WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.399 --> 00:00:10.400 The Adventure of the Crooked Man. One summer night, a 2 00:00:10.439 --> 00:00:14.119 few months after my marriage, I was seated by my 3 00:00:14.199 --> 00:00:18.719 own hearth, smoking a last pipe and nodding over a novel. 4 00:00:19.760 --> 00:00:23.519 For my day's work had been an exhausting one. My 5 00:00:23.600 --> 00:00:27.440 wife had already gone upstairs, and the sound of the 6 00:00:27.519 --> 00:00:30.839 locking of the hall door some time before told me 7 00:00:30.960 --> 00:00:35.759 that the servants had also retired. I had risen from 8 00:00:35.799 --> 00:00:38.079 my seat and was knocking out the ashes of my 9 00:00:38.200 --> 00:00:41.960 pipe when I suddenly heard the clang of the bell. 10 00:00:43.600 --> 00:00:46.880 I looked at the clock. It was a quarter to twelve. 11 00:00:48.200 --> 00:00:50.759 This could not be a visitor at so late an hour, 12 00:00:51.159 --> 00:00:56.880 A patient, evidently, and possibly an all night Sitting with 13 00:00:57.000 --> 00:00:59.479 a wry face, I went out into the hall and 14 00:00:59.520 --> 00:01:03.719 opened the door. To my astonishment, it was Sherlock Holmes 15 00:01:03.719 --> 00:01:07.719 who stood upon my step. Ah Watson said he. I 16 00:01:07.840 --> 00:01:10.120 hoped that I might not be too late to catch you, 17 00:01:10.879 --> 00:01:14.359 my dear fellow, pray come in. You look surprised, and 18 00:01:14.480 --> 00:01:19.680 no wonder relieved too. I fancy, hm, you still smoke 19 00:01:19.760 --> 00:01:23.680 the Arcadia mixture of your bachelor days. Then there's no 20 00:01:23.760 --> 00:01:28.079 mistaking that fluffy ash upon your coat. It's easy to 21 00:01:28.120 --> 00:01:31.120 tell that you have been accustomed to wear a uniform, Watson, 22 00:01:31.840 --> 00:01:34.680 you'll never pass as a pure bred civilian as long 23 00:01:34.719 --> 00:01:37.040 as you keep that habit of carrying your handkerchief in 24 00:01:37.120 --> 00:01:41.159 your sleeve. Could you put me up to night with pleasure? 25 00:01:42.200 --> 00:01:44.959 You told me that you had bachelor quarters for one, 26 00:01:45.359 --> 00:01:48.040 and I see that you have no gentleman visitor at present. 27 00:01:48.640 --> 00:01:52.519 Your hat stand proclaims as much. I shall be delighted 28 00:01:52.519 --> 00:01:56.319 if you will stay. Thank you. I'll fill the vacant peg. Then. 29 00:01:57.200 --> 00:01:59.480 Sorry to see that you've had the British workman in 30 00:01:59.560 --> 00:02:03.200 the house. He's a token of evil. Not the drains, 31 00:02:03.239 --> 00:02:07.719 I hope, No, the gas ah. He has left two 32 00:02:07.840 --> 00:02:10.680 nail marks from his boot upon your linoleum, just where 33 00:02:10.719 --> 00:02:13.599 the light strikes it. No, thank you. I had some 34 00:02:13.680 --> 00:02:16.360 supper at Waterloo, but i'll smoke a pipe with you 35 00:02:16.439 --> 00:02:20.240 with pleasure. I handed in my pouch and he seated 36 00:02:20.319 --> 00:02:23.560 himself opposite me and smoked for some time in silence. 37 00:02:24.800 --> 00:02:27.479 I was well aware that nothing but business of importance 38 00:02:27.520 --> 00:02:29.280 would have brought him to me at such an hour, 39 00:02:30.159 --> 00:02:32.719 so I waited patiently until he should come round to it. 40 00:02:33.360 --> 00:02:36.199 I see that you are professionally rather busy just now, 41 00:02:36.360 --> 00:02:40.039 said he, glancing very keenly across at me. Yes, I've 42 00:02:40.120 --> 00:02:43.159 had a busy day, I answered. It may seem very 43 00:02:43.159 --> 00:02:46.360 foolish in your eyes. I added, but really I don't 44 00:02:46.360 --> 00:02:51.039 know how you deduced it. Holmes chuckled to himself. I 45 00:02:51.159 --> 00:02:53.680 have the advantage of knowing your habits, my dear Watson, 46 00:02:53.919 --> 00:02:57.360 said he. When your round is a short one, you walk, 47 00:02:57.680 --> 00:02:59.560 and when it is a long one, you use a 48 00:02:59.599 --> 00:03:03.159 handsome As I perceive that your boots, although used, are 49 00:03:03.159 --> 00:03:05.639 by no means dirty, I cannot doubt that you are 50 00:03:05.680 --> 00:03:09.479 at present busy enough to justify the handsome. Excellent, I 51 00:03:09.560 --> 00:03:13.560 cried Elementary, said he. It is one of those instances 52 00:03:13.599 --> 00:03:17.159 