Speaker 1: The adventure of the Red Circle. Well, missus Warren, I
Speaker 1: cannot see that you have any particular cause for uneasiness,
Speaker 1: nor do I understand why I, whose time is of
Speaker 1: some value, should interfere in the matter. I really have
Speaker 1: other things to engage me, so spoke Sherlock Holmes, and
Speaker 1: turned back to the great scrap Book, in which he
Speaker 1: was arranging and indexing some of his recent material. But
Speaker 1: the landlady had the pertinacity and also the cunning of
Speaker 1: her sex. She held her ground firmly. You arranged an
Speaker 1: affair for a lodger of my last year, she said,
Speaker 1: mister Fairdell Hobbs Ah. Yes, a simple matter, but he
Speaker 1: would never cease talking of it. Your kindness, sir, and
Speaker 1: the way in which you brought light into the darkness.
Speaker 1: I remember his words when I was in doubt and
Speaker 1: darkness myself. I know you could would if you only would.
Speaker 1: Holmes was accessible upon the side of flattery, and also
Speaker 1: to do him justice upon the side of kindliness. The
Speaker 1: two forces made him lay down his gum brush with
Speaker 1: a sigh of resignation and push back his chair. Well, well,
Speaker 1: missus Warren, let us hear about it. Then you don't
Speaker 1: object to tobacco. I take it. Thank you, Watson the matches.
Speaker 1: You are uneasy, as I understand, because your new lodger
Speaker 1: remains in his room and you cannot see him. Why
Speaker 1: bless you, missus Warren. If I were your lodger, you
Speaker 1: often would not see me for weeks on end, no doubt, sir.
Speaker 1: But this is different. It frightens me, mister Holmes. I
Speaker 1: can't sleep for fright to hear his quick step moving
Speaker 1: here and moving there from early morning to late at night,
Speaker 1: and yet never to catch so much as a glimpse
Speaker 1: of him. It's more than I can stand. My husband
Speaker 1: is as nervous over it as I am, but he
Speaker 1: is out at his work all day while I get
Speaker 1: no rest from it. What is he hiding for? What
Speaker 1: has he done except for the girl? I'm all alone
Speaker 1: in the house with him, and it's more than my
Speaker 1: nerves can stand. Holmes leaned forward and laid his long,
Speaker 1: thin fingers upon the woman's shoulder. He had an almost
Speaker 1: hypnotic power of soothing when he wished, The scared look
Speaker 1: faded from her eyes, and her agitated features smoothed into
Speaker 1: their usual commonplace. She sat down in the chair, which
Speaker 1: he had indicated. If I take it up, I must
Speaker 1: understand every detail, said he. Take time to consider. The
Speaker 1: smallest point may be the most essential. You say that
Speaker 1: the man came ten days ago and paid you for
Speaker 1: a fortnight's board and lodging. He asked my term, sir,
Speaker 1: I said, fifty shillings a week. There is a small
Speaker 1: sitting room and bedroom, and all complete at the top
Speaker 1: of the house. Well, he said, I'll pay you five
Speaker 1: pounds a week if I can have it on my
Speaker 1: own terms. I'm a poor woman, sir, and mister Warren
Speaker 1: earns little, and the money meant much to me. He
Speaker 1: took out a ten pound note and he held it
Speaker 1: out to me. Then and there. You can have the
Speaker 1: same every fortnight for a long time to come, if
Speaker 1: you keep the terms, he said. If not, I'll have
Speaker 1: no more to do with you. What were the terms, well, sir,
Speaker 1: they were that he was to have a key of
Speaker 1: the house. That was all right, lodgers often have them. Also,
Speaker 1: that he was to be left entirely to himself, and
Speaker 1: never upon any excuse to be disturbed. Nothing wonderful in that,
Speaker 1: surely not in reason, sir. But this is out of
Speaker 1: all reason. He has been there for ten days, and
Speaker 1: neither mister Warren, nor I nor the girl has once
Speaker 1: set eyes upon him. We can hear that quick step
Speaker 1: of his pacing up and down, up and down night,
Speaker 1: morning and noon. But except on that first night, he
Speaker 1: has never won gone out of the house. Oh he
Speaker 1: went out the first night, did he, yes, sir, and
Speaker 1: return very late after we were all in bed. He
Speaker 1: told me after he had taken the rooms that he
Speaker 1: would do so, and asked me not to bar the door.
Speaker 1: And I heard him come up the stair after midnight.
Speaker 1: But his meals. It was his particular direction that we
Speaker 1: should always when he rang, leave his meal upon a
Speaker 1: chair outside his door. Then he rings again when he
Speaker 1: has finished, and we take it down from the same chair.
Speaker 1: If he wants anything else, he prints it on a
Speaker 1: slip of paper and leaves it. Prince it, yes, sir,
Speaker 1: prince it in pencil, just the word nothing more. Here's
Speaker 1: one I brought to show you, soap. Here's another match.
Speaker 1: This is when he left the first morning daily gazette.
Speaker 1: I leave that paper with his breakfast every morning, dear me, Watson,
Speaker 1: said Holmes, staring with great curiosity at the slips of
Speaker 1: foolscap which the lady had handed to him. This is
Speaker 1: certainly a little unusual seclusion I can understand. But why
Speaker 1: print printing is a clumsy process? Why not write? What
Speaker 1: would it suggest, Watson, that he desired to conceal his handwriting?
Speaker 1: But why what can it matter to him that his
Speaker 1: landlady should have a word of his writing? Still, it
Speaker 1: may be as you say, then again, why such laconic messages?
Speaker 1: I cannot imagine. It opens a pleasing field for intelligent speculation.
