WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.760 --> 00:00:11.320 The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger. When one considers that 2 00:00:11.480 --> 00:00:17.839 mister Sherlock Holmes was in active practice for twenty three years, 3 00:00:18.239 --> 00:00:21.920 and that during seventeen of these I was allowed to 4 00:00:22.199 --> 00:00:25.359 co operate with him and to keep notes of his doings, 5 00:00:26.440 --> 00:00:28.320 it will be clear that I have a mass of 6 00:00:28.399 --> 00:00:33.600 material at my command. The problem has always been not 7 00:00:33.719 --> 00:00:39.119 to find, but to choose. There is a long row 8 00:00:39.200 --> 00:00:43.200 of yearbooks which fill a shelf, and there are the 9 00:00:43.359 --> 00:00:48.039 dispatch cases filled with documents, a perfect quarry for the 10 00:00:48.079 --> 00:00:52.320 student not only of crime, but of the social and 11 00:00:52.439 --> 00:00:58.799 official scandals of the late Victorian era. Concerning these latter, 12 00:00:59.679 --> 00:01:03.560 i'm they say that the writers of agonized letters, who 13 00:01:03.600 --> 00:01:06.799 beg that the honor of their families or the reputation 14 00:01:06.959 --> 00:01:11.120 of famous forebears may not be touched, have nothing to fear. 15 00:01:12.640 --> 00:01:16.760 The discretion and high sense of professional honor, which have 16 00:01:16.799 --> 00:01:21.040 always distinguished my friend, are still at work in the 17 00:01:21.120 --> 00:01:25.319 choice of these memoirs, and no confidence will be abused. 18 00:01:27.079 --> 00:01:30.359 I deprecate, however, in the strongest way, the attempts which 19 00:01:30.400 --> 00:01:33.879 have been made lately to get at and to destroy 20 00:01:34.000 --> 00:01:41.000 these papers. The source of these outrages is known, and 21 00:01:41.079 --> 00:01:44.120 if they are repeated. I have mister Holmes's authority for 22 00:01:44.200 --> 00:01:48.040 saying that the whole story concerning the politician, the lighthouse, 23 00:01:48.599 --> 00:01:52.439 and the trained cormorant will be given to the public. 24 00:01:54.439 --> 00:02:00.640 There is at least one reader who will understand. It 25 00:02:00.760 --> 00:02:03.680 is not reasonable to suppose that every one of these 26 00:02:03.760 --> 00:02:07.719 cases gave Holmes the opportunity of showing those curious gifts 27 00:02:07.719 --> 00:02:11.199 of instinct and observation which I have endeavored to set 28 00:02:11.280 --> 00:02:16.680 forth in these memoirs. Sometimes he had, with much effort 29 00:02:17.199 --> 00:02:22.319 to pick the fruit, sometimes it fell easily into his lap. 30 00:02:23.840 --> 00:02:28.479 But the most terrible human tragedies were often involved in 31 00:02:28.599 --> 00:02:34.360 those cases which brought him the fewest personal opportunities. And 32 00:02:34.439 --> 00:02:38.639 it is one of these which I now desire to record. 33 00:02:40.199 --> 00:02:42.400 In telling it, I have made a slight change of 34 00:02:42.479 --> 00:02:46.360 name and place, but otherwise the facts are as stated. 35 00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:54.159 One forenoon, it was late in eighteen ninety six, I 36 00:02:54.240 --> 00:02:57.960 received a hurried note from Homes asking for my attendants. 37 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:02.719 When I arrived, I found him seated in a smoke 38 00:03:02.840 --> 00:03:08.280 laden atmosphere, with an elderly, motherly woman of the buxom 39 00:03:08.680 --> 00:03:12.840 landlady type in the corresponding chair in front of him. 40 00:03:13.840 --> 00:03:18.680 This is Missus Merrilow of South Brixton, said my friend, 41 00:03:18.800 --> 00:03:22.479 with a wave of the hand. Missus Merrillau does not 42 00:03:22.599 --> 00:03:27.000 object to tobacco, Watson, if you wish to indulge your 43 00:03:27.080 --> 00:03:33.199 filthy habits. Missus Merrilau has an interesting story to tell, 44 00:03:34.199 --> 00:03:37.800 which may well lead to further developments in which your 45 00:03:37.840 --> 00:03:42.360 presence may be useful anything I can do. You will understand, 46 00:03:42.479 --> 00:03:46.800 Missus Merrilow, that if I come to Missus roonder, I 47 00:03:46.840 --> 00:03:50.479 should prefer to have a witness. You will make her 48 00:03:50.680 --> 00:03:56.080 understand that before we arrive. Lord bless you, mister Elmes, 49 00:03:56.719 --> 00:04:00.280 said our visitor. She is that anxious to say you 50 00:04:00.400 --> 00:04:02.960 that you might bring the whole parish at your heels. 