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Speaker 1: The Boscombe Valley mystery. We were seated at breakfast one morning,

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my wife and I when the maid brought in a telegram.

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It was from Sherlock Holmes and ran in this way,

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have you a couple of days to spare? Have just

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been wired for from the west of England in connection

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with Boscombe Valley tragedy. Shall be glad if you will

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come with me air in scenery perfect leave Paddington by

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the eleven fifteen. What do you say, dear, said my wife,

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looking across at me. Will you go? I really don't

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know what to say. I have a fairly long list

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at present. Oh An Struther would do your work for you.

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You have been looking a little pale lately. I think

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that the change would do you good. And you are

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always so interested in mister Sherlock Holmes's cases. I should

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be ungrateful if I were not seeing what I gained

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through one of them. I answered, But if I am

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to go, I must pack at once, for I have

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only half an hour. My experience of camp life in

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Afghanistan had at least had the effect of making me

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a prompt and ready traveler. My wants were few and simple,

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so that in less than the time, stated, I was

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in a cab with my valise, rattling away to paddingson station.

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Sherlock Holmes was pacing up and down the platform, his tall,

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gaunt figure, made even gaunter and taller by his long

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gray traveling cloak and close fitting cloth cap. It is

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really very good of you to come, Watson said he.

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It makes a considerable difference to me having someone with

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me on whom I can thoroughly rely. Local aid is

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always either worthless or else biased. If you will keep

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the two corner seats, I shall get the tickets. We

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had the carriage to ourselves, save for an immense litter

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of papers, which Holmes had brought with him. Among these

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he rummaged and read, with intervals of note taking and

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of meditation, until we were past reading. Then he suddenly

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rolled them all into a gigantic ball and toss them

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up on to the rack. Have you heard anything of

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the case, he asked, Not a word. I have not

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seen a paper for some days. The London press has

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not had very full accounts. I have just been looking

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through all the recent papers in order to master the particulars.

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It seems from what I gather to be one of

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those simple cases which are so extremely difficult that sounds

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little paradoxical, but it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost

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invariably a clue. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is,

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the more difficult it is to bring it home. In

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this case, however, they have established a very serious case

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against the son of the murdered man. It is a murder, then,

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well it is conjectured to be so. I shall take

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nothing for granted until I have the opportunity of looking

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personally into it. I will explain the state of things

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to you as far as I have been able to

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understand it in a very few words. Boscombe Valley is

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a country district not very far from ross and Herefordshire.

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The largest landed proprietor in that part is a mister

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John Turner, who made his money in Australia and returned

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some years ago to the old country. One of the

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farms which he held, that of Heatherley, was lent to

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mister Charles McCarthy, who was also an ex Australian. The

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men had known each other in the colony, so that

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it was not unnatural that when they came to settle

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down that they should do so as near each other

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as possible. Turner was apparently the richer man, so McCarthy

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became his tenant, but still remained, it seems, upon terms

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of perfect equality, as they were frequently together. McCarthy had

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one son, a lad of eighteen, and Turner had an

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only daughter of the same age, but neither of them

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had wives living. They appeared to have avoided the society

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of the neighboring English families and to have led retired lives,

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though both the McCarthys were fond of sport and were

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frequently seen at the race meetings of the neighborhood. McCarthy

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kept two servants, a man and girl. Turner had a

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considerable household, some half dozen in the least. That is

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as much as I have been able to gather about

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the families. Now for the facts. On June third, that

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is Monday last, McCarthy left his house at Hatherley about

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three in the afternoon and walked down to the Boscombe Pool,

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which is a small lake formed by the spreading out

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of the stream which runs down the Boscombe Valley. He

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had been out with his serving man in the morning

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at ross and he had told the man that he

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must hurry, as he had an appointment of importance to

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keep it free from that appointment, he never came back alive.

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From Hatherley Farmhouse to the Boscombe Pool as a quarter

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of a mile, and two people saw him as he

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passed over this ground. One was an old woman whose

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name is not mentioned, and the other was William Crowder,

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a gamekeeper in the employ of mister Turner. Both these

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witnesses deposed that mister McCarthy was walking alone. The gamekeeper

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adds that within a few minutes of his seeing mister

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McCarthy pass he had seen his son, mister Jane Miss McCarthy,

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going the same way with a gun under his arm.

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To the best of his belief, the father was actually

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in sight at the time and the son was following him.

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He thought no more of the matter until he heard

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in the evening of the tragedy that had occurred. The

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two McCarthys were seen after the time when William Crowder,

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the gamekeeper, lost sight of them. The Boscombe Pool is

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thickly wooded round, with just a fringe of grass and

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reeds round the edge. A girl of fourteen, Patience Moran,

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who is the daughter of the lodge keeper of the

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Boscombe Valley estate, was in one of the woods picking flowers.

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She states that while she was there she saw at

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the border of the wooden close by the lake, mister

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McCarthy and his son, and that they appeared to be

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having a violent quarrel. She heard mister McCarthy the elder,

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using very strong language to his son, and she saw

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the latter raise up his hand as if to strike

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his father. She was so frightened by their violence that

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she ran away and told her mother when she reached

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home that she had left the two McCarthy's quarreling near

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Boscomb Pool Pool, and that she was afraid that they

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were going to fight. She had hardly said the words

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when young mister McCarthy came running up to the lodge

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to say that he had found his father dead in

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the wood and to ask for the help of the

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lodge keeper. He was much excited, without either his gun

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or his hat, and his right hand and sleeve were

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observed to be stained with fresh blood. On following him,

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they found the dead body stretched out upon the grasp

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side the pool. The head had been beaten in by

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repeated blows of some heavy and blunt weapon. The injuries

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were such as might very well have been inflicted by

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the butt end of his son's gun, which was found

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lying on the grass within a few paces of the body.

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Under these circumstances, the young man was instantly arrested, and

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a verdict of wilful murder having been returned at the

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inquest on Tuesday, he was on Wednesday brought before the

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Magistrates at Ross, who have referred the case to the

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next assizes. Those are the main facts of the case

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as they came out before the coroner and the police court.

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I could hardly imagine a more damning case, I remarked.

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If ever circumstantial evidence pointed to a criminal, it does

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so here. Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing, answered

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Holmes thoughtfully. It may seem to point very straight to

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one thing, but if you shift your own point of

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view a little, you may find it pointing in an

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equally uncompromising manner to something entirely different. It must be confess, however,

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that the case looks exceedingly grave against the young man.

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It is very possible that he is indeed the culbrit

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There are several people in the neighborhood, however, and among

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them Miss Turner, the daughter of the neighboring landowner, who

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believe in his innocence, and who have retained Lestrade, whom

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you may recollect in connection with the study in Scarlet,

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to work out the case in his interest. Lestrade, being

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rather puzzled, has referred the case to me, and hence

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it is that two middle aged gentlemen are flying westward

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fifty miles an hour instead of quietly digesting their breakfasts

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at home. I am afraid, said I, that the facts

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are so obvious that you will find little credit to

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be gained out of this case. There is nothing more

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deceptive than an obvious fact, he answered, laughing. Besides, we

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may chance to hit upon some other obvious facts which

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may have been by no means obvious to mister Lestrade.

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You know me too well to think that I am

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boasting when I say that I shall either confirm or

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destroy his theory by means which he is quite incapable

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of employing, or even of understanding. To take the first

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example to hand, I very clearly perceive that in your

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bedroom the window is upon the right hand side. And

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yet I question whether miss Lestrade would have noticed even

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so self evident a thing as that, How on earth,

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my dear fellow. I know you well, I know the

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military neatness which characterizes you. You shave every morning, and

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in this season you shave by the sunlight. But since

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your shaving is less and less complete as we get

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farther back on the left side, and until it becomes

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positively slovenly as we get round the angle of the jaw,

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it is surely very clear that that side is less

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illuminated than the other. I could not imagine a man

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of your habits looking at himself in an equal light

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in being satisfied with such a result. I only quote

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this as a trivial example of observation and inference. Therein

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lies my metier, and it is just possible that it

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may be of some service in the investigation which lies

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before us. There are one or two minor points which

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are brought out in the inquest in which are worth considering.

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What are they? It appears that his arrest did not

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take place at once, but after the return to Hatherley Farm,

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on the Inspector of Constabulary informing him that he was

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a prisoner, he remarked that he was not surprised to

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hear it, and that it was no more than his deserts.

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This observation of his had the natural effect of removing

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any traces of doubt which might have remained in the

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minds of the coroner's jury. It was a confession I

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ejaculated no, for it was followed by a protestation of innocence.

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Coming on top of such a damning series of events,

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it was at the least a most suspicious remark. On

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the contrary, said Holmes, it is the brightest rift which

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I can at present see in the clouds. However innocent

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he might be, he could not be such an absolute

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imbecile as not to see that the circumstances were very

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black against him. Had he appeared surprised at his own

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arrest or feigned indignation at it, I should have looked

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upon it as highly suspicious, because such surprise or anger

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would not be natural under the circumstances, and yet might

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appear to be the best policy to a scheming man.

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His frank acceptance of the situation marks him as either

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an innocent man, or else as a man of considerable

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self restraint and firmness. As to his remark about his deserts,

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It was also not unnatural if you consider that he

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stood beside the dead body of his father, and that

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there is no doubt that he had that very day

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so far forgotten his filial duty as to bandy words

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with him, and even according to the little girl, whose

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evidence is so important, to raise his hand as if

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to strike him the self. Reproach and contrition which are

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displayed in his remark appear to me to be the

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signs of a healthy mind, rather than of a guilty one.

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I shook my head. Many men have been hanged on

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far slighter evidence, I remarked. So they have, and many

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men have been wrongfully hanged. What is the young man's

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own account of the matter? It is, I am afraid,

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not very encouraging to his support, as though there are

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one or two points in it which are suggestive. You

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will find it here and may read it for yourself.

