Sherlock Holmes and the Golden Bird

but absolutely flawless.'

'Is its present whereabouts known?'

'Indeed. It iss ze broberty of ze ruling house of Austrian-Este. Den der iss ze Pasha of Egypt.'

'Ah, have I heard of that stone?'

'Pozzibly. Forty carats. Octagonal. It vas bought by Ibraham, Viceroy of Egypt, for twenty-eight thousand pounds.'

'And it is still in Egypt?' Holmes looked disappointed.

'If it vas not, I dink I vould haf heard.'

'Doctor Bauer, can you think of any of the great diamonds that have vanished?'

'Ze truly famous stones don't get lost. Und dey cannot be dublicated. Paintings—dot iss somesing else. Paintings iss manmade. For years, der iss vispers about famous paintings. Are dey original or a copy? But diamonds iss made by nature. Von look und de expert knows if dey iss genuine.'

'I see,' said Holmes, despondently. 'Well, Doctor, I am most grateful for your assistance in this matter.'

'Somesing vispers to me dot I vass not so big a help. You know, Mr. Holmes, everybody likes to blay in ze ozzer man's back yard. It vass ze Pasha of Egypt dat you vas really interested in, nicht var?'

Holmes had the good grace to smile. 'Doctor Bauer, you should have been a detective.'

'Dot I vill leave in your cabable hands. Und I shall make inquiries about ze Pasha diamond for you, Mr. Holmes.'

The famous gem expert took his leave at this point, allowing Holmes to regard me with a wry expression.

'You see, ol' chap, the danger of becoming intrigued with a theory.'

'But Barker did say Pasha before he died. Jonathan Wild was deeply interested in that one particular stone. Possibly, Doctor Bauer will uncover some additional information concerning it.'

Holmes brightened up a bit at my thought and so the matter rested for a time. As he later confessed, he became convinced that he was following a will-o'-the-wisp with his diamond idea and he forced himself to concentrate on the irritating sifting of information in search of a pattern that would provide illumination regarding the matter of the Golden Bird. That he had the haunts of Chu San Fu watched, I am sure. Wakefield Orloff was a frequent visitor, a sure sign that Mycroft Holmes's finger was still in the pie. Nothing was heard concerning the shadowy international financier, Basil Selkirk. The entire machinery of plot and counterplot seemed to grind to an unwieldy halt. Holmes was in and out of 22IB Baker Street at all hours and it was obvious that he was annoyed with the lack of progress. As was his custom at times like this, he became secretive and did not communicate his latest theories, if he had any.

It was an afternoon, later in the week, that my friend returned to our lodging, his thin face more drawn than usual. I worried about his highly nervous state and not for the first tune, having seen him drive himself unceasingly to the verge of absolute collapse and then, upon the solving of a case, stage a physical recovery that bordered on the medically impossible.

Without a word, he disappeared into his bedchamber, returning after a short period clad in his dressing gown and slippers. Seated in his favorite chair, he brooded in silence. I advanced no greeting, nor posed any questions, feeling that should he wish the comfort of communication it would be best to let him instigate it.

After another ten minutes, a long sigh escaped him and he rose in search of his pipe.

'Forgive me, Watson, but I have been much preoccupied of late.'

'Small wonder,' I stated, and secretly congratulated myself on having said nothing.

Holmes fished in the toe of the Persian slipper for his shag and soon there were clouds of acrid smoke.

'This matter of the statue has provided nothing but a series of dead ends,' he said, bitterly.

'I thought you were on to something with that idea of the Pasha of Egypt diamond.'

'As did I. The devilish thing about it is that I keep returning to that theory. Common sense finally led me to some digging into Oriental life. Did you know, old friend, that in the Chinese calendar this is the year of the diamond?''

'I say,' I exclaimed, laying aside my paper, 'that must provide some germ of a motive though I cannot think what.'

'I can,' said Holmes, and then, in keeping with a most frustrating habit of his, let the matter drop. Before I could pose a question to explore this more thoroughly, he was off on another tangent.

'There is a line of inquiry which I have pursued that may pay off. I have a message that Orloff will be with us shortly and I trust that the news he brings will be of benefit.'

Again the sleuth lapsed into silence and I consoled myself that the security agent would soon break it.

On the stroke of six, Wakefield Orloff tapped on our door. Orloff was one of the very few allowed immediate access to Holmes at any time. While it was most frequently my chore to answer the door, this time Holmes sprang to his feet and opened our portal anxiously to usher the agent within.

Orloff's slightly moon-shaped face was completely impassive as he removed his lethal bowler hat with its steel-lined brim and placed it on an end table within easy reach.

'Well, man?' questioned Holmes, impatiently.

My friend's high-strung manner did not phase Orloff in the least, but then what would?

'We were able to secure the best man on metals available. His tests were time-consuming, but necessarily so. As to his findings, they will intrigue you. The Golden Bird is not in its original state.'

'Ah,' said Holmes, with gratification. He threw me a sharp glance. 'No matter what happens now, Watson, we were right.' His hawklike visage returned eagerly to Orloff.

'Our man,' continued the security agent, 'established that a portion of the base of the statue is of a gold of a different quality and age than that of the rest of the statue.'

'Conclusion?' There was a tight smile on Holmes's lips.

'A large part of the base had been hollowed out as a depository for something. No indication as to what the object was but our man is certain that it was removed recently. The filler gold used to solidify the statue's base was poured not long ago.'

'Selkirk,' stated Holmes with conviction.

'Why him?' Orloff and I asked together.

'It all fits. Finally, we are dredging some sense from this morass. It is the diamond theory, of course. I'm obsessed with it but there does not seem to be any other logical explanation. Here are the facts.' Holmes centered on Orloff for a moment. 'In the Chinese calendar, this is the year of the diamond. Now, Chu San Fu's daughter is to be wed to Maurice Rothfils of the famous banking family. In the normal order of things, she will be presented at court.'

I realized my head was nodding as I recalled the meeting with MacDonald some time back and his mention of this coming social event.

Holmes continued, savoring the words. I could see that his mind, at last, had a clue as to how to fit the pieces together. 'The Chinese are renowned for their pride.'

'They are not alone in that,' I blurted, without thinking.

'But they make a fetish of it ... a religion. Face is everything. What would a modern-day bandit like Chu San Fu desire above all things?' Holmes chose to answer his own question. 'His daughter, presented to Her Majesty, wearing a gem that need not take second place to the crown jewels of England. That is why he's risked his men recklessly in an attempt to secure the Golden Bird. Somehow he knew that there was a famous diamond inside it.'

'But why a diamond?' questioned Orloff. 'I will agree that whatever was concealed within the statue figures to be a gem. Size alone narrows the choice to that. But why not a ruby? An emerald?'

'Because there are so few famous rubies or emeralds or pearls for that matter. Were this long-concealed treasure one of those stones we could probably name it now. But there are many famous diamonds and we seek a particular one. The daughter of Chu San Fu must be able to wear it openly. Therefore, it cannot be a stolen one. The solution to this entire matter is but a hair's breadth away. Somewhere there is recorded history of a unique diamond that will fit our requirements. Now I must find out its name.'

'Would you wish to speak to Doctor Bauer again?' asked Orloff.

'Let me do some preliminary research first. As the eminent expert remarked in this very room: 'Diamonds are