Speaker 1: The words are written with a broad pointed, violet tinted
Speaker 1: pencil of a not unusual pattern. You will observe that
Speaker 1: the paper is torn away at the side here after
Speaker 1: the printing was done, so that the s of soap
Speaker 1: is partly gone. Suggestive, Watson, Is it not of caution? Exactly?
Speaker 1: There was evidently some mark, some thumb print, something which
Speaker 1: might give a clue to the person's identity. Now, missus Warren,
Speaker 1: you say that the man was of middle size, dark
Speaker 1: and bearded. What age would he be? Youngish, sir? Not
Speaker 1: over thirty? Well? Can you give me no further indications?
Speaker 1: He spoke good English, sir, And yet I thought he
Speaker 1: was a foreigner by his accent, and he was well dressed,
Speaker 1: very smartly dressed, sir. Quite the gentleman, dark clothes. Nothing
Speaker 1: you would note. He gave no name, no sir, and
Speaker 1: has had no letters or callers. None. But surely you
Speaker 1: or the girl enter his room of a morning, No, sir,
Speaker 1: He looks after himself entirely. Dear me, that is certainly remarkable.
Speaker 1: What about his luggage? He had one big brown bag
Speaker 1: with him, nothing else. Well, we don't seem to have
Speaker 1: much material to help us, do you say? Nothing has
Speaker 1: come out of that room? Absolutely nothing. The landlady drew
Speaker 1: an envelope from her bag. From it, she shook out
Speaker 1: two burnt matches and a cigarette end upon the table.
Speaker 1: They were on his tray this morning. I brought them
Speaker 1: because I had heard that you can read great things
Speaker 1: out of small ones. Holmes shrugged his shoulders. There is
Speaker 1: nothing here, said he. The matches have of course been
Speaker 1: used to light cigarettes. That is obvious from the shortness
Speaker 1: of the burnt end. Half the match is consumed in
Speaker 1: lighting a pipe or a cigar. But dear me, this
Speaker 1: cigarette stub is certainly remarkable. The gentleman was bearded and mustached.
Speaker 1: You say yes, sir, I don't understand that I should
Speaker 1: say that only a clean shaven man could have smoked this. Why, Watson,
Speaker 1: even your modest mustache would have been singed a holder,
Speaker 1: I suggested, No, No, the end is matted. I suppose
Speaker 1: there could not be two people in your rooms, missus Warren. No, sir,
Speaker 1: he eats so little that I often wonder it can
Speaker 1: keep life in one well. I think we must wait
Speaker 1: for a little more material. After all, you have nothing
Speaker 1: to complain of. You have received your rent, and he
Speaker 1: is not a troublesome lodger, though he is certainly an
Speaker 1: unusual one. He pays you well, and if he chooses
Speaker 1: to lie concealed, it is no direct business of yours.
Speaker 1: We have no excuse for an intrusion upon his privacy
Speaker 1: until we have some reason to think that there is
Speaker 1: a guilty reason for it. I've taken up the matter,
Speaker 1: and I won't lose sight of it. Report to me
Speaker 1: if anything fresh occurs, and rely upon my assistance if
Speaker 1: it should be needed. There are certainly some points of
Speaker 1: interest in this case, Watson, he remarked, when the landlady
Speaker 1: had left us. It may of course be trivial individual eccentricity,
Speaker 1: or it may be very much deeper than appears on
Speaker 1: the surface. The first thing that strikes one is the
Speaker 1: obvious possibility that the person now in the rooms may
Speaker 1: be entirely different from the one who engaged them. Why
Speaker 1: should you think so? Well, apart from this cigarette end,
Speaker 1: was it not suggestive that the only time the lodger
Speaker 1: went out was immediately after taking the rooms? He came back,
Speaker 1: or someone came back when all witnesses were out of
Speaker 1: the way. We have no proof that the person who
Speaker 1: came back was the person who went out. Then again,
Speaker 1: the man who took the rooms spoke English. Well. This other, however,
Speaker 1: prints match when it should have been matches. I can
Speaker 1: imagine that the word was taken out of a dictionary,
Speaker 1: which would give the noun but not the plural. The
Speaker 1: laconic style may be to conceal the absence of knowledge English. Yes, Watson,
Speaker 1: there are good reasons to suspect that there has been
Speaker 1: a substitution of lodgers. But for what possible end Ah,
Speaker 1: And there lies the problem. There is one rather obvious
Speaker 1: line of investigation. He took down the Great Book, in
Speaker 1: which day by day he filed the agony columns of
Speaker 1: the various London journals. Dear me, said he turning over
Speaker 1: the pages. What a chorus of groans, cries and bleatings.
Speaker 1: What a rag bag of singular happenings. But surely the
Speaker 1: most valuable hunting ground that ever was given to a
Speaker 1: student of the unusual. This person is alone and cannot
Speaker 1: be approached by letter without a breach of that absolute
Speaker 1: secrecy which is desired. How is any news or any
Speaker 1: message to reach him from without obviously by advertisement through
Speaker 1: a newspaper. There seems no other way, and fortunately we
Speaker 1: need concern ourselves with one paper only. Here are the
Speaker 1: Daily Gazette extracts of the last fortnight lady with a
Speaker 1: black boa at Prince's Skating Club, that we may pass.
Speaker 1: Surely Jimmy will not break his mother's heart. That appears
Speaker 1: to be irrelevant. If the lady who fainted in the
Speaker 1: Brixton bus, she does not interest me. Every day my
Speaker 1: heart longs bleat Watson, unmitigated bleat Ah. This is a
Speaker 1: little more possible. Listen to this, be patient, will find
Speaker 1: some sure means of communication. Meanwhile, this column gee, that
Speaker 1: is two days after missus Warren's lodger arrived. It sounds plausible,
Speaker 1: does it not. The mysterious one could understand English even
Speaker 1: if he could not print it. Let us see if
Speaker 1: we can pick up the trace again. Yes, here we
Speaker 1: are three days later, making successful arrangements and prudence. The
Speaker 1: clouds will pass. G nothing for a week after that.