where the reasoner can produce an effect which seems remarkable 53 00:03:17.199 --> 00:03:20.479 to his neighbor, because the latter has missed the one 54 00:03:20.560 --> 00:03:23.840 little point which is the basis of the deduction. The 55 00:03:23.879 --> 00:03:25.800 same may be set, my dear fellow, for the effect 56 00:03:25.840 --> 00:03:28.759 of some of these little sketches of yours, which is 57 00:03:28.919 --> 00:03:32.719 entirely meretricious, depending as it does, upon your retaining in 58 00:03:32.759 --> 00:03:36.080 your own hands some factors in the problem which are 59 00:03:36.159 --> 00:03:40.280 never imparted to the reader. Now at present I am 60 00:03:40.280 --> 00:03:43.319 in the position of these same readers. For I hold 61 00:03:43.400 --> 00:03:46.439 in this hand several threads of one of the strangest 62 00:03:46.520 --> 00:03:50.639 cases which ever perplexed a man's brain. And yet I 63 00:03:50.759 --> 00:03:53.280 lack the one or two which are needful to complete 64 00:03:53.280 --> 00:03:56.919 my theory. But I'll have them, Watson, I'll have them. 65 00:03:57.319 --> 00:04:00.919 His eyes kindled and a slight flush into his thin 66 00:04:01.039 --> 00:04:05.479 cheeks for an instant. Only when I glanced again, his 67 00:04:05.599 --> 00:04:09.159 face had resumed that red Indian composure which had made 68 00:04:09.159 --> 00:04:12.560 so many regard him as a machine rather than a man. 69 00:04:13.360 --> 00:04:17.240 The problem presents features of interest, said he. I may 70 00:04:17.279 --> 00:04:21.240 even say exceptional features of interest. I have already looked 71 00:04:21.240 --> 00:04:24.040 into the matter and have comes I think within sight 72 00:04:24.079 --> 00:04:27.120 of my solution. If you could accompany me in that 73 00:04:27.319 --> 00:04:30.639 last step, you might be of considerable service to me. 74 00:04:31.279 --> 00:04:33.959 I should be delighted. Could you go as far as 75 00:04:34.000 --> 00:04:37.879 older shot to morrow? I have no doubt Jackson would 76 00:04:37.879 --> 00:04:41.079 take my practice very good. I want to start by 77 00:04:41.079 --> 00:04:45.839 the eleven ten from Waterloo. That will give me time. Then, 78 00:04:45.920 --> 00:04:47.680 if you are not too sleepy, I will give you 79 00:04:47.759 --> 00:04:50.240 a sketch of what has happened and of what remains 80 00:04:50.240 --> 00:04:54.000 to be done. I was sleepy before you came. I 81 00:04:54.000 --> 00:04:57.800 am quite wakeful now I will compress the story as 82 00:04:57.800 --> 00:05:01.040 far as may be done without omitting anything vitled the case. 83 00:05:01.800 --> 00:05:04.160 It is conceivable that you may even have read some 84 00:05:04.279 --> 00:05:08.079 account of the matter. It is the supposed murder of 85 00:05:08.279 --> 00:05:12.199 Colonel Barclay of the Royal Munsters at Aldershot, which I 86 00:05:12.199 --> 00:05:15.879 am investigating. I have heard nothing of it. It has 87 00:05:15.879 --> 00:05:20.040 not excited much attention yet except locally. The facts are 88 00:05:20.120 --> 00:05:25.439 only two days old. Briefly they are these. The Royal 89 00:05:25.519 --> 00:05:28.040 Monsters is, as you know, one of the most famous 90 00:05:28.079 --> 00:05:31.560 Irish regiments in the British Army. It did wonders both 91 00:05:31.560 --> 00:05:35.079 in the Crimea and the mutiny, and since that time 92 00:05:35.199 --> 00:05:39.639 distinguished itself upon every possible occasion. It was commanded up 93 00:05:39.680 --> 00:05:44.160 to Monday night by James Barclay, a gallant veteran who 94 00:05:44.240 --> 00:05:47.839 started as a full private, was raised to commissioned rank 95 00:05:47.959 --> 00:05:51.000 for his bravery at the time of the mutiny, in 96 00:05:51.079 --> 00:05:54.639 which he at once carried a musket. Colonel Barclay had 97 00:05:54.680 --> 00:05:57.079 married at the time when he was a sergeant, and 98 00:05:57.199 --> 00:06:00.360 his wife, whose maiden name was Miss Nancy d Boy, 99 00:06:01.360 --> 00:06:03.680 was the daughter of a former color sergeant in the 100 00:06:03.680 --> 00:06:07.759 same corps. There was, therefore, as can be imagined some 101 00:06:07.800 --> 00:06:10.879 little social friction when the young couple, for they were 102 00:06:10.920 --> 00:06:15.079 still young, found themselves in their new surroundings. They appear, however, 103 