WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.960 --> 00:00:08.080 The adventure of the Devil's Foot. In recording from time 2 00:00:08.119 --> 00:00:12.599 to time some of the curious experiences and interesting recollections 3 00:00:13.039 --> 00:00:16.280 which I associate with my long and intimate friendship with 4 00:00:16.359 --> 00:00:20.600 mister Sherlock Holmes. I have continually been faced by difficulties 5 00:00:20.800 --> 00:00:25.559 caused by his own aversion to publicity. To his somber 6 00:00:25.600 --> 00:00:30.320 and cynical spirit, all popular applause was always a borrnd, 7 00:00:31.440 --> 00:00:33.520 and nothing amused him more at the end of a 8 00:00:33.560 --> 00:00:38.200 successful case than to hand over the actual exposure to 9 00:00:38.320 --> 00:00:42.840 some orthodox official and to listen, with a mocking smile 10 00:00:43.000 --> 00:00:48.399 to the general chorus of misplaced congratulation. It was indeed 11 00:00:48.399 --> 00:00:52.079 this attitude upon the part of my friend, and certainly 12 00:00:52.119 --> 00:00:56.039 not any lack of interesting material, which has caused me 13 00:00:56.320 --> 00:00:59.560 of late years to lay very few of my records 14 00:00:59.600 --> 00:01:04.040 before the public. My participation in some of his adventures 15 00:01:04.680 --> 00:01:10.040 was always a privilege which entailed discretion and reticence upon me. 16 00:01:11.519 --> 00:01:14.400 It was then with considerable surprise that I received a 17 00:01:14.439 --> 00:01:18.920 telegram from Holmes last Tuesday. He has never been known 18 00:01:18.959 --> 00:01:23.319 to write where a telegram would serve in the following terms, 19 00:01:24.680 --> 00:01:29.519 why not tell them of the cornish horror strangest case 20 00:01:29.640 --> 00:01:34.359 I have handled. I have no idea what backward sweep 21 00:01:34.400 --> 00:01:37.599 of memory had brought the matter fresh to his mind, 22 00:01:38.680 --> 00:01:41.640 for what freak had caused him to desire that I 23 00:01:41.680 --> 00:01:47.239 should recount it. But I hasten before another canceling telegram 24 00:01:47.280 --> 00:01:50.159 may arrive to hunt out the notes which give me 25 00:01:50.280 --> 00:01:53.799 the exact details of the case, and to lay the 26 00:01:53.879 --> 00:01:58.959 narrative before my readers. It was then, in the spring 27 00:01:59.120 --> 00:02:03.439 of the year eighteen ninety seven that Holmes's Iron Constitution 28 00:02:03.640 --> 00:02:07.200 showed some symptoms of giving way in the face of 29 00:02:07.280 --> 00:02:12.560 constant hard work of a most exacting kind, aggravated perhaps 30 00:02:13.159 --> 00:02:18.319 by occasional indiscretions of his own. In March of that year, 31 00:02:18.879 --> 00:02:24.280 Dr Moore, Agar of Harley Street, whose dramatic introduction to 32 00:02:24.360 --> 00:02:29.120 Holmes I may someday recount, gave positive injunctions that the 33 00:02:29.159 --> 00:02:33.360 famous private agent lay aside all his cases and surrender 34 00:02:33.439 --> 00:02:37.199 himself to complete rest if he wished to avert an 35 00:02:37.240 --> 00:02:41.360 absolute breakdown. The state of his health was not a 36 00:02:41.400 --> 00:02:45.159 matter in which he himself took the faintest interest, for 37 00:02:45.240 --> 00:02:49.719 his mental detachment was absolute. But he was induced at last, 38 00:02:49.800 --> 00:02:53.719 on the threat of being permanently disqualified from work, to 39 00:02:53.800 --> 00:02:58.840 give himself a complete change of scene and air. Thus 40 00:02:58.879 --> 00:03:00.879 it was that in the u s the early spring 41 00:03:00.960 --> 00:03:04.800 of that year, we found ourselves together in a small 42 00:03:04.840 --> 00:03:09.159 cottage near Poldieue Bay, at the further extremity of the 43 00:03:09.319 --> 00:03:15.599 Cornish Peninsula. It was a singular spot, and one peculiarly 44 00:03:15.680 --> 00:03:20.439 well suited to the grim humor of my patient. From 45 00:03:20.520 --> 00:03:24.360 the windows of our little whitewashed house, which stood high 46 00:03:24.479 --> 00:03:28.080 upon a grassy headland, we looked down upon the whole 47 00:03:28.159 --> 00:03:33.400 sinister semicircle of Mount's Bay, that old death trap of 48 00:03:33.520 --> 00:03:38.319 sailing vessels, with its fringe of black cliffs and surge 49 00:03:38.400 --> 00:03:43.000 swept reefs on which innumerable seamen have met their end 50 00:03:44.199 --> 00:03:49.199 with the northerly breeze. It lies placid and sheltered, inviting 51 00:03:49.240 --> 00:03:52.639 the storm tossed craft to tack into it for rest 52 00:03:52.719 --> 00:03:57.240 and protection. Then come the sudden swirl round of the wind, 53 00:03:57.639 --> 00:04:01.840 the blistering gale from the southwest, the dragging anchor the 54 00:04:01.960 --> 00:04:06.319 lee shore, and the last battle in the creaming breakers. 