Speaker 1: Then comes something much more definite. The path is clearing.
Speaker 1: If I find chance signal message remember code agreed one, A,
Speaker 1: two B and so on. You will hear soon. G.
Speaker 1: That was in yesterday's paper, and there is nothing in
Speaker 1: to day's. It's all very appropriate to missus Warren's lodger.
Speaker 1: If we wait a little, Watson, I don't doubt that
Speaker 1: the affair will grow more intelligible. So it proved for
Speaker 1: in the morning I found my friend standing on the
Speaker 1: hearth rug, with his back to the fire and a
Speaker 1: smile of complete satisfaction upon his face. How's this, Watson,
Speaker 1: he cried, picking up the paper from the table. High
Speaker 1: red house with white stone facings, third floor, second window
Speaker 1: left after dusk. G. That is definite enough. I think
Speaker 1: after breakfast we must make a little reconnaissance of missus
Speaker 1: Warren's neighborhood. Aha, Missus Warren, what news do you bring
Speaker 1: us This morning, our client had suddenly burst into the
Speaker 1: room with an explosive energy which told of some new
Speaker 1: and momentous development. It's a police matter, mister Holmes, she cried.
Speaker 1: I'll have no more of it. He shall pack out
Speaker 1: of that with his baggage. I would have gone straight
Speaker 1: up and told him so, only I thought it was
Speaker 1: but fair to you to take your opinion first, that
Speaker 1: I'm at the end of my patients. And when it
Speaker 1: comes to knocking my old man, about knocking mister Warren
Speaker 1: about using him roughly anyway? But who used him roughly? Ah,
Speaker 1: that's what I want to know. It was this morning, sir.
Speaker 1: Mister Warren is a timekeeper at Morton and Way Light's
Speaker 1: in Tottenham Court Road. He has to be out of
Speaker 1: the house before seven. Well, this morning he had not
Speaker 1: gone ten paces down the road when two men came
Speaker 1: up behind him, threw a coat over his head, and
Speaker 1: bundled him into a cab that was beside the curb.
Speaker 1: They drove him an hour and then opened the door
Speaker 1: and shot him out. He lay in the roadway so
Speaker 1: shaken in his wits that he never saw what became
Speaker 1: of the cab. When he picked himself up. He found
Speaker 1: he was on Hampstead Heath. So he took a bus home,
Speaker 1: and there relies now on the sofa, while I came
Speaker 1: straight round to tell you what had happened. Most interesting,
Speaker 1: said Holmes. Did he observe the appearance of these men?
Speaker 1: Did he hear them talk? No? He is clean, dazed.
Speaker 1: He just knows that he was lifted up as if
Speaker 1: by magic and dropped as if by magic. Two at
Speaker 1: least were in it, and maybe three. And you'll connect
Speaker 1: this attack with your lodger. Well, we've lived there fifteen years,
Speaker 1: and no such happenings ever came before. I've had enough
Speaker 1: of him. Money's not everything. I'll have him out of
Speaker 1: my house before the day is done. Wait a bit,
Speaker 1: missus Warren, do nothing, rash. I begin to think that
Speaker 1: this affair may be very much more important than appeared
Speaker 1: at first sight. It is clear now that some danger
Speaker 1: is threatening your lodger. It is equally clear that his enemies,
Speaker 1: lying in wait for him near your door, mistook your
Speaker 1: husband for him. In the foggy morning light. On discovering
Speaker 1: their mistake, they released him. What they would have done
Speaker 1: had it not been a mistake, we can only conjecture, Well,
Speaker 1: what am I to do, mister Holmes. I have a
Speaker 1: great fancy to see this lodger of yours, Missus Warren.
Speaker 1: I don't see how that is to be managed unless
Speaker 1: you break in the door. I always hear him unlock
Speaker 1: it as I go down the stair after I leave
Speaker 1: the tray. He has to take the tray in. Surely
Speaker 1: we could conceal ourselves and see him do it. The
Speaker 1: landlady thought for a moment, Well, sir, there's the box
Speaker 1: room opposite. I could arrange a looking glass maybe, and
Speaker 1: if you were behind the door, excellent, said Holmes. When
Speaker 1: does he lunch about one? Sir? Then Doctor Watson and
Speaker 1: I will come round in time for the present, Missus Warren, goodbye.
Speaker 1: At half past twelve we found ourselves upon the steps
Speaker 1: of Missus Warren's house, a high, thin yellow brick edifice
Speaker 1: in Great Orm Street, a narrow thoroughfare at the northeast
Speaker 1: side of the British Museum. Standing as it does near
Speaker 1: the corner of the street, it commands a view down
Speaker 1: House Street with its more pretentious houses homes pointed with
Speaker 1: a chuckle to one of these, a row of residential
Speaker 1: flats which projected so that they could not fail to
Speaker 1: catch the eye. See, Watson said, he high red house
Speaker 1: with stone facings. There is the signal station. All right.