00:06:15.160 --> 00:06:18.399 to have quickly adapted themselves, and missus Barkley has always, 104 00:06:18.480 --> 00:06:21.360 I understand, been as popular with the ladies of the 105 00:06:21.399 --> 00:06:25.439 regiment as her husband was with his brother officers. I 106 00:06:25.519 --> 00:06:27.720 may add that she was a woman of great beauty, 107 00:06:27.920 --> 00:06:30.519 and that even now, when she has been married for 108 00:06:30.639 --> 00:06:33.480 upwards of thirty years, she is still of a striking 109 00:06:33.600 --> 00:06:38.879 and queenly appearance. Colonel Barclay's family life appears to have 110 00:06:38.920 --> 00:06:42.360 been a uniformly happy one. Major Murphy, to whom I 111 00:06:42.399 --> 00:06:45.160 owe most of my facts, assures me that he has 112 00:06:45.199 --> 00:06:49.480 never heard of any misunderstanding between the pair. On the whole, 113 00:06:49.519 --> 00:06:52.120 he thinks that Barclay's devotion to his wife was greater 114 00:06:52.360 --> 00:06:56.319 than his wife's to Berkley. He was acutely uneasy if 115 00:06:56.360 --> 00:06:59.040 he were absent from her for a day. She, on 116 00:06:59.079 --> 00:07:03.319 the other hand, though devoted and faithful, was less subtrusively affectionate. 117 00:07:03.959 --> 00:07:06.160 But they were regarded in the regiment as the very 118 00:07:06.240 --> 00:07:10.399 model of a middle aged couple. There was absolutely nothing 119 00:07:10.480 --> 00:07:13.759 in their mutual relations to prepare people for the tragedy 120 00:07:13.839 --> 00:07:17.360 which was to follow. Colonel Barclay himself seems to have 121 00:07:17.360 --> 00:07:21.319 had some singular traits in his character. He was a dashing, 122 00:07:21.439 --> 00:07:24.959 jovial old soldier in his usual mood, but there were 123 00:07:25.000 --> 00:07:27.439 occasions on which he seemed to show himself capable of 124 00:07:27.480 --> 00:07:32.920 considerable violence and vindictiveness. This side of his nature, however, 125 00:07:33.399 --> 00:07:36.959 appears never to have been turned towards his wife. Another 126 00:07:37.000 --> 00:07:39.680 fact which had struck Major Murphy and three out of 127 00:07:39.720 --> 00:07:42.759 five of the other officers with whom I conversed was 128 00:07:42.800 --> 00:07:45.920 the singular sort of depression which came upon him at times. 129 00:07:46.759 --> 00:07:49.480 As the Major expressed it, the smile had often been 130 00:07:49.480 --> 00:07:52.279 struck from his mouth, as if by some invisible hand, 131 00:07:52.879 --> 00:07:55.279 when he has been joining the gaietis and chaff of 132 00:07:55.360 --> 00:07:58.439 the mess table for days on end. When the mood 133 00:07:58.480 --> 00:08:01.839 was on him, he has been sunk in the deepest gloom. 134 00:08:02.160 --> 00:08:05.240 This and a certain tinge of superstition were the only 135 00:08:05.360 --> 00:08:09.480 unusual traits in his character which his brother officers had observed. 136 00:08:10.519 --> 00:08:13.480 The latter peculiarity took the form of a dislike to 137 00:08:13.519 --> 00:08:18.519 being left alone, especially after dark. This puerile feature in 138 00:08:18.600 --> 00:08:22.519 a nature which was conspicuously manly, had often given rise 139 00:08:22.560 --> 00:08:27.639 to comment and conjecture. The first Battalion of the Royal Munsters, 140 00:08:27.959 --> 00:08:30.720 which is the old one hundred and seventeenth, has been 141 00:08:30.759 --> 00:08:34.360 stationed at Aldershot for some years. The married officers live 142 00:08:34.360 --> 00:08:37.360 out of barracks, and the Colonel has during all this 143 00:08:37.440 --> 00:08:41.320 time occupied a villa called Lachen, about half a mile 144 00:08:41.360 --> 00:08:44.440 from the north camp. The house stands in its own grounds, 145 00:08:44.879 --> 00:08:46.639 but the west side of it is not more than 146 00:08:46.720 --> 00:08:49.840 thirty yards from the high road. A coachman and two 147 00:08:49.879 --> 00:08:52.960 maids formed the staff of servants. These, with their master 148 00:08:53.039 --> 00:08:56.240 and mistress, were the sole occupants of Lachene, For the 149 00:08:56.279 --> 00:08:59.480 Barclays had no children, nor was it usual for them 150 00:08:59.559 --> 00:09:03.519 to have resident visitors. Now for the events at Lachine 151 00:09:03.519 --> 00:09:06.039 between nine and ten on the evening