Disappearance of Neville St Clair Left to buy toy for son from Benjamin Pollock's Toy Shop. Wife shopping at Covent Garden saw husband having an argument on a pub balcony. Not in usual business suit -- ragged clothes, hair 'white as snow'. Punch & Judy Pub, arguing with a man -- Lascar. In a group. Toy bought for son found on balcony -- chipped silver paint, smear of blood on it. Attacked and dropped? Had toy with him, just finished buying it and decided to go to a pub? Attacker -- if he was attacked -- must not have known significance, because it was left behind
Son: assumed eight or younger. Lascar: most likely owner of pub. Shown a picture, Lascar denied knowing or being in fight with Mr. St Clair. Mrs. St Clair insists it was Lascar she saw. Either left of own will or removed from building — without anyone seeing. Update: 4/12/17 According to Mrs. St Clair, the note is indeed in her husband's handwriting. He's gotten in touch. Not injured — at least not too terribly. SOLVED! Summary to follow: Neville St Clair had been found uninjured, disguised as a silver living statue preforming in Covent Garden. The job paid more than being a businessman, and he could never keep up with how much money his wife spent. The only bad thing about this, is that he had to do it secretively; his wife would never have agreed. He never told her, and the plan was working perfectly until she saw him at Covent Garden, on the balcony. The argument was about the performance. Both Neville and Lascar wanted the same spot, but it was in no way as violent as Mrs. St Clair described. Lascar tried to cover for Neville, but it was an obvious lie. When his wife spotted him, he put on his living statue makeup, and walked off without being noticed. During his rush, he cut his finger on the toy he bought for his son, and dropped it on the balcony. That is why there was blood and silver paint on it. All that was left to do was find a living statue performer who had a Band-Aid on his finger, Neville's features, and there; case solved. Information on locations mentioned: Punch & Judy: Popular 18th century pub with balcony and original features, selling cask ales and pub meals. 3.5 out of five stars as of now. Covent Garden: District in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. Many independent shops. Benjamin Pollock's Toy Shop: Independent store selling creative, theatrical, and educational toys that nurture storytelling. 4.5 out of five stars as of now. Images taken from Twitter, information from Google Maps and Wikipedia. These are the facts, and my thoughts on the case provided by Sherlock Holmes and John H. Watson. More information can be found at their Twitter profiles.
This is a modern retelling of a Sherlock Holmes short story. Click here to read a plot summary of that short story. Leave a Reply. |
Archived Case FilesDueling Morticias
The Adventure of the Priory School The Man With the Twisted Lip The Adventure of the Norwood Builder Cold Case of the Restaurateur Ongoing CasesNo ongoing
Cold Cases |