I didn’t think Sherlock would take the case when we were contacted about a magical stuffed toy that moves all on its own. But when little Alfie Turner told us about his wandering walrus, he didn’t even hesitate.
I think he’s learned that kids are surprisingly reliable witnesses. This is the same bloke who snuck into a military lab over a forum post about a young girl’s “fairy” rabbit, after all.
The mum and dad helped Alfie write to us, hoping it would make the kid feel better. Like writing a letter to Santa and asking for a pony, knowing damn well that’s not going to happen. They didn’t expect Sherlock to actually follow up.
Sherlock, Lancaster and I met with the family in Chiswick on Wednesday. Alfie said that he’d go to bed at night with his walrus (“Wally”) and wake up the next morning to find Wally had moved overnight. He’d be on the floor, in the closet, on the dresser, or in the hall. Always random places.
Sherlock asked to have a closer look at Wally, and Alfie was happy to show him. We discovered there was something small and hard inside the walrus. At first, I thought it was just a speaker, but the parents told us Wally never made noise.
I had to physically stop Holmes from cutting the toy open right in front of the kid. Lancaster is better with kids, so they told Alfie that I was a doctor, and that Wally just needed a “quick surgery.” The parents let me use the kitchen table to open him up and take a look. The hard plastic we felt was from a flash drive, hidden in the stuffing. We also found little bits of catnip inside.
Turns out the boy’s grandfather (who sadly recently passed after a heart attack) did a few repairs on Wally a little over a month ago. He’d used some of the stuffing from the family cat’s toys to bulk him up a bit. The cat was attracted to the catnip and it would play with the walrus while Alfie slept, and when he woke up, Wally would be somewhere else.
So the “wandering walrus” mystery was solved. But then there was the flash drive. After looking inside it, we learned that old Grandad had something in common with Lancaster! He was a bit of an urban explorer himself. The drive was full of photos from the different places he’d visited over the years. Abandoned buildings and local historical sites, mostly. We weren’t sure why he’d stash a flash drive in his grandson’s stuffed animal, though.
Until Sherlock spotted something. There was a folder named, “The Warehouse.”
Inside, we found a bunch of photographs of the same building, and text documents with dated notes. Apparently the boy’s grandfather was documenting the same building over several weeks. Despite being abandoned, parts of the building kept changing. Floorboards getting swapped out, weird vents, new locks on doors... Little things no one would notice unless they spent a lot of time around old places. One of the photos was a room full of shipping crates in the warehouse’s basement.
I thought it was just leftover junk from when the building was abandoned, but Lancaster said the crates looked too new. And Grandad’s photos and notes backed them up; older photos of the same room showed it was empty.
We sent Lancaster to scout the building. (Well… more like they volunteered. Enthusiastically.) Sure enough, they found crates, but not the same ones from the photos. When they took a look, the new crates were full of old paintings, artifacts, and expensive-looking antiques.
Sherlock looked over the pictures Lancaster brought back. He recognized one of the paintings right away. It was stolen from a museum in Florence a little while back. A little research later, and it confirmed what he suspected: Most of the goods Lancaster found? They matched recent reports of items taken from museums and archaeological sites all over the world. Someone was stashing millions of pounds worth of stolen artifacts in that warehouse! And the whole time, the boy’s grandad was keeping track of the changes, creating a timeline.
Sherlock thinks Grandad was trying to find enough evidence to go to the authorities without tipping off the smugglers first. After looking through the notes, though? I don't think he ever intended to play detective. I think he was just some ordinary bloke who couldn't ignore something that didn't make sense. Sounds like someone else I know.
He clearly loved history, so it makes sense that he also knew how often abandoned buildings get co-opted for smuggling storage. He also probably knew how cut-throat that business is. So he hid the flash drive inside Wally, where no one would ever think to find it. Because if someone caught him snooping around and searched his place, all his work would just up and disappear overnight. But who on Earth would ever think to steal a little boy’s stuffed walrus? Kind of brilliant, actually.
All the artifacts are being returned to their custodians. Sherlock’s pleased with himself, as always. Wally’s recovering from his “surgery.” Alfie’s happy his mystery was solved.
And while the case might be closed… I think Lancaster’s made a few new friends. The Turner family offered to have them come over for tea, and they’ve been bonding over stories of the old man’s adventures. Now they have another excuse to visit their old stomping grounds once in a while.
You know, we’ve seen a lot since we all started working together. But a children’s toy taking down a smuggling operation? Now that’s a first.
AO3: The Wandering Walrus
