Holmes only had a moment to glance at her face, but it appeared to be softer and framed by auburn colored hair. Her eyes were a shade of blue-green. The cheekbones were high set, and made her face more angular. This, of course, comported with the overall impression of someone of above normal importance.
“Sherlock Holmes, I presume?” she extended her hand palm down with the fingers curled inwards in expectation that Holmes would either kiss her hand or shake it. She was going to be disappointed. Holmes did neither, and her hand protruded there in the air rather purposelessly.
“I am sorry, madame, but you have me at a disadvantage. You see, I was just studying some rather academic matters and waiting for my good acquaintance to bring some pipe tobacco for me. I fancied that you were probably him, as you likely passed him in the hall or the doorway as he just left.”
Sensing Holmes was not going to address her extended hand, the woman slowly allowed it to fall to its normal place at her side. She did not seem especially disturbed by the fact that Mr. Holmes had not grasped her hand though she had offered it. It did tell her something about the kind of man Holmes was, however, as men more often than not were quite eager to touch her offered hand.
“Pardon my intrusion then. May I come in and speak with you? I have a matter that needs a top-notch detective and I have heard that your ability to solve the unsolvable far exceeds any others.”
“Generally, I do not take anyone who happens by my apartment unannounced or at least who happen not to be intercepted by others on my behalf. This allows me a degree of control over my office and the cases which I accept. Indeed, could you imagine what would happen if I allowed anyone off of Baker Street with some “mystery” that needed solving? Have you any idea how many lost keys or unfaithful husbands and wives I would suddenly be investigating?”
“You are quite right, Mr. Holmes. I have yet to even introduce myself. I am Mary Stoliz. As my finding you here appears to be somewhat of an unintended intrusion, I can go and schedule an appointment to meet with you at a later time. It is a pity, however, as the business which I am here to see you concerns a most urgent matter that I fear may claim additional lives by the time I see you next. It unfortunately concerns a local parish, St. Marks. Nonetheless, I suppose a great detective such as yourself is busy with any number of important cases, and so it was imprudent of me to assume that you might have time to speak with me today.”
Mr. Holmes listened to Ms. Stoliz inattentively for the most part, right up until he heard the words “St. Marks”. It had not been long ago that Queen Victoria’s son, Prince Leopold, laid the foundation stone. The church and its members had also inspired a certain Charles Dodgson, who used the pen name Lewis Carrol, to write particular characters into his famous work, “Alice in Wonderland”. The latter work Mr. Holmes regarded as a kind of vulgar entertainment, but many of his cases had taken him in proximity to Queen Victoria through the auspices of Scotland Yard and so he was familiar with the work and its connections to the Queen and her son. Here, as these connections were made, his demeanor changed from one of flippancy to one of sudden interest.
Of course, Ms. Stoliz had calculated that this would be the effect her statement would have on the detective. She had prepared herself as she had understood that Mr. Holmes could be a difficult person in some regards and supposed her introduction without notice would likely be seen as a breach of etiquette that would not go unnoticed without comment. It was apparent that Mr. Holmes was not going to be persuaded by her beauty, and so she had to use the draw of the rational and a bit of name dropping to get him to lower his defenses. The matter was urgent, however. On that point she had not used any subtle cunning.
Mr. Holmes took a side step so that his body no longer blocked the entry and instead extended his right arm toward the sitting room as he faced a parallel direction thereto whereas formerly he occupied the perpendicular.
“By all means, Ms. Stoliz, please come in and let us chat about your case.”