of last Monday, 152 00:09:06.759 --> 00:09:09.440 Missus Barclay was, it appears, a member of the Roman 153 00:09:09.519 --> 00:09:13.080 Catholic Church, and had interested herself very much in the 154 00:09:13.200 --> 00:09:16.799 establishment of the Guild of Saint George, which was formed 155 00:09:16.840 --> 00:09:20.159 in connection with the Watt Street Chapel for the purpose 156 00:09:20.159 --> 00:09:23.879 of supplying the poor with cast off clothing. A meeting 157 00:09:24.000 --> 00:09:26.240 of the Guild had been held that evening a date 158 00:09:26.799 --> 00:09:29.840 and Missus Barclay had hurried over her dinner in order 159 00:09:29.879 --> 00:09:32.519 to be present at it. When leaving the house, she 160 00:09:32.600 --> 00:09:35.360 was heard by the coachman to make some commonplace, remarked 161 00:09:35.360 --> 00:09:38.200 to her husband, and to assure him that she would 162 00:09:38.200 --> 00:09:41.879 be back before very long. She then called for miss Morrison, 163 00:09:42.039 --> 00:09:44.240 a young lady who lives in the next villa, and 164 00:09:44.320 --> 00:09:47.240 the two went off together to their meeting. It lasted 165 00:09:47.279 --> 00:09:50.840 forty minutes, and at a quarter past nine, Missus Barclay 166 00:09:50.879 --> 00:09:54.399 returned home, having left Miss Morrison at her door as 167 00:09:54.399 --> 00:09:57.759 she passed. There is a room which is used as 168 00:09:57.759 --> 00:10:02.159 a morning room at Lachine, faces the road and opens 169 00:10:02.159 --> 00:10:05.600 by a large glass folding door onto the lawn. The 170 00:10:05.720 --> 00:10:08.919 lawn is thirty yards across and is only divided from 171 00:10:08.919 --> 00:10:11.600 the highway by a low wall with an iron rail 172 00:10:11.639 --> 00:10:14.879 above it. It was into this room that Missus Berkley 173 00:10:14.919 --> 00:10:18.399 went upon her return. The blinds were not down, for 174 00:10:18.440 --> 00:10:21.000 the room was seldom used in the evening, but Missus 175 00:10:21.000 --> 00:10:24.200 Barkley herself lit the lamb and then rang the bell, 176 00:10:24.519 --> 00:10:27.960 asking James Stewart, the housemaid, to bring her a cup 177 00:10:28.000 --> 00:10:31.480 of tea, which was quite contrary to her usual habits. 178 00:10:32.120 --> 00:10:34.519 The colonel had been sitting in the dining room. At 179 00:10:34.600 --> 00:10:37.360 hearing that his wife had returned, he joined her in 180 00:10:37.399 --> 00:10:40.639 the morning room. The coachman saw him cross the hall 181 00:10:40.759 --> 00:10:45.559 and enter it. He was never seen again alive. The tea, 182 00:10:45.679 --> 00:10:47.960 which had been ordered, was brought up at the end 183 00:10:47.960 --> 00:10:51.120 of ten minutes, but the maid, as she approached the door, 184 00:10:51.799 --> 00:10:54.120 was surprised to hear the voices of her master and 185 00:10:54.240 --> 00:10:59.000 mistress in furious altercation. She knocked without receiving any answer, 186 00:10:59.600 --> 00:11:02.679 and he turned the handle, but only to find that 187 00:11:02.720 --> 00:11:06.720 the door was locked upon the inside. Naturally enough, she 188 00:11:06.840 --> 00:11:09.639 ran down to tell the cook, and the two women 189 00:11:09.759 --> 00:11:12.759 with the coachman came up into the hall and listened 190 00:11:12.840 --> 00:11:16.480 to the dispute, which was still raging. They all agreed 191 00:11:16.559 --> 00:11:19.360 that only two voices were to be heard, those of 192 00:11:19.399 --> 00:11:24.519 Berkley and of his wife. Berkeley's remarks were subdued and abrupt, 193 00:11:24.960 --> 00:11:27.320 so that none of them were audible to the listeners. 194 00:11:27.519 --> 00:11:30.919 The ladies, on the other hand, were most bitter, and 195 00:11:31.039 --> 00:11:34.759 when she raised her voice could be plainly heard. You cowered, 196 00:11:34.919 --> 00:11:39.240 she repeated, over and over again. What can be done? Now, 197 00:11:39.559 --> 00:11:42.960 what can be done? Now? Give me back my life. 198 00:11:43.080 --> 00:11:45.360 I will never so much as breathe the same air 199 00:11:45.440 --> 00:11:49.480 with you again. You cowered, You cowared. Those were scraps 200 00:11:49.519 --> 00:11:53.399 of her conversation, ending in a sudden, dreadful cry in 201 00:11:53.440 --> 00:11:56.879 the man's voice, with a crash and a piercing scream 202 