Speaker 1: We know the place and we know the code, so
Speaker 1: surely our tasks should be simple. There's a tulette card
Speaker 1: in that window. It is evidently an empty flat to
Speaker 1: which the Confederate has access. Well, Missus Warren, what now,
Speaker 1: I have it already for you. If you were both,
Speaker 1: come up and leave your boots below on the landing,
Speaker 1: I'll put you there now. It was an excellent hiding
Speaker 1: place which she had arranged. The mirror was so placed that,
Speaker 1: seated in the dark, we could very plainly see the
Speaker 1: door opposite. We had hardly settled down in it, and
Speaker 1: Missus Warren left us when a distant tinkle announced that
Speaker 1: our mysterious neighbor had rung. Presently, the landlady appeared with
Speaker 1: the tray, laid it down upon a chair beside the
Speaker 1: closed door, and then, treading heavily departed. Crouching together in
Speaker 1: the angle of the door, we kept our eyes fixed
Speaker 1: upon the mirror. Suddenly, as the landlady's footsteps died away,
Speaker 1: there was the creak of a turning key. The handle revolved,
Speaker 1: and two thin hands darted out and lifted the tray
Speaker 1: from the chair. An instant later it was hurriedly replaced,
Speaker 1: and I caught a glimpse of a dark, beautiful, horrified
Speaker 1: face glaring at the narrow opening of the box room.
Speaker 1: Then the door crashed to the key turned once more,
Speaker 1: and all was silence. Holmes twitched my sleeve, and together
Speaker 1: we stole down the stair. I will call again in
Speaker 1: the evening, said he to the expectant landlady. I think Watson,
Speaker 1: we can discuss this business better in our own quarters.
Speaker 1: My surmise, as you saw, proved to be correct, said he,
Speaker 1: speaking from the depths of his easy chair. There has
Speaker 1: been a substitution of lodgers. What I did not foresee
Speaker 1: is that we should find a woman, and no ordinary woman. Watson,
Speaker 1: she saw us well, she saw something to alarm her.
Speaker 1: That is certain. The general sequence of events is pretty clear,
Speaker 1: is it not. A couple seek refuge in London from
Speaker 1: a very terrible and instant danger. The measure of that
Speaker 1: danger is the rigor of their precautions. The man, who
Speaker 1: has some work which he must do, desires to leave
Speaker 1: the woman in absolute safety. While he does it. It
Speaker 1: is not an easy problem, but he solved it in
Speaker 1: an original fashion and so effectively that her presence was
Speaker 1: not even known to the landlady, who supplies her with food.
Speaker 1: The printed messages, as is now evident, were to prevent
Speaker 1: her sex being discovered by her writing. The man cannot
Speaker 1: come near the woman, or he will guide their enemies
Speaker 1: to her. Since he cannot communicate with her direct, he
Speaker 1: has recourse to the agony column of a paper. So
Speaker 1: far all is clear. But what is at the root
Speaker 1: of it? Ah? Yes, Watson, severely practical as usual? What
Speaker 1: is at the root of it all? Missus Warren's whimsical
Speaker 1: problem enlarges somewhat and assumes a more sinister aspect. As
Speaker 1: we proceed this much, we can say that it is
Speaker 1: no ordinary love escapade. You saw the woman's face at
Speaker 1: the sign of danger. We have heard too of the
Speaker 1: attack upon the landlord, which was undoubtedly meant for the lodger.
Speaker 1: These alarms and the desperate need for secrecy argued that
Speaker 1: the matter is one of life or death. The attack
Speaker 1: upon mister Warren further shows that the enemy, whoever they are,
Speaker 1: are themselves not aware of the substitution of the female
Speaker 1: lodger for the male. It is very curious and complex, Watson.
Speaker 1: Why should you go further in it? What have you
Speaker 1: to gain from it? What? Indeed? It is art for
Speaker 1: art's sake, Watson. I suppose when you doctored, you found
Speaker 1: yourself studying cases without thought of a fee for my
Speaker 1: education homes. Education never ends, Watson. It is a series
Speaker 1: of lessons, with the greatest for the last. This is
Speaker 1: an instructive case. There is neither money nor credit in it,
Speaker 1: and yet one would wish to tidy it up. When
Speaker 1: dusk comes, we should find ourselves one stage advanced in
Speaker 1: our investigation. When we returned to missus Warren's rooms, the
Speaker 1: gloom of a London winter evening had thickened into one
Speaker 1: gray curtain, a dead monotone of color, broken only by
Speaker 1: the sharp yellow squares of the windows and the blurred
Speaker 1: halos of the gas lamps. As we peered from the
Speaker 1: darkened sitting room of the lodging house, one more dim
Speaker 1: light glimmered high up through the obscurity. Some one is
Speaker 1: moving in that room, said Holmes in a whisper, his
Speaker 1: gaunt and eager face thrust forward to the window pane. Yes,
Speaker 1: I can see his shadow. There he is again. He
Speaker 1: has a candle in his hand. Now he is peering across.
Speaker 1: He wants to be sure that she is on the lookout.
Speaker 1: Now he begins to flash. Take the message also, Watson,
Speaker 1: that we may check each other a single flash. That
Speaker 1: is A surely? Now then how many did you make it? Twenty?
Speaker 1: So did I? That should mean T A T that's
Speaker 1: intelligible enough. Another T. Surely this is the beginning of
Speaker 1: a second word. Now then T E n T A
Speaker 1: dead stop. That can't be all Watson. A T T
Speaker 1: E N T A gives no sense, nor is it
Speaker 1: any better as three words at ten ta, unless T
Speaker 1: A are a person's initials. There he goes again, what's
Speaker 1: that A T T E? Why it is the same
Speaker 1: message over again? Curious Watson, very curious. Now he is
Speaker 1: off once more, A T. Why he is repeating it
Speaker 1: for the third time? A T T E N T
Speaker 1: A three times? How often will he repeat it? No,
Speaker 1: that seems to be the finish he has withdrawn from
Speaker 1: the window. What do you make of it, Watson? A
Speaker 1: cipher message, Holmes, my companion gave a sudden chuckle of comprehension,
Speaker 1: and not a very obscure cipher. Watson said, he, why,
Speaker 1: of course it is Italian. The A means that it
Speaker 1: is addressed to a woman. Beware, beware, beware. How's that? Watson?
Speaker 1: I believe you have hit it, not a doubt of it.