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He picked out from his bundle a copy of the

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local Herefordshire paper, and, having turned down the sheet, he

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pointed out the paragraph in which the un fortunate young

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man had given his own statement of what had occurred.

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I settled myself down in the corner of the carriage

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and read it very carefully. It ran in this way.

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Mister James McCarthy, the only son of the deceased, was

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then called and gave evidence as follows. I had been

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away from home for three days at Bristol, and had

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only just returned upon the morning of last Monday the third.

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My father was absent from home at the time of

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my arrival, and I was informed by the maid that

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he had driven over to Ross with John Cobb, the groom.

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Shortly after my return, I heard the wheels of his

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trap in the yard, and looking out of my window,

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I saw him get out and walk rapidly out of

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the yard, though I was not aware in which direction

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he was going. I then took my gun and strolled

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out in the direction of the Boscombe Pool, with the

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intention of visiting the rabbit warren, which is upon the

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other side. On my way, I saw William Crowder, the gamekeeper,

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as he had stated in his evidence, but he is

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mistaken in thinking that I was following my father. I

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had no idea that he was in front of me.

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When about a hundred yards from the pool, I heard

241
00:13:04,840 --> 00:13:08,559
a cry of COUI, which is an unusual signal between

242
00:13:08,600 --> 00:13:12,639
my father and myself. I then hurried forward and found

243
00:13:12,679 --> 00:13:15,840
him standing by the pool. He appeared to be much

244
00:13:15,879 --> 00:13:18,639
surprised at seeing me, and asked me rather roughly what

245
00:13:18,679 --> 00:13:22,399
I was doing there. A conversation ensued which led to

246
00:13:22,480 --> 00:13:24,840
high words and almost blows. For my father was a

247
00:13:24,879 --> 00:13:28,720
man of a very violent temper. Seeing that his passion

248
00:13:28,799 --> 00:13:32,519
was becoming ungovernable, I left him in returned towards Hatherly Farm.

249
00:13:33,320 --> 00:13:35,960
I had not gone more than one hundred fifty yards, however,

250
00:13:36,080 --> 00:13:38,799
when I heard a hideous outcry behind me, which caused

251
00:13:38,840 --> 00:13:41,600
me to run back again. I found my father expiring

252
00:13:41,679 --> 00:13:45,360
upon the ground, with his head terribly injured. I dropped

253
00:13:45,360 --> 00:13:47,720
my gun and held him in my arms, but he

254
00:13:47,759 --> 00:13:51,879
almost instantly expired. I knelt beside him for some minutes,

255
00:13:51,919 --> 00:13:54,399
and then made my way to mister Turner's lodge keeper

256
00:13:54,480 --> 00:13:57,600
his house, being the nearest to ask for assistance. I

257
00:13:57,600 --> 00:13:59,639
saw no one near my father when I returned, and

258
00:13:59,679 --> 00:14:02,039
I have no idea how he came by his injuries.

259
00:14:02,559 --> 00:14:05,799
He was not a popular man, being somewhat cold and

260
00:14:05,840 --> 00:14:08,559
forbidding in his manners, but he had, as far as

261
00:14:08,600 --> 00:14:11,960
I know, no active enemies. I know nothing further of

262
00:14:12,039 --> 00:14:16,559
the matter. The coroner did your father make any statement

263
00:14:16,600 --> 00:14:20,600
to you before he died, Witness. He mumbled a few words,

264
00:14:20,639 --> 00:14:23,039
but I could only catch some allusion to a rat.

265
00:14:23,840 --> 00:14:28,480
The coroner. What did you understand by that? Witness? It

266
00:14:28,519 --> 00:14:31,919
conveyed no meaning to me. I thought that he was delirious,

267
00:14:32,440 --> 00:14:35,360
the Coroner. What was the point upon which in your

268
00:14:35,399 --> 00:14:40,000
father had this final quarrel? Witness, I should prefer not

269
00:14:40,120 --> 00:14:43,799
to answer the Coroner. I am afraid that I must

270
00:14:43,799 --> 00:14:47,960
press it. Witness, it is really impossible for me to

271
00:14:48,000 --> 00:14:50,279
tell you. I can assure you that it has nothing

272
00:14:50,279 --> 00:14:53,480
to do with the sad tragedy which followed. The Coroner.

273
00:14:53,960 --> 00:14:56,320
That is for the court to decide. I need not

274
00:14:56,480 --> 00:14:58,919
point out to you that your refusal to answer will

275
00:14:58,919 --> 00:15:04,360
prejudice your case considerably in any future proceedings which may arise. Witness.

276
00:15:05,080 --> 00:15:09,600
I still must refuse the Coroner. I understand that the

277
00:15:09,600 --> 00:15:12,960
cry of coui was a common signal between you and

278
00:15:13,039 --> 00:15:18,039
your father, Witness, it was the coroner. How was it

279
00:15:18,080 --> 00:15:20,039
then that he uttered it before he saw you, and

280
00:15:20,120 --> 00:15:24,320
before he even knew that you would return from Bristol, Witness,

281
00:15:24,559 --> 00:15:30,200
with considerable confusion, I do not know, a juryman, did

282
00:15:30,200 --> 00:15:33,000
you see nothing which aroused your suspicions when you returned

283
00:15:33,039 --> 00:15:36,480
on hearing the cry and found your father fatally injured. Witness,

284
00:15:37,200 --> 00:15:43,039
nothing definite, the coroner, What do you mean, Witness. I

285
00:15:43,159 --> 00:15:45,480
was so disturbed and excited as I rushed out into

286
00:15:45,519 --> 00:15:47,799
the open that I could think of nothing except my father.

287
00:15:48,720 --> 00:15:51,919
Yet I have a vague impression that as I ran forward,

288
00:15:52,360 --> 00:15:54,679
something lay upon the ground to the left of me.

289
00:15:54,960 --> 00:15:57,519
It seemed to be something gray in color, a coat

290
00:15:57,559 --> 00:16:00,639
of some sort, or a plaid. Perhaps. When I rose

291
00:16:00,679 --> 00:16:02,679
from my father, I looked round for it, but it

292
00:16:02,720 --> 00:16:06,600
was gone. Do you mean that it had disappeared before

293
00:16:06,600 --> 00:16:09,720
you went to help? Yes, it was gone. You cannot

294
00:16:09,759 --> 00:16:13,000
say what it was. No, I had a feeling something

295
00:16:13,080 --> 00:16:16,679
was there. How far from the body a dozen yards

296
00:16:16,799 --> 00:16:18,960
or so, and how far from the edge of the

297
00:16:19,000 --> 00:16:23,159
wood about the same. Then, if it was removed, it

298
00:16:23,200 --> 00:16:26,080
was while you were within a dozen yards of it, Yes,

299
00:16:26,480 --> 00:16:30,720
but with my back towards it. This concluded the examination

300
00:16:30,840 --> 00:16:35,240
of the witness. I see, said I as I glanced

301
00:16:35,279 --> 00:16:38,559
down the column that the coroner, in his concluding remarks,

302
00:16:38,759 --> 00:16:42,200
was rather severe upon young McCarthy. He calls attention and

303
00:16:42,360 --> 00:16:45,360
with reason to the discrepancy about his father having signaled

304
00:16:45,399 --> 00:16:48,159
to him before seeing him, and also to his refusal

305
00:16:48,200 --> 00:16:50,879
to give details of his conversation with his father, and

306
00:16:51,039 --> 00:16:54,000
his singular account of his father's dying words. They are all,

307
00:16:54,320 --> 00:16:58,960
as he remarks, very much against the son. Holmes laughed

308
00:16:59,000 --> 00:17:02,399
softly to himself and stretched himself out upon the cushioned seat.

309
00:17:03,559 --> 00:17:06,039
Both you and the Corrodor have been at some Paines,

310
00:17:06,359 --> 00:17:09,160
said he to single out the very strongest points in

311
00:17:09,200 --> 00:17:12,519
the young man's favor. Don't you see that you alternately

312
00:17:12,559 --> 00:17:15,480
give him credit for having too much imagination and too little?

313
00:17:16,039 --> 00:17:18,279
Too little if he could not invent a cause of

314
00:17:18,359 --> 00:17:20,920
quarrel which would give him the sympathy of the jury,

315
00:17:21,359 --> 00:17:24,480
too much, if he evolved from his own inner consciousness,

316
00:17:24,640 --> 00:17:27,839
anything so outree as a dying reference to a rat

317
00:17:28,359 --> 00:17:31,839
and the incident of the vanishing cloth. No, Sir, I

318
00:17:31,920 --> 00:17:34,319
shall approach this case from the point of view that

319
00:17:34,359 --> 00:17:36,839
what this young man says is true, and we shall

320
00:17:36,839 --> 00:17:40,839
see whither that hypothesis will lead us. And now here

321
00:17:40,920 --> 00:17:43,519
is my pocket, Petrarch, And not another word shall I

322
00:17:43,599 --> 00:17:45,680
say of this case until we are on the scene

323
00:17:45,680 --> 00:17:48,920
of action. We lunch at Swindon, and I see that

324
00:17:49,000 --> 00:17:53,160
we shall be there in twenty minutes. It was nearly

325
00:17:53,200 --> 00:17:56,319
four o'clock when we, at last, after passing through the

326
00:17:56,319 --> 00:18:00,519
beautiful Stroud Valley and over the broad gleaming Severn, found

327
00:18:00,559 --> 00:18:03,799
ourselves at the pretty little country town of Ross. A

328
00:18:03,880 --> 00:18:07,039
lean ferret like man, furtive and sly looking, was waiting

329
00:18:07,079 --> 00:18:09,680
for us upon the platform. In spite of the light

330
00:18:09,720 --> 00:18:12,680
brown dustcoat and leather leggings which he wore in deference

331
00:18:12,720 --> 00:18:16,359
to his rustic surroundings, I had no difficulty in recognizing

332
00:18:16,400 --> 00:18:19,640
Lestrade of Scotland. Yard. With him, we drove to the

333
00:18:19,640 --> 00:18:23,480
Hereford Arms, where room had already been engaged for us.

