acdholmesfest | Fic for enname: The Case of the Bogus Laundry, G

Title: The Case of the Bogus Laundry
Recipient

enname
Author

thesmallhobbit
Rating G
Characters: Mr Sherlock Holmes, Dr John Watson, Inspector Lestrade
Warnings: none
Summary. Another of the cases the ACD mentioned but never explained. It all began when Holmes was called for jury duty and inevitably the case wasn’t as straightforward as he had expected.
Disclaimer – This is probably not what ACD had in mind.

The case I am about to relate to you occurred quite early in my time with Sherlock Holmes. Indeed it would have been impossible for the events to have happened once he was well known, because he would never have been able to be in at the beginning.

Holmes had been called to jury service, which at this particular point of his career at least provided a distraction for him when the only clients he had seen had minor concerns, most of which he dismissed out of hand. He instructed me that should anyone come with a query that I deemed might be of sufficient interest to him, I was to advise them that they were to return that evening when he would meet with them.

Mrs Hudson did in fact show in two clients that day, but the first seemed rather more intent on selling us his patent disguise, which seemed on first glance to be nothing more than a false moustache that was not even as impressive as my own. The second client declared that ‘he had better things to do with his time than repeat his journey to Baker Street’. Even I could deduce that his concern was not sufficiently serious to merit Holmes’ attention.

When Holmes returned that evening I did not expect him to talk about the trial and indeed he did not, merely commenting that it seemed straightforward and he expected it to be all over by the following afternoon. I asked him if he wished to go out to dine, but he declined saying that he had an experiment that he wished to perform, so we prevailed upon Mrs Hudson to provide us with a light supper and whilst Holmes was busy with his experiment I read my book.

The following morning I left our rooms early, having agreed to help out a friend by seeing some of his patients. Holmes was finishing his coffee when I left so I wished him a good day and said that I looked forward to seeing him later on the completion of the trial.

It was late afternoon by the time I returned to our rooms. I had met another friend for a late lunch at his club and we had spent a pleasant few hours speculating on the probable winner of the Derby. We had each chosen our favourite with the agreement that whoever’s horse was behind the other would buy the next lunch. This way if by chance I have not backed a winner, it is my friend who is in profit, rather than a bookmaker.

I had expected Holmes to be back already and was quite surprised that he was not, and that there was no evidence that he had been in and gone out again. It was a good half an hour before he did appear and he was in a fine mood when he walked in.

“I was mistaken, Watson,” he said. “The trial is not as straightforward as I had expected. And I fear that there may be a grave miscarriage of justice. Come, we have much to do this evening.”

He swept out again, barely leaving me time to pick up my coat and hat.

“Surely, Holmes,” I puffed as I hurried to catch up with him “if the defendant is not guilty then you must say so in the jury deliberations.”

“I would if we were not basing our judgement on facts. The facts as they have been presented speak very clearly of his guilt, that he has seriously injured another man. It is not a question of what has been presented, but of what has been omitted.”

“But surely the defence will provide the relevant facts.”

“They would do, if they were aware of them. It is my belief that the defendant has not told his lawyer everything.”

“In which case I do not see what we can do, if the defendant does not want the full facts to be known.”

“I believe that the defendant himself does not understand what has happened and is therefore unable to explain it.”

By this time I was quite confused and decided to save my breath in order to keep up with Holmes, who was striding out with little concern for those in his way. The pace he was setting quickly brought us to the streets behind Euston railway station.

Holmes then proceeded to walk around a number of the streets, looking intently at all the signs and notices. Finally he appeared satisfied and said “It is just as I thought, Watson. I must telegraph Lestrade at once.”

After Holmes had sent his telegram we began to walk back to Baker Street. Holmes was clearly putting the events in order in his mind, but since I was still in the dark about the case I was unable to follow his reasoning. Once we were back in our rooms, he lit a pipe and sat smoking silently until Lestrade arrived.

As soon as Lestrade realised that Holmes was investigating the case where he was on the jury he began to remonstrate with him.

Holmes however would not accept this. “There is a man who is being tried for severely injuring another, who is still in hospital and looks likely to die. We cannot permit someone to go to the gallows due to a legal technicality.”

Lestrade still did not look happy, but he sat down in a resigned fashion.

“Peterson claims that he was paid to collect a horse and wagon from the stables and bring it to a specific hotel each day, leave it there and then come back two hours later to return the horse and wagon to the stables. There are many who will attest that they have seen him doing this on a regular basis and on the day concerned there are witnesses to his journey; there can be no dispute with this. My suspicions were first raised when the prosecution claimed that he must have had more to do than lead a horse and wagon to a hotel and back. Peterson maintains that he was paid purely for this and that the money he received was sufficient to provide for his daily needs.”

“That is inconceivable. He must have been lying.”

“I believe it to be the truth. Peterson is not particularly stupid; I do not think he would claim something like this unless it was the truth.”

“I suppose I must accept your judgement for the moment.”

“Then tonight I went to check on the main office of the laundry that Peterson says he was working for. As I suspected it does not exist.”

“But why would a man transport laundry baskets for a non-existent laundry? If that is the case then Peterson has even less reason to have acted as he did.”

“The laundry baskets certainly existed. Not only was Peterson himself seen on numerous occasions, but so were the baskets. What I think is a more pertinent question is to ask what was in the baskets. I suspect that some of them did not contain laundry. Does it not seem strange to you that Peterson was not asked to help load and unload the wagon? Surely the sum he was paid would at the very least have included delivery into the hotels? But if I am correct that could not be permitted to happen because Peterson would notice the difference in weight between the baskets.”