51 00:04:03.680 --> 00:04:07.719 Then we shall come early in the afternoon. Let us 52 00:04:07.719 --> 00:04:11.000 see that we have our facts correct before we start. 53 00:04:12.039 --> 00:04:14.520 If we go over them, it will help doctor Watson 54 00:04:14.599 --> 00:04:18.120 to understand the situation. You say that Missus Ronda has 55 00:04:18.160 --> 00:04:21.879 been your lodger for seven years, and that you have 56 00:04:21.959 --> 00:04:25.279 only once seen her face. And I wish to God 57 00:04:25.319 --> 00:04:29.399 I had not, said Missus Merrilow, it was I understand, 58 00:04:30.079 --> 00:04:34.279 terribly mutilated. Well, mister Olmes, you would hardly say it 59 00:04:34.319 --> 00:04:37.639 was a face at all. That's how it looked. Our 60 00:04:37.759 --> 00:04:40.720 milkman got a glimpse of her once peeping out of 61 00:04:40.759 --> 00:04:44.639 the upper window, and he dropped his tin and the 62 00:04:44.720 --> 00:04:47.959 milk all over the front garden. That is the kind 63 00:04:47.959 --> 00:04:51.879 of face it is. When I saw her, I happened 64 00:04:51.879 --> 00:04:56.360 on her unawares. She covered up quick, and then she said, Now, 65 00:04:56.480 --> 00:04:59.160 missus Merrilow, you know at last, why it is that 66 00:04:59.240 --> 00:05:03.160 I never raised my veil. Do you know anything about 67 00:05:03.199 --> 00:05:08.040 her history? Nothing at all? Did she give references when 68 00:05:08.040 --> 00:05:12.160 she came, No, sir, but she gave hard cash, and 69 00:05:12.319 --> 00:05:15.480 plenty of it, a quarter's rent right down on the 70 00:05:15.480 --> 00:05:19.399 table in advance, and no arguing about terms. In these times, 71 00:05:19.399 --> 00:05:21.519 a poor woman like me can't afford to turn down 72 00:05:21.519 --> 00:05:24.839 a chance like that. Did she give any reason for 73 00:05:24.920 --> 00:05:28.519 choosing your house? Mine stands well back from the road 74 00:05:29.000 --> 00:05:32.439 and is more private than most. Then again, I only 75 00:05:32.519 --> 00:05:35.920 take the one, and I have no family of my own. 76 00:05:36.360 --> 00:05:39.000 I reckon she had tried others and found that mine 77 00:05:39.040 --> 00:05:43.439 suited her best. It's privacy she is after, and she's 78 00:05:43.519 --> 00:05:46.360 ready to pay for it. You say that she never 79 00:05:46.399 --> 00:05:50.040 showed her face from first to last, save on the 80 00:05:50.040 --> 00:05:54.759 one accidental location, Well it is a very remarkable story, 81 00:05:54.879 --> 00:05:59.120 most remarkable, and I don't wonder that you want it examined. 82 00:05:59.839 --> 00:06:03.439 I don't, mister Holmes. I'm quite satisfied so long as 83 00:06:03.480 --> 00:06:07.040 I get my rent. You could not have a quieter lodger, 84 00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:11.519 or one who gives less trouble. Then what has brought 85 00:06:11.600 --> 00:06:16.000 matters to a head Her health, mister Holmes. She seems 86 00:06:16.040 --> 00:06:21.480 to be wasting away and there's something terrible on her mind. Murder, 87 00:06:21.600 --> 00:06:25.560 she cries, murder. And once I heard her, you cruel beast, 88 00:06:25.839 --> 00:06:30.000 you monster, she cried. It was in the night, and 89 00:06:30.079 --> 00:06:32.720 a fair rang through the house and sent the shivers 90 00:06:32.759 --> 00:06:35.079 through me. So I went to her in the morning. 91 00:06:35.720 --> 00:06:38.839 Missus Ronda, I says, if you have anything that is 92 00:06:38.879 --> 00:06:43.519 troubling your soul. There's the clergy, I says, and there's 93 00:06:43.560 --> 00:06:48.319 the police between them. You should get some help for 94 00:06:48.399 --> 00:06:51.600 God's sake, not the police, says she. And the clergy 95 00:06:51.639 --> 00:06:55.720 can't change what is past. And yet she says, it 96 00:06:55.720 --> 00:06:58.800 would ease my mind if someone knew the truth before 97 00:06:58.839 --> 00:07:02.839 I died. Well, says I. If you won't have the regulars, 98 00:07:03.519 --> 00:07:07.519 there is this detective man. What we read about begging 99 00:07:07.560 --> 00:07:11.639 your pardon, mister Rolmes, and she she fair jumped at it. 100 00:07:12.560 --> 00:07:15.720 That's the man, says she. I wonder I never thought 101 00:07:15.720 --> 00:07:19.480 of it before. Bring him here, Missus Merrilow. And if 102 00:07:19.480 --> 00:07:22.519 he won't come, tell him I'm the wife of Ronda's 103 00:07:22.519 --> 00:07:26.319 Wild Beast show say that and give him the name 104 00:07:26.480 --> 00:07:31.399 Abbass Parver. Here it is as she wrote it, Abbass Parver. 