334
00:18:24,240 --> 00:18:26,920
I have ordered a carriage, said Lestrade, as we sat

335
00:18:26,960 --> 00:18:29,920
over a cup of tea. I knew your energetic nature

336
00:18:29,960 --> 00:18:31,680
and that you would not be happy until you had

337
00:18:31,720 --> 00:18:34,720
been on the scene of the crime. It was very

338
00:18:34,799 --> 00:18:38,799
nice and complimentary of you, Holmes answered, it is entirely

339
00:18:38,839 --> 00:18:43,519
a question of barometric pressure. Lestrade looked startled. I do

340
00:18:43,680 --> 00:18:47,880
not quite follow, he said, how is the glass twenty nine?

341
00:18:47,880 --> 00:18:50,720
I see no wind and not a cloud in the sky.

342
00:18:51,480 --> 00:18:54,039
I have a case full of cigarettes here which needs smoking,

343
00:18:54,079 --> 00:18:56,640
and the sofa is very much superior to the usual

344
00:18:56,680 --> 00:18:59,839
country hotel abomination. I do not think that it is

345
00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:04,079
probable that I shall use the carriage to night, Lustrade

346
00:19:04,160 --> 00:19:08,759
laughed indulgently. You have no doubt already formed your conclusions

347
00:19:08,759 --> 00:19:12,319
from the newspapers, he said. The case is as plain

348
00:19:12,359 --> 00:19:14,839
as a pikestaff, and the more one goes into it,

349
00:19:14,880 --> 00:19:18,000
the plainer it becomes. Still. Of course, one can't refuse

350
00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:20,759
a lady in such a very positive one. Too. She

351
00:19:20,799 --> 00:19:23,279
has heard of you and would have your opinion, though

352
00:19:23,319 --> 00:19:25,960
I repeatedly told her that there was nothing which you

353
00:19:26,000 --> 00:19:28,559
could do which I had not already done. Why, bless

354
00:19:28,640 --> 00:19:31,640
my soul, here is her carriage at the door. He

355
00:19:31,680 --> 00:19:34,119
had hardly spoken before there rushed into the room one

356
00:19:34,119 --> 00:19:36,079
of the most lovely young women that I have ever

357
00:19:36,079 --> 00:19:39,480
seen in my life, her violet eyes shining, her lips parted,

358
00:19:39,480 --> 00:19:41,920
a pink flush upon her cheeks. All thought of her

359
00:19:42,000 --> 00:19:47,160
natural reserve lost in her overpowering excitement and concern. Oh,

360
00:19:47,160 --> 00:19:51,000
mister Sherlock Holmes, she cried, glancing from one to the

361
00:19:51,000 --> 00:19:53,599
other of us, and finally, with a woman's quick intuition

362
00:19:53,720 --> 00:19:57,079
fastening upon my companion, I am so glad that you

363
00:19:57,119 --> 00:19:59,119
have come. I have driven down to tell you. So

364
00:19:59,480 --> 00:20:02,400
I know, oh, that James didn't do it. I know it,

365
00:20:02,559 --> 00:20:04,599
and I want you to start upon your work knowing

366
00:20:04,640 --> 00:20:07,799
it too. Never let yourself doubt upon that point. We

367
00:20:07,880 --> 00:20:10,039
have known each other since we were little children, and

368
00:20:10,119 --> 00:20:12,599
I know his faults as no one else does. But

369
00:20:12,680 --> 00:20:15,680
he is too tender hearted to hurt a fly. Such

370
00:20:15,680 --> 00:20:18,759
a charge is absurd to anyone who really knows him.

371
00:20:19,400 --> 00:20:22,440
I hope we may clear him, Miss Turner, said, Sherlock Holmes.

372
00:20:22,799 --> 00:20:25,119
You may rely upon my doing all that I can.

373
00:20:26,039 --> 00:20:29,400
But you have read the evidence. You have formed some conclusion.

374
00:20:30,119 --> 00:20:33,079
Do you not see some loophole, some flaw? Do you

375
00:20:33,200 --> 00:20:36,880
not yourself think that he is innocent? I think that

376
00:20:36,960 --> 00:20:41,160
it is very probable. There now, she cried, throwing back

377
00:20:41,200 --> 00:20:44,279
her head and looking defiantly at Lestrade. You hear he

378
00:20:44,400 --> 00:20:49,359
gives me hopes. Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. I am afraid

379
00:20:49,400 --> 00:20:52,119
that my colleague has been a little quick in forming

380
00:20:52,200 --> 00:20:57,160
his conclusions, he said, But he is right. Oh, I

381
00:20:57,240 --> 00:20:59,640
know that he is right. James never did it. And

382
00:20:59,680 --> 00:21:01,920
about his quarrel with his father, I am sure that

383
00:21:02,000 --> 00:21:04,039
the reason why he would not speak about it to

384
00:21:04,119 --> 00:21:07,599
the coroner is because I was concerned in it in

385
00:21:07,680 --> 00:21:11,000
what way? Asked Holmes. It is no time for me

386
00:21:11,079 --> 00:21:14,559
to hide anything. James and his father had many disagreements

387
00:21:14,559 --> 00:21:17,680
about me. Mister MacCarthy was very anxious that there should

388
00:21:17,680 --> 00:21:20,759
be a marriage between us. James and I have always

389
00:21:20,799 --> 00:21:23,559
loved each other as brother and sister. But of course

390
00:21:23,559 --> 00:21:25,920
he is young and has seen very little of life yet,

391
00:21:26,039 --> 00:21:29,920
and and well, naturally he did not wish to do

392
00:21:29,920 --> 00:21:32,640
anything like that yet. So there were quarrels, and this,

393
00:21:32,759 --> 00:21:36,000
I am sure was one of them. And your father,

394
00:21:36,480 --> 00:21:40,240
asked Holmes, was he in favor of such a union? No,

395
00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:43,400
he was averse to it. Also, No one but mister

396
00:21:43,480 --> 00:21:46,759
McCarthy was in favor of it. A quick blush passed

397
00:21:46,759 --> 00:21:48,680
over her fresh young face as Holmes shot one of

398
00:21:48,720 --> 00:21:52,920
his keen questioning glances at her. Thank you for this information,

399
00:21:53,240 --> 00:21:55,759
said he. May I see your father if I call

400
00:21:55,839 --> 00:21:59,720
to morrow. I am afraid the doctor won't allow it.

401
00:22:00,240 --> 00:22:04,920
The doctor, yes, have you not heard? Poor father has

402
00:22:04,960 --> 00:22:07,319
never been strong for years back, but this has broken

403
00:22:07,400 --> 00:22:09,839
him down completely. He is taken to his bed and

404
00:22:09,880 --> 00:22:12,319
doctor Willows says that he is a wreck and that

405
00:22:12,400 --> 00:22:15,000
his nervous system is shattered. Mister mc carthy was the

406
00:22:15,000 --> 00:22:17,359
only man alive who had known Dad in the old

407
00:22:17,400 --> 00:22:22,519
days in Victoria. Ha, in Victoria. That is important. Yes,

408
00:22:22,559 --> 00:22:25,359
at the mines, quite so, at the gold mines, where

409
00:22:25,480 --> 00:22:29,160
as I understand mister Turner made his money. Yes, certainly,

410
00:22:30,079 --> 00:22:33,400
Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance

411
00:22:33,440 --> 00:22:35,799
to me. You will tell me if you have any

412
00:22:35,799 --> 00:22:38,200
news tomorrow. No doubt you will go to the prison

413
00:22:38,240 --> 00:22:40,359
to see James. Oh. If you do, mister Holmes, do

414
00:22:40,559 --> 00:22:43,839
tell him that I know him to be innocent. I will,

415
00:22:43,880 --> 00:22:47,160
miss Turner. I must go home now, for Dad is

416
00:22:47,319 --> 00:22:49,680
very ill and he misses me. So if I leave him,

417
00:22:50,079 --> 00:22:53,400
good bye, and God help you in your undertaking. She

418
00:22:53,519 --> 00:22:56,000
hurried from the room as impulsively as she had entered,

419
00:22:56,240 --> 00:22:58,200
and we heard the wheels of her carriage rattle off

420
00:22:58,240 --> 00:23:03,039
down the street. I am ashamed of you, Holmes, said Lestrade,

421
00:23:03,079 --> 00:23:05,720
with dignity, after a few minutes silence. Why should you

422
00:23:05,799 --> 00:23:08,480
raise up hopes which you are bound to disappoint. I

423
00:23:08,519 --> 00:23:11,160
am not over tender of heart, but I call it cruel.

424
00:23:12,519 --> 00:23:15,000
I think that I see my way to clearing. James

425
00:23:15,079 --> 00:23:18,000
mc carthy said, Holmes, have you in order to see

426
00:23:18,039 --> 00:23:20,920
him in prison, yes, but only for you and me.

427
00:23:22,240 --> 00:23:26,119
Then I shall reconsider my resolution about going out. We

428
00:23:26,319 --> 00:23:28,279
have still time to take a train to Hereford and

429
00:23:28,319 --> 00:23:31,440
see him to night. Ample, then let us do so.

430
00:23:31,799 --> 00:23:34,319
Wats an. I fear that you will find it very slow,

431
00:23:34,359 --> 00:23:36,720
But I shall only be away a couple of hours.

