"The Six Napoleons" by Arthur Conan Doyle (adapted)

Part Three

Mr Harker's bust was from Harding Brothers' shop in the High Street, so Sherlock Holmes and I walked there together. Mr Harding was not there.

Holmes was not pleased by this. 'We'll come back in the afternoon,' he said to Mr Harding's assistant. 'And now, Watson, let's visit Mr Morse Hudson's shop. Dr Barnicott bought his busts there.'

Morse Hudson was very angry about the broken busts, but he answered all Holmes's questions. 'The busts were made by Gelder and Company, in another part of London,' he told us. 'I can't give you more help than that.' But when Holmes showed him the photograph from the dead man's pocket, he cried, 'That's Beppo!'

'Who's Beppo?' asked Holmes.

'He's an Italian. He worked in my shop for a time – a useful man – but he left last week. I don't know where he went. He left two days before the bust was broken.'

We thanked Morse Hudson and left his shop. Holmes was quite pleased with what the shopkeeper told us. He decided next to visit Gelder and Company, the factory where the busts were made.

We passed through many parts of London, rich places and poor places, before we came to Stepney. Stepney was a rich place in the past, but now poor working people lived there. Many of them came from other countries.

We soon found Gelder and Company. We spoke to a German. 'In the past we made hundreds of busts,' he told us, 'but this year we only made six. Three were sold to Morse Hudson and three to Harding. The busts were cheaply made, usually by Italian workers.'

When Holmes showed him the photograph of the ugly Italian, he became angry.

'That's a very bad man,' he said. ' His name is Beppo and he worked here for me. But that was more than a year ago.'

'Why did he leave?' Holmes asked.

'He tried to kill another Italian with a knife, in the street,' replied the German. 'The police followed him here and caught him. The other Italian didn't die, so Beppo was only sent to prison for a year. One of his friends works here now. Do you want to speak to him?'

'No, no!' said Holmes. 'Please don't tell him anything – this is very important.'

'All right,' the man said.

'I have one more question,' said Holmes. 'It says here, in your book, that you sold the busts on 3rd June last year. When did the police come for Beppo? Can you remember?'

'Yes, I can. I paid Beppo for the last time on 20th May last year, and it was very soon after that.'

'You've helped me a lot,' said Holmes. 'I must go now. Remember, don't say anything to Beppo's friend.'

It was late in the afternoon and we were hungry. So we stopped to have some food in a restaurant. Holmes bought a newspaper. In it was an exciting story by Mr Harker about the madman who hated Napoleon. Most of the story was not true, but Holmes laughed a lot. He thought that it was a good joke.

'This is very helpful, Watson,' he said.

I did not really understand what he meant. But I laughed too at the silly story.

After our meal, we went to Harding Brothers. Mr Harding was a busy little man, and he answered our questions quickly and clearly. His three busts were all sold: one to Mr Harker of Kensington, one to a Mr Josiah Brown of Chiswick, and the third to a Mr Sandeford. Mr Sandeford lived outside London, in Reading.

Holmes seemed very interested in these facts and thanked Mr Harding. It was late, so we hurried back to Baker Street. We had to meet Lestrade.

*     *     *

Lestrade was waiting for us when we arrived. He was very pleased with himself.

'Have you found out anything, Mr Holmes?' he asked.

'Well, we know a lot about the busts now,' replied Holmes.

'The busts!' said Lestrade, and laughed. 'I know you're a clever detective, Mr Holmes. But I think I've found out something more important than that!'

'What have you discovered?'

'I now know who the dead man was. And I think I've found the motive for his murder,' was Lestrade's reply.

'Very good, Mr Lestrade.' Holmes smiled and waited.

Lestrade continued. 'We have a detective at Scotland Yard who knows many of the Italians in London. He knew this man well. His name was Pietro Venucci – a thief and a very dangerous man. Venucci worked for the Mafia. He punished people who broke the rules of the Mafia. That was his job. Usually he killed them. I think the man in the photograph broke the rules. Venucci was following him. They had a fight and Venucci was killed.'

Holmes smiled and said, 'Very good, Mr Lestrade, very good. But I still don't understand why the busts were broken.'

Lestrade almost shouted at Holmes, 'Those busts aren't important! Can't you forget them, Mr Holmes? A man will only go to prison for six months for breaking busts. Pietro Venucci is dead. That's what interests me.'

'I see,' said Holmes quietly. 'What are you going to do next, Mr Lestrade?'

'I'm going to go to the area of London where the Italians live. I want to find the man in the photograph. Do you want to come with me?'

Holmes did not seem very interested. 'No, thank you. I think that we can find him more easily in another place tonight.'

'Really! Where?'

'At an address in Chiswick. If you come with me tonight, I will go with you tomorrow,' said Holmes.

Lestrade was surprised, but he agreed. The three of us had an early dinner together. Then Holmes told Lestrade and me to rest until eleven o'clock.

Holmes did not rest. He spent the time in his room looking at some old newspapers. He was, I thought, probably looking for some facts about Venucci or Beppo.