00:11:57.000 --> 00:12:01.600 from the woman. Convinced that some tragedy had occurred, the 203 00:12:01.639 --> 00:12:04.399 coachman rushed to the door and strove to force it, 204 00:12:04.919 --> 00:12:10.399 while scream after scream issued from within. He was unable, however, 205 00:12:10.440 --> 00:12:12.919 to make his way in, and the maids were too 206 00:12:13.000 --> 00:12:16.200 distracted with fear to be of any assistance to him. 207 00:12:16.440 --> 00:12:19.480 A sudden thought struck him, however, and he ran through 208 00:12:19.519 --> 00:12:22.279 the hall door and round the lawn upon which the 209 00:12:22.320 --> 00:12:26.200 long French windows open. One side of the window was open, 210 00:12:26.480 --> 00:12:29.159 which I understand was quite usual in the summer time, 211 00:12:29.759 --> 00:12:33.320 and he passed without difficulty into the room. His mistress 212 00:12:33.360 --> 00:12:39.039 had ceased to scream, and was stretched insensible upon a couch, while, 213 00:12:39.080 --> 00:12:41.679 with his feet tilted over the side of an armchair 214 00:12:42.080 --> 00:12:44.279 and his head upon the ground. Near the corner of 215 00:12:44.320 --> 00:12:49.159 the fender was lying the unfortunate soldier Stone dead in 216 00:12:49.200 --> 00:12:53.960 a pool of his own blood. Naturally, the coachman's first thought, 217 00:12:54.440 --> 00:12:56.799 on finding that he could do nothing, for his master 218 00:12:57.399 --> 00:13:01.440 was to open the door. But here an unexpected and 219 00:13:01.519 --> 00:13:05.879 singular difficulty presented itself. The key was not in the 220 00:13:05.919 --> 00:13:08.600 inner side of the door, nor could he find it 221 00:13:08.679 --> 00:13:11.879 anywhere in the room. He went out again, therefore through 222 00:13:11.879 --> 00:13:14.480 the window, and having obtained the help of a policeman 223 00:13:14.840 --> 00:13:19.639 and of a medical man, he returned. The lady, against 224 00:13:19.639 --> 00:13:24.480 whom naturally the strongest suspicion rested, was removed to her room, 225 00:13:24.600 --> 00:13:28.720 still in a state of insensibility. The colonel's body was 226 00:13:28.759 --> 00:13:32.039 then placed upon the sofa, and a careful examination made 227 00:13:32.080 --> 00:13:36.200 of the scene of the tragedy. The injury from which 228 00:13:36.200 --> 00:13:39.200 the unfortunate veteran was suffering was found to be a 229 00:13:39.279 --> 00:13:42.679 jagged cut some two inches long at the back part 230 00:13:42.720 --> 00:13:45.720 of his head, which had evidently been caused by a 231 00:13:45.799 --> 00:13:49.679 violent blow from a blunt weapon. Nor was it difficult 232 00:13:49.679 --> 00:13:53.039 to guess what that weapon may have been. Upon the floor, 233 00:13:53.080 --> 00:13:55.639 close to the body was lying a singular club of 234 00:13:55.720 --> 00:14:00.480 hard carved wood with a bone handle. The colonel possessed 235 00:14:00.480 --> 00:14:03.799 a varied collection of weapons, brought from the different countries 236 00:14:03.799 --> 00:14:06.720 in which he had fought, and it is conjectured by 237 00:14:06.720 --> 00:14:10.279 the police that his club was among his trophies. The 238 00:14:10.360 --> 00:14:14.399 servants deny having seen it before, but among the numerous 239 00:14:14.440 --> 00:14:17.039 curiosities in the house, it is possible that it may 240 00:14:17.080 --> 00:14:20.679 have been overlooked. Nothing else of importance was discovered in 241 00:14:20.720 --> 00:14:24.320 the room by the police, save the inexplicable fact that 242 00:14:24.399 --> 00:14:28.200 neither upon Missus Barclay's person, nor upon that of her victim, 243 00:14:28.279 --> 00:14:30.759 nor in any part of the room, was the missing 244 00:14:30.840 --> 00:14:33.919 key to be found. The door had eventually to be 245 00:14:34.000 --> 00:14:38.440 opened by a locksmith from Aldershot. That was the state 246 00:14:38.480 --> 00:14:41.759 of things, Watson, when upon the Tuesday morning, I, at 247 00:14:41.759 --> 00:14:44.919 the request of Major Murphy, went down to Aldershot to 248 00:14:44.960 --> 00:14:48.639 supplement the efforts of the police. I think that you 249 00:14:48.639 --> 00:14:51.159 will acknowledge that the problem was already one of interest, 250 00:14:51.720 --> 00:14:54.639 but my observation soon made me realize that it was, 251 00:14:54.679 --> 