The Adventure of the Tired Captain A Sherlock Holmes Case by K. Michael Gaschnitz

note that blood was still flowing from the wound and the man’s pipe lay smoldering beside him. In his left hand he held a locket. No doubt this man met his end only moments before the alarm was raised.”
    “Tell me Lestrade you say that this man held a locket in his left hand. Was he also mis sing a finger on that same hand?”
    “Yes he was , Mr. Holmes. How did you know that? The story has not made it into the papers yet.”
    “It is a hunch only Lestrade,” said Holmes.
    Lestrade looked askance at my friend. All through our long association he knew that Holmes seldom if ever relied on hunches.
    “Why have you brought this case to our attention Lestrade? Surely the incidence of someone being murdered near the river is something that the official police run up against every day.”
    “That is true Mr. Holmes but it concerns the locket that was found in the dead man’s hand.”
    “You have the item with you , Lestrade?”
    Lestrade reached into the pocket of his vest and pulled out the item in question. The familiar smoky yellow of the Scotch topaz glinted dully in its setting.
    “I believe Dr. Watson that you will recognize this. It is your wife’s is it not?” he asked holding up the pendant.
    “What makes you think that this item belongs to Mrs. Watson, Lestrade?” Holmes asked.
    “My wife always carried a picture of the two of us inside,” I told Holmes. The words caught in my throat.
    “It also contains initials engraved on the back,” said Lestrade.
    “Yes I gave it to Mary when we were courting and had the letters MM engraved on the back. When we celebrated our second anniversary Mary had our pictures put inside and she had the engraving changed. She left the first M but added a W on top of the second one. She thought that changing the engraving made it look a little like a butterfly.”
    I settled into a silence as I noticed both Holmes and Lestrade staring at me.
    It was Holmes who spoke next.
    “May I see the locket , Inspector?” he asked, reaching out his hand to the Scotland Yarder. Lestrade handed him the jewelry.
    As Holmes walked over to the window he picked up his magnifying lens from the mantel. He studied the locket with care in the bright sunlight.
    “What can you deduce from it, Mr. Holmes?”
    “Only that the purpose of this murderous assault was certainly not robbery. The attacker did not make off with the jewelry or for that matter, the pipe. As you know Lestrade, whenever there is a crime committed in Greenwich, or indeed in any of a half a hundred areas of the city, as often as not robbery is the reason. Individuals have been robbed for little more than a bit of string or a broken piece of mirror.”
    “You are right there Mr. Holmes and while there are certainly worse parts of the city such things are not unknown in Greenwich. The dead man did not appear to have been robbed, having in fact a few notes still in his pockets, amongst some other items. We also found some sort of message on his person, Mr. Holmes.”
    “A message?” asked Holmes.
    “Indeed. I have it here,” replied Lestrade, pulling a small parcel from his pocket.
    “One thing at a time Lestrade let us concentrate on the locket,” said Holmes.
    “Might not the attacker have been interrupted before he could rob his victim?” I asked exasperated. It did not matter to me what direction the investigation took as long as it was going somewhere.
    “I think not,” said Holmes handing me the pendant.
    “What do you see , Watson?”
    I looked at the item and noticed a brownish stain upon in. “It looks like blood,” I said.
    “It is undoubtedly blood, and probably that of the dead man. Thus the locket would have been placed in his hand after his death.”
    “I don’t follow you, Mr. Holmes?” replied Lestrade.
    “Well I am sure you would agree with me Lestrade that in Greenwich or for that matter any of the less savoury parts of the city a man would be foolish indeed to proceed down the street with such