432
00:23:38,279 --> 00:23:40,279
I walked down to the station with them, and then

433
00:23:40,359 --> 00:23:43,039
wandered through the streets of the little town, finally returning

434
00:23:43,079 --> 00:23:45,200
to the hotel, where I lay upon the sofa and

435
00:23:45,279 --> 00:23:48,319
tried to interest myself in a yellow backed novel. The

436
00:23:48,359 --> 00:23:51,160
puny plot of the story was so thin, however, when

437
00:23:51,160 --> 00:23:53,720
compared to the deep mystery through which we were groping,

438
00:23:54,200 --> 00:23:56,880
and I found my attention wander so continually from the action,

439
00:23:56,960 --> 00:23:59,440
to the fact that I at last flung it across

440
00:23:59,440 --> 00:24:02,359
the room and gave myself up entirely to a consideration

441
00:24:02,400 --> 00:24:05,599
of the events of the day. Supposing that this unhappy

442
00:24:05,640 --> 00:24:09,200
young man's story were absolutely truth, and what hellish thing,

443
00:24:09,880 --> 00:24:14,519
what absolutely unforeseen and extraordinary calamity could have occurred between

444
00:24:14,559 --> 00:24:16,599
the time when he parted from his father and the

445
00:24:16,640 --> 00:24:20,160
moment when drawn back by his screams, he rushed into

446
00:24:20,160 --> 00:24:24,000
the glade. It was something terrible and deadly. What could

447
00:24:24,039 --> 00:24:28,000
it be? Might not the nature of the injuries reveal

448
00:24:28,079 --> 00:24:31,359
something to my medical instincts? I rang the bell and

449
00:24:31,400 --> 00:24:34,440
called for the weekly country paper, which contained a verbatim

450
00:24:34,440 --> 00:24:37,480
account of the inquest. In the surgeon's deposition, it was

451
00:24:37,519 --> 00:24:40,400
stated that the posterior third of the left parietal bone

452
00:24:40,519 --> 00:24:43,240
and left half of the occipital bone had been shattered

453
00:24:43,279 --> 00:24:46,079
by a heavy blow from a blunt weapon. I marked

454
00:24:46,079 --> 00:24:48,960
the spot upon my own head. Clearly, such a blow

455
00:24:49,039 --> 00:24:52,160
must have been struck from behind. That was to some

456
00:24:52,279 --> 00:24:55,319
extent in favor of the accused, as when seen quarreling,

457
00:24:55,359 --> 00:24:57,680
he was face to face with his father. Still it

458
00:24:57,759 --> 00:24:59,720
did not go for very much for the older man

459
00:24:59,799 --> 00:25:03,319
my have turned his back before the blow fell. Still

460
00:25:03,359 --> 00:25:05,920
it might be worth while to call Holmes' attention to it.

461
00:25:06,680 --> 00:25:09,519
Then there was the peculiar dying reference to a rat.

462
00:25:09,640 --> 00:25:12,400
What could that mean? It could not be delirium. A

463
00:25:12,400 --> 00:25:16,599
man dying from a sudden bload as not commonly become delirious. No,

464
00:25:16,799 --> 00:25:19,200
it was more likely to be an attempt to explain

465
00:25:19,279 --> 00:25:22,519
how he met his fate. But what could it indicate?

466
00:25:23,000 --> 00:25:26,400
I cuddled my brains to find some possible explanation, and

467
00:25:26,440 --> 00:25:29,640
then the incident of the gray cloth seen by young McCarthy.

468
00:25:30,680 --> 00:25:32,759
If that were true, the murderer must have dropped some

469
00:25:32,920 --> 00:25:35,759
part of his dress, presumably his overcoat, in his flight,

470
00:25:36,319 --> 00:25:38,799
and must have had the hardihood to return and to

471
00:25:38,839 --> 00:25:40,759
carry it away at the instant when the sun was

472
00:25:40,839 --> 00:25:43,640
kneeling with his back turned not a dozen paces off.

473
00:25:44,079 --> 00:25:47,119
What a tissue of mysteries and improbabilities the whole thing was.

474
00:25:47,640 --> 00:25:50,480
I did not wonder at Lestrade's opinion, and yet I

475
00:25:50,519 --> 00:25:53,480
had so much faith in Sherlock Holmes's insight that I

476
00:25:53,480 --> 00:25:56,519
could not lose hope as long as every fresh fact

477
00:25:56,640 --> 00:26:02,799
seemed to strengthen his conviction of young McCarthy's. It was

478
00:26:02,880 --> 00:26:06,200
late before Sherlock Holmes returned. He came back alone, for

479
00:26:06,359 --> 00:26:11,680
Lestrade was staying in lodgings in the town. The glass

480
00:26:11,720 --> 00:26:15,000
still keeps very high, he remarked, as he sat down.

481
00:26:15,799 --> 00:26:18,640
It is of importance that it should not rain before

482
00:26:18,680 --> 00:26:20,880
we are able to go over the ground. On the

483
00:26:20,920 --> 00:26:22,759
other hand, a man should be at his very best

484
00:26:22,759 --> 00:26:24,599
and keenness for such a nice work as that, and

485
00:26:24,640 --> 00:26:26,720
I did not wish to do it when fagged by

486
00:26:26,720 --> 00:26:30,319
a long journey. I have seen young MacCarthy, and what

487
00:26:30,440 --> 00:26:34,720
did you learn from him? Nothing? Could he throw no light,

488
00:26:35,759 --> 00:26:38,519
none at all. I was inclined to think at one

489
00:26:38,559 --> 00:26:40,319
time that he knew who had done it and was

490
00:26:40,359 --> 00:26:43,359
screening him or her. But I am convinced now that

491
00:26:43,400 --> 00:26:46,279
he is as puzzled as every one else. He is

492
00:26:46,319 --> 00:26:49,000
not a very quick witted use, though comely to look at,

493
00:26:49,039 --> 00:26:52,519
and I should think sound at heart. I cannot admire

494
00:26:52,599 --> 00:26:55,599
his taste, I remarked. If it is indeed a fact

495
00:26:55,680 --> 00:26:58,160
that he was averse to a marriage with so charming

496
00:26:58,279 --> 00:27:02,960
a young lady as this mister berner, Ah, thereby hangs

497
00:27:03,000 --> 00:27:06,960
a rather painful tale. This fellow is madly, insanely in

498
00:27:07,000 --> 00:27:09,440
love with her, but some two years ago, when he

499
00:27:09,559 --> 00:27:12,039
was only a lad, and before he really knew her,

500
00:27:12,519 --> 00:27:15,279
for she had been away five years at a boarding school.

501
00:27:15,599 --> 00:27:17,839
What does the idiot do but get into the clutches

502
00:27:17,839 --> 00:27:20,000
of a bar maid in Bristol and marry her at

503
00:27:20,039 --> 00:27:23,440
a registry office. No one knows a word of the matter,

504
00:27:23,519 --> 00:27:25,720
but you can imagine how madning it must be to

505
00:27:25,799 --> 00:27:28,519
him to be upbraided for not doing what he would

506
00:27:28,519 --> 00:27:30,880
give his very eyes to do, but which he knows

507
00:27:30,880 --> 00:27:34,160
to be absolutely impossible. It was sheer frenzy of this

508
00:27:34,240 --> 00:27:36,079
sort which made him throw his hands up into the

509
00:27:36,119 --> 00:27:38,799
air when his father, at their last interview, was goading

510
00:27:38,880 --> 00:27:41,480
him on to propose to Miss Turner. On the other hand,

511
00:27:41,519 --> 00:27:43,839
he had no means of supporting himself, and his father,

512
00:27:44,000 --> 00:27:46,839
who was by all accounts a very hard man, would

513
00:27:46,880 --> 00:27:49,279
have thrown him over utterly had he known the truth.

514
00:27:49,960 --> 00:27:52,279
It was with his bar made wife that he had

515
00:27:52,319 --> 00:27:54,720
spent the last three days in Bristol, and his father

516
00:27:54,839 --> 00:27:57,599
did not know where he was. Mark that point, it

517
00:27:57,720 --> 00:28:01,440
is of importance good has come out of evil, however,

518
00:28:01,680 --> 00:28:03,960
for the barmaid, finding from the papers that he is

519
00:28:04,000 --> 00:28:07,119
in serious trouble and likely to be hanged, has thrown

520
00:28:07,200 --> 00:28:09,400
him over utterly, and has written to him to say

521
00:28:09,440 --> 00:28:12,240
that she has a husband already in the Bermuda dockyard,

522
00:28:12,759 --> 00:28:15,640
so that there is really no tie between them. I

523
00:28:15,680 --> 00:28:18,359
think that bit of news has consoled young McCarthy for

524
00:28:18,400 --> 00:28:22,440
all that he has suffered. But if he is innocent,

525
00:28:22,480 --> 00:28:26,279
who has done it? Ah? Who? I would call your

526
00:28:26,319 --> 00:28:29,960
attention very particularly to two points. One is that the

527
00:28:30,039 --> 00:28:32,319
murdered man had an appointment with someone at the pool,

528
00:28:32,720 --> 00:28:35,000
and that the someone could not have been his son,

529
00:28:35,079 --> 00:28:37,359
for his son was away and he did not know

530
00:28:37,440 --> 00:28:40,599
when he would return. The second is that the murdered

531
00:28:40,599 --> 00:28:43,480
man was heard to cry cooie before he knew that

532
00:28:43,559 --> 00:28:47,599
his son had returned. Those are the crucial points upon

533
00:28:47,720 --> 00:28:52,319
which the case depends. And now let us talk about

534
00:28:52,400 --> 00:28:55,079
George Meredith, if you please, and we shall leave all

535
00:28:55,160 --> 00:28:59,880
minor matters until tomorrow. There was no rain as home

536
00:29:00,119 --> 00:29:03,680
had foretold, and the morning broke bright and cloudless. At

537
00:29:03,799 --> 00:29:06,400
nine o'clock Less Strade called for us with the carriage,

538
00:29:06,640 --> 00:29:09,240
and we set off for Hazily Farm in the Boscombe Pool.

