The Case of the Conductor's Missing Baton

It was the second Tuesday of May 1894, the night of Maestro Pasquinelli's benefit performance, and Holmes received our summons by hand at half past seven from the manager of the Wigmore Concert Hall.

The baton — a silver-chased instrument given by His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh upon a recital at Sandringham in '90 — had been laid by the dressing-room mirror at six o'clock. At a quarter past seven, ten minutes before the conductor was to take the platform, the baton was discovered missing. The dressing-room had not been locked; the corridor had been busy; the orchestra was tuning above.

We took a hansom up to Wigmore Street. Across the kerb at the stage-door stood a thickset man in iron-grey, his broken nose half in shadow, very still, watching the lighted glass of the foyer; he did not turn his head as our hansom drew up. Holmes paid our driver and led me through the stage door.

In the dressing-room I found a small body of agitated personages: the maestro himself, in evening clothes; his deputy conductor; the visiting Berlin first violinist; the manager; and the dressing-room maid.

The Scene

Hand-drawn case map for The Case of the Conductor's Missing Baton, showing Wigmore Concert Hall, dressing-room behind the stage. — The ground in question.

Setting: Wigmore Concert Hall, dressing-room behind the stage
Time: Tuesday evening, second Tuesday of May 1894
Weather: Mild; a fine evening; the orchestra audible from the platform above
Atmosphere: A small dressing-room scented with rosin and pomade; a mirror-shelf scattered with cuff-links; the orchestra's tuning-A persistent through the wall.

The Suspects

Maestro Pasquinelli

Visiting conductor, Royal Italian Opera

A florid, expansive Italian of fifty, much beloved on the platform and the recipient of the silver baton. He had no notion that the instrument might be missed; he had laid it by the mirror at six and left for the supper-room.
Mr Frede

Deputy conductor

A spare, ambitious Englishman of forty, who had said openly in the green room that the maestro was over-praised and that he could improve upon the second movement of the Bruch. If the maestro could not take the platform, the management's settled instruction was that Mr Frede would lead.
Herr Bauer

Visiting first violinist, Berlin

A neat, well-mannered German of forty-five, in London for the season at Pasquinelli's invitation. He had, that afternoon, defended the maestro at length to the press against Mr Frede's slights; he was negotiating, by post with Berlin, the maestro's autumn engagement at the Hoftheater.
Miss Tarn

Dressing-room maid, six years at the hall

A neat, unhurried woman of thirty-five, who had set out the maestro's dressing-room at five and had not returned until the alarm was raised. The dressing-room had been her sole charge that evening.

The Evidence

The unlocked dressing-room

The dressing-room had not been locked at six o'clock. The corridor outside it had been busy with stage-hands, choristers, and the orchestra moving up. The maid had been at the green room; the maestro had been at supper.
Mr Frede's remark in the green room

The deputy had been heard, that very afternoon, to say in the green room that he could improve upon the second movement of the Bruch and that the maestro was over-praised. His words had reached two stage-hands and the manager's secretary.
Herr Bauer's afternoon at the Pall Mall

Herr Bauer had spent his afternoon at the Pall Mall Gazette's offices defending the maestro, at length and unprompted, to a music critic who had not asked. The critic's notes show the defence to have been earnest and thorough beyond the occasion.
Herr Bauer's discovery of the loss

When the alarm was raised at quarter past seven, Herr Bauer was the first into the dressing-room — and within two seconds of entering, before any other man had glanced at the mirror-shelf, he said: "It is gone." He had identified the absence faster than any eye could have made the survey.
Berlin correspondence

A letter on the Berlin Hoftheater's stationery in Herr Bauer's coat-pocket, dated the previous Friday, requesting his urgent recommendation upon the maestro's autumn engagement — "if the gentleman's reputation does not suffer some uncharacteristic check between now and August."

Statements & Testimony

Miss Tarn Reliable

Dressing-room maid

“"I set the room at five, sir. The baton was upon the shelf at six when I passed the door. I was at the green room from a quarter past, fetching the maestro's tea. Mr Frede was on the staircase from six to twenty past; I saw him there. The maestro was at supper. Herr Bauer came up the corridor at quarter past seven, just as the alarm was raised."”
Mr Lessage Partial

Manager of the hall

“"Herr Bauer has defended the maestro a great deal these last two weeks, Mr Holmes. To the press, to the trustees, to me. He has been the maestro's most ardent friend. It is to his great credit, I should think."”

The Scene

The Suspects

The Evidence

The unlocked dressing-room

Mr Frede's remark in the green room

Herr Bauer's afternoon at the Pall Mall

Herr Bauer's discovery of the loss

Berlin correspondence

Statements & Testimony

Your Verdict