Sherlock Holmes: The Dark Reckoning by Ian Wright

Watson, and replied, “Judging by the damage
to her face, as well as the long bruise running down the upper half of her
body, I think she may have hit the edge of a roadside kerb when she fell.  If
so, the force of the impact may have misaligned her nose and jaw to such an
extent.”
    “There is more evidence that supports that theory, Mr.
Holmes,” added Dr. Death.  “She was hit twice on the head, from behind.”  The
doctor turned the girl’s head to reveal an area that he had shaved.  “As you
can see from the shape of these wounds, it appears that she was hit with
something like a hammer.  The force of each blow was extreme, as I can feel
that her parietal bone has been broken.”
    “Did these blows kill her, Dr. Death?” asked Holmes.
    “It is possible, but I’m not convinced that they did.”
    Holmes lifted the girl’s right hand and, taking a magnifying
glass from his pocket, began to examine it closely.  “There is some skin under
three of her fingernails.  I believe she may have scratched one of her
attackers.”
    “How many attackers were there?” asked Lestrade, with a
slight hint of sarcasm, as he felt that Holmes could not possibly know the
answer to that question.
    Holmes smiled wryly at the inspector, and explained, “It is
my suspicion that two men were involved, the same two men the tramp described
to me following the murder of Sir Charles Grey.  Based on his description, one
of these men is large.  This man must also be especially strong if he cut the
head of Sir Charles Grey off.  As we know, it took but a few blows of the
cleaver to cut through to the spine before the head was snapped off.”
    Lestrade looked puzzled and said, “I don’t know quite what
you are getting at, Holmes.”
    “As the doctor just explained, Sally Spencer was hit twice
from behind and suffered damage to her parietal bone.  This suggests that her
attacker was significantly taller than she was and very strong; possibly the
larger of the two men the tramp told me of.”
    “I see.  That makes sense.  But how do you know there was
another man involved in this particular murder?”
    “I am not absolutely certain there was, Lestrade.  I can
only present conjecture based upon the facts at hand.  At this stage, it helps
to visualise a possible sequence of events, in order to form a theory.  More
evidence is required to prove, or disprove, this theory, however.  Shall I
continue?”
    “Please do,” added the inspector, trying not to show that he
was impressed with the way that Holmes’ mind could make such connections.
    “The second man that the tramp spoke of, the well spoken one,
is probably who is responsible for removing Miss Spencer’s arm.  If she
regained consciousness whilst he was carrying out this atrocious act, he may
now have some nasty scratches on his face.”
    “How do you know all of this, old fellow?” asked Watson.
    “Consider what we know, Watson.  She was hit from behind and
fell forwards, smashing her face into the kerb.  We will probably find some of
her missing teeth at the scene of this attack.  Whilst laying face down on the
kerb, she would not have been in a position to scratch anyone.  She was, I
suspect, loaded into a carriage and…”  Holmes stopped, mid sentence.
    He turned to Dr. Death, and asked, “May I see her clothing?”
    Dr. Death fetched a small sack, and emptied its contents
onto an examination table.  Holmes sifted through the garments.  Her cloak
showed a scuff mark, where she had fallen, and there were a lot of blood stains
upon her upper garments.  Every item of her clothing had blood stained hand
prints all over it.  Most revealing, however, was that her blouse still had its
left sleeve intact and the stitching around the shoulder was undamaged.
    Holmes continued from where he had left off.  “When she had
been dragged into the carriage, the smaller of the two men removed her clothing
and started to saw her left arm off.  At this point,