The Autobiography of Mycroft Holmes

Chapter 2: The Silent Society

*The above picture is what I thought the sanctorium might look like. I don't own this photo, nor did I take it, but I still love it :)*

I was first introduced to the Diogenes Club when I was in my last year of law school. Back in University, I had made a few "strategic partnerships," per se. Many of these people that I associated with during my Uni years were not really friends in the typical sense. Just people I smiled at and talked to when I needed to. None of them even knew I was capable of deduction.

Except one. The only one I trusted to drive me home to my rented flat one night when I'd missed the bus.

So when this one man, Tom Saylor, told me that he would be stopping off in Pall Mall before driving me home, I was a bit taken aback. In all the deductions I had made regarding him, I had never fathomed that he would have connections anywhere near Pall Mall. But, as it turned out, he was from an old-money family with traditional values that would have disgusted my family if they'd heard about it.

When we reached Pall Mall, Tom drove up to an average-height brown brick building in what looked like the center of the avenue with large windows. It was not a residence, but it was built to look like one. It had a large white door with white marble steps leading up to it and what looked like Greek columns lining the entrance. My suspicions about it not being a residence were confirmed, but now to details... Gold knocker on the door, metal mailbox on the side leading into the building, un-rusted, opened frequently, deep red mat at the top of the steps that looked like it was vacuumed often, no basement, curtains over the windows, expensive curtains, but the rooms were not visible...

A silver plate set on a wood backing on the right side of the door stated in proud gold lettering: Diogenes Club, 15 Pall Mall.

About a second after I began, I had to continue in silence as a bellhop walked up to the car. He was stoic and passive, a man devoid of any kind of excitement, a state of being that I was certainly no stranger to. He was dressed in a white three-piece suit, and he led us out of the car and into the building.

The building was laid out in this fashion: The left side housed a long room that stretched to the back of the building. It was stylistically old-fashioned, and contained many chaise lounge chairs that were also styled in a way that made them appear old as well. The walls of this room were covered with book shelves, and it was a darker room than the one to the right. It had two entrances, one near the entrance to the Club and one toward the back, beyond the staircase that divided the main floor into two halves.

The left room had a plaque next to the entrance that read SANCTORIUM in grand lettering. The right had a similar one, except it was labeled STRANGER'S ROOM. It was lit brightly by the sun; it boasted windows on three of the four sides, with one overlooking Pall Mall. Its furniture was mostly white and light blue. This served as a stark contrast to the left room, which had but one window in its rear and was colored mostly with mahogany wood and deep wine-reds.
But what stood out to me the most was that everyone from the left room stared at me as I walked in with Tom.

"Why are they staring at me?" I asked Tom Saylor, whispering even though the bellhop could surely hear me. The bellhop whipped his head around and gave me a lethally intense glance.
Tom Saylor jumped a little bit. He said to me, as if he thought it would mean something, "This is the Diogenes Club, Mycroft! You know you can't... wait, you don't know about this place? I thought you knew about everything."
I gave Saylor a confused look, probably one of the few times I have ever done so to anyone other than Sherlock in my life, and the bellhop began to walk forcefully at us. "Don't, please, sir, she doesn't know--"

The bellhop grabbed two white gloves out of his pockets, put them on, and grabbed us by the shoulders. I prepared to defend myself a little too late. He led us into the Stranger's Room and dropped us into two chairs by the door.