fellow in a suit and a fez came and escorted us to the Pasha's room.
This time Orman Pasha was not in full dress uniform, but was wearing a black frock-coat. He rose from behind his desk and greeted us warmly.
'Mr Holmes,' he said, as he motioned us to sit down, 'dare I hope that you have good news to tell?'
'We are approaching a solution to the mystery, Orman Pasha,' said Holmes, 'but there are some loose ends that remain. I am hopeful that a disaster may yet be averted.'
'I am greatly relieved to hear it, Mr Holmes,' replied the Pasha.
'I do, however, have a few questions to ask you, after which I would like to meet Colonel Yusufoglu,' said Holmes, sitting back in his chair. 'Orman Pasha, if, as we shall for the moment assume, the Bulgarian emissary was not murdered by your Government's agents, who else would have a motive for killing him?'
The Pasha thought for a moment. 'Of the people present at Lord Eversden's dinner, I cannot think of anyone who might have a motive. They are all people in prominent diplomatic positions and I cannot see what any of them would gain from doing such a thing.'
'Do you not think then that the reasonable conclusion to be drawn is that one of your Government's agents did, in fact, commit the murder? Colonel Yusufoglu was kneeling beside Simeonov; Simeonov appeared to accuse him with his dying words; Count Balinsky is convinced of his guilt. No other evidence seems to suggest the guilt of any other man. Must not the conclusion be that the colonel is guilty?'
The Pasha looked at Holmes with an expression of mingled amusement and impatience. 'Mr Holmes,' he said, 'why do you suggest such a thing when you are already convinced that it is not true?'
'Why does Your Excellency conclude that I do not accept this as the truth?'
'Because you have already told me that you have high hopes of averting disaster, Mr Holmes. If you did, indeed, believe in Yusufoglu's guilt, you would not have said that.'
Holmes smiled his tight, secret smile. 'Guilt is a matter of definition.We must not forget that, in any murder, the murderer's motive is of at least equal importance to his identity.'
The Pasha's brow darkened. 'I fear, Mr Holmes, that, whatever the motive, it will make little difference in this case if Yusufoglu is the murderer. Do you wish to speak with him now?'
Holmes nodded and the Pasha rang a bell. The sombre individual entered the room and was given a few brief instructions in Turkish, whereupon he left, to return a few minutes later with a tall, broad-shouldered man – Colonel Yusufoglu. He was a dark-complexioned giant, with fierce black eyes and a thick black moustache. I will admit that he struck me as a morose fellow, who might well commit murder if the need arose.
The Pasha introduced us and Holmes and I shook hands with him. He sat down, eying us suspiciously.
'Colonel,' began Holmes, 'I hope you will excuse me if I speak openly and bluntly, because of what is at stake in this matter. You are, no doubt, aware that you are seen as being the prime suspect for the murder of Anton Simeonov. What have you to say in your defence?'
'I did not murder the Bulgarian,' replied the colonel stolidly. 'Then who did?'
'I had been given to understand that it was your task to find that out.'
'Nevertheless, I would be interested in your views on the matter.'
'I did not witness the killing, how could I know who killed the man?'
'What did you mean when you said to Count Balinsky that he knew the truth?'
'I meant that he must know that I had every reason not to commit the murder. Even he must be aware that such an act would precipitate the events we were all anxious to avoid.'
'Why did you say 'Ask yourself who is the murderer'?'
The Military Attache shifted uneasily. 'I was inviting him to think more clearly.' I noticed that Orman Pasha was looking at the colonel with a worried expression on his face, as though he found his answers to Holmes's questions weak and unconvincing.
Holmes leapt to his feet. 'Thank you, colonel, you have told me everything I need to know.'
The colonel rose from his seat, looking at Holmes with an expression half angry and half fearful. He turned and said something in Turkish to Orman Pasha, who nodded. The colonel turned and looked at Holmes with smouldering black eyes, then abruptly left the room.
'Orman Pasha,' said Holmes, when the colonel had gone, 'does any member of your staff speak Bulgarian?'
'I speak Bulgarian myself, Mr Holmes,' replied the Pasha, with an expression of mild astonishment on his face.
'Good, then perhaps you would be good enough to tell me whether this English sentence is a correct translation of the Bulgarian sentence above it.' He handed our host a small piece of paper. The Pasha took it and I was disturbed to see the old man start violently.
'What is the meaning of this, Mr Holmes,' said the Pasha, 'What are you telling me?'
'I am telling you that this case is much more complicated than we thought at the outset. I take it the translation is accurate?'
'It is accurate, Mr Holmes,' said the Pasha, shaking his head in puzzlement and disbelief.
On our way back to Baker Street, Holmes stopped at a post office to send a telegram. He then went to pay a visit to his brother Mycroft at the Diogenes Club and I made my way to Baker Street alone.When he finally arrived, Holmes walked over to the mantelpiece and, to my horror, he stood contemplating the syringe that enabled him to indulge his only weakness.
'Holmes, my dear fellow,' I said, 'you have arrived at your final conclusion in this case.'
'Yes,Watson, I have arrived at my final conclusion.'
We had a quiet dinner, as usual prepared by the excellent Mrs Hudson. After the meal, Holmes stood up. 'Tomorrow morning we will go Stoke Morden to save the world,' he said. 'Better have an early night, Watson.' He disappeared into his bedroom, while I went to mine in a sombre mood.
eventually arrived at Royston Manor, I noticed that a number of fine carriages drawn by magnificent horses were moving off the broad gravel pathway that led to the house. We were admitted by the old butler and were shown into the drawing room, where, to my astonishment, I found that all the
As we entered, Lord Eversden rose and came across to greet us.
'I received your telegram, Mr Holmes,' he said. 'As you can see, they are all here. Inspector Lestrade will be arriving in about one hour's time.' He motioned us to sit down, which I did on an upright chair near Baron Nopchka. Holmes declined the invitation and remained standing.
'My lords and gentlemen,' began Holmes, 'I am happy to be able to report that I have unravelled the mystery that has recently cast a shadow over international relations. Regrettably, it is unlikely that we will be able to bring the culprit to justice, since we are dealing with a very clever criminal. My investigations allow me to conclude that an armed burgler managed to gain entry to the house. He made his way stealthily upstairs, where he was surprised by Mr Anton Simeonov. Before Mr Simeonov was able to raise the alarm, the burglar drew his revolver and shot him, just as the victim was about to defend himself by drawing out his own weapon. The murderer was then able to conceal himself behind the large armchair in the corridor and stayed there when you all arrived at the scene. When you all left the corridor, he made his escape through one of the windows, through which he jumped. He then cleverly concealed his tracks and made off. It is highly unlikely that he will ever be apprehended.'
We all stared at Holmes. Lord Eversden said: 'But this is not credible, Mr Holmes. There is nothing to suggest that such a thing happened.' He turned a troubled look to Mycroft, who, alone in the gathered audience, was nodding, with an amused smile of understanding on his face.
Count Balinsky snorted derisively: 'Do you think my Government will accept such a story, such a transparent fabrication?' He rose to his feet. 'Excuse me, Lord Eversden, but I am obliged to telegraph the Czar's cabinet.' He took a step or two across the room, with a smile of malicious satisfaction on his face, when Holmes took a long stride and barred his way.
'My dear Count,' he said severely, 'I strongly advise you to sit down. The story I have given you may be preferable to your Government – and to you – than the alternative I am able to offer.' The Count glared at Holmes,
