‘As it is, just the one.’
‘Is there a place for us to stay?’
‘As it is, of course!’
‘Excellent,’ said Sherlock Holmes, ‘though I have to admit that I take your case mostly for the opportunity of visiting a gold mine and becoming acquainted with its running.’
‘Oh, if only you knew how grateful I am,’ exclaimed our visitor. ‘Well then, do let me express my appreciation by inviting you to dine with me.’
We accepted. A room was specially set aside for us in our hotel and to the amazement of Mr Piotr Haritonovitch Hromikh we changed for dinner. Over dinner, as was to be expected, we discussed the matter freely.
‘How long ago did you begin to notice the theft of the gold?’ asked Holmes, by the by.
‘That’s the whole point. Strange as it may seem, large-scale theft began three years ago, just when we appointed the new manager.
‘And the thieving is from the office?’
‘Oh, no,’ exclaimed the mine owner. ‘That would be daylight robbery. All the same, what I am speaking of is only of contraband.’
‘Explain yourself.’
‘This is how it works. All the mined gold has to be handed in to the office. Once the sand has been washed, the gold that remains is handed in to the office, nor can it be stolen from the equipment used for washing. But in addition to gold grains obtained by washing sand, there are also gold nuggets to be found. These nuggets are of differing sizes, some several pounds in weight, and they are found by labourers in trenches from which they dig out gold-bearing soil and transfer them on to wheelbarrows for washing. These nuggets are easily detected by the naked eye. The labourers may pick them up manually, but are obliged to place them in containers handily kept there. For these nuggets they are rewarded with a bonus of two and a half roubles per zolotnik of weight, i.e. just over four and a quarter grams. But, despite the most vigilant attention of the supervising staff, all the same, they still manage to steal nuggets and swap them for alcohol. The nominal price of gold is five and a half roubles per zolotnik. The men who steal this gold are pursued by the administration by every possible means, and if any is found when they are searched, it is confiscated. Our spies tell us that the manager himself buys up the stolen gold from the men and manages to get it out of the mine. He gives the men alcohol, confectionery and other forbidden stuff.’
‘Then how often does this manager leave the mine?’ asked Holmes.
‘Once only, at the end of the work year,’ said Hromikh.
‘At what time of year is that?’
‘Late in the autumn, like now.’
‘So he is ready to go.’
‘As it is, yes.’
‘Has anyone told on him this year?’
‘Yes, but my own opinion is that this is done to deflect suspicion. We were told this year that whoever stole the gold has bought forty-five Russian pounds of it in weight. Our gold is of superior quality and the treasury values it at 19,600 roubles per forty Russian pounds. This means that 22,000 roubles worth must be smuggled out. We think that the supervisor of one of the trenches actually buys up the gold and managed to deflect suspicion by having us think it is Seltzoff.’
‘Very likely,’ said Sherlock Holmes thoughtfully and poured champagne into his flute.
III
We parted long after midnight, having decided to set out in two days time. In the meantime, we explored the city.
On the appointed day a comfortably spacious carriage called for us. We set off for the mine with Piotr Haritonovitch Hromikh, taking with us the barest necessities and leaving the rest of our luggage behind. Every fifteen miles or so fresh, well-fed horses replaced the ones driving our carriage. In no time we were at the Brothers’ Gold Mine. Here we were given a couple of rooms next to the quarters of Piotr Haritonovitch Hromikh and on the very first day met the entire administration. Our real names and professions were not revealed and we appeared to be tourists travelling to explore Siberia.
Early in the morning we rose at the same time as the workers when the siren sounded and made our way to the trench and machinery where we assiduously studied the mining operation. At the same time, I noticed how carefully Holmes watched the manager as well as members of the administration.
Daily, as soon as work ended, Sherlock Holmes used to vanish till late at night. The result of his walkabout was that no worker could visit any member of the administration without Holmes noticing.
One evening Holmes approached me, saying, ‘My dear Watson, the time has come for us to meet the mine detectives who do the secret watching.’
‘Why, have you noticed something?’
‘There are one or two things,’ he answered. ‘I have a feeling that Piotr Haritonovitch isn’t quite right when he says that the men who watch secretly are wrongfully trying to implicate the mine manager. I watched him for several days and noticed a very clever manoeuvre on his part.’
‘Namely?’ I prompted.
‘I noticed that he stopped for longer to watch work in progress where gold was densest. Let’s assume this is normal practice, but then he always finds an excuse to send away the supervisor on the spot. Of course, this shouldn’t be surprising either, as the manager is more likely to see something than a supervisor tired from a day’s supervision, but, in fact, this is not how it is. The labourers steal nuggets so skilfully that the attention of the supervisor has to wander for only a brief moment and the nugget vanishes. And our manager frequently pays no attention anyway. But then, late at night, two labourers he places at the best spots visit him.’
IV
That very evening we dropped in on Piotr Haritonovitch.
‘May I meet your so-called investigators?’ asked Holmes with the touch of a smile.
‘Of course,’ was the answer. ‘Do you wish to see them here?’
‘Are there many?’
‘Not really. Only two.’
‘Then let’s have them here,’ said Holmes with a nod.
Piotr Haritonovtch Hromikh went off and was back twenty minutes later accompanied by two ordinary mine labourers.
Holmes asked him to leave us alone with these investigators, which the owner did. He then proceeded to cross-examine the two men. From what they said, Holmes learned that the manager bought gold only from two workmen. These two workmen, in their turn, bought up stolen gold from the rest of the mineworkers in exchange for spirits given them by the manager. The whole operation was carried out so carefully that there was no evidence leading to the manager. As regards how much gold was stolen, this could only be established by the number of drunkards. At first it was thought that the gold was traded with spirits traders, but then it transpired there wasn’t a single one anywhere near the mine. And despite that, mine workers were drunk on this mine more often than elsewhere.
Further investigation led to the conclusion that the stolen gold was most likely gathered up by two labourers. This was done so cunningly that their identities could only be guessed at by the ingratiating manner shown them by their fellow-workers. As to how the gold was handed over and paid for, that was never detected. This is why there was no direct evidence against them. Several sudden, unexpected searches brought no results.
