I followed Holmes along the busy ward, passing nurses who were scuttling about, carrying buckets of slop and coals and gathering up soiled laundry.

At the end of the ward Holmes arrested his steps beside a young doctor beding over the bed of an elderly woman. He must have sensed our presence, because he turned around to look at us. I saw that although he was quite thin and rather tall he still gave the appearance of a wiry kind of strength, not unlike the one Holmes himself exuded. But the most remarkable thing about him was the yellowish-brown color of his skin and the slight slant of his eyes, which were so dark that they appeared to be almost black.

“Doctor Minang?” Holmes quietly asked him.

He looked at us enquiringly for a second and then a curious expression, a mixture of apprehension and relief, spread over his exotic features. He fixed his gaze at my companion and sighed. “Ah, Mr. Holmes. Yes, I have been expecting you for some time. Would you be so kind as to follow me into my office? It is not very comfortable, but at least it will give us some privacy.”

The small room was dark and cold, but spotlessly clean. Dr. Minang offered us two wooden chairs with an apologetic wave of his hand. “I am afraid I cannot offer you anything better”, he told us and his rueful smile gave his face a rather boyish charm.

“It is the story you can offer us, that made us come here.” Holmes replied softly. “It was you Lord Haversmith came to see on the night of the ball, was it not?”

The young man ran a hand through his already unruly shock of glossy black hair and sighed.

“I suppose it would be futile to deny it? Ah yes, I see it would. Lord Haversmith came to see me in order to… “

He hesitated for a moment and then threw up his hands in despair. “Oh Mr. Holmes! Really, I cannot tell you why he came. You must take my word as a gentleman…” he made a disparaging gesture to indicate that he very well knew that few of his contemporaries would acknowledge him as such, however noble his aims and intentions might be “… my word as a gentleman that I would betray a very delicate confidence if I told you the reason he visited me here.”

“My dear Doctor Minang, or should I say Minangkabau?” A startled expression came over the doctor’s face as Holmes pronounced this name. But my friend proceeded without allowing any interruption.

“I know that Lord Haversmith came here to give you a very valuable gem. And to persuade you from ever seeing his daughter Ellyn again.”

The amazement in his face turned to shock. He sank down upon the remaining chair, as if his legs were no longer able to support him. “However do you know this, Mr. Holmes?”

“It was not difficult to find the only doctor employed with this hospital who bears a name that indicates a Sumatran heritage. Minangkabau is a traditional name from the western highlands of Sumatra. It was easy to make the connection and find you.”

“Yes, yes! But Ellyn! How on earth did you… But you have to believe me, Mr. Holmes, upon my honour, there was never anything improper in my relation with her!”

His agitation was clearly growing. Holmes got up from his chair and gently placed a reassuring hand upon the young doctor’s shoulder.

“I know, Doctor! You have indeed proved to be more of a gentleman in this whole affair than some of those who are publicly acclaimed as such. And I promise you that no stain will taint Ms. Ellyn’s reputation, if you answer me honestly and truthfully.”

A short silence ensued, until Minang finally raised his voice again.

“I do trust you Mr. Holmes. So let me tell you my part of the tale.” He got up again and paced the small room while he spoke with a calm and firm voice.

“As you have doubtlessly already deduced, I was born in the western highlands of Sumatra. My father was Gema Minangkabau, in our parts also known as the ‘Giant Mountain Rat’.”

“The Giant Rat of Sumatra?” I could not help but exclaim in astonishment.

“Yes, Dr. Watson. The very same. You surely know that Sumatra has a long history of foreign invasion. My father was the leader of a group of fearless men called “The Mountain Rats” who had sworn to resist foreign rule with the last drop of their blood. Often they had to hide in the mountains to escape the authorities and after some time the group, and above all my father, became a kind of local legend. My father was an exceptional man, or so I was told. He was not only exceptionally tall, but he also prone to unusual feats of courage and bravery, which earned him the name of the Giant Rat of Sumatra among his enemies who feared him greatly. Among the locals, however, he was held in high esteem and seen as a kind of Sumatran 'Robin Hood'.”

A smile creased his handsome features before he continued more soberly.

