My pipe and tobacco will suffice for company.'
I followed Musgrave as he led the way up a winding stone staircase to the daylight above. In half an hour we rejoined Holmes. He rose and stood before us, his hands on his coat lapels, his eyes alive with excitement.
'Musgrave, I have news which I fear will not please you, following as it does so hard on our discovery of…'
'Of what?' cried Musgrave. 'What precisely
'Reunited with the crown you already have, they are nothing less than the ancient Crown Jewels of England!'
Musgrave and I stared at Holmes in amazement.
'The Crown Jewels?'
'Just so. However, the fact is that others have rights to this new treasure and, hard though it may be to comprehend, they have already established an effective claim to it. They have done so moreover in a manner which
