How Holmes Foiled the Florist and the Undertaker in "The Bewildered Blacksmith"

Dear detectives,

Thank you as always for providing assistance with our last mystery, The Case of the Bewildered Blacksmith. Again, we would also like to thank all of our correspondent detectives for writing in with their theories (and diagrams, lately!) As we receive our last batches of submissions and prepare to celebrate another Featured Detective, please feel free to review Holmes’ explanation of this bewildering case.

Sincerely,

The Dear Holmes Team

——

Saturday, 18 October 1890

Dear Mr. Goulding,

The very unusual case which you brought to my attention only a few days ago has proved to be an unexpectedly elaborate affair. I am glad you wrote to me early as you did, for a swift resolution was of the utmost importance.

Having received your first letter, I recognised immediately that the appearance and rapid disappearance of the young lad warranted attention. In my experience, children who are homeless, or otherwise uncared for, rarely have carriages sent for them. Yet that is what the tracks you found indicated. It was also apparent from his easily frightened demeanour, and his attire, that Edward had escaped some degree of mistreatment prior to his arrival at the forge. Though evidence was scarce, I couldn’t help but consider that this already looked to be a case of abduction.

With Watson despatched to Norfolk to assist you on the case, I then received your second letter. Your account of the conversation with Mrs. Roper, the Vicar’s wife, was most enlightening. The appearance (and later disappearance) of the ‘auburn-haired girl’ was too much of a coincidence when set alongside Edward’s case, which prompted a new line of enquiry: Was Bethany Hamer, the florist, somehow involved in this intrigue? 

Yet your second letter also drew my attention to James Hoddy. His claim that he was finding it difficult to keep up with the demand for new coffins seemed plausible enough, but conflicted with Mrs. Roper’s later assertion that there had been no recent burials in Loddon. The gravity of this lie wasn’t yet clear, but luckily, Dr. Watson was able to look into both matters the very next day.

With his arrival in Loddon, Watson confirmed that there was one obvious and immediate link between Miss Hamer and Mr. Hoddy, and from there, the investigation progressed at a rapid pace. From my extensive collection of street maps, I had ascertained that Hamer and Hoddy’s businesses sat directly next to each other. However, Watson’s legwork revealed that both locations had once been part of a single plot.

My suspicion grew when Watson mentioned that he ‘could hear the faint sound of woodworking’ during his encounter at Hoddy’s yard. This immediately reminded me of Hoddy’s first conversation with you, when he stated that he worked alone; it was also one of the supposed reasons he struggled with the ‘demand’ for new coffins. 

This seemed all the more peculiar when I then learned about Watson’s visit to Hamer’s shop. The florist claimed to have no husband or children whatsoever, just a distant brother, Thomas. And more importantly, there seemed to be no signs of the mysterious auburn-haired girl either. So, who might be working in Hoddy’s yard? 

Furthermore, Watson’s discussions with one of the waitresses at The Swan revealed that Hoddy and Hamer were not just business associates. Rather, they had also become emotionally involved. Knowing that they shared not only land, but also an interest in each other, made the case for their conspiracy even stronger.

I already suspected that Edward, or the girl, might be hidden on their property; but when Watson verified that she was still unaccounted for, I began to fear worse and analyse Hoddy and Hamer as a definitive pair. At the time, Watson had already witnessed evidence of her brother’s part in the scheme as well, but I must admit I’d yet to realise myself.

Based on Watson’s observations, it became clear that the iron nails from your forge were almost exclusively being used to manufacture flower boxes and packing crates— some with ‘…holes drilled in the sides.’ All of which helped explain the carpenter’s sudden need for nails. Hoddy’s assertion that he needed coffins because of the rise in deaths locally, was simply untrue, which of course begged the question: Why lie, unless there was something (or someone) to hide?

In addition to the above, I took note of the fact that Hoddy’s ceremonial attire— a frock coat and tall hat— seemed rather similar to that of the gentleman caller mentioned in your first letter. Remembering Edward’s described fear of the man, I began to speculate that this well-heeled caller might have very well been his captor, if not just similar in appearance. Watson had also noted an ornate hearse in Hoddy’s coach house. His standard carts may’ve been too bulky, but I wondered if his more ornate hearse could have left the impressions you initially found on your drive? 

With some clarity, I then read Watson’s postscript, which pointed out how the note you’d received gave off a ‘faint aroma.’ Instantly, I was reminded of his account of the florist’s shop, where he was struck by an ‘unusual, and somewhat unpleasant, odour.’ Was it the self-same smell, I wondered? Coupled with the fact that Hamer’s shop was previously a laboratory, this was a strong possibility. And considering that the shop itself was linked, both physically and otherwise, to Hoddy’s own business, I became confident that a physical investigation of both sites would be imperative. I theorised that in all likelihood, young Edward, and possibly even the auburn-haired girl, would be found somewhere on the former two’s premises. But only if we acted with haste. 

The muffled noises originally heard by Watson, and the accounts of the auburn-haired girl, both suggested that neither Hoddy nor Hamer was working alone, despite their firm assertions. All the while, Watson’s account of Hoddy’s yard indicated that he was far more committed to crafting large crates than coffins. There was no evidence of what was being transported in these crates, but that was precisely what alarmed me most. Once again thinking of Edward’s troubling reaction to the caller, and realising that large crates, with air holes drilled in their sides, might be the ideally discreet vessel for a live creature ... I asked myself, was Hoddy our culprit, and did he plan to send the boy away, perhaps to Miss Hamer’s brother? This would explain the crates addressed to ‘T. Hamer’.

