Call Out the Dance

Alfie allowed himself to be dismissed to the kitchen, still gnawing on the question of Holmes's actual whereabouts. I saw him off, and then carefully applied the note from France to the chimney of the table lamp.

Brown figures began to emerge on the paper, stick-figures done in lemon-juice, and I did not need to reach for my notebooks to remember the cipher of the dancing men. Carefully, I parsed out the message.

"My next letter from France will be a signal. Get Mary out of London. Your choice to stay or go. I will come if you stay. Holmes."

Call Out the Dance

Alfie allowed himself to be dismissed to the kitchen, still gnawing on the question of Holmes's actual whereabouts. I saw him off, and then carefully applied the note from France to the chimney of the table lamp.

Brown figures began to emerge on the paper, stick-figures done in lemon-juice, and I did not need to reach for my notebooks to remember the cipher of the dancing men. Carefully, I parsed out the message.

"My next letter from France will be a signal. Get Mary out of London. Your choice to stay or go. I will come if you stay. Holmes."