institutions, I was finally shown into the office of one Sergeant Mortimer, the officer in charge of the Atkinson investigation.'
' 'Mr Holmes,' he said, rising from his desk to shake my hand. 'I heard that you were on the case. I must confess that I should be most grateful for any light you might shed on this dreadful matter I don't mind confessing that the affair has me baffled.' He dealt me a penetrating look. 'Might I ask how your investigations proceed?' '
'I told him that I had been on the island just over one day, and that thus far I had learnt little. 'I would be pleased to hear your opinions on the case,' I said. 'There is a rumour doing the rounds that the Atkinsons' estate was falling, and rather than face the wrath of the owners, the brothers fled the country.' '
'The Sergeant pursed his lips in contemplation. 'Well, the estate was not doing that well – that much I can attest: But to be perfectly honest I could not see the brothers' taking the cowards' way out and absconding. To cover that possibility, I had men posted at all the ports for two weeks following their disappearance.'
'Have you in the course of your investigations looked into their financial situation?'
'Of course. I made comprehensive enquiries at the local bank. They were overdrawn to the tune of some ?1,000. The brothers… how can I put it?… the brothers were rather fond of an occasional flutter, shall we say?'
'By that I take it that they played, and lost, at cards?'
' 'So I have heard,' Seageant Mortimer said. 'But I enquired as to whether they had outstanding gambling debts, and so far as I could discover, such was not the case. The whole affair baffles me, Mr Holmes.' '
'Might they have been taken from the house and murdered by enemies?' I suggested.
' 'If they had enemies,' the Sergeant said, 'then I might entertain the notion. But I knew the brothers well, and aside from their predilection towards gambling, they were as moral a pair as could be found. They did not have a detractor in the world.'
'We discussed the matter further, but I discovered no more details relevant to the affair, and in due course I thanked the Sergeant and took my leave.'
'I decided to look in on the offices of the Madras Line, situated in a nearby weatherboard building. A harassed female clerk in a bright red sari barely glanced up at me as she busily copied out invoices. I introduced myself and stated my business. She was most brusque in her reply. 'The ledgers are piled over there,' she replied in the sing- song English of her people. 'Why don't you look for yourself?' '
'I bit my tongue and began the arduous business of going through the records of tickets sold during the relevant period. Needless to say, I discovered nothing – as if, I told myself, the brothers would have booked tickets under their own names!'
'I returned to the unfriendly clerk and requested to see the manager. The woman looked up and smiled at me. 'I am the manager, Mr Holmes,' said she.'
'In that case I would like to ask you a few questions, Madam.'
'For the next ten minutes I managed to extract answers from this impertinent soul – an operation as onerous as attempting to draw blood from a stone. For my pains, I learned that the brothers had not bought tickets from the Madras Line since the Christmas before, when they had taken their customary week's holiday with friends in India.'
'I thanked the manager for her estimable courtesy and stepped out into the street.'
'I was about to return to the waiting trap, with little accomplished, when I noticed across the street the boarded up windows of a building upon which a faded, painted sign advertised passenger ships to various destinations around the Indian sub-continent and Malaya.'
'I entered the shop next door, a bicycle repair establishment, and asked how long the shipping office had been closed. The owner considered and duly answered that the business had gone into liquidation six months earlier.'
'Do you have any idea as to the whereabouts of its erstwhile manager?' I asked.
' 'He is working as the deputy-manager at the Post Office,' I was told, and to these venerable premises I duly made my way. 'There, an ancient Tamil identified himself as the one-time
proprietor of the shipping office. He proceeded to regale me with a catalogue of his mercantile misfortunes, until I could redirect his conversation towards more germane matters.'
'I would surely have recalled if either of the Atkinsons had bought a ticket,' he said, 'especially in light of subsequent events.'
'As I suspected,' I murmured to myself. 'Thank you for your time.'
'However,' he went on. 'I do recall an occasion when someone from the Atkinsons' estate purchased two one-way tickets for Calcutta. I thought nothing of it at the time, though since I have wondered if it were at all relevant…'
'Can you describe this person?' I asked.
'He shook his head with an affect of great sadness. 'I am an old man, and my memory for faces fails me… However, I do recall that it was a young Sinhalese, and I wondered at the time now an estate worker might come by funds enough to purchase two such tickets.' '
'Can you recall the departure date of these tickets?' I asked.
'Now let me think,' said the old man, rubbing his bristled chin. 'Perhaps, if my memory serves me, around the middle of February.'
'The middle of February, I mused: just two weeks after the disappearance of the brothers Atkinson.'
'I thanked this veritable sage for his information and made my way to the waiting trap, confident that at last my enquiries were bearing fruit.'
'More news awaited me upon my return to the estate. It was late afternoon and Trevor was seated upon the verandah with the first drink of the day at his elbow. 'Will you join me in a sundowner, Holmes?' said he. He despatched a boy with orders to fetch a second drink. 'And how went your inquiries?' '
' 'As well, if not better, than expected.' I told him about the tickets purchased by the worker from this very estate.'
' 'In that case the affair is solved!'Trevor cried. 'The brothers left upon the boat bound for Calcutta!' '
'I rather think not,' said I. 'You see, Sergeant Mortimer had men checking all the ships leaving the island for two weeks after their disappearance.'
'Then what the deuce became of them?'
'We sat in silence for some minutes before Trevor recalled
that he had news to impart. 'By the way, Holmes, you'll be glad to learn that the Anya girl gave birth at noon today. Mother and child fit and well. A little boy, so I'm told.' '
'I lowered my drink. 'I would like to pay them another visit,' I said.'
'Trevor stared at me. 'I didn't have you down as a sentimental type, Holmes!' he laughed.'
' 'I assure you that my interest is purely professional,' I said. `I suggest that we make haste.' '
Trevor eyed me dubiously. 'Very well, Holmes. If you insist.'
'He called the boy to ready the trap, and five minutes later we were rolling down the hillside towards the hospital bungalow.'
'I took the opportunity to broach a rather delicate issue. 'Trevor,' said I, as my friend manhandled the reins and we rounded a sharp bend. 'I learned today that the brothers were in debt, and moreover were rather partial to an occasional flutter.' '
'I recalled my friend's reaction, the day before, when I observed that their card games involved the exchange of money. `I put it to you that you played the brothers at cards for more than mere pennies.' '
'Trevor stiffened. He would not even glance at me. 'You're right, Holmes. I should have known better than to hope you might not find out…' '
'How much did you win from them over the course of your encounters?'
'Trevor huffed and puffed for some time, before muttering, 'Some ?500, all told.' '
'Very well. That is all I wished to know. You obviously had an agreement, and after all the game was conducted between gentlemen.'
'We continued the ride in uneasy silence. In due course we arrived at the hospital and hurried inside. The elderly doctor showed us to Anya's bed, beside which was a crib bearing the newborn baby.'
'One glance at the infant was sufficient to confirm my suspicions. Beside me, Trevor gasped. 'Good God, man! I