It was also possible that the child, or children, arrived in the wooden crates instead. Was Hoddy coercing them into labor, I considered? Or was the man sending children like the auburn-haired girl away? Both seemed equally appalling and surprising. But as the questions lingered, I recalled a detail from my dear Watson’s chats at The Swan. Bethany Hamer, contrary to what most might assume, seemed to show great sympathy towards grieving mothers. 

This fact is what first led me to consider the truth: Bethany and Thomas Hamer, with the assistance of Hoddy, were running a ‘baby farm’. Watson’s subsequent letter, detailing his investigation of their property, immediately helped confirm this hypothesis, while the investigation itself stopped their enterprise before it progressed any further. 

When Watson informed me of PC Melrose’s possible encounter with the auburn-haired girl, I was all too sure that my suppositions regarding their ‘baby farm’ were correct. Their investigation then went on to confirm my suspicions one by one. First, Watson’s visit to Hoddy verified my earlier proposition that his ornate hearse might’ve left the tracks near your forge. As Watson recalled, its wheels were roughly a third of the size of the six-inch wheels on his standard carts. In other words, approximately two inches wide, like the tracks you measured on your drive, Mr. Goulding.

Then of course, Watson and Melrose discovered the florist’s cellar and the children themselves. Their unwillingness to speak and the descriptions of their attire suggested that at least one of them was more than likely to be Edward. The bottles in the cellar that were labelled ‘Laud’ seemed to be in use, and undoubtedly contained ‘laudanum’. This tincture, derived from opium, was surely the cause of Edward’s inexplicable drowsiness when he first arrived at your forge. 

Knowing this, I still struggled to see what Hoddy and Hamer might hope to gain aside from free labour, until reading of the invoices subsequently discovered by Watson. The paperwork made it obvious that Hamer and/or Hoddy were receiving payment for the transportation of something quite precious. And in my experience, few people would feel the need to request particularly ‘safe’ delivery of flowers. 

It’s a relief that the children were removed from their premises when Watson discovered them. James Hoddy and Bethany Hamer are now in police custody facing a number of charges, including that of child abduction and false imprisonment. This morning, I received a telegram from the Chief Constable of Norfolk to say that both are likely to be remanded by the Loddon magistrates to appear at the next quarter session, where they— and Thomas Hamer— will also face the court.

Although Hamer and Hoddy were questioned by the police yesterday evening, they maintained that they had played no part in the abduction of Edward, and that in fact, they had done nothing but help children in need. However, Miss Hamer’s brother, Thomas, has cooperated with my colleagues at Scotland Yard. Originally assuming we’d apprehended his associates, he has helped expose all of the outstanding details of this curious affair.

Through her connections to the funeral trade, Miss Hamer would come across families who had lost their beloved children. Preying on their grief, she would offer to erase the pain of their loss by introducing them to ‘a child in need of care.’ If they were amenable, terms would be agreed upon and Thomas Hamer would then be instructed to find a homeless, destitute, or orphaned child, ideally matching the description his sister provided. Using laudanum to drug the children, he would eventually carry them by cart to his Shoreditch warehouse. There, they would be packed into wooden cases for the journey to Norfolk. Heavily sedated, yet able to breathe through carefully drilled holes, they would arrive at Geldeston in crates, where they’d await Hoddy together with the packed flowers. The regular nature of the consignments helped them to pass largely unnoticed on the rail route.

While thorough in procuring children as instructed, Thomas Hamer was not meticulous in checking the nature of the youngsters he trafficked. When Edward arrived, Bethany Hamer discovered that he was profoundly deaf and therefore deemed him unsuitable for the family he had been promised to. This evidently occurred again a month later, when a second lad arrived with difficulties in speaking. In both cases, Hoddy took charge of the boy, putting them to work and providing them with meagre rations of food. They were first housed in the stables, but after Edward escaped and was recaptured at the forge, the boys were moved to the florist’s cellar, which the criminals believed to be a more secure penitentiary.

Shaken by Edward’s escape, Miss Hamer felt that they were getting careless and sent the threatening note. She was convinced that you would neglect to pursue the matter, especially if you knew that he was, in any case, ‘safe’. She clearly underestimated the lengths you were prepared to go to on his behalf.

Children like the auburn-haired girl— who now resides in Stockton— were ‘successfully’ sent on to their new families within days of arriving in Loddon. Thomas Hamer confirmed that they had abducted nine children altogether, and— from the seven who were placed with families— the enterprise had generated an income of £420, which was split between the Hamer siblings and James Hoddy. The invoices found on Thursday provided evidence of these transactions.

As you may know, Norfolk Constabulary is continuing to make every effort to trace the families of both boys. However, for the moment, I’m delighted to know that young ‘Edward’ has been returned to you and your wife. I’ve been told the police are content for both boys to remain in your care, if that is what you wish. If they are confirmed to be orphans, steps could then be taken to make you their legal custodians.

Until then, I wish you both, and Edward and company, all the best. So ends a fascinating and fruitful case.

Yours sincerely,