off and placed it on the washbasin. He sent away his valet and the Emir remembers that when the valet left, the ring was still where he had put it down. On his way out of the bedroom, His Highness neglected to put on the ring, but when he went out on deck, he remembered and returned immediately.
‘Imagine his consternation when the ring was no longer there. The alarm was raised. The sentries swear that nobody else had followed His Highness in or out of his bedroom. The soldiers who came with us on this trip are the Emir’s most loyal and faithful men. Moreover, they are so arranged that they watch each other. So there is no foundation for doubting their word. Nonetheless, they were all searched, but there were no clues to indicate anyone had entered the Emir’s quarters.’
‘Strange,’ said Holmes. ‘Perchance the Emir put the ring somewhere and simply forgot where.’
‘Oh, no,’ was the interpreter’s rejoinder. ‘His Highness has a very good memory and, besides, values the ring highly.’
‘What else has been done to find the ring?’
The interpreter addressed Mahomet-Sultan in Bukharan and listened respectfully to his reply, which he then translated for Holmes. ‘The ship is ringed on all sides by Russian police and our sentries both on shore and on the water.’
‘On the water, how?’
‘Around the ship, on the Volga, there are boats with sentries.’
‘How soon after the theft were the sentries put in place?’
‘As soon as the Emir announced the theft had taken place, that very moment Mahomet-Sultan ordered the ship to be surrounded on all sides and nobody was to be permitted on or off without being searched.’
‘But did anyone get off the ship after that?’
‘No.’
‘Do you know this for a fact?’
‘Yes, but you had best ask the sentries.’
A brief silence ensued.
‘Yes … a strange occurrence,’ Sherlock Holmes at last said thoughtfully, ‘an occurrence that is actually beginning to interest me. I’ll get everything I am likely to need this very minute and we’ll go.’
The interpreter translated this for Mahomet-Sultan, who nodded his head in approval.
Sherlock Holmes fetched his travel case. ‘My dear Watson,’ he turned to me, ‘I’d advise you to take a couple of sailor’s uniforms, make-up and a weapon. It is very possible we might not be able to get back for a few days.’
I complied instantly. Within a few minutes I had everything packed in a bag I could carry easily and was ready for any more instructions.
‘You’ll have to carry our things,’ Holmes said to the interpreter. ‘I am going to call a cab. Our things shouldn’t be a problem. We’ll travel light and neither you, nor anyone, must reveal anything about us.’
Sherlock Holmes called the cab himself, escorted the guests out and they took our baggage and two pieces of hand luggage.
III
‘Well, my dear Watson, time for us to start moving,’ said Holmes after a few minutes.
We made our way to the wharf. On the ship, alarm showed on every face. The interpreter met us and told Holmes he had been assigned a separate cabin in case he had to cross-examine or talk to anyone privately.
‘You did very well,’ said Holmes. ‘Are our things there?’
‘Yes.’ We were escorted to the cabin.
‘Now it’s necessary for me to have full access everywhere,’ said Holmes.
‘This has already been arranged,’ answered the interpreter. ‘You and your friend have already been pointed out to the sentries.’
‘In that case, leave us alone for now,’ said Holmes.
The interpreter bowed and departed.
‘Stay here for now, Watson.’ Holmes said to me. ‘I’ll go over the ship, look at one or two things and return to fetch you.’
‘Very well,’ I replied.
He left and I was left to myself. He was back a quarter of an hour later.
‘Let’s go, Watson,’ he said shortly.
A few steps along the corridor and we were outside the Emir’s quarters. The sentry at the door admitted us. The Emir’s quarters comprised four cabins with doors between all of them, and a reception room, which had been a first-class dining room. The Emir’s office was to the left of the entrance, then his bedroom. To the right were the sitting room and a parlour. Holmes and I turned left into the office and then the bedroom. The floors here were covered with thick, luxurious carpets.
Holmes paused at the threshold and began to scrutinise the premises closely.
This scrutiny appeared to penetrate every little nook and cranny. Then he squatted down and crawled along the floor, examining it through his magnifying glass. Then he examined the divan, bed and washbasin, carefully looking behind them; next he knocked on the walls and shook his head in perplexity. Finding nothing in the bedroom, he went into the office. One after another he examined the other rooms, but there were no clues anywhere.
Suddenly he smacked himself on his own forehead. ‘Now, now, Watson! We haven’t yet lifted the carpets.’
I smiled involuntarily, ‘I don’t suppose you think someone is sitting under them?’ I asked.
‘Not entirely, but … you see, Watson, I haven’t the slightest doubt that the thief didn’t come in through the door. The sentry would have seen him. Nor would the windows have been of any use to him. They are seemingly locked from inside, while the putty around the pane shows the glass was installed some time ago. This means the thief must have found a hidey-hole on the ship … and if that so, he is still aboard.’
We moved the furniture around now here, now there, one after another, and lifted the carpet, carefully examining the floor underneath. We did all this in total silence, even walking on tiptoe.
Suddenly Holmes uttered a triumphant cry. ‘Have a look, Watson,’ he whispered and motioned for me to come near. I crawled up to him.
Holmes suddenly lifted the corner of the carpet by the head of the bed, ‘The first thing that struck me was that the corner leg of the bed was not pressing down on the carpet,’ he whispered.
I looked at the floor under the carpet and all the same noticed nothing.
‘You don’t see it?’ smiled Holmes.
‘Absolutely not,’ I replied.
‘And all the same, it is so simple.’ Holmes still smiled and said softly, ‘Look at the floor boards. In all the other places where we examined the floor, you noticed, of course, that the cracks between them had been filled with paint and where the paint cracked, dust and other dirt particles had collected. It’s different here. The cracks are not filled with paint and there is no dirt, which shows that these floorboards are not immoveable.’
Holmes produced a thin spike, stuck it into a floor board and gently raised it. The board shifted.
He moved it just a little and then replaced it. He then covered it with the carpet and moved the bed so that all four legs pressed down on it. ‘Now the entrance is sealed,’ he said, getting up. ‘The most important is done. There’s only trifles left to be attended to now. The criminal is on board, because he has nowhere to go and the sooner the ship moves, so much the better. Watson, let’s go to Mahomet-Sultan.’
We left the Emir’s quarters and went on deck.
IV
We found the Minister of the Court standing with the Emir and quietly conversing with him. We waited till he