Speaker 1: It is a very urgent message, thrice repeated to make
Speaker 1: it more so. But beware of what Wait a bit
Speaker 1: he is coming to the window once more. Again we
Speaker 1: saw the dim silhouette of a crouching man and the
Speaker 1: whisk of the small flame across the window. As the
Speaker 1: signals were renewed, they came more rapidly than before, so
Speaker 1: rapid though it was hard to follow them. P E
Speaker 1: r I c O l O perricolo. Eh, what's there, Watson? Danger,
Speaker 1: isn't it? Yes? By jove, it's a danger signal. There
Speaker 1: he goes again, p E r I. Hello, What on earth?
Speaker 1: The light had suddenly gone out, The glimmering square of
Speaker 1: window had disappeared, and the third floor formed a dark
Speaker 1: band round the lofty building with its tears of shining casements.
Speaker 1: That last warning cry had been suddenly cut short. How
Speaker 1: and by whom? The same thought occurred on the instant
Speaker 1: to us. Both Holmes sprang up from where he crouched
Speaker 1: by the window. This is serious, Watson, he cried, There
Speaker 1: is some devilry going forward. Why should such a message
Speaker 1: stop in such a way. I should put Scotland Yard
Speaker 1: in touch with this business. And yet it is too
Speaker 1: pressing for us to leave. Shall I go for the police?
Speaker 1: We must define the situation a little more clearly. It
Speaker 1: may bear some more innocent interpretation. Come, Watson, let us
Speaker 1: go across ourselves and see what we can make of it.
Speaker 1: As we walked rapidly down House Street, I glanced back
Speaker 1: at the building which we had left. There, dimly outlined
Speaker 1: at the top window, I could see the shadow of
Speaker 1: a head, a woman's head, gazing tensely, rigidly out into
Speaker 1: the night, waiting with breathless suspense for the renewal of
Speaker 1: that interrupt me. At the doorway of the House Street flats,
Speaker 1: a man, muffled in a cravat and greatcoat, was leaning
Speaker 1: against the railing. He started as the hall light fell
Speaker 1: upon our faces. Holmes, he cried, why, Gregson, said, my companion,
Speaker 1: As he shook hands with the Scotland Yard detective. Journey's
Speaker 1: end with lovers meetings. What brings you here? The same
Speaker 1: reasons that bring you I expect, said Gregson. How you
Speaker 1: got on to it? I can't imagine different threads, but
Speaker 1: leading up to the same tangle. I've been taking the
Speaker 1: signals signals yes, from that window. They broke off in
Speaker 1: the middle. We came over to see the reason. What
Speaker 1: since it is safe in your hands, I see no
Speaker 1: object in continuing the business. Wait a bit, cried Gregson, eagerly.
Speaker 1: I'll do you this justice, mister Holmes, that I was
Speaker 1: never in a case yet that I didn't feel stronger
Speaker 1: for having you on my side. There's only the one
Speaker 1: exit to these flats, so we have him safe. Who
Speaker 1: is he? Well, well, we score over you for once,
Speaker 1: mister Holmes. You must give us best this time. He
Speaker 1: struck his stick sharply upon the ground, on which a cabman,
Speaker 1: his whip in his hand, sauntered over from a four
Speaker 1: wheeler which stood on the far side of the street.
Speaker 1: May I introduce you to mister Sherlock Holmes, he said
Speaker 1: to the cabman. This is mister Leverton of Pinkerton's American Agency,
Speaker 1: the hero of the Long Island Cove Mystery. Said Holmes, Sir,
Speaker 1: I am pleased to meet you. The American, a quiet,
Speaker 1: business like young man with a clean shaven hatchet face
Speaker 1: flushed up at the words of commendation. I am on
Speaker 1: the trail of my life now, mister Holmes said he
Speaker 1: if I can get Gorgiano, what Grgiano of the Red Circle?
Speaker 1: Oh he has a European fame, has he? Well, we've
Speaker 1: learned all about him in America. We know he is
Speaker 1: at the bottom of fifty murders, and yet we have
Speaker 1: nothing positive we can take him on. I tracked him
Speaker 1: over from New York and I've been close to him
Speaker 1: for a week in London, waiting some excuse to get
Speaker 1: my hand on his collar. Mister Gregson, and I ran
Speaker 1: him to ground in that big tenement house, and there's
Speaker 1: only the one door, so he can't slip us. There's
Speaker 1: three folk come out since he went in, but I
Speaker 1: swear he wasn't one of them. Mister Holmes talks of signals,
Speaker 1: said Gregson. I expect, as usually knows a good deal
Speaker 1: that we don't. In a few clear words, Holmes explained
Speaker 1: the situation as it had appeared to us the Americans.
Speaker 1: Struck his hands together with vexation. He's under us, he cried,
Speaker 1: Why do you think so well? It figures out that way,
Speaker 1: does it not? Here he is sending out messages to
Speaker 1: an accomplice. There are several of his gang in London.
Speaker 1: Then suddenly, just as by your own account he would
Speaker 1: telling them that there was danger, he broke short off.
Speaker 1: What could it mean except that from the window he
Speaker 1: had suddenly either caught sight of us in the street,
Speaker 1: or in some way come to understand how close the
Speaker 1: danger was, and that he must act right away if
Speaker 1: he was to avoid it. What do you suggest, mister Holmes,
Speaker 1: that we go up at once and see for ourselves.
