A Blank on the River

Five minutes to eleven, they stood under Blackfriars Bridge. No boat was on the water, only a lamp half eaten by fog. The lamp went out, then lit again downstream, as if someone had carried the same light onward.

Holmes counted three breaths before he spoke. "Not carried. Two lamps. The second was waiting for the first to die."

A nameless barge slid out along the pier. Nobody stood on deck. A date was chalked on the hull, the same day the owner of the card had died. Watson drew breath to shout. Holmes caught his wrist. "Look at the rope first. The rope is new. The knot is an old habit. This man learned the navy, then practised until he could pretend he had not."

❦ To be continued.