“Cadogen West? I have heard the name.”
“It recalls nothing to my mind. But that Mycroft should breakout in this erratic fashion! A planet might as well leave its orbit. Bythe way, do you know what Mycroft is?”
The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge
I had some vague recollection of an explanation at the time ofthe Adventure of the Greek Interpreter.
“You told me that he had some small office under the Britishgovernment.”
Holmes chuckled.
“I did not know you quite so well in those days. One has to bediscreet when one talks of high matters of state. You are right inthinking that he is under the British government. You would alsobe right in a sense if you said that occasionally he IS the Britishgovernment.”
“My dear Holmes!”
“I thought I might surprise you. Mycroft draws four hundredand fifty pounds a year, remains a subordinate, has no ambitionsof any kind, will receive neither honour nor title, but remains themost indispensable man in the country.”
“But how?”
“Well, his position is unique. He has made it for himself. Therehas never been anything like it before, nor will be again. He hasthe tidiest and most orderly brain, with the greatest capacity forstoring facts, of any man living. The same great powers whichI have turned to the detection of crime he has used for thisparticular business. The conclusions of every department arepassed to him, and he is the central exchange, the clearinghouse,which makes out the balance. All other men are specialists, but hisspecialism is omniscience. We will suppose that a minister needsinformation as to a point which involves the Navy, India, Canadaand the bimetallic question; he could get his separate advices fromvarious departments upon each, but only Mycroft can focus themall, and say offhand how each factor would affect the other. Theybegan by using him as a short-cut, a convenience; now he hasmade himself an essential. In that great brain of his everything ispigeon-holed and can be handed out in an instant. Again and againhis word has decided the national policy. He lives in it. He thinksof nothing else save when, as an intellectual exercise, he unbendsif I call upon him and ask him to advise me on one of my littleproblems. But Jupiter is descending to-day. What on earth can itmean? Who is Cadogan West, and what is he to Mycroft?”
“I have it,” I cried, and plunged among the litter of papers uponthe sofa. “Yes, yes, here he is, sure enough! Cadogen West was theyoung man who was found dead on the Underground on Tuesdaymorning.”
Holmes sat up at attention, his pipe halfway to his lips.
“This must be serious, Watson. A death which has caused mybrother to alter his habits can be no ordinary one. What in theworld can he have to do with it? The case was featureless as I1148 The Complete Sherlock Holmes
remember it. The young man had apparently fallen out of the trainand killed himself. He had not been robbed, and there was noparticular reason to suspect violence. Is that not so?”
“There has been an inquest,” said I, “and a good many freshfacts have come out. Looked at more closely, I should certainly saythat it was a curious case.”
“Judging by its effect upon my brother, I should think it mustbe a most extraordinary one.” He snuggled down in his armchair.
Now, Watson, let us have the facts.”
“The man’s name was Arthur Cadogan West. He was twentysevenyears of age, unmarried, and a clerk at Woolwich Arsenal.”
“Government employ. Behold the link with Brother Mycroft!”
“He left Woolwich suddenly on Monday night. Was last seen byhis fiancee, Miss Violet Westbury, whom he left abruptly in the fogabout 7:30 that evening. There was no quarrel between them andshe can give no motive for his action. The next thing heard of himwas when his dead body was discovered by a plate-layer namedMason, just outside Aldgate Station on the Underground system inLondon.”
“When?”
“The body was found at six on Tuesday morning. It was lyingwide of the metals upon the left hand of the track as one goeseastward, at a point close to the station, where the line emergesfrom the tunnel in which it runs. The head was badly crushed—aninjury which might well have been caused by a fall from the train.
The body could only have come on the line in that way. Had itbeen carried down from any neighbouring street, it must havepassed the station barriers, where a collector is always standing.
This point seems absolutely certain.”
“Very good. The case is definite enough. The man, dead or alive,either fell or was precipitated from a train. So much is clear to me. Continue.”
“The trains which traverse the lines of rail beside which the bodywas found are those which run from west to east, some being purelyMetropolitan, and some from Willesden and outlying junctions.
can be stated for certain that this young man, when he met hisdeath, was travelling in this direction at some late hour of the night,but at what point he entered the train it is impossible to state.”
“His ticket, of course, would show that.”
“There was no ticket in his pockets.”
“No ticket! Dear me, Watson, this is really very singular.
According to my experience it is not possible to reach the platformof a Metropolitan train without exhibiting one’s ticket. Presumably,then, the young man had one. Was it taken from him in order toconceal the station from which he came? It is possible. Or did heThe Adventure of Wisteria Lodge 1149
drop it in the carriage? That is also possible. But the point is ofcurious interest. I understand that there was no sign of robbery?”
“Apparently not. There is a list here of his possessions. Hispurse contained two pounds fifteen. He had also a check-book onthe Woolwich branch of the Capital and Counties Bank. Throughthis his identity was established. There were also two dress-circletickets for the Woolwich Theatre, dated for that very evening.
Also a small packet of technical papers.”