Speaker 1: But we have no warrant for his arrest. He is
Speaker 1: in unoccupied premises under suspicious circumstances, said Gregson. That is
Speaker 1: good enough for the moment. When we have him by
Speaker 1: the heels, we can see if New York can't help
Speaker 1: us to keep him. I'll take the responsibility of arresting
Speaker 1: him now. Our official detectives may blunder in the matter
Speaker 1: of intelligence, but never in that of courage. Gregson climbed
Speaker 1: the stair to arrest this desperate murderer with the same
Speaker 1: absolutely quiet and business like bearing with which he would
Speaker 1: have ascended the official staircase of Scotland Yard. The Pinkerton
Speaker 1: man had tried to push past him, but Gregson had
Speaker 1: firmly elbowed him back. London dangers were the privilege of
Speaker 1: the London force. The door of the left hand flat
Speaker 1: upon the third landing was standing ajar. Gregson pushed it open.
Speaker 1: Within all was absolute silence and darkness. I struck a
Speaker 1: match and lit the detective's lantern. As I did so,
Speaker 1: and as the flicker steadied into a flame, we all
Speaker 1: gave a gasp of surprise. On the deal boards of
Speaker 1: the carpetless floor there was outlined a fresh track of blood.
Speaker 1: The red steps pointed towards us and led away from
Speaker 1: an inner room, the door of which was closed. Gregson
Speaker 1: flung it open and held his light full blaze in
Speaker 1: front of him, whilst we all peered eagerly over his shoulders.
Speaker 1: In the middle of the floor of the empty room
Speaker 1: was huddled the figure of an enormous man, his clean shaven,
Speaker 1: swarthy face grotesquely horrible in its contortion, and his head
Speaker 1: encircled by a ghastly crimson halo of blood, lying in
Speaker 1: a broad wet circle upon the white woodwork. His knees
Speaker 1: were drawn up, his hands thrown out in agony, and
Speaker 1: from the center of his broad, brown, upturned throat, there
Speaker 1: projected the white haft of a knife, driven blade deep
Speaker 1: into his body. Giant as he was, the man must
Speaker 1: have gone down like a polaxed ox before that terrific blow.
Speaker 1: Beside his right hand, a most formidable horn handled two
Speaker 1: edged dagger lay upon the floor, and near it a
Speaker 1: black kid glove. By George, it's black, Gorgiano himself, cried
Speaker 1: the American detective. Some one has got ahead of us
Speaker 1: this time. Here is the candle in the window, mister Holmes,
Speaker 1: said Gregson, Why whatever are you doing. Holmes had stepped across,
Speaker 1: had lit the candle, and was passing it backwards and
Speaker 1: forwards across the window panes. Then he peered into the darkness,
Speaker 1: blew the candle out and threw it on the floor.
Speaker 1: I rather think that will be helpful, said he. He
Speaker 1: came over and stood in deep thought while the two
Speaker 1: professionals were examining the body. You say that three people
Speaker 1: came out from the flat while you were waiting downstairs,
Speaker 1: said he. At last, did you observe them closely, Yes
Speaker 1: I did. Was there a fellow about thirty, black bearded, dark,
Speaker 1: of middle size. Yes, he was the last to pass me.
Speaker 1: That is your man. I fancy. I can give you
Speaker 1: his description, and we have a very excellent outline of
Speaker 1: his footmark. That should be enough for you. Not much,
Speaker 1: mister Holmes, among the millions of London, perhaps not. That
Speaker 1: is why I thought it best to summon this lady
Speaker 1: to your aid. We all turned round at the words.
Speaker 1: There framed in the doorway was a tall and beautiful woman,
Speaker 1: the mysterious lodger of Bloomsbury. Slowly she advanced, her face
Speaker 1: pale and drawn with a frightful apprehension, her eyes fixed
Speaker 1: and staring her terrified gaze riveted upon the dark figure
Speaker 1: on the floor. You have killed him, she muttered, ord Omi, oh,
Speaker 1: you have killed him. Then I heard a sudden, sharp
Speaker 1: intake of her breath, and she sprang into the air
Speaker 1: with a cry of joy, round and round the room.
Speaker 1: She danced, her hands clapping, her dark eyes gleaming with
Speaker 1: delighted wonder, and a thousand pretty Italian exclamations pouring from
Speaker 1: her lips. It was terrible and amazing to see such
Speaker 1: a woman so convulsed with joy at such a sight.
Speaker 1: Suddenly she stopped and gazed at us all with a
Speaker 1: questioning stare. But you you are the police, are you not?
Speaker 1: You have killed Giuseppe Gorgiano. Is it not so? We
Speaker 1: are police, madam? She looked round into the shadows of
Speaker 1: the room. But where then, is Gennaro, she asked. He
Speaker 1: is my husband, Gennaro Luca. I am Emilia Lucca, and
Speaker 1: we are both from New York. Where is Gennaro? He
Speaker 1: called me this moment from this window, and I ran
Speaker 1: with all my speed. It was I who called, said, Holmes, you,
Speaker 1: how could you call your cipher? Is not difficult, madam.