00:14:58.360 in truth much more extraordinary than would at first sight 252 00:14:58.559 --> 00:15:04.360 pier Before examining the room, I cross questioned the servants, 253 00:15:04.399 --> 00:15:07.360 but only succeeded in eliciting the facts which I have 254 00:15:07.399 --> 00:15:11.200 already stated. One other detail of interest was remembered by 255 00:15:11.320 --> 00:15:15.360 James Stewart, the housemaid. You will remember that, on hearing 256 00:15:15.399 --> 00:15:18.200 the sound of the quarrel, she descended and returned with 257 00:15:18.240 --> 00:15:22.080 the other servants. On that first occasion, when she was alone, 258 00:15:22.480 --> 00:15:25.000 she says that the voices of her master and mistress 259 00:15:25.039 --> 00:15:27.679 were sunk so low that she could hear hardly anything, 260 00:15:28.279 --> 00:15:31.759 and judged by their tones rather than their words, that 261 00:15:31.799 --> 00:15:35.960 they had fallen out on my pressing her. However, she 262 00:15:36.080 --> 00:15:39.799 remembered that she heard the word David uttered twice by 263 00:15:39.799 --> 00:15:43.559 the lady. The point is of the utmost importance as 264 00:15:43.559 --> 00:15:47.200 guiding us towards the reason of the sudden quarrel. The 265 00:15:47.240 --> 00:15:52.000 colonel's name, you remember, was James. There was one thing 266 00:15:52.000 --> 00:15:54.240 in the case which had made the deepest impression, both 267 00:15:54.320 --> 00:15:58.120 upon the servants and the police. This was the contortion 268 00:15:58.440 --> 00:16:02.960 of the colonel's face. It had set, according to their account, 269 00:16:03.399 --> 00:16:07.000 into the most dreadful expression of fear and horror which 270 00:16:07.039 --> 00:16:11.080 a human countenance is capable of assuming. More than one 271 00:16:11.120 --> 00:16:13.720 person fainted at the mere sight of him. So terrible 272 00:16:13.840 --> 00:16:17.080 was the effect. It was quite certain that he had 273 00:16:17.120 --> 00:16:20.360 foreseen his fate, and that it had caused him the 274 00:16:20.480 --> 00:16:24.360 utmost horror. This, of course, fitted in well enough with 275 00:16:24.399 --> 00:16:27.480 the police theory if the colonel could have seen his 276 00:16:27.559 --> 00:16:30.960 wife making a murderous attack upon him. Nor was the 277 00:16:31.000 --> 00:16:33.000 fact of the wound being on the back of his 278 00:16:33.120 --> 00:16:36.399 head a fatal objection to this, as he might have 279 00:16:36.480 --> 00:16:39.960 turned to avoid the blow. No information could be got 280 00:16:40.000 --> 00:16:43.639 from the lady herself, who was temporarily insane from an 281 00:16:43.679 --> 00:16:47.639 acute attack of brain fever. From the police, I learned 282 00:16:47.679 --> 00:16:50.919 that Miss Morrison, who you remember, went out that evening 283 00:16:50.919 --> 00:16:54.320 with missus Barclay, denied having any knowledge of what it 284 00:16:54.480 --> 00:16:57.000 was which had caused the ill humor in which her 285 00:16:57.000 --> 00:17:01.879 companion had returned. Having gathered these facts, Watson I smoked 286 00:17:01.919 --> 00:17:05.400 several pipes over them, trying to separate those which were 287 00:17:05.400 --> 00:17:09.880 crucial from others which were merely incidental. There could be 288 00:17:09.920 --> 00:17:13.119 no question that the most distinctive and suggestive point in 289 00:17:13.160 --> 00:17:16.799 the case was the singular disappearance of the door key. 290 00:17:17.799 --> 00:17:20.680 A most careful search had failed to discover it in 291 00:17:20.720 --> 00:17:23.880 the room. Therefore it must have been taken from it, 292 00:17:24.480 --> 00:17:26.759 But neither the colonel nor the colonel's wife could have 293 00:17:26.799 --> 00:17:31.240 taken it. That was perfectly clear. Therefore a third person 294 00:17:31.319 --> 00:17:33.920 must have entered the room, and that third person could 295 00:17:33.960 --> 00:17:36.640 only have come in through the window. It seemed to 296 00:17:36.640 --> 00:17:38.880 me that a careful examination of the room and the 297 00:17:38.960 --> 00:17:42.839 lawn might possibly reveal some traces of this mysterious individual. 