105 00:07:32.480 --> 00:07:34.560 That will bring him if he's the man I think 106 00:07:34.560 --> 00:07:38.800 he is, And it will too, remarked Holmes. Very good, 107 00:07:38.879 --> 00:07:41.480 Missus Merrilow, I should like to have a little chat 108 00:07:41.480 --> 00:07:45.040 with doctor Watson. That will carry us to lunch time. 109 00:07:45.759 --> 00:07:48.120 About three o'clock. You may expect to see us at 110 00:07:48.160 --> 00:07:53.600 your house in Brixton. Our visitor had no sooner waddled 111 00:07:53.639 --> 00:07:57.439 out of the room. No other verb can describe Missus 112 00:07:57.480 --> 00:08:02.639 Merrilow's method of progression. Van Sherlock Holmes threw himself with 113 00:08:02.759 --> 00:08:06.600 fierce energy upon the pile of commonplace books in the corner. 114 00:08:07.600 --> 00:08:10.000 For a few minutes there was a constant swish of 115 00:08:10.040 --> 00:08:13.800 the leaves, and then, with a grunt of satisfaction, he 116 00:08:13.879 --> 00:08:18.000 came upon what he sought. So excited was he that 117 00:08:18.079 --> 00:08:21.720 he did not rise, but sat upon the floor like 118 00:08:21.839 --> 00:08:26.639 some strange Buddha with crossed legs, the huge books all 119 00:08:26.720 --> 00:08:31.399 round him, and one open upon his knees. The case 120 00:08:31.720 --> 00:08:35.879 worried me at the time, Watson, here are my marginal 121 00:08:36.000 --> 00:08:39.799 notes to prove it. I confess that I could make 122 00:08:39.879 --> 00:08:43.759 nothing of it, and yet I was convinced that the 123 00:08:43.879 --> 00:08:48.440 coroner was wrong. Have you no recollection of the abbas 124 00:08:48.480 --> 00:08:53.159 Pava tragedy, none, Holmes, And yet you were with me then. 125 00:08:54.799 --> 00:08:58.960 But certainly my own impression was very superficial, for there 126 00:08:59.039 --> 00:09:02.200 was nothing to go by, and none of the parties 127 00:09:02.240 --> 00:09:06.600 had engaged my services. Perhaps you would care to read 128 00:09:06.639 --> 00:09:11.240 the papers? Could you not give me the points? That 129 00:09:11.399 --> 00:09:14.919 is very easily done. It will probably come back to 130 00:09:14.960 --> 00:09:19.559 your memory as I talk. Ronda, of course, was a 131 00:09:19.600 --> 00:09:24.480 household word. He was the rival of Wombwell and of Sanger, 132 00:09:25.279 --> 00:09:30.159 one of the greatest showmen of his day. There is evidence, however, 133 00:09:30.279 --> 00:09:33.799 that he took to drink, and that both he and 134 00:09:33.879 --> 00:09:37.559 his show were on the downgrade. At the time of 135 00:09:37.600 --> 00:09:41.840 the great tragedy. The caravan had halted for the night 136 00:09:42.000 --> 00:09:46.320 at abbas Parva, which is a small village in Berkshire, 137 00:09:47.559 --> 00:09:53.559 when this horror occurred. They were on their way to Wimbledon, 138 00:09:53.919 --> 00:09:58.200 traveling by road, and they were simply camping and not exhibiting, 139 00:09:58.639 --> 00:10:01.240 as the place is so small a one that it 140 00:10:01.279 --> 00:10:05.039 would not have paid them to open. They had among 141 00:10:05.080 --> 00:10:10.840 their exhibits a very fine North African lion, Sahara King 142 00:10:11.559 --> 00:10:15.080 was its name, and it was the habit both of 143 00:10:15.200 --> 00:10:20.559 Roonda and his wife to give exhibitions inside its cage. 144 00:10:20.679 --> 00:10:24.320 Here you see is a photograph of the performance, by 145 00:10:24.320 --> 00:10:27.679 which you will perceive that Ronda was a huge poresign 146 00:10:27.840 --> 00:10:32.200 person and that his wife was a very magnificent woman. 