Holmes may accuse me of romanticising some of the stories I write, although this is more because I abbreviate the longer scientific descriptions which he would use in favour of including more local colour, but on this particular case I felt no temptation to do anything of the sort. It is true we were staying at an old inn on the edges of Exmoor, which could be described in vaguely Gothic terms as it was set within a dramatic landscape, but frankly the inn was cold, dark, and unwelcoming. When Holmes, Lestrade and I had arrived in the early afternoon, having caught the first train from Paddington, we were only reluctantly provided with rooms, which seemed none too clean and Holmes’ question regarding an evening meal was met with a blank stare.

We had gone out again shortly after our arrival, and while Holmes and Lestrade had begun to explore the area in the hope of making progress with the case, I had headed into the small village where I had been fortunate enough to buy some bread and cold meats which would suffice for our supper.

Holmes had been of the opinion that nothing would happen until after dark, so we had eaten together in Lestrade’s room, which was the biggest of the three, before heading out once again. A quick glance in the bar established that there were only two or three patrons in there and I wondered how the innkeeper could afford to run an establishment with such little trade – although if his welcome to those who wanted a drink was akin to that which we had received, I was not surprised there were only a few there.

Holmes had selected a suitable place for us to hide so we could observe events as they unfolded. The information he had received had been correct and we watched as half a dozen men loaded several cases onto a waggon before departing along a track in the direction he had expected. These men, once at a safe distance, would be apprehended by the local authorities, under the command of the Chief Constable. Meanwhile, our role was to discover who had been responsible for organising the contents of the cases, since they were full of weapons.

So far Holmes had been unable to establish this, but as we slowly made our way back to the inn, we saw two men standing close together and realised one was passing the other a large packet.

We stood still and heard one say, “It’s all there as promised. They’ll be one more shipment, same price; I’ll be in touch when I know when,” before he walked away.

Up to this point both men had been in the shadows, but away from the building he emerged into the moonlight. I stifled a gasp as I recognised the man, who held an important post within our government. Despite his eminence, Lestrade was prepared to detain him, but Holmes put out a restraining arm and whispered, “We should leave him to Mycroft, let’s find out who his contact is.”

We watched him round the building until he started to disappear into what was clearly the inn’s cellar. Cautiously we followed him, but as we stepped into the room a shot was fired and Lestrade gave a yell. Holmes was close behind and charged to disarm the assailant whilst I went to Lestrade’s assistance.

“Got him!” Holmes called. “And now we know why he could afford to keep this place running with scarcely any customers. Clearly his other activities have paid him much better.”

I looked up and saw the furious expression on the face of the innkeeper.

“We can detain him for the moment,” Holmes continued, “and hand him over to Sir Peverell when he comes to join us, having made his own arrests.”

“Can you watch him by yourself for the moment?” I asked. “I need to bandage Lestrade’s arm. It’s not a serious wound, but I don’t want to leave it untreated.”

“Of course. I shall sit down here and wait for you. This gentleman may even be inclined to tell me something, although I rather doubt it.”

The innkeeper greeted this remark with a sneer.

“Good. Come along, Lestrade, I’ll heat some water in the kitchen, and we can take it up to my room.”

And so, I cleaned and dressed the wound in Lestrade’s arm by the light of the three candles we had been given earlier. It wasn’t ideal, but I have known worse situations when I’ve had to treat my patients, both on the battlefield and more recently in London with Holmes.

Once this was done, Lestrade and I returned to find Holmes and his captive, and it was not too long before Sir Peverell joined us. He invited us to spend the rest of the night at his home, which we accepted gratefully. The following morning, we travelled back to London and Holmes visited his brother. We heard later that the Government minister we had seen with the innkeeper had been persuaded to take a sea voyage for the benefit of his health.