A
Study In Satin
by Tigger
Katrina had returned from her errand with a foul smelling and
worse tasting herbal concoction guaranteed to ease the most
trying of "female complaints". That alone was enough to put
Sherla's back up, as she considered her condition to be far worse
than a mere "complaint," whereupon Katrina pointed out that
Sherla had done little else since their night had been so rudely
interrupted.
Later, Sherla would admit that it was not the packaging of the
retail product that bothered her so much as where it came from
and what ingredients had gone into the making of it. "Just LOOK
what happened to me the last time I took something provided by a
CHEMIST made from HERBS!" she had snarled when Katrina had taken
her task for being so silly.
Katrina had just looked at her, just stood there for what had
seemed like minutes before slamming the bottle down on the table
next to Sherla. "What happened to you? You became a BEAUTIFUL
woman who is young and alive instead of a bitter old man trying
to die!" she'd shouted. "You became MY lover and although I do
LOVE you, right at this moment, I do not think I like you all
that much . . . . BITCH!"
Sherla watched in open mouth astonishment as Katrina fled from
the room. *Oh dear lord, I made her cry!* Struggling to her feet,
and exerting every bit of her will to prevent her stomach from
emptying what little she'd managed to get down, she tried to
hurry after her love.
She found the girl in Irene's room, face down on the older
woman's bed, crying.
Carefully, she settled herself down beside Katrina and began to
stroke the dark hair they'd normally kept hidden beneath Karl's
cap of late. "I am so sorry, my love. I had promised myself
that I would not take my misery out on anyone, and especially
you. I am so sorry. You were right, I am a bitch."
"Yes you were. ARE!" Katrina's voice was muffled by the large
feather pillow she was using to hide her face. Then she sighed
and rolled to face Sherla. "But it is not all your fault. I
fear that you are not the only one of us who is now. . .
.expressing her most basic femininity."
"You, too?" Sherla's voice broke, "And you went outside to get
that potion? For me? How could you stand to move?!?"
A resigned smile crossed Katrina's face as she heard the awed
respect and wonder in Sherla's tones. "I could let you feel
really guilty about it, or consider me the brave loving heroine,
fighting with her last ounce of strength for her beloved's needs,
but I won't. In truth, my dear, most of us do not suffer as you
are during this time of the month - at least once we are used to
it. The first ones are often the roughest because we have
nothing to gauge them by. So, I really wasn't being all that
brave and self sacrificing."
"I will try to be better about it," Sherla promised.
"I am sorry for yelling at you. Even if the discomfort is more
manageable for me, this time of the month does put my emotions
very close to the surface and definitely sharpens my temper.
Tante Irene has been known to give me the day off during my first
days." Katrina added with a mischievous grin.
"Friends?" Sherla asked hopefully.
"And lovers," Katrina replied, lifting up to kiss Sherla.
"Well, at least now there are TWO of us to try that potion you
brought back from the chemist." Sherla managed brightly.
"But YOU go first!" Katrina put in quickly.
"No, you go first!"
"You!"
"No, YOU!"
~----------------~
They took the potion together, almost as if they were two
drinking friends offering each other a toast. It was several
minutes before they could unscrew their faces from the bitterness
of the brew.
Surprisingly, the potion actually worked, a happy result which
Sherla would later attribute more to the fact that the basis of
the effusion was nearly pure alcohol than to the "specially
selected and prepared healthful herbs".
~------------------~
Katrina, as Karl, had gone to meet Erich after school when Irene
finally returned from her own outing. She walked into the
suite's sitting room removing her hat pins and doffing her heavy
bonnet. "Ah, so you are done writhing and complaining in your
bed, are you?" She said when she saw Sherla sitting in one of
the chairs by the fire.
"Oh, I am jussss wonnnerful," Sherla slurred.
"What is the MATTER with you??" Irene demanded as she dropped
her gloves and hurried over to the grinning Sherla.
"Not a thing!" She was assured cheekily. "That po. . potion
Katrina got me is almost all spirits. Strong. I . . think. .. I
may have had a bit too much of it. My. .my poor," a hiccup broke
Sherla's stream of words, "tolerance for the stuff, you know."
"I see," Irene smiled in her relief. "Although I suspect that
you will regret feeling quite so wonderful in the morning."
Sherla gave an exaggerated nod of her head. "I know, but it is
too late now to rect. .to rect. . to fix it. So. . what did you
learn?"
"Are you sure you will remember it in the morning?" Irene asked,
seating herself opposite the inebriated young woman.