147 00:10:33.360 --> 00:10:35.879 It was deposed at the inquest that there had been 148 00:10:35.919 --> 00:10:40.559 some signs that the lion was dangerous, but as usual, 149 00:10:41.159 --> 00:10:46.879 familiarity begat contempt and no notice was taken of the fact. 150 00:10:48.639 --> 00:10:52.360 It was usual for either Roonda or his wife to 151 00:10:52.440 --> 00:10:57.679 feed the lion at night. Sometimes one went, sometimes both, 152 00:10:58.799 --> 00:11:00.840 but they never allowed any one else to do it, 153 00:11:01.720 --> 00:11:04.080 for they believed that so long as they were the 154 00:11:04.120 --> 00:11:08.559 food carriers, he would regard them as benefactors and would 155 00:11:08.600 --> 00:11:13.360 never molest them. On this particular night seven years ago, 156 00:11:13.480 --> 00:11:17.759 they both went and a very terrible happening followed, the 157 00:11:17.840 --> 00:11:23.320 details of which have never been made clear. It seems 158 00:11:23.399 --> 00:11:26.600 that the whole camp was roused near midnight by the 159 00:11:26.720 --> 00:11:29.519 roars of the animal and the screams of the woman. 160 00:11:30.480 --> 00:11:35.679 The different grooms and employees rushed from their tents carrying lanterns, 161 00:11:36.519 --> 00:11:40.799 and by their light an awful sight was revealed. Ronda 162 00:11:40.879 --> 00:11:43.200 lay with the back of his head crushed in and 163 00:11:43.360 --> 00:11:46.840 deep claw marks across his scalp, some ten yards from 164 00:11:46.879 --> 00:11:50.679 the cage, which was open. Close to the door of 165 00:11:50.720 --> 00:11:54.240 the cage lay missus Rohonda upon her back, with the 166 00:11:54.279 --> 00:11:59.080 creature squatting and snarling above her. It had torn her 167 00:11:59.120 --> 00:12:02.559 face in such a fashion that it was never thought 168 00:12:02.600 --> 00:12:06.840 that she could live. Several of the circus men, headed 169 00:12:06.919 --> 00:12:11.840 by Leonardo the strong Man and Griggs the Clown, drove 170 00:12:11.879 --> 00:12:15.919 the creature off with poles, upon which it sprang back 171 00:12:15.960 --> 00:12:21.120 into the cage and was at once locked in. How 172 00:12:21.159 --> 00:12:24.240 it had got loose was a mystery. It was conjectured 173 00:12:24.279 --> 00:12:27.240 that the pair intended to enter the cage, but that 174 00:12:27.279 --> 00:12:31.120 when the door was loosed, the creature bounded out upon them. 175 00:12:31.600 --> 00:12:33.879 There was no other point of interest in the evidence, 176 00:12:34.120 --> 00:12:37.720 save that the woman, in a delirium of agony, kept 177 00:12:37.759 --> 00:12:41.759 screaming coward, coward as she was carried back to the 178 00:12:41.879 --> 00:12:46.279 van In which they lived. It was six months before 179 00:12:46.320 --> 00:12:50.639 she was fit to give evidence. But the inquest was 180 00:12:50.759 --> 00:12:55.519 duly held with the obvious verdict of death from misadventure. 181 00:12:56.399 --> 00:13:00.639 What alternative could be conceived? Said I, You may well 182 00:13:00.679 --> 00:13:04.600 say so. And yet there were one or two points 183 00:13:04.639 --> 00:13:09.720 which worried young Edmonds of the Berkshire Constabulary, a smart 184 00:13:09.799 --> 00:13:14.360 lad that he was sent later to Allahabad. That was 185 00:13:14.440 --> 00:13:17.039 how I came into the matter, For he dropped in 186 00:13:17.159 --> 00:13:20.279 and smoked a pipe or two over it, a thin 187 00:13:20.440 --> 00:13:24.240 yellow haired man. Exactly. I was sure you would pick 188 00:13:24.320 --> 00:13:29.120 up the trail presently. But what worried him? Well, we 189 00:13:29.120 --> 00:13:33.840 were both worried. It was so deucedly difficult to reconstruct 190 00:13:33.879 --> 00:13:36.879 the affair. Look at it from the lion's point of view. 191 00:13:37.200 --> 00:13:40.159 He is liberated. What does he do? He takes half 192 00:13:40.200 --> 00:13:43.919 a dozen bounds forward, which brings him to Ronda. Roonda 193 00:13:44.039 --> 00:13:47.519 turns to fly. The claw marks were on the back 194 00:13:47.559 --> 00:13:51.159 of his head, but the lion strikes him down. Then, 195 00:13:51.240 --> 00:13:54.919 instead of bounding on and escaping, he returns to the 196 00:13:54.960 --> 00:13:59.279 woman who was close to the cage, and he knocks 197 00:13:59.279 --> 00:14:03.799 her over and choose her face up. Then again, those 198 00:14:03.840 --> 00:14:06.679 cries of hers would seem to imply that her husband 199 00:14:07.080 --> 00:14:10.919 had in some way failed her. What could the poor 200 00:14:10.919 --> 00:14:14.480 devil have done to help her? You see the difficulty 201 00:14:15.399 --> 00:14:20.159 quite And then there was another thing. It comes back 202 00:14:20.159 --> 00:14:23.039 to me now as I think it over. There was 203 00:14:23.080 --> 00:14:26.320 some evidence that just at the time the lion roared 204 00:14:26.360 --> 00:14:31.120 and the woman screamed, a man began shouting in terror. 