Sherlock Holmes and the Chinese Junk Affair and Other Stories by Roy Templeman

lady clerk. I saw my patient at once; he was standing with his legs astride, grasping with both hands the side of his large leather-covered desk. He was truly transfixed, unable to move either leg even an inch. He looked at me with wide appealing eyes, rather like a lost dog who looks up at every stranger, hoping that it is its master.
    He was sweating and had a terrified look upon his smooth plump face. A man of about sixty years of age, I guessed.
    My first task was to calm him down and so I talked and assured him that, as soon as I was able to examine him, I was sure he would soon be on the way to recovery. One of his sons had arrived, and had obviously been informed about the situation, because he had not interrupted my conversation between me and his father, but had stood quietly but concerned in the background.
    I asked that we be left alone whilst I examined him. As I did so, I talked and discussed it with him. Soon the look of terror and despair was replaced by calm and, I think, hope that his condition was not life threatening. I explained he had an inguinal hernia, a rupture, and that palliative treatment was to wear a truss. I did not go further into the cause or description of a hernia, because I realised it would only upset my patient further.
    Slowly, on its own accord, the hernia receded and my patient was able to begin moving his legs again, until he was able to take a few steps across the room and sit down in his chair.
    With the help of his son, we supported him down the staircase and through the shop into a cab. His son and I accompanied him home, a rather grand house as would befit a successful purveyor of High Quality Foods.
    After suggesting he take the rest of the day quietly at home and that I would see him the following day, I left him in the care of his loving family.
    I became in his eyes the greatest doctor who walked, only because the man, never having any ill health, had no experience of the profession to compare me with.
    Often patients, who are attended by one doctor all their lives, are very reluctant to have another, being certain that their doctor is the best in the world.
    So grateful was my patient, that each Christmas I would receive a huge hamper containing a goose, wines, nuts and lots of other good things along with his best wishes. I must confess I felt quite a fraud, knowing I had performed no life-saving feat or anything special that any other doctor would not have done. But, as Holmes remarked, it obviously gives him great pleasure to give and I should be pleased it gave him such pleasure. I know Mrs Hudson agreed with that sentiment.
    And so it was that I arrived in Brighton. I had hoped it was to be only a short stay and my ministrations would soon have my patient fit and well again. I was disappointed. I found him a very sick man, and his health was slow to recover.
    *
    I spent many restless nights wondering how Holmes was coping. Had he found some clue which would enable him to begin the jigsaw which, when completed, would enable him to meet the Prime Minister with a definite answer?
    Yet the more I turned the case over in my mind, the more I considered Rodger Hardy was no confidence trickster. He had achieved a result which defied all known laws. No other conclusion could be reached. I remembered Sir Simon quoting his headmaster’s report on Rodger Hardy, sneaked, he said, along with his own, when he was left alone in his study for a few minutes. ‘High powers of concentration when his interest is aroused. Strong sense of duty. Good sport. Will be greatly missed.’ The character of a boy does not change so much when he becomes a man.
    I felt great relief when my patient was sufficiently strong for me to leave him in the care of a dedicated nurse, enabling me to take the first available train up to London.
    I had been away almost a month and it was with some trepidation that I arrived at Baker Street and sought from Mrs Hudson the state of health and general well-being of my