The Case of the Cape Town Letter

It was the first Sunday of June 1894 when Mr Hugh Lockyer of Lockyer & Tarrant, merchants of Bishopsgate, sent a brougham for us at half past nine.

The matter, as he set it out before us in his neat, panelled office, was as singular as any we had handled. His elder brother, Edmund, had been drowned ten years before in the wreck of the Cape steamer *Phoebe* — the loss attested by the captain of the rescue vessel and recorded in the company's books. The firm had passed to Hugh as sole surviving partner. Last Tuesday, by the South African mail, a letter had arrived in Edmund's hand, postmarked Cape Town, claiming that he had survived the wreck, lived these years quietly in the Karoo, and now demanded the restoration of his share.

We walked across to the firm's offices through a quiet Sunday morning. On the opposite pavement of Bishopsgate stood a thin man in a worn grey ulster, a folded copy of the *Pall Mall Gazette* in his right pocket, who paused to a deep dry cough as we crossed and tipped his hat in the smallest acknowledgment to my friend. Holmes did not speak of him; he had the letter in his note-case and a magnifying glass in his pocket, and I knew that look upon his face.

The Scene

Hand-drawn case map for The Case of the Cape Town Letter, showing Lockyer & Tarrant, merchants, Bishopsgate, City of London. — The ground in question.

Setting: Lockyer & Tarrant, merchants, Bishopsgate, City of London
Time: Sunday morning, first Sunday of June 1894
Weather: Bright; a gentle breeze; church bells from St Helen's at half past ten
Atmosphere: A panelled merchant's-office, tall sash windows over a quiet Sunday street; ledger-presses along the inner wall; a brass-bound chronometer ticking on the partner's desk.

The Suspects

Mr Hugh Lockyer

Surviving partner, the client

A heavy, careful man of forty-five, who had run the firm alone these ten years. He had been generous to his elder brother's son and had taken him into the firm at fifteen. He had not, until last Tuesday's letter, doubted his brother's death.
Mr Verney Lockyer

The drowned partner's son, raised by his uncle, the firm's junior man

A clever, well-mannered young man of twenty-five, who had been raised in his uncle's house from the age of fifteen and had served the firm seven years as a clerk and now as junior man. He had, since spring, been a quieter and more abstracted figure than his uncle remembered.
Mr Pearce

Bookkeeper, twenty-eight years in the firm

A small, sandy-haired man of fifty, the keeper of the books, who had served the firm under both brothers and now under Mr Hugh. He had been recently dismissed for a small irregularity in the petty-cash and was bitter about it.
Mrs Lockyer

Mr Hugh Lockyer's wife

A composed woman of forty, who had loved her brother-in-law as a girl and had grieved him deeply. She had, on Tuesday morning, set the letter aside and refused to read it for a full day before laying it before her husband.

The Evidence

The Cape Town letter

A single sheet of cream paper, ruled and watermarked with a Cape Town stationer's name; the hand careful, period-formal, and resembling Edmund Lockyer's letters of '83 in every easy stroke. Holmes laid it under his lens and observed that the cream paper bore a particular laid-line and a flecked grain.
Mr Verney's recent correspondence

Holmes asked, with grave courtesy, for a sight of the firm's recent in-coming and out-going correspondence. Among the spring's letters was a private one from Mr Verney to a Cape Town shipping-agent, dated April. Under Holmes's lens the cream paper of Mr Verney's letter bore the same laid-line and the same flecked grain as the Cape Town letter of Tuesday.
The captain's affidavit

The captain of the rescue vessel had attested in '84 to recovering Edmund Lockyer's body from the surf at Mossel Bay. The affidavit was lodged with the firm's papers at Doctors' Commons.
Mr Pearce's recent dismissal

The bookkeeper had been put out of his place six weeks before for a discrepancy of three pounds twelve in the petty-cash. He had written letters to Mr Hugh threatening to make the matter known.
Mr Verney's quiet spring

Mr Hugh remarked that his nephew had been quieter through the spring; that he had spoken less of the firm's prospects; that he had taken to long walks alone on Sunday mornings. Holmes pressed him on the matter and Mr Hugh said only that he had supposed it a young man's natural reserve.

Statements & Testimony

Mr Hugh Lockyer Reliable

Surviving partner

“"The hand is my brother's, Mr Holmes — I would swear to it. The phrasing is his. But Edmund is dead. The captain's affidavit is upon our papers; I attended his memorial service in '84. If he were alive he would have written sooner. I do not know what to think."”
Mrs Lockyer Partial

Wife of the surviving partner

“"I set the letter aside on Tuesday morning, sir. I would not look at it. It was Edmund's hand and Edmund is gone. Verney has been kind through the years; he is the boy I should have had if my own son had lived. I cannot speak ill of him."”

The Scene

The Suspects

The Evidence

The Cape Town letter

Mr Verney's recent correspondence

The captain's affidavit

Mr Pearce's recent dismissal

Mr Verney's quiet spring

Statements & Testimony

Your Verdict