205 00:14:32.480 --> 00:14:36.240 This man roonda, no doubt. Well, if his skull was 206 00:14:36.279 --> 00:14:39.360 smashed in, you would hardly expect to hear from him again. 207 00:14:40.720 --> 00:14:43.720 There were at least two witnesses who spoke of the 208 00:14:43.799 --> 00:14:47.080 cries of a man being mingled with those of a woman. 209 00:14:48.200 --> 00:14:51.080 I should think the whole camp was crying out by then. 210 00:14:52.399 --> 00:14:56.200 As to the other points, I think I could suggest 211 00:14:56.240 --> 00:15:00.480 a solution, I should be glad to consider it. The 212 00:15:00.519 --> 00:15:04.240 two were together the ten yards from the cage when 213 00:15:04.279 --> 00:15:08.639 the lion got loose. The man turned and was struck down. 214 00:15:09.799 --> 00:15:12.840 The woman conceived the idea of getting into the cage 215 00:15:12.879 --> 00:15:17.120 and shutting the door. It was her only refuge. She 216 00:15:17.360 --> 00:15:20.639 made for it, and just as she reached it, the 217 00:15:20.639 --> 00:15:24.639 beast bounded after her and knocked her over. She was 218 00:15:24.720 --> 00:15:28.320 angry with her husband for having encouraged the beast's rage 219 00:15:28.440 --> 00:15:31.639 by turning. If they had faced it, they might have 220 00:15:31.759 --> 00:15:37.720 cowed it. Hence her cries of coward brilliant Watson, only 221 00:15:37.840 --> 00:15:43.399 one floor in your diamond, what is the floor homes? 222 00:15:44.519 --> 00:15:47.919 If they were both ten paces from the cage, how 223 00:15:47.960 --> 00:15:51.799 came the beast to get loose? Is it possible that 224 00:15:51.840 --> 00:15:55.519 they had some enemy who loosed it? And why should 225 00:15:55.519 --> 00:15:59.080 it attack them savagely when it was in the habit 226 00:15:59.120 --> 00:16:02.679 of playing with them and doing tricks with them inside 227 00:16:02.679 --> 00:16:07.720 the cage. Possibly the same enemy had done something to 228 00:16:07.960 --> 00:16:13.919 enrage it. Holmes looked thoughtful and remained in silence for 229 00:16:13.960 --> 00:16:17.360 some moments. Well, Watson, there is this to be said 230 00:16:17.440 --> 00:16:20.559 for your theory. Ronda was a man of many enemies. 231 00:16:21.480 --> 00:16:25.159 Edmonds told me that in his cups he was horrible, 232 00:16:26.399 --> 00:16:31.039 a huge bully of a man. He cursed and slashed 233 00:16:31.039 --> 00:16:35.320 at everyone who came in his way. I expect those 234 00:16:35.360 --> 00:16:38.919 cries about a monster of which our visitor has spoken 235 00:16:39.799 --> 00:16:46.440 were nocturnal reminiscences of the dear departed. However, our speculations 236 00:16:46.480 --> 00:16:51.000 are futile until we have all the facts. There is 237 00:16:51.039 --> 00:16:55.440 a cold partridge on the sideboard, Watson, and a bottle 238 00:16:55.519 --> 00:17:01.039 of montrachet. Let us renew our energies before we make 239 00:17:01.080 --> 00:17:06.559 a fresh call upon them. When our handsome deposited us 240 00:17:06.640 --> 00:17:10.640 at the house of missus Merrilow, we found that plump 241 00:17:10.720 --> 00:17:14.400 lady blocking up the open door of her humble but 242 00:17:14.720 --> 00:17:20.680 retired abode. It was very clear that her chief preoccupation 243 00:17:21.039 --> 00:17:24.960 was lest she should lose a valuable lodger, and she 244 00:17:25.119 --> 00:17:29.519 implored us, before showing us up, to say and do 245 00:17:29.720 --> 00:17:34.799 nothing which could lead to so undesirable an end. Then, 246 00:17:35.319 --> 00:17:39.920 having reassured her, we followed her up the straight, badly 247 00:17:40.039 --> 00:17:43.920 carpeted staircase and were shown into the room of the 248 00:17:44.119 --> 00:17:50.880 mysterious