Speaker 1: Your presence here was desirable. I knew that I had
Speaker 1: only to flash Vieni and you would surely come. The
Speaker 1: beautiful Italian looked with awe at my companion. I do
Speaker 1: not understand how you know these things, she said, Giuseppe
Speaker 1: peg Grgiano. How did he? She paused, and then suddenly
Speaker 1: her face lit up with pride and delight. Now I
Speaker 1: see it, my Gennaro, my splendid, beautiful Gennaro, who has
Speaker 1: guarded me safe from all harm. He did it with
Speaker 1: his own strong hand. He killed a monster. Oh, Gennaro,
Speaker 1: how wonderful you are. What woman could ever be worthy
Speaker 1: of such a man? Well, missus, Luca, said the prosaic Gregson,
Speaker 1: laying his hand upon the lady's sleeve with as little
Speaker 1: sentiment as if she were a notting Hill hooligan. I
Speaker 1: am not very clear yet who you are or what
Speaker 1: you are, but you've said enough to make it very
Speaker 1: clear that we shall want you at the yard one moment, Gregson,
Speaker 1: said Holmes. I rather fancy that this lady may be
Speaker 1: as anxious to give us information as we can be
Speaker 1: to get it. You understand, madam, that your husband will
Speaker 1: be arrested and tried for the death of the man
Speaker 1: who lies before us. What you say may be used
Speaker 1: in evidence. But if you think that he has acted
Speaker 1: for motives which are not criminal, and which he would
Speaker 1: wish to have known, then you cannot serve him better
Speaker 1: than by telling us the whole story. Now that Gurdjano
Speaker 1: is dead, we fear nothing, said the lady. He was
Speaker 1: a devil and a monster, and there can be no
Speaker 1: judge in the world who would punish my husband for
Speaker 1: having killed him. In that case, said Holmes, my suggestion
Speaker 1: is that we lock this door, leave things as we
Speaker 1: found them, go with this lady to her room, and
Speaker 1: form our opinion after we have heard what it is
Speaker 1: that she has to say to us. Half an hour
Speaker 1: later we were seated, all four in the small sitting
Speaker 1: room of Senora Lucca, listening to her remarkable narrative of
Speaker 1: those sinister events, the ending of which we had chanced
Speaker 1: to witness. She spoke in rapid and fluent, but very
Speaker 1: unconventional English, which for the sake of clearness I will
Speaker 1: make grammatical. I was born in Posilipo, near Naples, said she,
Speaker 1: and was the daughter of Augusto Barelli, who was the
Speaker 1: chief lawyer and once the deputy of that port. Gennaro
Speaker 1: was in my father's employment, and I came to love
Speaker 1: him as any woman must. He had neither money nor position,
Speaker 1: nothing but his beauty and strength and energy, so my
Speaker 1: father forbade the match. We fled together, were married at Bari,
Speaker 1: and sold my jewels to gain the money which would
Speaker 1: take us to America. This was four years ago, and
Speaker 1: we have been in New York ever since. Fortune was
Speaker 1: very good to us. At first Gennaro was able to
Speaker 1: do a service to an Italian gentlemen. He saved him
Speaker 1: from some Ruffians in the place called the Bowery, and
Speaker 1: so made a powerful friend. His name was Tito Castellotti,
Speaker 1: and he was the senior partner of the great firm
Speaker 1: of Castellotti and Zamba, who are the chief fruit importers
Speaker 1: of New York. Signor Zamba is an invalid, and our
Speaker 1: new friend Castellotti has all power within the firm, which
Speaker 1: employs more than three hundred men. He took my husband
Speaker 1: into his employment, made him head of a department, and
Speaker 1: showed his good will towards him in every way. Signor
Speaker 1: Castellotti was a bachelor, and I believe that he felt
Speaker 1: as if Gennaro was his son, and both my husband
Speaker 1: and I loved him as if he were our father.
Speaker 1: We had taken and furnished a little house in Brooklyn,
Speaker 1: and our old future seemed assured when that black cloud appeared,
Speaker 1: which was soon to overspread our sky. One night, when
Speaker 1: Gennaro returned from his work, he brought a fellow countryman
Speaker 1: back with him. His name was Gorgiano, and he had
Speaker 1: come also from Posilipo. He was a huge man, as
Speaker 1: you can testify, for you have looked upon his corpse.
Speaker 1: Not only was his body that of a giant, but
Speaker 1: everything about him was grotesque, gigantic, and terrifying. His voice
Speaker 1: was like thunder. In our little house. There was scarce
Speaker 1: room for the whirl of his great arms. As he talked,
Speaker 1: His thoughts, his emotions, his passions, all were exaggerated and monstrous.
Speaker 1: He talked, or rather roared, with such energy that others
Speaker 1: could but sit and listen cloud with a mighty stream
Speaker 1: of words. His eyes blazed at you and held you
Speaker 1: at his mercy. He was a terror and wonderful man.
Speaker 1: I thank God that he is dead. He came again
Speaker 1: and again, Yet I was aware that Gennaro was no
Speaker 1: more happy than I was. In his presence, my poor
Speaker 1: husband would sit pale and leastless, listening to the endless
Speaker 1: ravings upon politics and upon social questions which made up
Speaker 1: our visitors conversation. Gennaro said nothing, but I, who knew
Speaker 1: him so well, could read in his face some emotion
Speaker 1: which I had never seen there before. At first I
Speaker 1: thought that it was dislike, and then gradually I understood
Speaker 1: that it was more than dislike. It was fear, deep, secret,
Speaker 1: shrinking fear. That night, the night that I read his terror.
Speaker 1: I put my arms around him, and I implored him,
Speaker 1: by his love for me and by all that he
Speaker 1: held dear, to hold nothing from me, and to tell
Speaker 1: me why this huge man overshadowed him. So he told me,
Speaker 1: and my own heart grew cold as eyes as I listened.
Speaker 1: My poor Gennaro, in his wild and fiery days, when
Speaker 1: all the world seemed against him and his mind was
Speaker 1: driven half mad by the injustices of life, adjoined the
Speaker 1: Neapolitan society, the Red Circle, which was allied to the
Speaker 1: old Carbonari. The oaths and secrets of this brotherhood were frightful,
Speaker 1: but once within its rule, no escape was possible. When
Speaker 1: we had fled to America, Gennaro thought that he had
Speaker 1: cast it all off forever. What was his horror one
Speaker 1: evening to meet in the streets the very man who
Speaker 1: had initiated him in Naples, the giant Gorgiano, a man
Speaker 1: who had earned the name of death in the south
Speaker 1: of Italy, for he was read to the elbow in murder.