"Don't know, but might as well try. . .unless you are having . .
. YOUR complaint, too. Might . . as well make it a full party!
Then YOU can drink some of that. . .potion."
Irene chuckled. "So, I must infer that Katrina is also having
her monthly?" Her only answer was another very exaggerated head
nod. "I see. Well, I am not so I will have some wine instead."
Irene got up to pour herself a glass from the decanter provided
by Herr Schmidt. Savoring a rather large sip of the warming
libation, she turned to Sherla and said, "Very well, then, oh
Great Detective. I will make my report. I managed to find
something not to like about all the properties Herr Kreuger had
arranged to show me. I am afraid, however, that he is more
convinced than ever that we are looking for a site for a
bordello. He all but propositioned me as we were coming back to
the hotel. I suspect we may have to move on to Meringen more
sooner than later if he becomes a nuisance."
"Sorry," Sherla responded with a broad giddy smile on her face.
"And so you should be!" Irene retorted before relenting. "You
did as you thought we wanted. You have not sufficient practice
at being a woman to have learned subtlety. In any case, he is
going to start looking farther afield which may ultimately get us
closer to Rosenlaui."
"That's wonderful," Sherla chirped happily. "I just KNEW you
were the right woman for the job when I thought I was dying."
"So glad to be of service, Miss Holmes," Irene retorted. "So,
will you be joining us for dinner? Frau Schmidt is making a
lovely lamb dish as the main course."
Even through the alcohol fumes, Sherla's body reacted to the idea
of solid food as it had all day. "I will take that as a 'no',"
Irene chuckled as she watched Sherla hurry toward the water
closet.
~----------------~
When Irene and Karl/Katrina rejoined Sherla after dinner, she was
more sober if less comfortable. "A better compromise, I think,"
she told Irene. "So, Katrina-dear, what have you learned today
for young Erich?"
"Not all that much, I am afraid," Katrina replied as she started
to seat herself, barely remembering to sprawl boyishly instead of
sitting daintily. "Erich had an extra chore today and likely for
the next few days. Seems someone has ordered some animals, but
the tracks to Meringen were damaged in the storm so they have to
be held here until they can be delivered, and Erich's father has
put their care and feeding in Erich's hands."
"Surely that is not such an onerous and time consuming task,"
Sherla challenged, wanting her friend to be advancing their
investigations.
"Now, don't you go bitchy on me again, Sherla," Katrina warned
sternly, pleased to see her friend flush in embarrassment. Irene
hid a smile behind her hand and remained silent. This was
between the two of them. "Besides, you don't know how many of
them there are. Fifty of one kind and two dozen of the other
kind. That is a great deal of cages to clean and bowls to fill
at feeding time. I helped so that I could remain in Erich's good
graces once the animals have been sent on. Interesting beasts,"
she added, "I have never seen any up close before."
"Oh," Irene inquired, "What kind of animals?"
"Monkeys," Katrina said. "And the others are like monkeys, only
bigger with no tails."
"Chimpanzees?" Sherla said, her voice suddenly flat.
"Why yes, that is what Erich called them. How did you know?"
"Because we have just been given our second major clue. I hope
you like helping Erich with those animals, my dear, because I
want you with them as much as possible."
~----------------~
Moriarty knew the man was there, waiting on the other side of the
desk to be acknowledged, but he kept his head down focused on the
sheaf of papers in front of him. In truth, there was nothing
there he was actually studying and could have looked up to take
the man's report at any time, but it was in such subtle ways a
man exercised power over his minions and other inferiors. By
showing them that what he did was more important than what they
did, Moriarty reinforced the line that separated him from the
rest of humanity.
Finally he pushed aside the meaningless paper and, putting an
impatient look upon his face, stared at the man. "Yes?" he said
in a demanding, clipped tone.
"Sa'ar," the man began, "Carver sent ye a message," he said,
nearly stuttering. At the last moment, he remembered he held the
paper in his hand and thrust it away from him toward Moriarty.
With deliberate and obvious care that he not actually touch the
messenger's hand, Moriarty accepted the paper. "You may wait
outside. If I have a reply I will have it brought to you." he
said by way of dismissal.
The Professor broke the sealing wax and opened the heavy
parchment page.
Professor Moriarty,
The tracks to Brienz wuz broke by the
blizard. Station Master don't think
they will be fixed afore next week.
Meantimes, a cable arrived at the
station today saying that our monkys and
chimps has gotten as far as Brienz.
Brienz being only 8 miles or so as the
gul flys, I am going to drive the slay
down there to pick up wot I can.