298 00:17:44.200 --> 00:17:46.599 You know my methods, Watson, There was not one of 299 00:17:46.599 --> 00:17:49.599 them which I did not apply to the inquiry, and 300 00:17:49.759 --> 00:17:53.359 it ended by my discovering traces, but very different ones 301 00:17:53.440 --> 00:17:56.960 from those which I had expected. There had been a 302 00:17:57.039 --> 00:17:59.920 man in the room, and he had crossed the lawn 303 00:18:00.079 --> 00:18:03.599 coming from the road. I was able to obtain five 304 00:18:03.880 --> 00:18:07.279 very clear impressions of his footmarks, one in the roadway 305 00:18:07.279 --> 00:18:10.000 itself at the point where he had climbed the low wall, 306 00:18:10.039 --> 00:18:12.519 two on the lawn, and two very faint ones upon 307 00:18:12.519 --> 00:18:15.240 the stained boards near the window where he had entered. 308 00:18:16.039 --> 00:18:19.279 It apparently rushed across the lawn, for his toe marks 309 00:18:19.279 --> 00:18:22.359 were much deeper than his heels. But it was not 310 00:18:22.480 --> 00:18:26.480 the man who surprised me. It was his companion. His 311 00:18:26.599 --> 00:18:30.480 companion Holmes pulled a large sheet of tissue paper out 312 00:18:30.480 --> 00:18:34.119 of his pocket and carefully unfolded it upon his knee. 313 00:18:34.559 --> 00:18:38.039 What do you make of that? He asked? The paper 314 00:18:38.160 --> 00:18:40.839 was covered with the tracings of the footmarks of some 315 00:18:40.960 --> 00:18:46.160 small animal. It had five well marked footpads, an indication 316 00:18:46.279 --> 00:18:49.599 of long nails, and the whole print might be nearly 317 00:18:49.640 --> 00:18:52.960 as large as a dessert spoon. It's a dog, said I. 318 00:18:53.359 --> 00:18:55.960 Did you ever hear of a dog running up a curtain? 319 00:18:56.680 --> 00:19:00.079 I found distinct traces that this creature had done so 320 00:19:00.279 --> 00:19:02.640 a monkey, then, But it is not the print of 321 00:19:02.640 --> 00:19:06.559 a monkey. What can it be, then, neither dog, nor cat, 322 00:19:06.599 --> 00:19:09.559 nor monkey, nor any creature that we are familiar with. 323 00:19:10.319 --> 00:19:13.599 I have tried to reconstruct it from the measurements. Here 324 00:19:13.680 --> 00:19:16.880 are four prints where the beast has been standing motionless. 325 00:19:17.640 --> 00:19:20.400 You see that it has no less than fifteen inches 326 00:19:20.480 --> 00:19:23.960 from four foot to hind. Add to that the length 327 00:19:23.960 --> 00:19:26.240 of neck and head, and you get a creature not 328 00:19:26.359 --> 00:19:30.039 much less than two feet long, probably more if there 329 00:19:30.119 --> 00:19:34.640 is any tail. But now observe this other measurement. The 330 00:19:34.759 --> 00:19:37.359 animal has been moving, and we have the length of 331 00:19:37.359 --> 00:19:41.559 its stride. In each case it is only about three inches. 332 00:19:42.519 --> 00:19:45.000 You have an indication, you see of a long body 333 00:19:45.400 --> 00:19:48.960 with very short legs attached to it. It has not 334 00:19:49.039 --> 00:19:52.279 been considerate enough to leave any of its hair behind. 335 00:19:53.039 --> 00:19:56.039 But its general shape must be what I have indicated. 336 00:19:56.559 --> 00:20:00.279 And it can run up a curtain, and it is carnivorous. 337 00:20:00.599 --> 00:20:03.440 How do you deduce that? Because it ran up the 338 00:20:03.480 --> 00:20:07.279 curtain a canary's cage was hanging in the window, and 339 00:20:07.400 --> 00:20:09.880 its aim seems to have been to get at the bird. 340 00:20:10.559 --> 00:20:13.799 Then what was the beast? Ah? If I could give 341 00:20:13.839 --> 00:20:16.200 it a name, it might go a long way towards 342 00:20:16.200 --> 00:20:20.160 solving the case. On the whole, it was probably some 343 00:20:20.319 --> 00:20:24.240 creature of the weasel and stoat tribe. And yet it 344 00:20:24.319 --> 00:20:26.559 is larger than any of these that I have seen. 345 00:20:27.440 --> 00:20:30.359 But what had it to do with the crime, That 346 00:20:30.519 --> 00:20:34.000 also is still obscure. But we have learned a good deal, 347 00:20:34.039 --> 00:20:36.599 you perceive. We know that a man stood in the 348 00:20:36.680 --> 00:20:40.119 road looking at the quarrel between the barclays, the blinds 349 00:20:40.119 --> 00:20:42.920 were up and the room lighted. We know also that 350 00:20:43.000 --> 00:20:46.279 he ran across the lawn, entered the room accompanied by 351 00:20:46.319 --> 00:20:50.319 a strange animal, and that he either