Inside was a large room in which fifty workers were carving or
moulding. The manager, a big blond German, received us civilly
and gave a clear answer to all Holmes's questions. A reference
to his books showed that hundreds of casts had been taken from
a marble copy of Devine's head of Napoleon, but that the three
which had been sent to Morse Hudson a year or so before had
been half of a batch of six, the other three being sent to Harding
Brothers, of Kensington. There was no reason why those six
should be different from any of the other casts. He could suggest
no possible cause why anyone should wish to destroy them -- in
fact, he laughed at the idea. Their wholesale price was six
shillings, but the retailer would get twelve or more. The cast
was taken in two moulds from each side of the face, and then
these two profiles of plaster of Paris were joined together to
make the complete bust. The work was usually done by Italians,
in the room we were in. When finished, the busts were put on a
table in the passage to dry, and afterwards stored. That was all
he could tell us.
Pages:
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333