Speaker 1: He had come to New York to avoid the Italian police,
Speaker 1: and he had already planted a branch of this dreadful
Speaker 1: society in his new home. All this, Gennaro told me
Speaker 1: and showed me a summons which he had received that
Speaker 1: very day, a red circle drawn upon the head of it,
Speaker 1: telling him that a lodge would be held upon a
Speaker 1: certain date, and that his presence at it was required
Speaker 1: and ordered. That was bad enough, but worse was to come.
Speaker 1: I had noticed for some time that when Georgiano came
Speaker 1: to us, as he constantly did in the evening, he
Speaker 1: spoke much to me, and even when his words were
Speaker 1: to my husband, those terrible, glaring, wild beast eyes of
Speaker 1: his were always turned upon me. One night, his secret
Speaker 1: came out. I had awakened what he called love within him,
Speaker 1: the love of a brute, a savage. Czaro had not
Speaker 1: yet returned. When he came, he pushed his way in,
Speaker 1: seized me in his mighty arms, ugly in his bears embrace,
Speaker 1: covered me with kisses, and implored me to come away
Speaker 1: with him. I was struggling and screaming when Gennaro entered
Speaker 1: and attacked him. He struck Gennaro senseless and fled from
Speaker 1: the house, which he was never more to enter. It
Speaker 1: was a deadly enemy that we made that night. A
Speaker 1: few days later came the meeting Gennaro returned from it
Speaker 1: with a face which told me that something dreadful had occurred.
Speaker 1: It was worse than we could have imagined possible. The
Speaker 1: funds of the society were raised by blackmailing rich Italians
Speaker 1: and threatening them with violence should they refuse the money.
Speaker 1: It seems that Castellotti, our dear friend and the benefactor,
Speaker 1: had been approached, he had refused to yield to threats,
Speaker 1: and he had handed the notices to the police. It
Speaker 1: was resolved now that such an example should be made
Speaker 1: of him, as would prevent any other victim from rebelling.
Speaker 1: At the meeting, it was arranged that he and his
Speaker 1: house should be blown up with dynamite. There was a
Speaker 1: drawing of lots as to who should carry out the deed.
Speaker 1: Gennaro saw our enemy's cruel face smiling at him as
Speaker 1: he dipped his hand in the bag. No doubt it
Speaker 1: had been pre arranged in some fashion, for it was
Speaker 1: the fatal disk with the red circle upon it, the
Speaker 1: mandate for murder which lay upon his palm. He was
Speaker 1: to kill his best friend, or he was to expose
Speaker 1: himself and me to the vengeance of his comrades. It
Speaker 1: was part of their fiendish system to punish those whom
Speaker 1: they feared or hated by injuring not only their own persons,
Speaker 1: but those whom they loved. And it was the knowledge
Speaker 1: of this which hung as a terror over my poor
Speaker 1: Gennaro's head and drove him nearly crazy with apprehension. All
Speaker 1: that night we sat together, our arms around each other,
Speaker 1: each strengthening each for the troubles that lay before us.
Speaker 1: The very next evening had been fixed for the attempt.
Speaker 1: By midday, my husband and I were on our way
Speaker 1: to London, but not before he had given our benefactor
Speaker 1: full warning of his danger, and had also left such
Speaker 1: information for the police as would safeguard his life for
Speaker 1: the future. The rest, gentlemen, you know for yourselves. We
Speaker 1: were sure that our enemies would be behind us, like
Speaker 1: our own shadows. Grgiano had his private reasons for vengeance,
Speaker 1: but in any case we knew how ruthless, cunning, and
Speaker 1: untiring he could be. Both Italy and America are full
Speaker 1: of stories of his dreadful powers. If ever they were exerted.
Speaker 1: It would be now, my darling made use of the
Speaker 1: few clear days which our start had given us in
Speaker 1: arranging for a refuge for me in such a fashion
Speaker 1: that no possible danger could reach me. For his own part,
Speaker 1: he wished to be free, that he might communicate both
Speaker 1: with the American and with the Italian police. I do
Speaker 1: not myself know where he lived or how All that
Speaker 1: I learned was through the columns of a newspaper. But once,
Speaker 1: as I looked through my window, I saw two Italians
Speaker 1: watching the house, and I understood that in some way
Speaker 1: Georgiano had found out our retreat. Finally, Gennaro told me
Speaker 1: through the paper that he would signal to me from
Speaker 1: a certain window. But when these signals came, they were
Speaker 1: nothing but warnings, which was suddenly interrupted. It is very
Speaker 1: clear to me now that he knew Gorgiano to be
Speaker 1: close upon him, and that, thank God, he was ready
Speaker 1: for him when he came. And now, gentlemen, I would
Speaker 1: ask you whether we have anything to fear from the law,
Speaker 1: or whether any judge upon earth would condemn my Gennaro
Speaker 1: for what he has done. Well, mister Gregson, said the American,
Speaker 1: looking across at the official. I don't know what your
Speaker 1: British point of view may be, but I guess that
Speaker 1: in New York, this lady's husband will receive a pretty
Speaker 1: general vote of thanks. She will have to come with
Speaker 1: me and say the Chief. Gregson answered, if what she
Speaker 1: says is corroborated, I do not think she or her
Speaker 1: husband has much to fear. But what I can't make
Speaker 1: head or tail of, mister Holmes is ow on earth
Speaker 1: you got yourself mixed up in the matter education, Gregson, Education,
Speaker 1: still seeking knowledge at the old University. Watson, you have
Speaker 1: one more specimen of the tragic and grotesque to add
Speaker 1: to your collection. By the way, it is not eight
Speaker 1: o'clock and a Wagner night at Covent Garden. If we
Speaker 1: hurry we might be in time for the second act.
Speaker 1: That is the end of the Adventure of the Red Circle.
Speaker 1: From His Last Bow by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, read
Speaker 1: by Greg Wagland for Magpie Audio, twenty seventeen.