originally published Shadows Over Baker Street, 2002
Poor Holmes is suffering from insomnia, and none of Watson's cures is helping. A trip to the chemist is unproductive - all the necessary drugs have been shipped to a remote town called Inswich, which has recently made the news. It appears the residents of Inswich have all been suffering insomnia - for months! Realizing the game is afoot, Holmes and Watson head for Inswich.
En route, they meet Dr. Mashbourne, an acquaintance of Watson's, who is on his way to treat the local gentry of Inswich, Lady Carthon.
Holmes surveys the village, and hears eerie tales of strange sights and, in one case, a black, dog-faced, bat-winged monstrosity. These evils are driven off by the light.
Lady Carthon is a formidable figure. She notes that the strange events coincide with a lunar eclipse, and the receipt of a necklace that her late husband sent to her from Egypt.
During the night, Watson is attacked by the bat-winged horror. But Holmes kills it with a pistol. Too late for Doc Mashbourne, though - it already got to him.
Holmes has deduced, thanks to his reading in a certain obscure Arabic tome, that the stone in the necklace is a draw for this creature, which can only function in darkness. He takes the necklace with him, uncertain what to do with it.
Not a bad story, though short and slight. Vourlis creates some real atmosphere as Holmes investigates, though the whole thing is wrapped up a little too quickly.
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