The Wall Lake Mystery

Chapter 10: Silas Albright

Our interview with Mrs. Hieman was brief enough we would not be expected at the Blomberg's for another hour. I pointed this out to Holmes as we slogged through the snowy street.

"Let us call upon Father John Albright and see what we can learn about his brother Silas."

After returning to the inn and seeking directions from the innkeeper, we made our way toward St. Joseph's Church and the priest's little home next door. Upon arriving, Holmes knocked at the door and it was opened some seconds later by the man himself. Fr. Albright was a corpulent man with twinkling eyes and red hair streaked with grey. He gave the overall impression of a middle-aged Father Christmas who woke up one morning, shaved his beard and donned a priest's collar.

"Good afternoon, gentlemen. What may I do for you?" he asked.

"I am Sherlock Holmes and this is Doctor Watson," Holmes replied. "I have a couple of questions about your brother, Silas, in connection with the Hiemans and the Blombergs."

The priest looked surprised for a moment but invited us in readily enough. Soon we were seated in a tiny but comfortable sitting room with a blazing hearth.

Holmes leaned back in his chair. "Please answer all questions as completely and honestly as you are able."

Fr. Albright nodded.

"Describe your relationship with your brother. Do you see him often?"

Albright shrugged. "Wall Lake is a small town; I see nearly everyone often. But Silas does not seek me out."

"Do you know of any relations between Silas and a woman?" Holmes asked.

"He went with Lena Hallstrom a couple years ago, and more recently with Alice Harrison, Clara Blomberg's youngest sister."

Holmes cocked an eyebrow. "That is of interest."

"I have no idea if they are still seeing one another or not; I've heard rumours both ways."

"I see. Do you have any other siblings?"

"We did, but no longer. Our sister died a child and my father and three of my brothers all served the United States in that horrible bloodbath twenty years ago, and none of them survived their injuries."

I felt a sympathetic pang, thinking of my time in the Afghan War and the needless pain and death.

"I was in seminary when the war began," Fr. Albright continued, "and completed my training in '62, then returned to my mother and Silas—who was only a lad of eleven, then."

A mental calculation told me Silas was five and thirty now.

"What do you know about the state of your brother's finances?"

"As much as my neighbours, I expect. Rumour and speculation."

"Tell me what you have heard and would believe," Holmes pressed.

"I will readily believe that he does not have what he should for money, but some of that may be that Lawler is borrowing some for his inventions."

"Lawler?" asked Holmes.

"Silas works with Patrick Lawler in Wall Lake's woodworking and cabinet shop," the priest explained. They do fine work. Some folks from Fletcher, Carnarvon, and even Sac City buy there instead of locally. They do everything from cabinets to benches and chairs to tables and coffins. There's always work for them. But Lawler is dead set on building these machines." Fr. Albright frowned and shook his head. "That's all he does, when he's not at work, church, or in the tavern."