The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes Page #8

Are you sure you've got

the right Mr. Ashdown?

Quite sure, Mr. Holmes.

Well, Watson...

l would say the curtain

is going up on the last act.

l don't like the sound of it.

Please be careful.

Holmes, you'd better

take this with you.

Well...who's minding

the castle?

You'd better get on.

lt's getting late.

Where are we going?

Some sort of party?

You won't be disappointed

in the guest list.

Who's the host?

Jonah.

Mr. Ashdown, l presume?

The red runner, l presume.

You shouldn't have gone

to all this trouble just for me.

lt's not for you. McKennah?

May l have

the champagne, please?

Not a very good vintage,

is it?

Mediocre, but then again,

it's not for drinking.

Tie it up, will you?

ln here.

lnteresting...and educational.

Despite my most

emphatic warning...

you persisted in meddling.

lt would have served you right

if you had all drowned.

Sorry to be so unobliging.

''E. Valladon.''

Hmm...

l imagine that this belongs

to the pretty lady...

and this belongs

to your...valet.

We found them floating

in the lake.

Speaking about things

floating in the lake--

how much do you know?

Or...think you know?

l think you're testing

some sort of underwater craft...

camouflaged

to mislead the gullible.

l think it's

an experimental model...

operated by a crew of midgets.

l think it is powered by

sulfuric acid batteries...

and uses canaries

to detect escaping gas.

Altogether, a unique

contraption.

Not quite that unique.

Right now, four countries

are trying to develop...

what we call a submersible...

but none of them could

solve the critical problem--

how to stay submerged long

enough to make it effective.

What does the good book say?

''And Jonah lived in

the belly of that fish...

''for three days

and three nights.''

That was our goal...

and thanks to

Valladon's air pump...

we got a jump

on the rest of them.

lt's a highly complex

system of filtration...

so we had a series of trials--

And at least one error.

During a test run

in the Moray Firth...

pressure caused

a leak in the hull...

sea water mixed with

the acid in the batteries...

to produce chlorine gas.

Before they could reach

the surface...

Valladon and two of

the crew were dead.

So you had them buried

in unmarked graves...

to preserve your secret.

lt was essential...

to keep the information

from your client!

You went to all those lengths...

to prevent Madame Valladon

from finding her husband?

Your client isn't

Madame Valladon!

lt's the lmperial

German Government.

They were after

the Belgian engineer...

or rather his invention.

They knew he was

employed by us...

but they couldn't

find out where.

So they enlisted the best

brain in England to help them.

You, my dear brother,

have been working for

the Wilhelm Strasse.

And Madame Valladon...

what part did she play

in all of this?

Madame Valladon is dead.

Dead?

The Germans disposed of her

three weeks ago in Brussels.

This is Gabrielle Valladon.

The woman who was

brought to your house...

in the middle of the night...

apparently fished out

of the Thames...

and apparently suffering

from amnesia...

is in fact

llsa von Hoffmanstal...

one of their most

skillful agents.

Am l going too fast for

the best brain in England?

Go on.

They planted her on you

quite neatly, l must admit...

so that you could lead them...

to their objective,

the air pump...

very much like using a hog

to find truffles.

And now perhaps

you'd care to join me.

l'm expecting a certain

royal personage from Balmoral.

Your Majesty.

l trust you had

a pleasant journey, ma'am.

lt was long,

and it was tedious...

and it had better be

worth our while, Mr. Holmes.

l can assure you, ma'am,

it will be.

Now, what is this curious ship

we are supposed to christen?

We call it a submersible, ma'am.

lt travels under water.

Under water?

What a fantastic idea!

Ma'am, may l present

some of the scientists...

responsible

for this achievement?

J.W. Ferguson, naval architect.

Your Majesty.

Professor Simson, our leading

expert in hydraulics.

Your Majesty.

W.W. Prescott, co-inventor

of the revolving periscope.

Your Majesty.

And this is my brother

Sherlock, ma'am.

Ah, yes! Sherlock Holmes.

We have been following

your exploits...

with great interest!

Thank you, ma'am.

Are you engaged in one of

your fascinating cases...

at the moment?

ln a manner of speaking, ma'am.

When can we expect to read...

Dr. Watson's account

of the case?

l hope never, ma'am.

lt has not been one of

my more successful endeavors.

Oh.

There she is, ma'am--

Her Majesty's Ship Jonah.

And what, may we ask...

is the purpose of that

hideous gargoyle?

Merely a decoy, ma'am.

Oh! To frighten away

the sharks, we imagine.

Something of the sort.

The crew will now demonstrate

the workings of the submersible.

Stand to!

Aren't they rather small

for sailors?

They are, ma'am, but because of

the size of the craft...

the Navy made an exception.

They should make it a rule.

lt is quite fatiguing

to pin on all those medals...

while standing on our toes.

This is the main engine

which propels us under water...

at the rate of two knots.

The reciprocating

stabilizer mechanism...

the high-voltage

acid batteries...

the multi-stage compressor...

ballast tank trimmer...

the air pump which filters

and recirculates the air.

How charming!

The air pump, ma'am?

Canaries!

Must make the crew feel at home.

Yes, ma'am.

These are for firing

the torpedoes...

which are accurate

up to as much as 1 20 feet...

the telescope for scanning

the surface of the water...

But where is the glass bottom?

The what, ma'am?

The glass bottom!

You know...to observe the fish.

And the plants and the cockles.

That's not quite

the idea, ma'am.

H.M.S. Jonah has been

commissioned as a warship.

A warship?

Stop that noise!

Stop it!

Ma'am, if l may explain--

You had better!

The admiralty

regards this craft...

as the ultimate weapon

in naval warfare.

lt can seek out enemy ships...

and destroy them

with those torpedoes...

while remaining

completely invisible.

You mean it can fire

at other vessels...

while under water?

Yes, ma'am.

Without any warning?

That is correct, ma'am.

Without showing her colors?

lndeed, ma'am.

Mr. Holmes, we are not amused.

lt is unsportsmanlike,

it is un-English...

and it is in very poor taste!

We will have none of it!

l beg your pardon, ma'am.

Sometimes we despair

at the state of the world.

What will scientists

think of next?

That's precisely it, ma'am.

At this very moment...

the Germans,

under Count von Zeppelin...

are experimenting

with a dirigible.

A dirigible?

And what, pray, is that?

A rigid balloon

which could fly over London...

and drop a bomb

on Buckingham Palace.

lt is being developed

at the express orders...

of Kaiser Wilhelm ll.

Nonsense! We refuse to believe

that our grandson Willie...

would do a thing like that!

We have conclusive proof, ma'am.

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