lodger. It was a close, musty, ill ventilated place, 249 00:17:51.279 --> 00:17:54.759 as might be expected, since its inmate seldom left it. 250 00:17:56.240 --> 00:18:00.359 From keeping beasts in a cage, the woman said deed, 251 00:18:00.640 --> 00:18:05.400 by some retribution of fate, to have become herself a 252 00:18:05.480 --> 00:18:10.240 beast in a cage. She sat now in a broken 253 00:18:10.359 --> 00:18:15.759 armchair in the shadowy corner of the room. Long years 254 00:18:15.799 --> 00:18:21.400 of inaction had coarsened the lines of her figure, but 255 00:18:21.519 --> 00:18:25.720 at some period it must have been beautiful, and was 256 00:18:25.759 --> 00:18:32.079 still full and voluptuous. A thick, dark veil covered her face, 257 00:18:33.160 --> 00:18:36.079 but it was cut off close at her upper lip, 258 00:18:37.279 --> 00:18:42.759 and disclosed a perfectly shaped mouth and a delicately rounded chin. 259 00:18:44.400 --> 00:18:47.279 I could well conceive that she had indeed been a 260 00:18:47.400 --> 00:18:54.200 very remarkable woman. Her voice, too, was well modulated and pleasing. 261 00:18:55.640 --> 00:18:59.839 My name is not unfamiliar to you, mister Holmes, said she. 262 00:19:01.119 --> 00:19:05.519 I thought that it would bring you. That is so, madam, 263 00:19:05.960 --> 00:19:08.799 though I do not know how you are aware that 264 00:19:08.839 --> 00:19:12.559 I was interested in your case. I learned it when 265 00:19:12.599 --> 00:19:17.359 I had recovered my health and was examined by mister Edmonds, 266 00:19:17.599 --> 00:19:24.279 the county detective. I fear I lied to him. Perhaps 267 00:19:24.319 --> 00:19:26.880 it would have been wiser had I told the truth. 268 00:19:28.000 --> 00:19:32.920 It is usually wiser to tell the truth. But why 269 00:19:32.960 --> 00:19:36.720 did you lie to him? Because the fate of some 270 00:19:36.799 --> 00:19:42.319 one else depended upon it? I know that he was 271 00:19:42.359 --> 00:19:47.440 a very worthless being, and yet I would not have 272 00:19:47.559 --> 00:19:54.279 his destruction upon my conscience. We had been so close, 273 00:19:56.519 --> 00:20:03.920 so close. But has this impediment been removed? Yes, sir, 274 00:20:05.519 --> 00:20:10.759 the person that I allude to is dead, then why 275 00:20:10.759 --> 00:20:13.640 should you not now tell the police anything you know? 276 00:20:15.079 --> 00:20:20.440 Because there is another person to be considered. That other 277 00:20:20.519 --> 00:20:25.319 person is myself. I could not stand the scandal and 278 00:20:25.559 --> 00:20:31.079 publicity which would come from a police examination. I have 279 00:20:31.200 --> 00:20:35.920 not longed to live, but I wish to die undisturbed. 280 00:20:37.720 --> 00:20:43.240 And yet I wanted to find one man of judgment 281 00:20:44.680 --> 00:20:49.960 to whom I could tell my terrible story, so that 282 00:20:50.039 --> 00:20:55.799 when I am gone, all might be understood. You compliment me, Madam. 283 00:20:57.599 --> 00:21:04.160 At the same time, I am a responsible person. I 284 00:21:04.240 --> 00:21:07.880 do not promise you that, when you have spoken, I 285 00:21:07.960 --> 00:21:10.559 may not myself think it my duty to refer the 286 00:21:10.599 --> 00:21:18.279 case to the police. I think not, mister Holmes. I 287 00:21:18.319 --> 00:21:24.079 know your character and your methods too well, for I 288 00:21:24.119 --> 00:21:28.440 have followed your work for some years. Reading is the 289 00:21:28.480 --> 00:21:32.759 only pleasure which fate has left me, and I miss 290 00:21:32.799 --> 00:21:37.119 little which passes in the world. But in any case, 291 00:21:37.200 --> 00:21:40.640 I will take my chance of the use which you 292 00:21:40.720 --> 00:21:45.559 may make of my tragedy. It will ease my mind 293 00:21:46.319 --> 00:21:50.839 to tell it, my friend, and I would be glad 294 00:21:51.000 --> 00:21:55.480 to hear it. The woman rose and took from a 295 00:21:55.599 --> 00:22:01.359 drawer the photograph of a man. He was clearly professional acrobat, 296 00:22:02.680 --> 00:22:06.519 a man of magnificent physique, taken with his huge arms 297 00:22:06.599 --> 00:22:11.319 folded across his swollen chest, and a smile breaking from 298 00:22:11.400 --> 00:22:16.519 under his heavy mustache, the