struck the colonel, or, 352 00:20:50.440 --> 00:20:53.519 as is equally possible, that the colonel fell down from 353 00:20:53.599 --> 00:20:56.000 sheer fright at the sight of him and cut his 354 00:20:56.160 --> 00:20:59.720 head on the corner of the fender. Finally, we have 355 00:20:59.799 --> 00:21:03.000 the curious fact that the intruder carried away the key 356 00:21:03.079 --> 00:21:06.400 with him when he left. Your discoveries seemed to have 357 00:21:06.480 --> 00:21:09.720 left the business more obscure than it was before, said I. 358 00:21:10.039 --> 00:21:13.839 Quite so, they undoubtedly showed that the affair was much 359 00:21:13.920 --> 00:21:17.799 deeper than was at first conjectured. I thought the matter over, 360 00:21:18.039 --> 00:21:20.359 and I came to the conclusion that I must approach 361 00:21:20.400 --> 00:21:24.279 the case from another aspect. But really, Watson, I am 362 00:21:24.359 --> 00:21:27.039 keeping you up, and I might just as well tell 363 00:21:27.039 --> 00:21:29.519 you all this on our way to Aldershot to morrow. 364 00:21:29.960 --> 00:21:32.759 Thank you, you have gone rather too far to stop. 365 00:21:33.839 --> 00:21:36.319 It is quite certain that when missus Barkley left the 366 00:21:36.400 --> 00:21:39.240 house at half past seven, she was on good terms 367 00:21:39.240 --> 00:21:41.799 with her husband. She was never, as I think I 368 00:21:41.839 --> 00:21:45.319 have said, ostentatiously affectionate, but she was heard by the 369 00:21:45.359 --> 00:21:49.200 coachman chatting with the colonel in a friendly fashion. Now 370 00:21:49.200 --> 00:21:52.839 it was equally certain that immediately on her return she 371 00:21:52.920 --> 00:21:54.839 had gone to the room in which she was least 372 00:21:55.039 --> 00:21:58.160 likely to see her husband, had flown to tea as 373 00:21:58.200 --> 00:22:01.759 an agitated woman will, and finally, on his coming in 374 00:22:01.839 --> 00:22:06.839 to her, had broken into violent recriminations. Therefore, something had 375 00:22:06.839 --> 00:22:10.400 occurred between seven thirty and nine o'clock which had completely 376 00:22:10.440 --> 00:22:13.920 altered her feelings towards him. But Miss Morrison had been 377 00:22:13.920 --> 00:22:16.200 with her during the whole of that hour and a half. 378 00:22:17.079 --> 00:22:20.599 It was absolutely certain, therefore, in spite of her denial, 379 00:22:21.319 --> 00:22:25.440 that she must know something of the matter. My first 380 00:22:25.559 --> 00:22:30.200 conjecture was that possibly there had been some passages between 381 00:22:30.279 --> 00:22:34.079 this young lady and the old soldier, which the former 382 00:22:34.160 --> 00:22:38.039 had now confessed to the wife. That would account for 383 00:22:38.079 --> 00:22:41.480 the angry return, and also for the girl's denial that 384 00:22:41.599 --> 00:22:45.839 anything had occurred. Nor would it be entirely incompatible with 385 00:22:46.039 --> 00:22:50.359 most of the words overheard. But there was the reference 386 00:22:50.440 --> 00:22:53.559 to David, and there was the known affection of the 387 00:22:53.599 --> 00:22:56.680 colonel for his wife to weigh against it, to say 388 00:22:56.720 --> 00:23:00.400 nothing of the tragic intrusion of this other man, which 389 00:23:00.480 --> 00:23:04.160 might of course be entirely disconnected with what had gone before. 390 00:23:05.160 --> 00:23:07.400 It was not easy to pick one's steps, but on 391 00:23:07.440 --> 00:23:10.240 the whole I was inclined to dismiss the idea that 392 00:23:10.279 --> 00:23:13.279 there had been anything between the colonel and miss Morrison, 393 00:23:14.000 --> 00:23:16.799 but more than ever, convinced that the young lady held 394 00:23:16.839 --> 00:23:19.440 the clue as to what it was which had turned 395 00:23:19.440 --> 00:23:23.160 Missus Barclay to hatred of her husband, I took the 396 00:23:23.200 --> 00:23:27.119 obvious course therefore, of calling upon Miss m of explaining 397 00:23:27.119 --> 00:23:29.400 to her that I was perfectly certain that she held 398 00:23:29.440 --> 00:23:32.440 the facts in her possession, and of assuring her that 399 00:23:32.519 --> 00:23:35.720 her friend, Missus Barclay might find herself in the dock 400 00:23:35.960 --> 00:23:39.319 upon a capital charge unless the matter were cleared up. 401 00:23:40.599 --> 00:23:43.960