Chapter 15: Mastering a New Skill

On the first page, they discovered a dry white powder in Henry’s bedroom, but it was impossible to tell which plant it came from just by looking. However, Holmes, standing by the bedroom window, quickly narrowed down the suspect. Holding the brown bottle containing the white powder, he hurried downstairs and soon arrived in the backyard.

Billy followed Holmes to the backyard, where he saw only ordinary ornamental plants. Holmes stopped in front of a plant adorned with long, slender trumpet-shaped purple flowers hanging in clusters from top to bottom.

“Digitalis, indeed digitalis,” Holmes said with delight at unraveling the mystery. “Billy, you must remember this plant. The entire plant is poisonous—even the nectar in its flowers is toxic. I’ve heard of children poisoning themselves by sucking the nectar, and others mistakenly including it in salads and poisoning themselves to death. Be very careful not to ingest it.”

Hearing Holmes’s description, Billy looked at the patch of beautiful purple-flowered digitalis with growing fear. He never imagined such a plant, not even knee-high, could be so deadly.

Crouching down, Billy carefully examined the digitalis and vowed never to eat salad again. Well, he didn’t like salad in the first place.

As Billy studied the plant intently, Holmes also crouched beside him and whispered in his ear, “What ability did you just use?”

Startled, Billy realized there was no point hiding it now. He lowered his voice cautiously. “It’s called the Saline Exchange Technique. It allows me to convert any liquid into saline solution. It’s related to my fishing skill, which apparently has levels. I’m currently at level one, so I acquired this skill. But I never tested it before, so I didn’t expect such a big reaction.”

Billy felt a bit ashamed. “What do we do now? Henry saw everything with his own eyes, and there were servants around too.”

“Just say it’s a new chemical reaction I developed. No one will overthink it,” Holmes said, his eyes gleaming with excitement, making Billy shiver. Holmes had just finished another case and was bored, and now Billy had unwittingly brought him a new, intriguing puzzle—a veritable trap for himself. But what choice did he have? He couldn’t keep hiding this forever.

Holmes returned to the parlor with the brown bottle of powder and approached the tightly bound Henry. He waved the bottle before him. “Digitalis. Just two grams of this powdered extract from the plant is enough to kill a person. But you, being overly cautious, added an excessive amount to the water you gave young Gask. That’s why even the vomit contains a high concentration of digitalis toxin.”

“You cleaned the vomit from the floor but didn’t realize the drug seeped into the floorboards, leaving traces. Even those traces were enough for me to extract poison capable of killing a piglet. And there’s still plenty left in this bottle. You intended to kill more than just your brother, didn’t you? Once your father finishes revising his will, you were planning to do away with him too. Why the sudden urgency? Because you’re deeply in debt. You embezzled company funds to gamble. Look at the things in your room—all the valuable items have been sold off, including the expensive pocket watch you should have always worn.”

Billy suddenly recalled Henry’s repeated glances at his pocket—it was more than just a habit. In England, gentlemen customarily kept their pocket watches in their waistcoat pockets, often adorned with a chain.

“Enough with the psychological analysis. Confess everything to the police,” Holmes said, tossing the brown bottle filled with digitalis powder into Lester’s hands. “I trust you can handle the rest, Lester. We are leaving now.”

Flustered, Lester caught the bottle but had nothing to say, only watching Holmes and Billy depart.

***

Billy never expected the case to be solved so quickly, feeling overwhelmed by how much had happened in just two days. Holmes had cracked the case with remarkable speed, relying mostly on his analytical prowess, with just a small assist from Billy.

“This case wasn’t very difficult. The main challenge was locating the body, but with your help, we found it easily. Your ability isn’t just about jewelry—it’s relevant to the case itself,” Holmes said as they climbed into a hired carriage.

Reflecting on what he had fished up over the past two days, Billy realized Holmes was right. He had caught jewels thrown into the river by the murderer, the victim’s pendant box, and even the victim himself—a grim sort of dark humor, but true.

Was his “golden finger” ability designed to fish out things connected to cases?

“Before we study your amazing ability further, we need to inform Miss Bailey of the investigation’s outcome,” Holmes said.

Billy hesitated at the thought. He couldn’t imagine Miss Bailey’s reaction to learning of her lover’s death—how painful it must be, especially since it wasn’t some natural disaster but her own brother who had murdered him.

Miss Bailey had even resolved to elope with her lover, only to receive such a devastating truth.

But sooner or later, she had to know. This was her case, and as her detective, Holmes must reveal the truth.

As expected, Miss Bailey was deeply distressed upon hearing the truth. Yet, her remarkable composure allowed her to suppress her pain, wiping away tears.

“Thank you, Mr. Holmes, for uncovering the truth and not letting Richard disappear without explanation.” Flustered, she fumbled in her bag for her wallet and pulled out the few pounds she had.

“Miss Bailey, even without your commission, we would have solved the case because of the pendant box. So I only need a small fee—it wasn’t a lengthy investigation anyway,” Holmes reassured her with a smile, casually taking a shilling from her.

“This pendant box is no use to me now. It’s best to return it to its rightful owner,” Holmes said, placing the box containing the lover’s eye on the table.

Distracted, Miss Bailey no longer cared if the money she gave Holmes was sufficient. Her trembling hand opened the pendant box with a soft click, revealing her beautiful eye inside.

Tears flowed uncontrollably.

Holmes and Billy left the inn where Miss Bailey was staying. Outside, Billy noticed a man anxiously asking the front desk about her whereabouts. The man bore a striking resemblance to Miss Bailey—likely her brother or father.

Her family had come looking as well.

Back at Baker Street, Holmes set aside the previous case entirely and eagerly grabbed a bottle of wine from his liquor cabinet, placing it before Billy.

“Quick, use your marvelous Saline Exchange Technique to convert the wine inside,” Holmes urged.

Billy felt like a guinea pig once more.

Recalling the first time he used the Saline Exchange Technique, Billy focused on transforming the wine into saline. Soon, the familiar shimmering rainbow light appeared.

It lasted a full second. Holmes reached out to touch the glowing bottle, his hand passing harmlessly through the light as if it were ordinary.

Once the light vanished, Holmes immediately twisted off the cap.

The bottle was not original but a beautifully carved glass decanter with no label, now half full.

Billy noticed the liquid inside had changed from translucent amber to completely clear.

Holmes produced a glass and poured out the liquid, bringing it directly to his lips without hesitation.

Billy was alarmed and hurriedly stopped him. “Shouldn’t we test it on an animal first? You can’t drink an unknown liquid straight away.”

“Isn’t it saline? Why not drink it?” Holmes looked at Billy with full trust.

Billy felt both pleased and helpless. “You say it’s saline exchange, but who knows if the saline has anything else added?”

Holmes smiled and drained the glass in one gulp. “If anything happens to me, just take me to the hospital immediately.”

“But it tastes purely like saline, no strange flavors, not even a hint of alcohol. The replacement was thorough. But where did the missing wine go? Did it vanish into thin air, or was it transferred somewhere else?” Holmes pondered, examining the bottle.

Billy could only watch anxiously, ready to rush Holmes to the hospital if anything seemed amiss.