“I was only five years old when my mother died of a fever. My father could not burden himself with a small child. And I very much doubt that I would have taken a liking to the unsteady and dangerous life of a rebel. And so I was sent to Jambi province, where my mother's sister was working on one of the big tea plantations. And this is where I first caught the eye of Lord Haversmith who was visiting a Dutch gentleman with whom he was planning to enter into a business relationship.

He took an instant liking to me. Only later was I to discover that a big part of it was a feeling of guilt that he had for the way in which his country - and to some extent he himself - were exploiting our country and our people for their own gain. But I also like to think that he became genuinely fond of me. I used to run small errands for him and he taught me my first English words. And as his visit drew to a close, he decided to take me with him to England.

I will be eternally greatful for his generosity. At first I was nothing more than an errand-boy in his house, but seeing that I had a quick mind and was eager to learn, Lord Haversmith even paid for my schooling and education. Of course he could never do so openly. It would have given rise to the vilest speculation. But I was content with the occasional visit he paid me at the boarding school he had sent me to.

I did everything in my power not to disappoint my benefactor. I studied hard and finally I became a surgeon. And throughout the years, he continued to visit me and show an interest in the progress of my career and my welfare. I often talked to him about the appalling conditions in our hospitals and the financial difficulties we had that sometimes prevented us from meeting even the most urgent needs. This is also why he was so generous in his donations to this Hospital for Women. And sometimes he would bring his daughter Ellyn with him, who also had a great interest in the conditions that women less fortunate then herself had to live in.”

The expression on his face turned soft as he spoke of the young woman. ”Miss Haversmith is a very unusual young lady. She is strong of character and interested in foreign cultures. And so it came that she sometimes visited me here without the knowledge of her father, and we got to talk and … and only when it was too late did I realize that we had both fallen in love with each other.

Of course I knew that it was absolutely impossible. Ellyn was already engaged to the son of a very prosperous family. And even if she were not… what could I offer her?

But if you know Ellyn, you will be aware that she is not one to accept a “no” without question. Obviously she talked about us to her father. And knowing how headstrong she can be if she has set her mind – and her heart – on something, he came to me and implored me never to see her again. He even went so far as to offer me a bribe…”

“Ah!” Holmes exclaimed. “The diamond! You remember, Watson, that I had it analyzed by an expert in the field? It turned out to be a very unusual stone...”

The doctor nodded and my friend turned to me to explain. “This diamond, which had graced the Haversmith Tiara for a few years only, had been part of the loot that was taken in the wake of the ‘treason of Lombok’. Haversmith must have acquired it from one of his Dutch partners. I don't know whether he already knew then that it was stained with the blood of innocent people. If not, he certainly found out later and it weighed heavily upon his conscience.”

“Quite so, Mr. Holmes! He got to know about its inglorious history and was eager to get rid of it. He possibly thought it would serve a double purpose: First to assuage his bad conscience for having accepted this bloody gem by giving it to somebody who - at least in his eyes - was one of the people who had been robbed of it. And then to induce me to keep away from his daughter, who was more precious to him than any jewel… as she is indeed to me as well.

When he visited me on the night of the ball, he implored me to keep away from Ellyn, pressed this little box into my hand and was gone again before I was able to say much. But when I saw what this box contained, I did not need a second to decide that I would never keep it. I had already decided that Ellyn deserved a much better life than I could offer her, and the thought that my honour was for sale insulted me deeply.

So when little Benjamin, the brother of the tweeny employed at the Haversmiths, came to me with a message from Ellyn the morning after the ball, I sent him back with a letter and the box containing the diamond.”

He sank down upon the chair again and lowered his head, as if he were inexpressibly tired.

“And this, Mr. Holmes, is all I can tell you.”

“Doctor”, Holmes adressed him in a kind and respectful voice “this is all we need to know. I think a visit at Lord Haversmith’s residence will be in order now to clear up all the remaining details.”

As the young doctor looked up at him in agitation, he soothingly laid his hand upon his shoulder again.

“Do not worry. I have given you my word that Miss Haversmith will emerge from all this blameless.”

Minang heaved a sigh of relief. “Thank you Mr. Holmes. I put my trust in you!”

Quietly and in a very pensive mood we left the hospital. We did not talk again on our trip to Haversmith’s town residence.

Proceed to Part Eleven