539
00:29:12,680 --> 00:29:15,880
Very serious news this morning, the Strade observed. It is

540
00:29:15,920 --> 00:29:18,480
said that mister Turner of the whole is so ill

541
00:29:18,519 --> 00:29:22,319
that his life is despaired. Of an elderly man, I presume,

542
00:29:22,559 --> 00:29:27,039
said Holmes, about sixty, but his constitution has been shattered

543
00:29:27,079 --> 00:29:29,440
by his life abroad, and he has been in failing

544
00:29:29,480 --> 00:29:32,359
health for some time. This business has had a very

545
00:29:32,359 --> 00:29:35,279
bad effect upon him. He was an old friend of McCarthy's,

546
00:29:35,319 --> 00:29:37,720
and I may add a great benefactor to him, for

547
00:29:37,759 --> 00:29:42,079
I have learned that he gave him heavily farm rent free. Indeed,

548
00:29:42,319 --> 00:29:45,960
that is interesting, said Holmes. Oh, yes, in a hundred

549
00:29:46,039 --> 00:29:49,079
other ways he has helped him. Everybody about here speaks

550
00:29:49,079 --> 00:29:53,400
of his kindness to him. Really, does it not strike

551
00:29:53,440 --> 00:29:56,319
you as a little singular that this McCarthy, who appears

552
00:29:56,319 --> 00:29:58,319
to have had little of his own, and to have

553
00:29:58,400 --> 00:30:01,839
been under such obligations to Turner, should still talk of

554
00:30:01,880 --> 00:30:04,519
marrying his son to turn his daughter, who is presumably

555
00:30:04,559 --> 00:30:07,319
heiress to the estate, and that in such a very

556
00:30:07,359 --> 00:30:10,240
coture manner, as if it were merely a case of proposal,

557
00:30:10,319 --> 00:30:13,440
and all else would follow. It is the more strange

558
00:30:13,440 --> 00:30:15,960
since we know that Turner himself was averse to the idea.

559
00:30:16,319 --> 00:30:18,680
The daughter told us, as much, do you not deduce

560
00:30:18,759 --> 00:30:23,720
something from that? We have got to the deduces and

561
00:30:23,880 --> 00:30:27,160
the inferences, said Lestrade, winking at me. I find it

562
00:30:27,200 --> 00:30:29,920
hard enough to tackle facts, Holmes was out flying away

563
00:30:29,960 --> 00:30:34,559
after theories and fancies. You are right, said Holmes, demurely.

564
00:30:34,839 --> 00:30:38,160
You do find it very hard to tackle the facts. Anyhow,

565
00:30:38,240 --> 00:30:40,880
I have grasped one fact which you seem to find

566
00:30:40,880 --> 00:30:44,279
it difficult to get hold of, replied Lestrade with some warmth,

567
00:30:44,920 --> 00:30:48,559
and that is that McCarthy senior met his death from

568
00:30:48,640 --> 00:30:51,720
McCarthy junior, and that all theories still the contrary are

569
00:30:51,759 --> 00:30:57,039
the merest moonshine. Well, moonshine is a brighter thing than fog,

570
00:30:57,240 --> 00:31:00,200
said Holmes, laughing, But I am very much mistake. And

571
00:31:00,200 --> 00:31:03,559
if this is not Hatterly Farm upon the left, yes,

572
00:31:03,640 --> 00:31:07,400
that is it. It was a widespread, comfortable looking building,

573
00:31:07,440 --> 00:31:10,799
two storied, slate roofed, with great yellow blotches of lichen

574
00:31:10,920 --> 00:31:15,119
upon the gray walls. The drawn blinds and smokeless chimneys, however,

575
00:31:15,400 --> 00:31:17,680
gave it a stricken look, as though the weight of

576
00:31:17,720 --> 00:31:21,519
this horror still lay heavy upon it. We called at

577
00:31:21,559 --> 00:31:24,359
the door, when the maid, at Holmes's request, showed us

578
00:31:24,400 --> 00:31:26,440
the boots which her master wore at the time of

579
00:31:26,480 --> 00:31:29,079
his death, and also a pair of the suns, though

580
00:31:29,119 --> 00:31:32,039
not the pair which he had then had. Having measured

581
00:31:32,039 --> 00:31:35,160
these very carefully from seven or eight different points, Holmes

582
00:31:35,240 --> 00:31:37,519
desire to be led to the courtyard, from which we

583
00:31:37,559 --> 00:31:40,240
all followed the winding track which led to Boscombe pool

584
00:31:41,079 --> 00:31:43,960
Sherlock Holmes was transformed when he was hot. Upon such

585
00:31:44,000 --> 00:31:47,079
ascent as this, men who had only known the quiet

586
00:31:47,079 --> 00:31:49,920
thinker and logician of Baker Street would have failed to

587
00:31:49,960 --> 00:31:54,000
recognize him. His face flushed and darkened. His brows were

588
00:31:54,079 --> 00:31:57,440
drawn into two hard black lines, while his eyes shone

589
00:31:57,440 --> 00:32:00,920
out from beneath them with a steely glitter. His face

590
00:32:00,960 --> 00:32:03,839
was bent downward, his shoulders bowed, his lips compressed, and

591
00:32:03,880 --> 00:32:06,880
the veins stood out like whipcord in his long, sinewy neck.

592
00:32:07,640 --> 00:32:10,519
His nostril seemed to dilate with a purely animal lust

593
00:32:10,559 --> 00:32:13,720
for the chase, and his mind was so absolutely concentrated

594
00:32:13,799 --> 00:32:16,240
upon the matter before him that a question or remark

595
00:32:16,279 --> 00:32:18,960
fell unheeded upon his ears, or at the most only

596
00:32:19,000 --> 00:32:23,880
provoked a quick, impatient snarl in reply. Swiftly and silently,

597
00:32:23,960 --> 00:32:26,279
he made his way along the track, which ran through

598
00:32:26,279 --> 00:32:28,680
the meadows, and so by way of the woods to

599
00:32:28,720 --> 00:32:33,079
the Boscombe Pool. It was damp, marshy ground, as is

600
00:32:33,119 --> 00:32:36,000
all that district, and there were marks of many feet,

601
00:32:36,319 --> 00:32:38,839
both upon the path and amid the short grass which

602
00:32:38,839 --> 00:32:42,400
bounded it on either side. Sometimes Holmes would hurry on,

603
00:32:42,599 --> 00:32:45,559
sometimes stop dead, and once he made quite a little

604
00:32:45,559 --> 00:32:49,000
detour into the meadow Lestrade and I walked behind him,

605
00:32:49,200 --> 00:32:52,680
the detective indifferent and contemptuous, while I watched my friend

606
00:32:52,680 --> 00:32:55,480
with the interest which sprang from the conviction that every

607
00:32:55,480 --> 00:32:58,400
one of his actions was directed towards a definite end.

608
00:33:00,039 --> 00:33:03,119
The Boscombe Pool, which is a little reed girt sheet

609
00:33:03,160 --> 00:33:06,119
of water some fifty yards across, is situated at the

610
00:33:06,119 --> 00:33:08,559
boundary between the Heatherley farm and the private park of

611
00:33:08,599 --> 00:33:11,880
the wealthy mister Turner, above the woods which lined it.

612
00:33:11,960 --> 00:33:14,279
Upon the farther side we could see the red jutting

613
00:33:14,319 --> 00:33:17,319
pinnacles which marked the site of the rich land owner's dwelling.

614
00:33:18,559 --> 00:33:20,640
On the heathery side of the pool, the woods grew

615
00:33:20,759 --> 00:33:22,960
very thick, and there was a narrow belt of sodden

616
00:33:23,000 --> 00:33:26,079
grass twenty paces across between the edge of the trees

617
00:33:26,200 --> 00:33:29,079
and the reeds which lined the lake. The strage showed

618
00:33:29,160 --> 00:33:31,799
us the exact spot at which the body had been found,

619
00:33:32,079 --> 00:33:34,119
and indeed, so moist was the ground that I could

620
00:33:34,119 --> 00:33:36,480
plainly see the traces which had been left by the

621
00:33:36,559 --> 00:33:39,559
fall of the stricken man. To Holmes, as I could

622
00:33:39,599 --> 00:33:42,559
see by his eager face and peering eyes, very many

623
00:33:42,599 --> 00:33:44,759
other things were to be read upon the trampled grass.

624
00:33:45,000 --> 00:33:47,039
He ran round like a dog who was picking up

625
00:33:47,079 --> 00:33:51,519
a scent, and then turned upon my companion, What did

626
00:33:51,519 --> 00:33:56,240
you go into the pool for? He asked? I fished

627
00:33:56,240 --> 00:33:59,519
about with a rake. I thought there might be some

628
00:33:59,599 --> 00:34:02,839
weaponer traits. But how on earth, Oh, tut tut, I

629
00:34:02,880 --> 00:34:04,720
have no time. That left foot of yours with it

630
00:34:04,799 --> 00:34:06,720
inward twist is all over the place. A mole could

631
00:34:06,720 --> 00:34:09,639
trace it, and their advantishes among the wreaths. Oh, how

632
00:34:09,679 --> 00:34:12,000
simple it would have all been had I been here

633
00:34:12,039 --> 00:34:14,039
before they came like a herd of buffalo and wallowed

634
00:34:14,039 --> 00:34:16,239
all over it. Here is where the party with the

635
00:34:16,280 --> 00:34:18,440
lodge keeper came, and they have covered all tracks for

636
00:34:18,480 --> 00:34:21,000
six or eight feet round the body. But here are

637
00:34:21,079 --> 00:34:24,280
three separate tracks of the same feet. He drew out

638
00:34:24,280 --> 00:34:26,400
a lens and lay down upon his waterproof to have

639
00:34:26,440 --> 00:34:29,119
a better view, talking all the time rather to himself

640
00:34:29,159 --> 00:34:32,519
than to us. These are young McCarthy's feet. Twice he

641
00:34:32,639 --> 00:34:34,880
was walking, and once he ran swiftly, so that the

642
00:34:34,920 --> 00:34:38,039
soles are deeply marked and the heels hardly visible. That

643
00:34:38,119 --> 00:34:40,320
bears out his story. He ran when he saw his

644
00:34:40,360 --> 00:34:44,440
father on the ground. Then here are the father's feet

645
00:34:44,440 --> 00:34:46,800
as he paced up and down. What is this? Then?

