The Adventure of the Five Royal Coachmen
Date - June, 1922
The Case
Lord Kilvert, Secretary for Foreign Affairs, visits Praed St. A fishing expedition, consisting of diplomats from several countries, has gone awry. Rigby Spencer alone knows England’s preferred ratio for naval disarmament. The knowledge would be valuable to other countries in the negotiations, denying England a favorable bargaining position. Spencer disappeared while out fishing and Kilvert asks Pons to find him.
Quotes
Ø Pons: The game is already well afoot, and we are not yet set upon it.
Ø Lord Kilvert: Inspector Jamison has confessed that he is baffled.
Pons: Ah, that is not a condition which could be described as exactly foreign to Inspector Jamison.
Comments
Ø Pons is convinced that Spencer learns his lesson and will become a “valuable and trusted public servant.” However, it seems that Spencer’s naivety could have had grave consequences for England’s naval status.
Ø Parker and Pons both glibly dismiss the possibility that Rigby had dropped the Coachmen as a way to tell which direction he had gone. Yet by following the path of the Coachmen, the two men ended up in view of the tinker’s van where Rigby was being held captive. It is reasonable to believe that Rigby dropped the Coachmen to ensure that the secret ratios weren’t discovered. However, it seems likely that he also intended for them to provide a clue as to what direction he was moving.
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