I could think of nothing to say and looked at the silent Holmes helplessly.
'Come, come, I'm not completely a doddering idiot. What you're here for. It's not to see a relic of the past or to brighten an old man's moments with a few words about the Midas Emerald. You want something.'
'I want the Golden Bird,' said Holmes, simply.
'So does everyone else.'
'A fact that puzzles me.'
The millionaire took a deep puff of the cigarette and his head cocked sidewise again in his peculiarly elfin manner.
'You're sharp for a fact.'
'Do you have it?' persisted Holmes.
'I might have an idea where to lay my hands on it.'
'I represent the legal owner. If necessary, I can secure a warrant of search.'
'You're whistling in the wind, Holmes. When I cornered the Canadian wheat market, three nations couldn't stop me. If I've a fancy for that gold statue, I'll have it and that's a fact.'
Obviously, Selkirk's interest had been aroused. Suddenly, he looked younger and seemed to sit more erect in his chair.
'Do you have a fancy for it?'
'I'm intrigued. Not for its value, which is no great thing.'
Holmes's eyes were half-closed in thought. 'Because somebody else is so anxious to get it,' he said.
Selkirk cackled in delight. 'You do know about the matter. You're right, of course.'
'The Oriental.' Holmes made this a statement rather than a question.
'The bloody brigand!' There was steel in the old man now and his thin lips were twisted in a grimace that was frightening. Then his slight figure relaxed.
'How strange that despite the prattle of pious churchmen and do-gooders, it is hate that can make the blood run faster, if but for a brief moment. And I don't even hate the Chinaman. It's jealousy, gentlemen, for 'tis said that he is a bigger rascal than I am. Or was,' he added, with a tone of regret. 'In any case, you are right.'
One cannot associate with another for so long without becoming attuned to his moods and I sensed that Holmes had decided on his approach. The fencing was over.
'Let me advance some thoughts,' said my friend. 'The Chinaman is after the Golden Bird and you don't know why?'
Selkirk nodded briefly, gazing at Holmes slyly as though awaiting further revelations from the known master of deduction and rather daring him to produce them.
The manner of the aged financier, which I found disconcerting, did not phase Holmes in the least. He continued: 'The Oriental located the Bird in Constantinople and sent his men after it. You sent Gridley on their heels for obvious reasons.'
The somewhat taunting manner of the financier had disappeared and there was admiration in his bright eyes. 'I respect a man who does not waste time with useless questions, Mr. Holmes, but I've seldom been thought of as obvious. What prompted you to divine my move?'
'You told me. You said the Bird was of no great worth, at least not enough to excite your interest. Obviously, you learned that your Oriental rival was going to great lengths to secure the statue. You felt, of course, that he knew something you did not and joined in the chase.'
Selkirk was nodding in satisfaction. 'You say it as it was. I believe, Mr. Holmes, that we should strike a bargain, for you might be of use to me. Tell me what you wish to know. If I choose to answer, I will do so truthfully.'
This surprising reaction seemed what Holmes expected. He attacked the matter in his usual methodical manner.
'You don't know what prompts the Oriental to covet the Golden Bird but could you hazard a guess?'
A negative movement of the head was his answer.
'Is the name, Vasil D'Anglas familiar to you?'
'A worker in rare metals, living in Berlin. Proficient. I know he bought the Bird from the dealer in Constantinople. He is not known as a collector.'
'Possibly not in your segment of the spectrum,' said Holmes, drily. 'He informed me that the Bird had become a passion with his family and himself.'
Selkirk shrugged. His manner indicated that he could accept this explanation as reasonable so Holmes switched to another tack.
'I find the history of the object interesting. Through the ages knowledge of its existence has persisted.'
Since my friend's voice trailed off, Selkirk filled the void of sound. 'Gold will always command respect. From the graves of Scythian chieftains to New York's East River.'
My face, which Holmes often accused of being a ready mirror of my thoughts, must have registered confusion. Selkirk seemed to have his attention centered on Holmes, but his next words were to me.
'There is a British frigate sunk there, Doctor. It carried the payroll for the British army fighting the War of Independence in the Colonies. There have been many attempts to reach the sunken vessel for the pay was in gold. Alas, the currents of Hell's Gate have defied the searchers. I merely use it as an instance. Gold is forever the magnet of mankind. As regards the Bird, there is the craftsmanship to consider. It is an object of value and I would welcome it to my collection though I would hardly take elaborate steps to secure it.'
'As yet ... there are those who did, and before the Oriental.'
Holmes had risen and was staring into the great fireplace. As a result, he may not have noticed the sudden shift in the birdlike eyes of the financier. Selkirk's lips parted for a moment as though a question trembled upon them, but he suppressed it. Quiet settled over the cavernous room, broken only by the snap and crackle of the flames in the hearth that sent dancing shadows into the room. Holmes began to list facts, as though their voicing would allow him to inspect them with greater accuracy, to search for a flaw or inconsistency that would lead his mind to hidden truths.
'Your man, Gridley, was a day behind the Oriental's emissaries in Constantinople. But he, or you, figured that the statue was to be transported to England aboard the
Holmes turned from his scrutiny of the fire and faced the financier, loosening the power of his commanding personality as he did so.
Selkirk again exhibited his death-mask grin and his face was nodding excitedly with what seemed like satisfaction or possibly gratification.
'Better and better. In truth, Mr. Holmes, you do amaze me and that is surely not the first time you've heard those words. You have recreated a chain of events which certainly fit the facts at your disposal. Like a glove, they do. Not that I'll admit to any of it but we'll let your recounting stand as a basis to work from. Indeed we shall. But did you not mention that others had pursued the Bird with more than the usual persistence?'
Holmes recaptured his quiet smile. 'You know all the facts relating to the Bird's history. If the signs are as I read them, you would learn everything about the object if only to frustrate your opponent.'
'For a fact,' agreed Selkirk. 'But perhaps I have not benefited by your interpretation of them.'
Holmes chose to acquiesce. 'We shall not speculate on the Bird's unknown origin or its equally unknown creator, a fact obscured by the mists of time. Its passing from the Tartars to the French court and then into the hands of Napoleon is, in my opinion, not relevant to the problem. But I do find the Bird's being stolen from the Island of Rhodes of great interest indeed.'
This time Selkirk could not smother a question. 'Why?'
'Because it was stolen by Harry Hawker. During an infamous, though successful, career, Hawker was the tool of Jonathan Wild, a master criminal of the past century. Was Wild intrigued by this art object that had gone from hand to hand through the years?'
Now it was Selkirk who was gazing thoughtfully into space. 'If he was, we must ask why? The Bird passed