Won't be able to cary the lot of them,
so I am asking you which to bring you
now, in case you have speshal needs for
some of them.
Carver
Aside from his henchman's abysmal spelling and grammar, Moriarty
was well pleased. Carver was good man. Did what he was told,
but knew when he did not know what to do. Moriarty made some
quick calculations concerning the carrying capacity of the
sleigh. Filled to capacity, the sleigh might manage to hold
eight or so of the chimpanzees and a small number of the littler
beasts. Unfortunately, these were warm weather animals, so he
would lower his estimate to allow for blankets and canvas
covering to keep the primates warm, dry and out of the wind on
the long sleigh ride back. It was nearly four kilometers to
Rosenlaui and another twelve kilometers to Brienz. They would be
several hours out in the elements.
Moriarty picked up his pen and began to write his response to
Carver. Almost halfway through the note, he looked again at
Carver's own missive. It was crudely done, using large, childish
block lettering. Moriarty wadded up his first attempt and threw
it into the fire. Carver was a good underling, but he'd never
understand the Professor's own elegant cursive script, or the
words that Moriarty would use with someone who was better
educated. More carefully this time, Moriarty began his response
anew, this time printing instead of writing, and ensuring that he
used short, easily read and understood words.
It took several tries before the Professor was satisfied with his
message, for he found it exceedingly difficult to force his
incomparable brain to communicate on such a crude and
unsophisticated level. Finally, he rang for his secretary and
told him to summon the messenger. He had a task for the man.
Soon, the experiments that were showing such promise with the
shorter-lived African monkeys would be tried on the much longer
living chimpanzees. If all went well, why, they might have a
working solution in another month or so.
And of course, Professor Moriarty would personally SEE that
things continued to go well.
~---------------~
Date: March 16, 1911
Entry in the Journal of Miss Sherla Joan Holmes
Location: The Brienz Hotel, Brienz, Switzerland.
Time: 1:19 A.M.
My Dear Doctor Watson:
I cannot sleep. Between my mind churning and my stomach
churning, I have elected to get up and sit so that I do not
disturb Katrina. She is also suffering from her monthly, but at
least she can sleep. In truth, I must say I feel somewhat better
- something on the order of a limp, tattered rag as opposed to a
tattered rag being wrung out. Rather sad when feeling bad is an
improvement, eh old friend? I have just taken another, smaller
dose of that alcoholic tonic. I have hopes that it will be
efficacious without being debilitating this time. At least, by
being awake, I lessen the likelihood of a hangover from that
abominable tasting brew. Next time, I believe I shall simply try
an excellent brandy or a well blended cognac since I think the
herbs have little to do with the effectiveness of this particular
preparation. I shall do an experiment and let you know.
All in all, this has been a rather forceful reminder of what has
changed for me in the past two months, John. It is rather hard
to forget one is a woman when your entire body is working so
diligently to make that fact painfully obvious. I never had this
problem as Sherlock.
But then again, I can all but hear you saying, there were many
other things I did not have as Sherlock. True enough. The fact
is, I don't know if I really care if Moriarty truly has an
antidote for this or not. Yes, John, even as I sit here in my
current condition, I am not sure. Sherlock is still a
significant part of me, and he would never make such a decision
irrationally and in a fit of pique. Nor will I permit two or
three days of discomfort to completely overshadow the greater
logical picture.
We are coming very close now, John. The only reason I know of
for such a large shipment of primates as Katrina uncovered today
is research. Specifically, human research, although, I am unsure
why they would want the chimpanzees. Most journal articles I
have read use the smaller, cheaper monkeys. One gets more
generations per year out such animals if you are looking at
genetics, and not insignificantly, they are less costly than
their larger cousins.
Of course, money is not likely to be an object to the Professor.
I wonder if the fact that the chimpanzees are longer-lived than
the monkeys might not be the reason for their inclusion in the
shipment. That consideration plus their size makes them seem
somewhat more similar to homo sapiens than the smaller animals.
Do I infer from this that Moriarty is getting ready to test an
improved version of his damnable potion? Can I ignore it?
The second answer is simple - No, I cannot. Katrina will have to
be very vigilant over the next few days in case someone calls for
the animals. If not, we will have to move our base of operations
to Meringen when the tracks reopen and they are shipped there to
await pickup.
I must speak with Irene and Katrina in the morning. We are
getting closer to Moriarty which means the game becomes more
dangerous as well. I must impress upon them the need for greater
self security over the next few days.
I do not think I should want to live were I to lose either of
them.
End Journal Entry.
