The Case Of The Discerning Heiress

Chapter Ten: Diamonds

IT was a week after the completion of Miss Moores' case before her injured ankle was strong enough to make the journey to her parents' place of rest. Even then I cautioned her against too much use of it just yet.

The determination of the human spirit is something to be awed. As we rode across the field is Miss Moores' Phaeton carriage, I watched my companions with more than a casual interest. No one save myself would ever know what lay beneath those masks they wore. Only I could see the truth behind their smiles of contentment. Yet they possessed such strength that not another soul on this earth would have seen anything amiss. They would withstand this storm just as they had withstood every other. And I was determined to see them both through to the end.

It was nearly dusk when we at last arrived at our destination. I tied the horse off to a nearby stump and assisted the lady to the ground. Holmes had already bounded out, thus reaching the newly refilled graves far ahead of us. As Miss Moore and I made our way up the little hillock, he faced us and spoke with a somewhat overly dramatic gesture.

"Miss Marian, please be so good as to step forward and claim your fathers' treasure!"

She played along by striking a thoughtful pose, and walking round him several times. "I'm afraid you have me, Mr. Holmes."

"Ah my dear lady, I know that I do...but surely, with the information we have gathered in our past investigations you can deduce the location?"

She laughed quietly. "To be painfully honest, sir, I was convinced that they would be revealed when you unearthed my fathers' coffin."

"Miss Marian! You disappoint me! Watson? Perhaps you will enlighten us?"

I gave an exasperated sigh. "Alright Holmes, you've had your game, now where are they?"

He gave us a mischievous look and begin to pace over the ground as a lecturer would before a group students. "I admit that I would have joined you both in your erroneous conclusions, had it not been for my observation of one infinitesimal detail. You will recall the final section of that fateful poem written by Phillip Moore for his daughter,

"'Recall this to mind,
The true treasure is only now mine,
But on earth the only key,
To my heart was thee.'

We both gave a nod of understanding whereupon Holmes continued his soliloquy. "Carmichael took this to believe that you alone, Miss Marian, could open whatever contraption encased the jewels, perhaps with a password, or by riddle of some sort. And naturally he thought the line, 'For lying with death false life is found.', to reveal the location of the enclosure. Which is, I believe, precisely the conclusion that Phillip Moore intended any treasure seekers to reach. Carmichael was, of course, incorrect."

"Then where?" The lady asked excitedly, obviously caught up in the moment.

"In truth, you held no key for the simple reason that there was no key to be held. You held the true location. The actual last stanza of your fathers' poem. But I'm afraid it has been irrevocably lost."

"What do you mean, Holmes?"

He turned to Miss Moore and took her still bandaged hand in his. "When you so graciously took the bullet that was meant to be mine, the clue to the whereabouts of your fathers' diamonds was destroyed."

"But how..." A look of illumination swept over her lovely features, and she suddenly whispered,

"'Look not to me,
For your care,
But to he on earth,
That stands forever there.'"

She turned to me with a smile. "My ring, Dr. Watson. The one that was my mothers. Engraved inside of the band, in characters so tiny they could scarcely be seen with the naked eye, were those words. The ring was lost that night."

"But what do they mean?" I asked, still very much in the dark.

"Come Watson, let us follow the instructions." Holmes had us stand at the foot of the graves. "Now let us look at the grave of Phillip Moore."

I was rapidly growing tired of this game. "Holmes it's nearly sunset, we'll have to-"

"Wait Doctor," Miss Moore interrupted. "Wait for that moment."

The sun dipped just behind the tree line, leaving the world in a perfect, silent stillness.

"Now," Holmes whispered. "Now, look up to he on earth that stand forever there!"

We lifted our faces in unison, but mine wore a solitary look of shock. The sun, being at our backs, brightly illuminated all before us. The old oak, which looked over the graves seemed to be glittering part way up the trunk. A rather large opening amidst the upper branches was issuing a fiery glow that sparkled a brilliant jewel. And then the moment was past. The sun slipped down, and all was as before. Holmes looked expectantly at us.

"But the tree cannot be made of diamonds, can it?" I gasped.

Holmes shook his head good-naturedly."Watson really. Come, we will go up and see what has caused this phenomenon."

The strange oak tree was made for climbing. One could practically walk directly up it's enormous, and thankfully somewhat slanted, trunk. Holmes went first , assisting Miss Moore, and I brought up the rear. He stopped as we reached the opening which, surprisingly, had much smaller branches, big enough for sitting perhaps, but not for climbing.

"Now you will notice that this tree, though quite old, bears younger branches at this point. No more than fifteen to twenty years old. Look here and you shall see why." He indicated the hollow place in the trunk, which was roughly the size of a large teapot. Miss Moore struck a match and peered inside. She gasped and jerked her head back, eyes wide with shock. Without a word she passed the box of matches to me.