Lestrade considered the matter. “So something other than laundry is either entering or leaving the hotels. It would be possible to hide stolen items in them, but no-one has reported that anything large has been stolen and this is far too elaborate to have been used for the concealment of small items.”

“Precisely,” Holmes nodded. “It is my belief that the baskets were used for the same purpose both on entering and leaving the hotels, namely smuggling a man, or men in and out. Some of the baskets no doubt did contain laundry; two or three baskets on their own would have raised suspicions, a larger number would pass practically unnoticed. I do not think a complete workforce was smuggled in, for whilst a few additional people in a hotel would blend in, someone would have passed comment if there had been several extra.”

“You sound very confident. Is there something you have so far omitted to tell us?”

Holmes permitted himself a small smile. “I did visit a few of the hotels on my way home and make some discrete enquiries. I discovered that whilst the laundry service was disrupted for a day after Peterson’s arrest it soon continued. In addition, one of the maids mentioned that there seemed to be a lot of laundry, considering the number of beds that she changed.”

“Let me hear your explanation.”

“You are of course familiar with the names of Warner and Fleetwood.”

“It would be difficult for me to not know their names. I had understood that they had fled the country.”

“That may well have been the case. However, if my hypothesis is correct, then they have returned. And not only that but they have resumed their former occupation, although in a rather more circumspect manner.”

“Bringing in wines and spirits without paying any duty?”

“I have been aware for a little while that one can have a very reasonably priced drink at certain hotels if one knows who to ask. My assumption is that the bottles and the carriers are brought into the hotels by laundry baskets. Last time Warner and Fleetwood were almost apprehended because they were seen bringing the bottles into the establishments; in this way no-one notices their arrival.”

“Hence the need to employ someone like Peterson, who knows nothing about what is happening, and unknowingly transports the bottles across London for them. But what about the man he is charged with injuring.”

“I rather suspect that he was assisting Warner and Fleetwood in the delivery in the hotels and for some reason crossed them. We know that Fleetwood was always free with his fists and that having beaten the man severely they arranged for the unfortunate Peterson to take the blame.”

“If you are correct Holmes then it would be as well if we were to act as soon as possible. If we are quick we may be able to apprehend not only Warner and Fleetwood, but also the men who are bringing the bottles across the Channel.”

Lestrade stood up, picked up his hat and wished us both a good evening

The following morning Mrs Hudson knocked on the door before breakfast and gave Holmes a telegram. He opened it and called out “Come Watson, Lestrade wishes to meet with us.”

Once outside he hailed a cab and told the driver to take us to Trafalgar Square. Once at the Square Holmes looked round and spotted another carriage that was slowing nearby. He walked briskly towards it and I followed. The cab door opened and a voice said “Good morning, Mr Holmes. Please join us.”

When we were both seated the speaker instructed the driver to move off.

The speaker continued, “I must apologise, gentlemen, for what may be thought of as unusual behaviour, but I do not want anyone to hear of our enterprise. When Inspector Lestrade brought your information to me last night it confirmed some of my own suspicions.”

Lestrade, who was sitting in the far corner of the carriage, said “Mr Holmes, Dr Watson, may I introduce Mr Aldridge from the Revenue.”

We shook hands and Aldridge asked “Do you know which hotel the laundry men are due to visit today?”

Holmes outlined what he had managed to gather from his hotel visits the previous day and Aldridge nodded.

“These men will be on the look out for anyone from the Revenue who walks into the hotel, therefore I shall need to enter without being seen. They have already found a form of invisible entry, which I intend to adopt as well. Employees from the hotel unload the baskets, but they are not told how many to expect and no-one counts the number that are taken into the hotel. It will be easy to add one more basket to them. There is a mastermind who is running the operation and he has ensured that those involved only know their own section of the plan, so that they are unable to give anything away. On this occasion it will work to our advantage.”

Aldridge was a well-built man and I found it difficult to imagine him hiding in a laundry basket. Nonetheless the carriage stopped a short distance from the hotel and he descended. We drove on. Lestrade explained that he had contacted the court and the trial was to be postponed until the afternoon, pending his investigation.

About an hour later we followed Lestrade into the hotel. As we walked through the front doors we became aware of a commotion that was coming from the top of the main staircase. Looking up we observed a man running down the stairs, clearly intent on making his escape. Lestrade may be small in stature, but he is wiry and no coward. He moved to intercept the runner, who sought to push him out of the way. Lestrade did not yield, and with some slight assistance from Holmes, was able to handcuff the man.

When we again looked up we saw Aldridge bringing a second man down the stairs. He had clearly sought to resist arrest, for Aldridge was sporting a cut lip and what was promising to become a black eye. However, the captive’s bloody nose and general demeanour showed clearly who had had the better part of the fight.

Lestrade and Aldridge escorted the two prisoners to the waiting carriage and Holmes and I made our way back to Baker Street. Although the case came to trial and Warner and Fleetwood were convicted of their part in the crime, with Fleetwood in addition being found guilty of murder, it proved impossible to establish who else had been involved. It led Holmes to remark that it was as if we could see part of the spider’s web, but we were currently unable to follow the threads to find the spider. He has vowed that one day he will trap the spider in his own web.