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But last night, he didn’t come home at all.”
    Mrs. Dent sniffed and her eyes filled with tears. Griffin was thankful that he’d thought to place a clean handkerchief in his pocket that morning and offered it to her. The woman took it gratefully and, after giving him a watery smile, continued her story.
    â€œI was up all night, feeling more terrified by the hour. And then, early this morning, I was surprised by the arrival of a strange visitor. He introduced himself as James Dunn, a local fisherman and member of something called the Angler’s Club. He said that my husband was gone forever and that he had seen the entire thing happen. Truth be told, if the man hadn’t seemed so genuinely frightened, I don’t know that I could have believed what he told me.”
    â€œPray, tell me what happened, Mrs. Dent,” Snodgrass said, urging her along. “I’m sure I shall be able to bring the villains to justice.” He gestured around the parlor at the assortment of steam-driven gadgetry. “I am equipped with technology capable of solving even the most difficult of mysteries.”
    â€œYou don’t understand, sir. According to Mr. Dunn, my husband wasn’t kidnapped or murdered.” She looked imploringly at Griffin and his uncle. Then, choking back a sob, she said, “My husband was eaten by the Loch Ness monster.”

8

THE WATCHER
    T he hansom cab waited outside the Baker Street address for a long time after Griffin and his uncle had taken Mrs. Dent inside. The burly driver stroked his beard as he stared up at the illuminated window. Things weren’t going according to plan.
    His boss had instructed him to patrol Baker Street, and he’d been doing so for several hours before Griffin had flagged him down. He’d refused the countless offers of other passengers wanting a ride because he wasn’t really a driver at all. His name was John McDuff. And he was one of the most wanted men in England.
    Mr. Moriarty isn’t going to like this , he thought.
    He was supposed to be watching to see if Sherlock Holmes or Rupert Snodgrass had been alerted to their robbery. Pulling off that heist, one that had involved over two tons of explosives, had been a masterful feat. It was a theft only a couple of criminal geniuses like the Moriartys could have orchestrated.
    The new Moriarty had devised a crane capable of transporting the load, and then divided the explosives between hansom cabs that transported the stolen goods to a secret train station, right under the watchful eye of Scotland Yard! The plan was, in John McDuff’s opinion, nothing less than inspired.
    This new Moriarty is even more brilliant than his cousin, the Professor , McDuff thought. After all, hadn’t he heard that the man possessed three degrees in engineering from Oxford and additional degrees in science from Harvard University in the States? With that kind of education, it had come as no surprise that the Professor had placed his younger cousin in charge of this caper. Everyone thought it was the best move the old man had made in years. But now, the careful plan made by the two cousins had encountered its first snag.
    Everyone in the criminal underworld knew about Rupert Snodgrass and treated him like the amateur sleuth he was. There were many times that Snodgrass had been watched from the shadows as he struggled to put the clues to a mystery together. He was certainly no Sherlock Holmes, but he could still complicate things.
    This boy, on the other hand, was something new. And McDuff didn’t like what he’d seen so far.
    He had picked up the boy hoping he would reveal something, but assumed it was a long shot since he was just a child. But he had reacted quickly to the hysterical woman and had taken charge of the situation in a very adult manner. However, what had truly alarmed him was that when he had turned around to check on the boy, he had seen Griffin pick up the tiny bits of paper