Sherlock Holmes vs Dracula in Dallas or The Sanguinary Count Goes West
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The Final Chapter
The Flight of the Vampire
I retired early to my sumptuous room in the Oriental Hotel, lodgings which had been generously supplied to us by a young George Bannerman Dealey, an editorand publisher of one of the leading newspapers in the town of Dallas, along with generous contributions from many of the leaders of the town. As you may recall from my previous narrative, he had invited us to the town to investigate rumours than Count Dracula had been seen about during the dark hours of the night.
It was the night of the Thirty-First of October in the year 1893. We had arrived in the State of Texas a few days earlier after an exhausting trip on the steamboat Conqueror , landing at the Chief City and Port of Galveston, Texas. After a few days of visiting the island city, we then boarded a train of the Houston and Texas Central Railroad which took us through the central part of Texas to the town of Dallas.
It was here that the railroads had joined and Dallas was rapidly becoming a centre for rail travel in addition to the burgeoning trade in cotton. From the east to the west had come the Texas and Pacific Railroad and from the south to the north had come the Houston and Texas Central, and they crossed tracks in Dallas.
I had been dreaming of the train trip through pleasant surroundings and was enjoying my first really sound sleep in days. But the pleasant revery of my slumber was not to last long.
My peaceful slumber was interrupted as Holmes stood over my bed and whispered, “Up, Watson ! The game’s afoot and we must be out on the streets!” “Holmes, do you realize it is nearly midnight and I have just been enjoying the most restful night since we left Baker Street”, I remonstrated.
“It is time we investigated the strange going-ons for which we have been summoned to investigate,” said Holmes. “Quickly now, let us be on our way. I havean idea of where we may see the sanguinary count.’
“Just where might that be,” I queried . . . ”And at this hour of the night.”
“What date is this Watson?” asked Holmes. I was taken aback by his interrogation. “Why, if I am correct, it is the Thirty -First Day of October in the Year of Our Lord Eighteen-Ninety -Three.” I replied.
“Elementary,” replied Homes. “And what is the particular significance of that date?” was the next question he put to me.
“I must confess I have not the slightest idea.” was my answer.
“Come Watson, think back in you childhood days. We have seen school children practicing the American custom of “Trick of Treat” on our walks this evening. Think back to your own childhood . . . of days of ghosts and hobgoblins.”
“Why, of course, it is All Hollows Eve or Hallowe’en, as the Americans call it.
“Yes, Watson and I do believe we will find the Count active tonight of all nights”
“But Holmes”. I remonstrated “Just as you did in our little adventure which the American Author, Mr. Loren D. Estleman has written about in ‘The Sanguinary Count”, you have destroyed his means to remain in Dallas just as you did in England and the Count has no ways or means to stay in this town now.”
“Yes, Watson, but I do believe our adversary is planning some dramatic little event in which he wants to draw our attention, and if I may not seem overly egotistic,I believe I know just the place where he will stage this bit to impress us.”
I dressed quickly and we made our way unnoticed through the lobby of the hotel, past the slumbering desk clerk at the bookings counter who had nodded off and was snoring loudly.
Then out into the streets of the town of Dallas, down Commerce-Street, crossing Akard-Street and always keeping to the shadows for the moon was full and bright.
The stars shone brightly, with a brilliance unequaled in our own British skies
Ever keeping in the shadows of the buildings along Commerce-Street, we made our way gingerly westward, finally passing the new Court House between Jefferson Street and Houston-Street, then across Houston-Street to the west side of that street facing the red sandstone structure, which towered above us.
Holmes then chose a covered entrance in one of the buildings, looking eastward into the full moon, which provided us with a cover of darkness for our observations.
I gasped as I witnessed the scene from our vantage point. Holmes had chosen well since the clock and bell tower were silhouetted against the full moon.
“Quiet, Watson”, Holmes cautioned, “For our adversary has exceptional powers and may hear us from even this distance.”
Just then, the huge two ton bell of the clock boomed out the hours as the clock’s hands moved to the midnight hour.
Then much to even my initial amazement, the unmistakable outline of the figure of Count Dracula appeared below the lighted face of the clock.
Then he stepped out on the low railing around the space in the tower and spread his cloak so that he appeared much as a huge vampire bat.
“He is going to jump to his death!” I whispered to Holmes.
“Nay, Watson !He is beyond the power of that at this time of the night. I believe he is planning his route of escape.”
Then an amazing thing happened. Instead of falling to the ground, Dracula took flight and soared upward into the night sky, circling the bell tower, his figure standing out against the lighted clock, upwards around the cupola, which was some two-hundred -nine- feet above and then swiftly receding eastward and soaring even higher ere he was lost to sight.
“What do you think the Count has in store for his future designs of evil ?” was my next query to my friend. “Who knows what evil lurks in the minds of men ?” was his answer. “Not being of the same mind as yours, Holmes, I would not venture a guess.”, I replied. In a deep sepulchural voice, Holmes intoned, “The Shadow knows !” But the meaning of this cryptic sentence was quite lost to me.
With my thanks and apologies to Bram Stoker,A. Conan Doyle and appreciation for inspiration from Loren D. Estleman… and lest we forget, Edmund S. Ions