646
00:34:47,320 --> 00:34:49,079
It is the butt end of the gun as the

647
00:34:49,119 --> 00:34:52,599
son stood listening in this Ha ha, what have we here?

648
00:34:52,719 --> 00:34:58,239
Tiptoes tiptoes square to quite unusual. Boots, they come, they go,

649
00:34:58,679 --> 00:35:01,639
they come again. Of course I was for the cloak.

650
00:35:01,679 --> 00:35:05,800
Now where did they come from? He ran up and down,

651
00:35:05,840 --> 00:35:08,880
sometimes losing, sometimes finding the track, until we were well

652
00:35:08,920 --> 00:35:11,320
within the edge of the wood and under the shadow

653
00:35:11,320 --> 00:35:13,719
of a great beach, the largest tree in the neighborhood.

654
00:35:14,440 --> 00:35:17,079
Holmes traced his way to the farther side of this

655
00:35:17,440 --> 00:35:19,360
and lay down once more, upon his face with a

656
00:35:19,400 --> 00:35:22,599
little cry of satisfaction. For a long time he remained there,

657
00:35:22,639 --> 00:35:25,480
turning over the leaves and dried sticks, gathering up what

658
00:35:25,519 --> 00:35:28,079
seemed to me to be dust into an envelope, and

659
00:35:28,159 --> 00:35:30,639
examining with his lens not only the ground, but even

660
00:35:30,679 --> 00:35:32,719
the bark of the tree. As far as he could reach.

661
00:35:33,440 --> 00:35:35,960
A jagged stone was lying among the moss, and this

662
00:35:36,360 --> 00:35:39,400
he also carefully examined and retained. Then he followed a

663
00:35:39,440 --> 00:35:42,360
pathway through the wood until he came to the high road,

664
00:35:42,440 --> 00:35:47,079
where all traces were lost. It has been a case

665
00:35:47,119 --> 00:35:50,599
of considerable interest, he remarked, returning to his natural manner.

666
00:35:51,000 --> 00:35:53,719
I fancy that this gray house on the right must

667
00:35:53,760 --> 00:35:55,519
be the lodge. I think that I will go in

668
00:35:55,599 --> 00:35:57,559
and have a word with Moran, and perhaps write a

669
00:35:57,559 --> 00:36:00,280
little note. Having done that, we may drive back to

670
00:36:00,320 --> 00:36:02,480
our luncheon. You may walk to the cab, and I

671
00:36:02,519 --> 00:36:07,079
shall be with you. Presently. It was about ten minutes

672
00:36:07,119 --> 00:36:09,719
before we've regained our cab and drove back into Ross

673
00:36:10,039 --> 00:36:12,400
Holmes still carrying with him the stone which he had

674
00:36:12,440 --> 00:36:15,800
picked up in the wood. This may interest you, lestrade,

675
00:36:15,880 --> 00:36:18,440
he remarked, holding it out. The murder was done with it.

676
00:36:19,519 --> 00:36:24,559
I see no marks, there are none. How do you know? Then?

677
00:36:25,559 --> 00:36:28,440
The grass was growing under it? It had only lain

678
00:36:28,480 --> 00:36:30,440
there a few days. There was no sign of a

679
00:36:30,440 --> 00:36:33,320
place whence it had been taken. It corresponds with the injuries.

680
00:36:33,320 --> 00:36:35,639
There is no sign of any other weapon, and the

681
00:36:35,719 --> 00:36:40,159
murderer is a tall man, left handed, limps with the

682
00:36:40,239 --> 00:36:42,920
right leg where its thick soled, shooting boots and a

683
00:36:42,960 --> 00:36:46,639
gray cloak. Smokes Indian cigars, uses a cigar holder, and

684
00:36:46,679 --> 00:36:50,079
clarries a blunt penknife in his pocket. There are several

685
00:36:50,119 --> 00:36:52,679
other indications, but these may be enough to aid us

686
00:36:52,679 --> 00:36:57,360
in our search. The Strade laughed, I am afraid that

687
00:36:57,480 --> 00:37:01,440
I am still a skeptic. He saides, are all very well,

688
00:37:01,480 --> 00:37:04,039
but we have to deal with a hard headed British jury.

689
00:37:04,920 --> 00:37:08,840
Nou vent, answered Holmes, calmly. You work your own method,

690
00:37:09,039 --> 00:37:11,920
and I shall work mine. I shall be busy this afternoon,

691
00:37:11,920 --> 00:37:14,400
and shall probably return to London by the evening train,

692
00:37:14,800 --> 00:37:19,320
and leave your case unfinished. No finished, But the mystery

693
00:37:19,880 --> 00:37:23,719
it is solved. Who is the criminal? Then the gentleman

694
00:37:23,800 --> 00:37:27,800
I describe? But who is he? Surely it would not

695
00:37:27,840 --> 00:37:30,000
be difficult to find out that this is not such

696
00:37:30,000 --> 00:37:35,639
a populous neighborhood. Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. I am a

697
00:37:35,679 --> 00:37:39,440
practical man, he said, and I really cannot undertake to

698
00:37:39,440 --> 00:37:41,920
go about the country looking for a left handed gentleman

699
00:37:42,079 --> 00:37:44,440
with a game leg. I should become the laughing stock

700
00:37:44,480 --> 00:37:50,280
of Scotland. Yard all right, said Holmes quietly. I have

701
00:37:50,360 --> 00:37:52,719
given you the chance. Here are your lodgings. Good bye.

702
00:37:52,760 --> 00:37:56,559
I shall drop your line before I leave. Having left

703
00:37:56,639 --> 00:37:58,840
Lestrade at his rooms, we drove to our hotel, where

704
00:37:58,880 --> 00:38:02,000
we found lunch upon the table. Holmes was silent and

705
00:38:02,039 --> 00:38:04,599
buried in thought, with a pain expression upon his face,

706
00:38:04,960 --> 00:38:10,079
as one who finds himself in a perplexing position. Look here, Watson,

707
00:38:10,440 --> 00:38:12,920
he said. When the cloth was cleared, just sit down

708
00:38:12,960 --> 00:38:14,719
in this chair and let me preach to you. For

709
00:38:14,760 --> 00:38:17,280
a little. I don't know quite what to do when

710
00:38:17,280 --> 00:38:20,039
I should value your advice. Light a cigar and let

711
00:38:20,079 --> 00:38:25,559
me expound. Pray do so well. Now, in considering this case,

712
00:38:25,599 --> 00:38:27,960
there are two points about young mac carthy's narrative which

713
00:38:27,960 --> 00:38:31,079
struck us both instantly, although they impressed me in his

714
00:38:31,199 --> 00:38:34,760
favor and you against him. One was the fact that

715
00:38:34,840 --> 00:38:37,760
his father should, according to his account, cry coui before

716
00:38:37,800 --> 00:38:41,360
seeing him. The other was his singular, dying reference to

717
00:38:41,440 --> 00:38:45,000
a rat. He mumbled several words, you understand, but that

718
00:38:45,280 --> 00:38:48,519
was all that caught the son's ear. Now from this

719
00:38:48,719 --> 00:38:52,039
double point, our research must commence, and we will begin

720
00:38:52,119 --> 00:38:56,599
it by presuming that what the lad says is absolutely true.

721
00:38:57,000 --> 00:39:01,760
What of this coui? Then, well, obviously it could not

722
00:39:01,880 --> 00:39:04,000
have been meant for the sun. The sun, as far

723
00:39:04,039 --> 00:39:06,639
as he knew, was in Bristol. It was mere chance

724
00:39:06,679 --> 00:39:09,360
that he was within earshot. The coui was meant to

725
00:39:09,400 --> 00:39:11,880
attract the attention of whoever it was that he had

726
00:39:11,880 --> 00:39:16,280
the appointment with. But coui is a distinctly Australian cry,

727
00:39:16,360 --> 00:39:20,079
and one which is used between Australians. There is a

728
00:39:20,119 --> 00:39:23,119
strong presumption that the person whom MacCarthy expected to meet

729
00:39:23,159 --> 00:39:28,599
him at Boscombe Pool was someone who had been in Australia.

730
00:39:28,880 --> 00:39:32,199
What of the rat, then, Sherlock Holmes took a folded

731
00:39:32,239 --> 00:39:34,800
paper from his pocket and flattened it out on the table.

732
00:39:35,559 --> 00:39:38,360
This is a map of the colony of Victoria, he said,

733
00:39:38,800 --> 00:39:41,960
I wired to Bristol for it last night. He put

734
00:39:42,000 --> 00:39:44,519
his hand over part of the map. What do you read,

735
00:39:45,679 --> 00:39:51,800
A rat? I read, And now he raised his hand. Balarat.

736
00:39:52,960 --> 00:39:56,519
Quite so, that was the word the man uttered, and

737
00:39:56,559 --> 00:39:59,360
of which his son only caught the last two syllables.