self satisfied smile of the 299 00:22:16.559 --> 00:22:23.559 man of many conquests. That is Leonardo, she said, Leonardo, 300 00:22:23.920 --> 00:22:31.119 the strong man who gave evidence the same. And this, 301 00:22:31.119 --> 00:22:36.559 this is my husband. It was a dreadful face, a 302 00:22:36.680 --> 00:22:43.559 human pig, or rather a human wild boar, for it 303 00:22:43.799 --> 00:22:49.079 was formidable in its bestiality. One could imagine that vile 304 00:22:49.200 --> 00:22:54.240 mouth champing and foaming in its rage. And one could 305 00:22:54.279 --> 00:22:58.599 conceive those small, vicious eyes darting pure malignancy as they 306 00:22:58.640 --> 00:23:06.319 looked forth upon the world. Ruffian bully beast. It was 307 00:23:06.359 --> 00:23:12.000 all written on that heavy, jowled face. Those two pictures 308 00:23:12.119 --> 00:23:16.400 will help you, gentlemen, to understand the story. I was 309 00:23:16.440 --> 00:23:20.799 a poor circus girl, brought up on the sawdust and 310 00:23:20.960 --> 00:23:25.799 doing springs through the hoop before I was ten. When 311 00:23:25.839 --> 00:23:30.200 I became a woman, this man loved me, if such 312 00:23:30.319 --> 00:23:35.119 lust as his can be called love, and in an 313 00:23:35.240 --> 00:23:41.160 evil moment, I became his wife. From that day I 314 00:23:41.319 --> 00:23:46.519 was in hell, and he the devil who tormented me. 315 00:23:48.799 --> 00:23:52.440 There was no one in the show who did not 316 00:23:52.599 --> 00:23:57.960 know of his treatment. He deserted me for others. He 317 00:23:58.039 --> 00:24:01.359 tied me down and lashed me with his riding whip. 318 00:24:01.400 --> 00:24:08.519 When I complained, they all pitied me, and they all 319 00:24:08.640 --> 00:24:16.519 loathed him. But what could they do. They feared him 320 00:24:16.720 --> 00:24:21.640 one and all, for he was terrible at all times, 321 00:24:22.519 --> 00:24:26.960 and murderous when he was drunk. Again and again he 322 00:24:27.119 --> 00:24:33.200 was had up for assault and for cruelty to the beasts, 323 00:24:34.240 --> 00:24:36.640 but he had plenty of money and the fines were 324 00:24:36.759 --> 00:24:42.480 nothing to him. The best men all left us, and 325 00:24:42.559 --> 00:24:47.480 the show began to go downhill. It was only Leonardo 326 00:24:47.559 --> 00:24:52.119 and I who kept it up, with little Jimmy Griggs, 327 00:24:52.319 --> 00:24:59.519 the clown, poor devil. He had not much to be 328 00:24:59.559 --> 00:25:04.680 funny that he did what he could to hold things together. 329 00:25:06.559 --> 00:25:10.680 Then Leonardo came more and more into my life. You 330 00:25:10.720 --> 00:25:13.960 see what he was like. I know now the poor 331 00:25:14.039 --> 00:25:19.640 spirit that was hidden in that splendid body. But compared 332 00:25:19.680 --> 00:25:24.240 to my husband, he seemed like the angel Gabriel. He 333 00:25:24.319 --> 00:25:32.480 pitied me and helped me till at last our intimacy 334 00:25:32.559 --> 00:25:39.319 turned to love, deep, deep passionate love, such love as 335 00:25:39.359 --> 00:25:43.759 I had dreamed of but never hoped to feel. My 336 00:25:43.880 --> 00:25:47.759 husband suspected it, but I think that he was a 337 00:25:47.880 --> 00:25:52.680 coward as well as a bully, and that Leonardo was 338 00:25:52.720 --> 00:25:57.319 the one man that he was afraid of. He took 339 00:25:57.359 --> 00:26:00.599 revenge in his own way by torturing me more than ever, 340 00:26:01.880 --> 00:26:05.240 one night, my cries brought Leonardo to the door of 341 00:26:05.279 --> 00:26:11.279 our van. We were near tragedy that night, and soon 342 00:26:11.400 --> 00:26:14.799 my lover and I understood that it could not be avoided. 