Becoming Holmes Read Online Free

the fact that he now appears to be employed by the Chancellor of the Exchequer to help oversee funds allocated to the Metropolitan London Police. The apothecary knows that Holmes deeply despises the little street thug, and not just because he is his great enemy’s lieutenant.
    “Ah, he has his hands on our taxes! I must say, a rather meteoric rise from thieving in the streets of London to thieving for the government!” Bell grins. “He has switched positions. He is now stealing from the poor to give to the rich!”
    “Sir, I don’t think we should treat this lightly.”
    “Of course not,” says the apothecary, feeling a little sheepish.
    “I smell a rat.”
    “I would pluralize that! There is a rather larger one at work here too, boss to this Grimsby, who used to live on the streets with his fellow Rodentia, exceeding six feet tall and wearing a tailcoat.”
    “Indeed.”
    “But Malefactor has disappeared. You haven’t seen him for nearly a year and then only briefly. He spoke of attending a university, did he not? Becoming respectable?”
    “In order to be more effective.”
    “It appears that is now the case. He is infiltrating our government! But this Grimsby chap is not too highly placed yet, is he?”
    “He may be second in command.”
    “Second? Oh dear. Well, at least he isn’t first.”
    But Sherlock Holmes doesn’t respond. A sudden, disturbing thought has overcome him.
What if Grimsby’s elderly superior were to soon meet with an unfortunate accident?
Malefactor could get one of his thugs to make that happen with ease, without a whiff of suspicion.
They WILL make that happen
. Sherlock has a burning desire to run to the Treasury, throw Grimsby to the ground, disable him, and force from him whatever secrets he and his evil boss are holding.
The infiltration of the police force will be preceded by murder
. The boy is becoming aware that these things are not simply future dreams in Malefactor’s teeming brain.
They are at hand
.
    “Someone should look into this,” says Sigerson Bell, glancing away.
    “Yes, someone should.” Sherlock’s voice is shaking.
    Bell turns back and observes his charge. He can see the color changing in his face. He notices his hands twitching by his sides, turning into fists.
    “You, my young knight, could make enquiries. Just enquiries, mind you. You are at a unique advantage to do so, with your brother holding an inside position, as it were.”
    “I suppose I am.” Sherlock’s mind is racing. “Just enquiries,” he says quietly, his hands now so tightly clenched that the bones show through his knuckles.
    If I let Malefactor do this, he will soon infest everything. This is his way in. He will then destroy everyone who dares to oppose him, including me
.

4
GRIMSBY’S RISE
    W hen Sherlock gets to Whitehall Street very early the next morning, he sees a long line of people, going west along the thoroughfare, starting on the far side of the Treasury building and growing by the minute. The sun is just peeking over the foggy streets. Folk of all stripes are in the line, no one pushing or shoving. They are rich, middle class, and poor, but mostly poor. People of such different incomes never gather together in England. Many carry flowers, and all look sad. Some are shoeless and ill, clutching wilted weeds tied up with rags. The line stretches out of sight, half a mile into the distance toward Westminster Abbey. They are lining up to walk past Charles Dickens’s coffin in the great church. Many of the poor are crying so hard that their shoulders are shaking.
    Sherlock would like to join them, but there are things he must do today, an evil he
must
immediately root out. He wonders if Malefactor would kill so soon after inserting Grimsby. It doesn’t seem like a smart move.
But he is likely flushed with excitement and anxious to act. How long until he strikes? Will it be weeks? Or just a few days?
    Sherlock waits anxiously on the front steps of the Treasury. He knows