Read Kronberg Crimes 01 - The Devils Grin for Free Online

friend’s stories, you would know who Irene Adler is,’ he answered.
    ‘Your friend writes stories about you in newspapers?’
    ‘Unfortunately, yes. He publishes in The Strand , but that’s of no import—’
    ‘Is it Dr Watson you live with?’ I interrupted, suddenly curious. I had noticed a somewhat worn-looking coat hanging next to the door. It was made to fit a stocky man of approximately my height. Also, the two armchairs appeared as though both were regularly used. I could not quite imagine Holmes receiving visitors every day and openly inviting them to wear down his furniture. Probably, his distressed customers preferred to pace the room and ruin the carpet instead.
    After a moment of a measuring stare he grumbled, ‘He lives with his new wife now. You are evading my question again.’
    I quite enjoyed my own sauciness. Besides, I had a plan now.
    ‘You are rather impatient, Mr Holmes. May I?’ I asked, gingerly picking up the picture. He didn’t look too happy but let me proceed, and I started pacing his sitting room.
    ‘There are few pictures on the walls and they are almost completely hidden behind that chaos of yours. I should assume they hung there before you moved in and are of no importance to you?’
    He raised one eyebrow and I continued, ‘That is in sharp contrast to her, though. She is the only picture on the mantelpiece; possibly because you don’t know how to drive a nail into the wall?’
    A frown on Holmes’s face indicated that he did know how to use a hammer. Good for him. ‘There is all that stuff of yours on the mantelpiece, too. If she were insignificant she would be hidden, at least partially. But there she is, in full view. However, she is not someone you are fond of, because you never take her off her place; although I’m not entirely sure you would ever do such a thing even if you were fond of her.’
    Holmes appeared very alert now and I, not knowing whether he could sense my plan, put a little more distance between us while continuing my explanation, ‘The frame and the glass appear to be free of fingerprints. I guess she was touched once to be put there. The maid cleans your rooms daily; but she’s not very thorough, mostly because she doesn’t dare touch your personal belongings.’
    Reaching one of the two tall windows next to the fireplace, I opened it and pulled the curtain aside while coughing and taking a deep breath of fresh air. The room was filled with pipe smoke. Inwardly, I was vibrating with excitement and foreboding — I was about to step on a rather fragile tightrope.
    ‘There is only one possible explanation, Mr Holmes. You dislike the woman, yet you keep her photograph. That can only mean that you adore her in an odd way. Considering what I learned about you yesterday, I conclude that she outwitted you. You are convinced you are the smartest man alive and being outwitted by a woman is more than unacceptable to you. This is your greatest preconception and your weakest spot. You should get rid of it.’
    With these last words my hand shot out of the window. Holmes inhaled a hiss and bent his long body towards me, reaching for Irene.
    ‘For Christ’s sake!’ he huffed, as I placed her gently on the outside windowsill.
    ‘Would you be so kind as to tell me what you think about the Hampton man’s death, Mr Holmes?’ I asked.
    ‘There isn’t much to think,’ he snarled and picked Irene up. ‘All that’s needed is but a simple calculation: the maximum distance the man could have floated was thirty miles. He entered the Thames as a corpse. That means he was close to death before he even got there. He can only have contracted cholera at a densely populated place with a lack of hygiene, and he could not have walked very far. It follows that he must have been close to a village or city. There is only one place that fits these facts like a glove fits the hand!’
    ‘And which place would that be?’
    He ignored me and put the picture back on the