343 00:26:17.680 --> 00:26:23.119 My husband was not fit to live. We planned that 344 00:26:23.200 --> 00:26:31.640 he should die. Leonardo had a clever, scheming brain. It 345 00:26:31.839 --> 00:26:35.079 was he who planned it. I do not say that 346 00:26:35.240 --> 00:26:38.039 to blame him, for I was ready to go with 347 00:26:38.160 --> 00:26:42.319 him every inch of the way. But I should never 348 00:26:42.359 --> 00:26:44.319 have had the wit to think of such a plan. 349 00:26:45.960 --> 00:26:51.240 We made a club. Leonardo made it, and in the 350 00:26:51.359 --> 00:26:59.039 leaden head he fastened five long steel nails, the points outwards, 351 00:26:59.599 --> 00:27:04.599 with such a spread as the lion's paw. This was 352 00:27:04.640 --> 00:27:09.039 to give my husband the death blow, and yet to 353 00:27:09.119 --> 00:27:12.160 leave the evidence that it was the lion which we 354 00:27:12.200 --> 00:27:17.359 would loose, who had done the deed. It was a 355 00:27:17.440 --> 00:27:20.720 pitch dark night when my husband and I went down, 356 00:27:20.839 --> 00:27:25.000 as was our custom, to feed the beast. We carried 357 00:27:25.000 --> 00:27:31.079 with us the raw meat in a zinc pail. Leonardo 358 00:27:31.319 --> 00:27:34.519 was waiting at the corner of the big van, which 359 00:27:34.599 --> 00:27:37.440 we should have to pass before we reached the cage. 360 00:27:38.920 --> 00:27:43.160 He was too slow, and we walked past him before 361 00:27:43.200 --> 00:27:46.920 he could strike, But he followed us on tiptoe, and 362 00:27:47.000 --> 00:27:50.240 I heard the crash as the club smashed my husband's skull. 363 00:27:51.559 --> 00:27:54.359 My heart leapt with joy at the sound. I sprang 364 00:27:54.480 --> 00:27:57.400 forward and I undid the catch which held the door 365 00:27:57.440 --> 00:28:02.799 of the great lion's cage. And then the terrible thing happened. 366 00:28:05.079 --> 00:28:07.400 You may have heard how quick these creatures are to 367 00:28:07.480 --> 00:28:12.319 scent human blood, and how it excites them. Some strange 368 00:28:12.359 --> 00:28:14.960 instinct had told the creature in one instant that a 369 00:28:15.039 --> 00:28:19.720 human being had been slain. As I slipped the bars, 370 00:28:19.759 --> 00:28:22.480 it bounded out and was on me. In an instant. 371 00:28:25.160 --> 00:28:29.319 Leonardo could have saved me. If he had rushed forward 372 00:28:29.319 --> 00:28:31.599 and struck the beast with his club, he might have 373 00:28:31.720 --> 00:28:40.079 cowed it. But the man lost his nerve. I heard 374 00:28:40.160 --> 00:28:44.200 him shout in his terror, and then I saw him 375 00:28:44.240 --> 00:28:49.480 turn and fly. At the same instant, the teeth of 376 00:28:49.519 --> 00:28:54.079 the lion met my face. Its heart filthy breath had 377 00:28:54.119 --> 00:28:57.160 already poisoned me, and I was hardly conscious of pain. 378 00:28:58.440 --> 00:29:02.160 With the palms of my hands, tried to push the great, steaming, 379 00:29:02.359 --> 00:29:08.000 blood stained jaws away from me, and I screamed for help. 380 00:29:08.200 --> 00:29:11.079 I was conscious that the camp was stirring, and then 381 00:29:11.160 --> 00:29:16.000 dimly I remembered a group of men, Leonardo Griggs and others, 382 00:29:16.119 --> 00:29:21.880 dragging me from under the creature's paws. That was my 383 00:29:22.000 --> 00:29:30.640 last memory, mister Holmes, for many a weary month. When 384 00:29:30.680 --> 00:29:35.640 I came to myself and saw myself in the mirror, 385 00:29:37.039 --> 00:29:42.920 I cursed that lion. Oh how I cursed him, not 386 00:29:43.119 --> 00:29:45.880 because he had torn away my beauty, but because he 387 00:29:45.960 --> 00:29:52.359 had not torn away my life. I had but one desire, 388 00:29:52.559 --> 00:29:59.000 mister Holmes, and I had enough money to gratify it. 389 00:29:59.000 --> 00:30:04.680 It was that I should cover myself so that my 390 00:30:04.839 --> 00:30:09.799 poor face should be seen by none, and that I 391 00:30:09.799 --> 00:30:12.559 should dwell where none whom I had ever known should 392 00:30:12.599 --> 00:30:16.880 find me. That was all that was left to me 393 00:30:17.039 --> 00:30:22.240 to do. And that is what I have done. A 394 00:30:22.359 --> 00:30:27.880 poor wounded beast that has crawled into its hole to die. 395 00:30:28.559 --> 00:30:37.200 That is the end of Eugenia Roonder. We sat in 396 00:30:37.319 --> 00:30:42.599 silence for some time after the unhappy woman had told 397 00:30:42.680 --> 00:30:50.279 her story. Then Holmes stretched out his long arm and 398 00:30:50.440 --> 00:30:55.720 patted her hand with such a show of sympathy as 399 00:30:55.759 --> 00:31:03.559 I had seldom known him to exhibit. Poor girl, he said, 400 00:31:04.599 --> 00:31:11.119 poor girl, the ways of fate are indeed hard to understand. 401 00:31:13.039 --> 00:31:18.640