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    The Case of the American Twins
    The Case of the American Twins
    The Case of the American Twins
    Ebook105 pages1 hour

    The Case of the American Twins

    By Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

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    About this ebook

    The American Twins is a classic adventure featuring the great detective Sherlock Holmes and his faithful friend, Dr. John Watson

    Among the many references made to cases that Watson did not chronicle, those of Sherlock Holmes' early career are the most intriguing. Within the canon, there is an oblique reference to one case concerning an American client, but nothing more is revealed by Watson. At last, here is that case.

    Based on the stage play of the same name by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherChelsea Quinn Yarbro
    Release dateFeb 14, 2016
    ISBN9781310995040
    The Case of the American Twins
    Author

    Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

    Chelsea Q. Yarbro is the first woman to be named a Living Legend by the International Horror Guild and is one of only two women ever to be named as Grand Master of the World Horror Convention (2003). In 1995, Yarbro was the only novelist guest of the Romanian government for the First World Dracula Congress, sponsored by the Transylvanian Society of Dracula, the Romanian Bureau of Tourism, and the Romanian Ministry of Culture. Yarbro is best known as the creator of the heroic vampire the Count Saint-Germain. With her creation of Saint-Germain, she delved into history and vampiric literature and subverted the standard myth to invent the first vampire who was more honorable, humane, and heroic than most of the humans around him. She fully meshed the vampire with romance and accurately detailed historical fiction, and filtered it through a feminist perspective that made both the giving of sustenance and its taking of equal erotic potency. A professional writer since 1968, Yarbro has worked in a wide variety of genres, from science fiction to Westerns, from young adult adventure to historical horror. A skeptical occultist for forty years, Yarbro has studied everything from alchemy to zoomancy, and in the late 1970s worked occasionally as a professional tarot card reader and palmist at the Magic Cellar in San Francisco.

    Read more from Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

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      Book preview

      The Case of the American Twins - Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

      cover.jpg

      The Case of the American Twins

      Adapted from characters created by Arthur Conan Doyle

      The American Twins is a classic adventure featuring the great detective Sherlock Holmes and his faithful friend, Dr. John Watson

      Among the many references made to cases that Watson did not chronicle, those of Sherlock Holmes' early career are the most intriguing. Within the canon, there is an oblique reference to one case concerning an American client, but nothing more is revealed by Watson.  At last, here is that case.

      Based on the stage play of the same name by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

      The Case of the American Twins

      Copyright © 2016 Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

      Published by Avalerion Books, Inc.

      Smashwords Edition

      All Rights Reserved

      First ebook edition February 2016

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author

      This ebook is for your personal device only. No part may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the author.

      This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincident

      Avalerion Books Inc. Miami Florida

      img1.png

      avalerionbooks.com

      img2.jpg

      Table of Contents

      Part I

      Part II

      Part III

      Part IV

      Part V

      Part VI

      Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

      Bibliography

      Part I

      By ten in the morning, the fog over London had turned to watery sunlight that streamed through the windows facing Baker Street.  Sitting in the wing-backed chair, John Watson, a solid sort of man in his mid-thirties dressed for a day at St. Luke’s Hospital, was reading the Times of London, a cup of tea neglected on the occasional table near his elbow.  His chair was at right angles to the settee that stood behind the butler’s table, so that he could not readily see the door to the corridor beyond, so he was startled enough to jump in surprise as his flat-mate, Sherlock Holmes, a man slightly younger and noticeably taller than Watson, burst through the door, and announced with a grin, Watson!  I have a new case.

      Watson steadied himself.  Good Lord, Holmes.  He turned, reaching to stop his cup from falling over, and set it more carefully on the table.  You must be pleased.

      I’m delighted, Sherlock declared.  This is going to require most of my skills.

      I can see that you’re pleased, said Watson, trying to make sure it was safe to sit down again.

      Sherlock offered a vulpine grin.  I was beginning to fear that even London’s most subtle criminals had retired from the world of crime, leaving me nothing to do.  I can’t be satisfied simply with playing the violin.

      Resigning himself to listening to Sherlock explain how he happened to be involved in a new venture, Watson asked, What is the nature of this case?

      I haven’t more than the most ephemeral idea.  I do know the client is a woman, and that there is some urgency in the matter.  I plan to learn more: I’m going to receive her shortly.

      Shortly?  Watson echoed.

      Sherlock went to the dining table under the windows, poured himself some tea from a cooling pot, saying as he did, Yes.  Shortly.

      You mean today?  Watson asked, staring at Sherlock.  That seems quite . . . ah . . .  precipitous.

      It does, doesn’t it?  Sherlock said with great satisfaction.  This morning.  She’ll be here, I’m certain of it; she will come alone by cab, and will expect me to protect her from the attention of the general public, which I shall endeavor to do.

      Why should that concern you?  Watson waited for the answer, not quite holding his breath.

      Because I gave my word to the American Ambassador.  He wants as much confidentially as possible throughout the investigation.  The ambassador is the one who has arranged this appointment, and has guaranteed the —

      Payment?  Watson guessed.

      Sherlock took a sip of his tea, found it too cool to enjoy, and so put it down next to the ironstone pot.  It’s a comfort, after the last debacle.  Thirty percent of nothing is still nothing."

      Am I to gather that this new client is an American?

      Yes, Watson, she is.  Why else would the American Ambassador seek my help, but for one of his countrymen, or women? 

      ‘There are no hounds involved in this one, are there?  Watson joked.  And are we to remain in London, or go out to the southern moors?"

      Neither have been mentioned, no.  He threw himself down on the settee and rested his heels on the arm opposite the one on which he had put a pillow for his head.  I don’t know more than that; the American Ambassador wanted to come to accompany this young woman to this first interview regarding the case.  He assured me that he only sought information, and pledged to keep silent so that his opinions could not influence my understanding of what she is seeking to discover.  I surmised he was shocked when I told him a first meeting with a client should be in private, and that I prefer to meet this woman without fanfare.  It was the Ambassador who told me to make sure that this consultation did not attract public attention, which his presence would make difficult to achieve.

      Watson managed a half-smile.  He doesn’t know you very well.

      Sherlock’s response was utterly serious.  No, he doesn’t, more’s the pity.  He said Inspector Lestrade brought the young woman with him when the Ambassador called upon him this morning.  Perhaps I’ll stop by Scotland Yard later today, to learn what Lestrade thinks of this investigation.

      Then you’re taking the case, Watson concluded.

      It’s likely I shall, if it is the sort of case the Ambassador implied it was.  Which is why I want to ask you to go to the door of your room, just out of sight, and observe her when we’re speaking.  I’ll ask you for your opinion after she leaves.  He paused to consider what else he should mention to Watson.  Neither you nor I will tell the American Ambassador about this arrangement.

      Watson sighed.  If it will help.  When do you expect her, Holmes?  I have to be at the clinic in two hours.

      She is supposed to arrive shortly, very shortly, or so I reckon; the Ambassador informed me that she — our client — wishes to begin the investigation at once, so it is fortunate that I am not dealing with another case.  If what the Ambassador told me was accurate, she should be here before the hour chimes.

      Because the American Ambassador requested it, or she is impatient?  Watson asked.

      Sherlock sat up.  I suspect it may be some of both.

      Well, said

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