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"Raffles." an anxious voice pulled him away from his thoughts. He knew that voice well, and has known since his most innocent years. The voice repeated itself, this time a little higher.
"I am not deaf, Bunny." Raffles mumbled, without turning his head at him.
"I thought you were asleep."
"And you wished to raise me?"
"I wished to warn you."
"About what? What peril dwells in the Turkish Baths?"
"Uncalled celebrities."
"I'm flattered, but you see I am not a dangerous man to you ."
"Not you , silly! Over there! See those gentlemen?"
"I am not blind either."
"Do you recognize them?"
There were many men at the place around that time, but Bunny's wide eyes pointed only at two: a tall, slim, well-shaved man sat along a smaller, bigger one who wore a dark mustache and both engaged in a conversation as two people who have known each other for years. That alone did not say much about the characters; after all, these traits were not exclusive to only one or two persons; however, when combined, their silhouettes were familiar to the burglar.
Instead of confirming his knowledge through words, Raffles asked with fake innocence: "Why should I know them?"
"Because if there are men who are capable of arresting us, by Jove, it's them! You read the newspapers, don't you?"
"Can't recall their faces from them."
"It's because their faces never appear on them, their names do. These fellows are mr. Sherlock Holmes and dr. John Watson, from the Strand Magazine stories. Remember that cab driver affair from 1881?"
" The Chronicle hadn't given it that much attention, but I do know these names. Private detectives." he shrugged. "Wouldn't be the first ones I had to defy, why would I fear them?"
Bunny looked at him amazed. Amazed and mad with anger, of which he tried to hide: " People call him The Great Detective for a reason ."
"That we shall see." Raffles commented as he stood up.
"Don't be a reckless ass, he's going to handcuff you!"
"He's as clothless as we are, you frightened rabbit, he doesn't have handcuffs."
Bunny groaned, impatient, but followed him as he started to regret revealing his sight.
"You always complain that London is as quiet as it can be and you always get something good to work on, Holmes; I am not guessing you will get a client, I know it." dr. Watson was saying. "We've been through this before."
"I'm aware, but you've been far for 2 months and haven't seen the same changes I have. How come everytime you are not there I have nothing to work with?"
"Perhaps I'm a lucky charm for crime. Ah, I see that! Don't try to hide it, you smiled!"
"Alright, alright, I did. It's just- nothing worth my time has entered that living room in ages…"
"What would be worth your time?"
"You know, that- those criminals of mr. Merryweather's bank! Those who succeeded where John Clay failed. I still don't know how they did it."
"No suspects?"
"None that would be able to do it by themselves, I fear. And no proof or confession doesn't help either."
Bunny's eyes pleaded for mercy, but mercy was not given. Raffles sat close to the two men and looked curiously at them before asking: "Pardon my interruption, but you mean the City and Suburban Bank robbery?"
"We do, sir." Watson replied. "But- oh, you're a familiar fellow! You're that famous cricketer, mr. AJ Raffles?"
"The one and only. This is my friend, Bunny Manders, or at least that's how I've called him since school times."
Bunny felt uncomfortable during the presentation, but he sat still between the doctor and the cricketer. He shared a look with the detective, who observed him attentively. Bunny gulped. We're going to prison .
"You also are a familiar fellow, I fancy." Raffles continued. "The famous chronicler, dr. John Watson."
"You do know me? That's an honour for me, mr. Raffles. I've watched many of your games and no one on any team can bowl better than you can."
"Why thank you."
"Why were you interested in the robbery?" Holmes interrupted the conversation, his voice very different from it was before. It was more serious and impatient, and Raffles was not oblivious to this fact.
"Bunny has an account in the bank."
"Had!" Bunny corrected him. "I- I closed it some time ago. A-after the event, I don't think I can trust banks anymore."
"I fail to understand why." Holmes kept on going. "Your money wasn't stolen that day. In fact, you are one of the very few people that can say that."
"The burglar nearly got caught before he got to his stuff, mr. Holmes." Raffles recalled. "I have never trusted banks and events like these just further prove my point. It is only a pity you were not called to prevent this, mr. Holmes, like that other time- how was it called, Bunny?"
" The Red-Headed League ." Bunny whispered.
"Exactly. I have an awful memory for titles."
"Would you be surprised if I told you this story happened on the same bank?"
"No!" Raffles moved back, jaw-dropped. "On the exact same bank? Bunny, what kind of questionable places have you been endorsing?"
"I only had an account?"
"On the unsafest bank I ever heard of. Frankly, I won't mind seeing a place with so little regard for it's clientele's treasures falling bankrupt!"
"As you wish." Holmes shrugged. "It appears it is what is going to happen."
"The City and Suburban Bank has lost a lot of credibility." Watson mentioned. "What clever thieves these were! Not even Holmes cracked the case! We have no clue how they entered the place, not even how they ran off it without being seen. It's an amazingly well done crime this was, Lord forgive me."
"There was more than one person?" Raffles leaned closer.
"Holmes believes so."
"One of the thieves was the heart of the operation, the one who executed. The other, I believe, was mostly used and unaware of their partner's actions. This second party probably only found out about the enterprise long after it happened because they are not as experienced as the first one."
While he talked, his cold gray eyes wouldn't come off of Bunny's dark and afraid ones. He then raised his look for a bit and concluded: "Well, now you know I am not infallible. I still don't know what happened. I may have the names, though."
"Oh? Which are those?" Raffles challenged.
"R-Raffles, can we please leave now?" Bunny asked.
"Oh, you still get sensible talking about the subject?"
"Y-yes, it was… a lot of family silver at risk. I have no family left. It's all I have of them. So… can we just leave now?"
"You can do as you wish, but I am really interested in the names of the suspects. Doctor, could you help Bunny? His anxieties tend to become physical sometimes and he can barely walk."
"No problem, mr. Raffles. I'll be right back."
Silence followed shortly after they were left alone. It was broken by a whisper that the burglar could hear clearly but was aware the other men couldn't: "I still don't know how you did it, but when I find out you'll be serving a long sentence time."
"So I am your prime suspect?"
"You don't seem surprised."
"Inspector Mackenzie's fault, I imagine."
"I've seen types like you before - in France - and I may have failed once, but I won't in my own homeland."
"Let's suppose you are correct. If you are so sure, why didn't you catch me already?"
Holmes turned around. "It's cricket season. It takes Watson out of his house for a while." he paused. "And I have no proof."
Raffles chuckled and stood up. "You're a good chap after all, mr. Great Detective! It's a pity you suspect me for these crimes. I have a feeling we could have understood each other better than anyone."
Holmes repressed a laugh. It was no place to laugh like that. "Then allow me to tell you something before you go."
"What is it?"
"If you can't think of others as much as you think of yourself, at least try doing it for your partner. Manders admires you a lot, you know."
Raffles did not reply.