I was struck with an incredible sight. Buried inside that hollowed out place in the trunk, were hundreds, thousands of uncut diamonds. They shined splendidly in the fire light, though covered with years of dirt, dust and decay. In the middle of the hoard, lay the Regent Blue Diamond.

"Phillip Moore obviously deposited them here in case of future financial failure. So that his family would always be provided for, whether or not he was there to care for them. A wise action indeed."

Miss Moore reached, and extracted a one of the larger precious gems. "And to think, they've been here all this time, and I with the only key...amazing is it not, Mr. Holmes? That people seek their entire lives, they sweat and strain and kill and die, for things such as these. And what is their true value?" She threw the diamond as far as she could into the field.

"Answer me this: what is lost by this course of action? Not a thing! What has been gained? Freedom. The freedom to let go of that which is considered 'life-sustaining'. The freedom to place ones' full trust in our Creator." She looked steadily into my friends' eyes. "And that which we can let go, we can survive without. The less we require for survival, the better our ability to do so."

Holmes returned her gaze briefly before lowering his eyes to the ground below us. I quietly broke the silence. "We'd best be getting back to the house. You'll be late for dinner Miss Moore, and Holmes and I still have a rather lengthy journey home."

We made our descent, as well our ride back in complete silence. As we we drew nearer to the house, I could feel the tension emanating from my companions. The case was finished. It was over. The diamonds had been reclaimed, the attacker removed, all was well and safe. There was no reason left for us to remain.

Before I knew it, we were standing on the stone steps of Moore Hall, with a cab awaiting us on the drive. The sun was very much gone, but in it's place a lovely, full moon sat in the starry skies. Casting long shadows all around us. Now that the time had come, I could not think of our parting ways. To think that this woman, who'd become such a part of our lives, would be lost from us forever...was too much to bear. I stood dumbly looking at Miss Moore, with her beautiful black hair wavering in the nights' breeze. The moons' glow upon her face, reminded me of her ethereal appearance when first I had seen her standing in her doorway. How I would miss her. Her wisdom, and faith were so comforting. I felt that life would somehow seem suddenly empty without it. I was at an utter loss for words. Perceiving my difficulty, she placed her hands on my shoulders."I am glad to have known you Dr. John Watson. You are a brave, loyal friend. I look forward to when next we shall meet. If not in this life, then the next."

She leaned gently forward, placing a chaste kiss upon my cheek. I nearly missed her last words to me as she backed away.
"Please take care of him, Doctor, he will need you so."

I only gave a fervent nod, unable to answer audibly, for fear of my emotions overcoming my resolve.

Slowly, deliberately, Marian Moore faced my friend. She hesitantly took his hands before raising her eyes to meet his. They were filled with a mixture of loss, confusion and determination. Several moments passed before either spoke. A single tear slid rebelliously down her pale cheek, and my heart went out to Holmes, for he did not know how to say goodbye.

"Miss Marian...you are...a truly remarkable woman...may God bless you."

She smiled sadly." I have much to thank you for, Sherlock Holmes. Words seem quite inadequate. May our Lord guide and protect you all the days of your life. And may He give you peace."

They stood in silence a moment longer, before our cabby called impatiently to us. Miss Moore slowly released his hands. And Holmes, in a fiercer internal struggle that I have ever seen, turned, and walked away from her. She did not move, but watched as we drove down her stone driveway, and out of sight. Only once we had reach the outskirts of London did I turn to my friend. His grey eyes were filled with confusion. An emotion of which he knew nothing.

"Watson...I...I..."

I touched his shoulder reassuringly.

"I know Holmes...trust me...I know."

/sob/ Somebody pass me the tissue box. /sniff/

Ok, anyway, and that's it! Hope you've all enjoyed it! If so, yay! If not, I'm sorry. :)

One more quick little note to say that I KNOWfully well this story is strictly AU, and don't personally think Holmes would ever have really fallen for anyone simply because he guarded his emotions better than that. But if, IF, he ever had, I really think it would've gone somewhat like this. And I don't really like normal 'romance' so anything that I write regarding a relationship is bound to be awful and depressing. hehe It's just my nature. So, nobody kill me if you please. I was really leery of posting these last two chapters (no duh, it took me HOW long?) seeing the direction they somehow went, but here they are. I have another tale or two up my sleeve but couldn't in good conscious start them with this one left unfinished. There you have it, over and done with!

P.S. If anyone out there actually LIKES Marian, I did write a few oneshots with her and Holmes and sometimes Watson. Just random little meetings and such, not slushly. (gag) But I'd be happy to PM them or post them or whatever, if someone cares to read. I also wrote a sequel, but it's waaaay long and is really more about Marian that anyone else, so yeah, now I'm rambling as is my wont.

Thank you all for reading!

- VHunter