My way led me
through Baker Street, and as I passed the well-remembered door to
the rooms which had formerly been in part my own I wondered when I
would see Holmes again. I stood back and gazed upwards.
His rooms
were brilliantly lit, and, even as I looked up, I saw his tall
spare figure pass twice in a dark silhouette against the blind. He
was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head sunk upon his
chest, and his hands clasped behind him. To me, who knew his every
mood and habit, his attitude and manner told their own story. He
was at work again. He had risen out of his drug-created dreams, and
was hot upon the scent of some new problem. I rang the bell, and
was shown up to the chamber.
...
He chuckled
to himself and rubbed his long nervous hands together.
'Since you
are interested in these little problems, and since you are good
enough to chronicle one or two of my trifling experiences, you may
be interested in this.’ He threw over a sheet of thick,
pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open upon the table.
‘It came by the last post,’ said he.
The note was
undated, and without either signature or address.
Written upon
the paper were two numbers, each prefixed by the letter "S", and
underneath were the initials "J.B.". At the foot of the page, in a
roughly scrawled hand, was 'get the box before Moriarty
does'.
‘This
is indeed a mystery,’ I remarked. ‘What do you imagine
that it means?’
‘There
is little data in that inscription. It is a capital mistake to
theorize before one has data. But with the note was included
another piece of evidence. The envelope was postmarked "Elmton,
Derbyshire"'.
'You will
recall in my monograph on Cryptography that I mentioned how some of
the most important work on numerical analysis was inspired by the
mathematical feats of one Jedediah Buxton of Elmton, Derbyshire.
You may also remember that he was rumoured to have hidden a box
containing a clue to the location of the valuable treasure he
buried before he died. The box has never been found.'.
'Great Scott,
Holmes' I exclaimed. 'And now Moriarty has the key to the
whereabouts of this box. He could fund his own empire, if the tales
of the size of the fortune are to be believed. You must depart for
Elmton immediately and take the clue out of his reach. If you can
only find it yourself!'.
'This does
promise to be interesting' said Holmes calmly. 'So we require
tickets for a train; to the west of Scotland. Paisley, to be
precise'.
'We? I cannot
contemplate such a lengthy journey, Holmes. And why Scotland? I
thought the mystery was all about Derbyshire?'
' I am lost
without my Boswell. It would be a pity to miss this, don't you
think? But we will find nothing in Elmton without the necessary
preparation. I already possess notes on the conundrum; so now we
have some fieldwork to complete'.
...
The next few
days were most exhausting and unenlightening. We travelled to
Glasgow, then continued on to Paisley; from where Holmes was unable
to procure a carriage of any type and we were obliged to continue
on a rustic wagon until approaching the equally rustic village of
Erskine. The rather surly driver was asked to wait whilst we
continued our investigations. On alighting, Holmes immediately set
off up a small knoll with me in hot pursuit. Excitedly scrabbling
about in thick grass for a few minutes, Holmes finally stood up and
briefly jotted in his notebook. With no explanation forthcoming I
was forced to follow him back in silence to the wagon, then back to
Paisley where we took a room at the inn for the night.
Holmes
refused food and drink all evening and stayed in our rough lodging
whilst I availed myself of the limited hospitality on offer. I
eventually returned to the room, where Holmes was leaning back in a
faded armchair with a slight smile of satisfaction on his
face.
'We leave for
Cambridge tomorrow.' he declared. 'We return to London and take a
train northbound the next day. The game is afoot!'.
...
Again, we
travelled some way short of the destination. This time we alighted
in a hurry at Audley End Station, near Saffron Walden. Although a
carriage was available at the station, Holmes immediately struck
off on foot through the village and then south-westerly along a
lane across windswept and damp fields. The land started to rise
gently and became rolling grassland.
Near to a
little wood Holmes stopped; and his excitement was obvious. He took
further notes, and declared that we must now make haste to
Elmton.
...
To
be continued...by you! The box is indeed hidden near Elmton, but
(sadly) contains no clue to vast wealth. Just the usual log book
and pencil and a few small swaps. All you have to do is fill in the
missing numbers and you'll have the exact location;
N 53°1X.XXX, W
001°1X.XXX.
You will find
that you have a large advantage over Holmes and the clues will be
quite obvious when you study the locations...
You can check your answers for this puzzle on
Geochecker.com.