738
00:39:59,679 --> 00:40:02,639
He was trying to utter the name of his murderer,

739
00:40:03,039 --> 00:40:08,639
so and so of Ballarat. It is wonderful, I exclaimed,

740
00:40:09,840 --> 00:40:12,599
it is obvious, And now you see I had narrowed

741
00:40:12,599 --> 00:40:15,519
the field down considerably. The possession of a gray garment

742
00:40:15,639 --> 00:40:18,079
was a third point, which, granting the Sun's statement to

743
00:40:18,119 --> 00:40:21,119
be correct, was a certainty. We have come now out

744
00:40:21,119 --> 00:40:24,039
of mere vagueness to the definite conception of an Australian

745
00:40:24,079 --> 00:40:28,159
from Ballarat with a gray cloak, certainly, and one who

746
00:40:28,199 --> 00:40:30,159
was at home in the district. For the pool can

747
00:40:30,199 --> 00:40:32,679
only be approached by the farm or by the estate,

748
00:40:32,920 --> 00:40:37,480
where strangers could hardly wander. Quite So then comes our

749
00:40:37,519 --> 00:40:40,360
expedition of to day. By an examination of the ground,

750
00:40:40,360 --> 00:40:42,800
I gained the trifling details which I gave to that

751
00:40:43,000 --> 00:40:46,920
imbecile astrade as to the personality of the criminal. But

752
00:40:47,320 --> 00:40:50,360
how did you gain them? You know my method? It

753
00:40:50,400 --> 00:40:54,480
is founded upon the observation of trifles. His height, I

754
00:40:54,599 --> 00:40:56,519
might know that you might roughly judge from the length

755
00:40:56,519 --> 00:40:59,000
of his stride. His boots, too might be told from

756
00:40:59,000 --> 00:41:03,280
their traces. Yes, they were peculiar boots. But his lameness,

757
00:41:03,880 --> 00:41:06,440
the impression of his right foot was always less distinct

758
00:41:06,519 --> 00:41:08,599
than his left. He put less weight upon it. Why

759
00:41:08,960 --> 00:41:12,519
because he limped he was lame. But his left handedness.

760
00:41:13,519 --> 00:41:16,159
You were yourself struck by the nature of the injury.

761
00:41:16,199 --> 00:41:19,039
As recorded by the surgeon at the inquest, the blow

762
00:41:19,159 --> 00:41:21,480
was struck from immediately behind it, yet was upon the

763
00:41:21,559 --> 00:41:24,920
left side. Now, how can that be unless it were

764
00:41:25,000 --> 00:41:27,599
by a left handed man. He had stood behind that

765
00:41:27,679 --> 00:41:30,559
tree during the interview between the father and son. He

766
00:41:30,599 --> 00:41:33,400
had even smoked. There. I found the ash of a cigar,

767
00:41:33,559 --> 00:41:36,559
which my special knowledge of tobacco ashes enables me to

768
00:41:36,599 --> 00:41:39,440
pronounce as an Indian cigar. I have, as you know,

769
00:41:39,599 --> 00:41:42,480
devoted some attention to this and written a little monograph

770
00:41:42,559 --> 00:41:44,920
on the ashes of one hundred and forty different varieties

771
00:41:44,920 --> 00:41:47,800
of pipe cigar and cigarette tobacco. Having found the ash,

772
00:41:47,800 --> 00:41:50,199
I then looked round and discovered the stump among the

773
00:41:50,239 --> 00:41:52,559
moss where he had tossed it. It was an Indian

774
00:41:52,559 --> 00:41:56,360
cigar of the variety which are rolled in Rottendam, and

775
00:41:56,440 --> 00:41:59,280
the cigar holder I could see that the end had

776
00:41:59,280 --> 00:42:01,280
not been in his mouth, therefore he used to hold her.

777
00:42:01,719 --> 00:42:03,679
The tip had been cut off, not bitten off, but

778
00:42:03,679 --> 00:42:05,840
the cut was not a clean one, so I deduced

779
00:42:05,840 --> 00:42:10,800
a blunt penknife. Holmes, I said, you have drawn a

780
00:42:10,880 --> 00:42:13,679
net round this man, from which he cannot escape, and

781
00:42:13,760 --> 00:42:16,440
you have saved an innocent human life, as truly as

782
00:42:16,440 --> 00:42:18,360
if you had cut the cord which was hanging him.

783
00:42:18,559 --> 00:42:20,880
I see the direction in which all this points the

784
00:42:20,880 --> 00:42:25,559
culprit is mister John Turner, cried the hotel waiter, opening

785
00:42:25,559 --> 00:42:27,800
the door of our sitting room and uttering in a visitor.

786
00:42:30,480 --> 00:42:33,280
The man who entered was a strange and impressive figure.

787
00:42:34,119 --> 00:42:37,320
His slow limping step and bowed shoulders gave the appearance

788
00:42:37,360 --> 00:42:40,920
of decrepitude, and yet his hard, deep lined, craggy features,

789
00:42:40,960 --> 00:42:43,679
and his enormous limbs showed that he was possessed of

790
00:42:43,760 --> 00:42:47,639
unusual strength of body and of character. His tangled beard,

791
00:42:47,639 --> 00:42:51,159
grizzled hair, and outstanding, drooping eyebrows combined to give an

792
00:42:51,159 --> 00:42:54,239
air of dignity and power to his appearance. But his

793
00:42:54,320 --> 00:42:57,000
face was of an ashen white, while his lips and

794
00:42:57,039 --> 00:42:59,199
the corners of his nostrils were tinged with a shade

795
00:42:59,199 --> 00:43:02,119
of blue. It was clear to me at a glance

796
00:43:02,440 --> 00:43:04,159
that he was in the grip of some deadly and

797
00:43:04,239 --> 00:43:09,960
chronic disease. Pray, sit down on the sofa, said Holmes gently.

798
00:43:10,280 --> 00:43:14,320
You had my note, Yes, the lodge keeper brought it up.

799
00:43:14,800 --> 00:43:16,519
You said that you wished to see me here to

800
00:43:16,559 --> 00:43:20,280
avoid scandal. I thought people would talk if I went

801
00:43:20,599 --> 00:43:23,559
to the hall. And why did you wish to see me?

802
00:43:24,119 --> 00:43:26,760
He looked across at my companion with despair in his

803
00:43:26,840 --> 00:43:32,079
weary eyes, as though his question was already answered. Yes,

804
00:43:32,519 --> 00:43:36,400
said Holmes, answering the look rather than the words. It

805
00:43:36,480 --> 00:43:41,719
is so I know all about MacCarthy. The old man

806
00:43:41,760 --> 00:43:46,199
sank his face in his hands. God help me, he cried.

807
00:43:47,000 --> 00:43:48,960
But I would not have let the young man come

808
00:43:49,000 --> 00:43:52,119
to harm. I give you my word that I would

809
00:43:52,119 --> 00:43:54,239
have spoken out if it went again to him at

810
00:43:54,280 --> 00:43:58,000
the assizes. I am glad to hear you say so,

811
00:43:58,599 --> 00:44:02,280
said Holmes gravely. I would have spoken now had it

812
00:44:02,320 --> 00:44:05,360
not been for my dear girl. It would break her heart.

813
00:44:05,800 --> 00:44:08,280
It will break her heart when she hears that I

814
00:44:08,320 --> 00:44:13,039
am arrested. It may not come to that, said Holmes.

815
00:44:13,719 --> 00:44:18,639
What I am no official agent. I understand that it

816
00:44:18,760 --> 00:44:21,639
was your daughter who required my presence here, and I

817
00:44:21,679 --> 00:44:26,519
am acting in her interests. Young MacCarthy must be got off. However,

818
00:44:28,360 --> 00:44:31,360
I am a dying man, said old Turner. I have

819
00:44:31,440 --> 00:44:35,360
had diabetes for years. My doctor says it is a

820
00:44:35,440 --> 00:44:38,400
question whether I shall live a month. Yet I would

821
00:44:38,480 --> 00:44:41,159
rather die under my own roof than in a jail.

822
00:44:43,119 --> 00:44:45,880
Holmes rose and sat down at the table with his

823
00:44:46,039 --> 00:44:49,360
pen in his hand and a bundle of paper before him.

824
00:44:50,800 --> 00:44:53,880
Just tell us the truth, he said. I shall jot

825
00:44:53,960 --> 00:44:57,039
down the facts, you will sign it, and Watson here

826
00:44:57,039 --> 00:45:00,760
can witness it. Then I could produce your confession at

827
00:45:00,760 --> 00:45:04,039
the last extremity to save young McCarthy. I promise you

828
00:45:04,079 --> 00:45:07,440
that I shall not use it unless it is absolutely needed.

829
00:45:10,119 --> 00:45:13,119
It's as well, said the old man. It's a question

830
00:45:13,199 --> 00:45:15,800
whether I shall live to the assizes. So it matters

831
00:45:15,880 --> 00:45:18,719
little to me, but I should wish to spare Alice

832
00:45:18,760 --> 00:45:21,719
the shock. And now I will make the thing clear

833
00:45:21,719 --> 00:45:25,000
to you. It has been a long time in the acting,

834
00:45:25,039 --> 00:45:28,760
but it will not take me long to tell you

835
00:45:28,800 --> 00:45:32,920
didn't know this dead man McCarthy. He was a devil incarnate.

836
00:45:33,079 --> 00:45:36,119
I tell you that God keep you out of the

837
00:45:36,159 --> 00:45:39,039
clutches of such a man as he. His grip has

838
00:45:39,079 --> 00:45:42,280
been upon me these twenty years, and he has blasted

839
00:45:42,400 --> 00:45:45,599
my life. I'll tell you first how I came to

840
00:45:45,639 --> 00:45:49,920
be in his power. It was in the early sixties

841
00:45:49,960 --> 00:45:52,639
at the Diggings. I was a young chap then, hot

842
00:45:52,679 --> 00:45:55,360
blooded and reckless, ready to turn my hand at anything

843
00:45:56,159 --> 00:45:59,199
I got among bad companions. Took to drink, had no

844
00:45:59,360 --> 00:46:02,280
luck with my care, took to the bush, and a

845
00:46:02,320 --> 00:46:05,119
word became what you would call over here a highway rubber.

846
00:46:05,960 --> 00:46:08,239
There were six of us, and we had a wild,

847
00:46:08,360 --> 00:46:11,199
free life of it, sticking up a station from time

848
00:46:11,239 --> 00:46:14,280
to time, or stopping the wagons on the road to

849
00:46:14,320 --> 00:46:18,000
the Diggings. Black Jack of Ballarat was the name I

850
00:46:18,039 --> 00:46:21,039
went under, and our party is still remembered in the

851
00:46:21,079 --> 00:46:27,519
colony as the Ballarat gang. One day a gold convoy

852
00:46:27,599 --> 00:46:30,360
came down from Ballarat to Melbourne, and we lay in

853
00:46:30,440 --> 00:46:33,480
wait for it and attacked it. There were six troopers

854
00:46:33,519 --> 00:46:35,360
and six of us, so it was a close thing,

855
00:46:35,400 --> 00:46:37,880
but we emptied four of their saddles. At the first volley,

856
00:46:38,440 --> 00:46:40,719
three of our boys were killed. However, before we got

857
00:46:40,760 --> 00:46:43,480
the swag, I put my pistol to the head of

858
00:46:43,519 --> 00:46:47,760
the wagon driver, who was this very man McCarthy. I

859
00:46:47,840 --> 00:46:50,000
wished to the Lord that I had shot him then,

860
00:46:50,079 --> 00:46:52,519
but I spared him, though I saw his wicked little

861
00:46:52,519 --> 00:46:55,800
eyes fixed on my face, as though to remember every feature.

862
00:46:56,800 --> 00:46:59,280
We got away with the gold, became wealthy men, and

863
00:46:59,320 --> 00:47:02,960
made our way over to England without being suspected. There

864
00:47:03,039 --> 00:47:05,559
I parted from my old pals and determined to settle

865
00:47:05,599 --> 00:47:10,400
down to a quiet and respectable life. I bought this estate,

866
00:47:10,519 --> 00:47:13,320
which chanced to be in the market, and I set

867
00:47:13,360 --> 00:47:15,280
myself to do a little good with my money to

868
00:47:15,320 --> 00:47:17,480
make up for the way in which I had earned it.

869
00:47:19,000 --> 00:47:21,599
I married, too, and though my wife died young, she

870
00:47:21,760 --> 00:47:25,280
left me my dear little Alice, even when she was

871
00:47:25,400 --> 00:47:28,079
just a baby. Her wee hand seemed to lead me

872
00:47:28,119 --> 00:47:31,119
down the right path, as nothing else had ever done.

873
00:47:31,360 --> 00:47:34,039
In a word, I turned over a new leaf and

874
00:47:34,119 --> 00:47:37,000
did my best to make up for the past. All

875
00:47:37,159 --> 00:47:39,559
was going well when MacCarthy laid his grip upon me.

876
00:47:40,280 --> 00:47:43,239
I had gone up to town about an investment, and

877
00:47:43,360 --> 00:47:45,440
I met him in Regent Street with hardly a coat

878
00:47:45,480 --> 00:47:48,880
to his back or a boot to his foot. Here

879
00:47:48,920 --> 00:47:51,480
we are, jack, says he, touching me on the arm.

880
00:47:51,960 --> 00:47:54,480
We'll be as good as a family to you. There's

881
00:47:54,559 --> 00:47:57,360
two of us, me and my son, and you can

882
00:47:57,400 --> 00:48:01,280
have the keeping of us if you don't. It's a fine,

883
00:48:01,400 --> 00:48:05,079
law abiding country is England, and there's always a policeman

884
00:48:05,280 --> 00:48:10,840
within hail well down. They came to the West Country.

885
00:48:10,880 --> 00:48:13,599
There was no shaking them off, and there they have

886
00:48:13,719 --> 00:48:16,639
lived rent free on my best land ever since. There

887
00:48:16,719 --> 00:48:20,119
was no rest for me, no peace, no forgetfulness. Turned

888
00:48:20,119 --> 00:48:23,519
where I would, there was his cunning, grinning face at

889
00:48:23,519 --> 00:48:27,519
my elbow. It grew worse as Alice grew up, for

890
00:48:27,599 --> 00:48:29,920
he soon saw I was more afraid of her knowing

891
00:48:29,960 --> 00:48:32,920
my past than of the police. Whatever he wanted he

892
00:48:33,039 --> 00:48:38,880
must have, and whatever it was I gave him without question, land, money, houses,

893
00:48:39,280 --> 00:48:41,880
until at last he asked a thing which I could

894
00:48:41,960 --> 00:48:47,400
not give he asked for alice. His son, you see,

895
00:48:47,440 --> 00:48:51,159
had grown up, and so had my girl, and as

896
00:48:51,280 --> 00:48:53,360
I was known to be in weak health, it seemed

897
00:48:53,360 --> 00:48:55,639
to find stroke to him that his lad should step

898
00:48:55,679 --> 00:48:59,480
into the whole property. But there I was firm. I

899
00:48:59,519 --> 00:49:04,079
would not have his cursed stock mixed with mine. Not

900
00:49:04,320 --> 00:49:06,400
that I had any dislike to the lad, but his

901
00:49:06,519 --> 00:49:09,920
blood was in him, and that was enough. I stood firm.

902
00:49:10,199 --> 00:49:14,039
MacCarthy threatened, I braved him to do his worst. We

903
00:49:14,079 --> 00:49:16,360
were to meet at the pool midway between our houses

904
00:49:16,360 --> 00:49:18,920
to talk it over. When I went down there, I

905
00:49:18,920 --> 00:49:21,079
found him talking with his son. So I smoked a

906
00:49:21,119 --> 00:49:24,639
cigar and waited behind a tree until he should be alone.

907
00:49:25,000 --> 00:49:27,239
But as I listened to his talk, all that was

908
00:49:27,280 --> 00:49:31,280
black and bitter in me seemed to come uppermost. He

909
00:49:31,440 --> 00:49:33,639
was urging his son to marry my daughter, with his

910
00:49:33,719 --> 00:49:36,000
little regard for what she might think, as if she

911
00:49:36,079 --> 00:49:38,920
were a slut from off the streets. It drove me

912
00:49:39,119 --> 00:49:41,800
mad to think that I and all that I held

913
00:49:41,840 --> 00:49:44,199
most dear, should be in the power of such a

914
00:49:44,239 --> 00:49:47,440
man as this. Could I not snap the bond. I

915
00:49:47,559 --> 00:49:51,440
was already a dying and desperate man, though clear of

916
00:49:51,519 --> 00:49:54,159
mind and fairly strong of limb. I knew that my

917
00:49:54,239 --> 00:49:58,119
own fate was sealed, but my memory and my girl

918
00:49:58,440 --> 00:50:00,960
both could be saved if I could but silence that

919
00:50:01,039 --> 00:50:05,239
foul tongue. I did it, mister Holmes. I would do

920
00:50:05,320 --> 00:50:08,880
it again, deeply as I have sinned. I have led

921
00:50:08,880 --> 00:50:11,800
a life of martyrdom to atone for it. But that

922
00:50:12,000 --> 00:50:15,039
my girl should be entangled in the same meshes which

923
00:50:15,079 --> 00:50:18,400
held me was more than I could suffer. I struck

924
00:50:18,559 --> 00:50:21,639
him down with no more compunction than if he had

925
00:50:21,679 --> 00:50:25,679
been some foul and venomous beast. His cry brought back

926
00:50:25,760 --> 00:50:29,360
his son, but I had gained the cover of the wood,

927
00:50:30,119 --> 00:50:31,800
though I was forced to go back to fetch the

928
00:50:31,840 --> 00:50:35,599
cloak which I had dropped in my flight. That is

929
00:50:35,639 --> 00:50:42,800
the true story, gentlemen, of all that occurred. Well, it

930
00:50:42,840 --> 00:50:45,320
is not for me to judge, you, said Holmes, as

931
00:50:45,360 --> 00:50:47,719
the old man signed the statement which had been drawn out.

932
00:50:48,360 --> 00:50:50,719
I pray that we may never be exposed to such

933
00:50:50,760 --> 00:50:54,960
a temptation. I pray not, sir. And what do you

934
00:50:55,000 --> 00:51:00,639
intend to do in view of your health? Nothing. You

935
00:51:00,719 --> 00:51:03,119
are yourself aware that you will soon have to answer

936
00:51:03,159 --> 00:51:05,639
for your deed at a higher court than the Assizes.

937
00:51:06,440 --> 00:51:09,199
I will keep your confession, and if MacCarthy is condemned,

938
00:51:09,400 --> 00:51:12,159
I shall be forced to use it. If not, it

939
00:51:12,239 --> 00:51:15,199
shall never be seen by mortal eye. And your secret,

940
00:51:15,599 --> 00:51:21,840
whether you be alive or dead, shall be safe with us. Farewell, then,

941
00:51:22,119 --> 00:51:25,719
said the old man, solemnly. Your own death beds, when

942
00:51:25,760 --> 00:51:28,840
they come, will be the easier for the thought of

943
00:51:28,880 --> 00:51:32,360
the peace which you have given to mine. Tottering and

944
00:51:32,440 --> 00:51:36,400
shaking in all his giant frame, he stumbled slowly from

945
00:51:36,440 --> 00:51:42,280
the room. God help us, said Holmes, after a long silence.

946
00:51:43,119 --> 00:51:47,159
Why does fate play such tricks with poor helpless worms.

947
00:51:48,079 --> 00:51:50,079
I never hear of such a case as this that

948
00:51:50,159 --> 00:51:53,440
I do not think of Baxter's words and say, there

949
00:51:53,639 --> 00:51:59,039
but for the grace of God, go Sherlock Holmes. James

950
00:51:59,119 --> 00:52:01,840
McCarthy was a quick at the assizes on the strength

951
00:52:01,840 --> 00:52:03,880
of a number of objections which had been drawn out

952
00:52:03,880 --> 00:52:08,119
by Holmes and submitted to the defending council. Old Turner

953
00:52:08,199 --> 00:52:10,960
lived for seven months after our interview. But he is

954
00:52:11,000 --> 00:52:14,159
now dead, and there is every prospect that the son

955
00:52:14,239 --> 00:52:17,239
and daughter may come to live happily together in ignorance

956
00:52:17,440 --> 00:52:20,400
of the black cloud which rests upon their past.