55 00:04:07.560 --> 00:04:11.759 The wise Mariner stands far out from that evil place. 56 00:04:13.719 --> 00:04:17.680 On the land side, our surroundings were a somber as 57 00:04:17.720 --> 00:04:21.399 on the sea. It was a country of rolling moors, 58 00:04:21.560 --> 00:04:25.879 lonely and dun colored, with an occasional church tower to 59 00:04:26.000 --> 00:04:29.759 mark the site of some old world village. In every 60 00:04:29.800 --> 00:04:32.920 direction upon these moors there were traces of some vanished 61 00:04:33.040 --> 00:04:37.240 race which had passed utterly away and left as its 62 00:04:37.240 --> 00:04:42.839 sole record, strange monuments of stone, irregular mounds which contained 63 00:04:42.879 --> 00:04:47.040 the burned ashes of the dead, and curious earthworks which 64 00:04:47.120 --> 00:04:52.879 hinted at prehistoric strife. The glamor and mystery of the place, 65 00:04:53.680 --> 00:04:58.120 with its sinister atmosphere of forgotten nations, appealed to the 66 00:04:58.160 --> 00:05:01.560 imagination of my friend, and he spent much of his 67 00:05:01.639 --> 00:05:05.360 time in long walks and solitary meditations upon the moor. 68 00:05:06.759 --> 00:05:11.959 The ancient Cornish language had also arrested his attention, and 69 00:05:12.079 --> 00:05:15.439 he had, i remember, conceived the idea that it was 70 00:05:15.480 --> 00:05:19.560 akin to the Chaldean and had been largely derived from 71 00:05:19.639 --> 00:05:25.000 the Phoenician traders in Tin. He had received a consignment 72 00:05:25.040 --> 00:05:29.519 of books upon philology, and was settling down to develop 73 00:05:29.639 --> 00:05:34.240 this thesis, when suddenly, to my sorrow and to his 74 00:05:34.480 --> 00:05:39.439 unfeigned delight, we found ourselves, even in that land of dreams, 75 00:05:39.920 --> 00:05:43.680 plunged into a problem at our very doors, which was 76 00:05:43.759 --> 00:05:48.519 more intense more engrossing and infinitely more mysterious than any 77 00:05:48.560 --> 00:05:52.759 of those which had driven us from London. Our simple 78 00:05:52.839 --> 00:05:58.920 life and peaceful, healthy routine were violently interrupted, and we 79 00:05:58.920 --> 00:06:02.240 were precipitated into the midst of a series of events 80 00:06:02.959 --> 00:06:07.199 which caused the utmost excitement, not only in Cornwall, but 81 00:06:07.240 --> 00:06:11.240 throughout the whole West of England. Many of my readers 82 00:06:11.319 --> 00:06:14.279 may retain some recollection of what was called at the 83 00:06:14.360 --> 00:06:19.920 time the Cornish Horror, though a most imperfect account of 84 00:06:19.959 --> 00:06:24.800 the matter reached the London press. Now, after thirteen years, 85 00:06:25.639 --> 00:06:29.480 I will give the true details of this inconceivable affair 86 00:06:29.839 --> 00:06:35.120 to the public. I have said that scattered towers marked 87 00:06:35.160 --> 00:06:39.879 the villages which dotted this part of Cornwall. The nearest 88 00:06:39.879 --> 00:06:44.000 of these was the hamlet of Tredanic Wallas, where the 89 00:06:44.040 --> 00:06:47.879 cottages of a couple of hundred inhabitants clustered round an 90 00:06:47.920 --> 00:06:53.439 ancient moss grown church. The vicar of the parish, mister Roundhey, 91 00:06:54.160 --> 00:06:58.120 was something of an archaeologist, and as such Holmes had 92 00:06:58.160 --> 00:07:02.439 made his acquaintance. He was a middle aged man, portly 93 00:07:02.519 --> 00:07:08.000 and affable, with a considerable fund of local law. At 94 00:07:08.040 --> 00:07:11.120 his invitation, we had taken tea at the vicarage, and 95 00:07:11.199 --> 00:07:15.720 had come to know also mister Mortimer Tregennis, an independent 96 00:07:15.839 --> 00:07:21.160 gentleman who increased the clergyman's scanty resources by taking rooms 97 00:07:21.240 --> 00:07:26.120 in his large, straggling house. The vicar, being a bachelor, 98 00:07:26.879 --> 00:07:29.920 was glad to come to such an arrangement, though he 99 00:07:30.000 --> 00:07:33.399 had little in common with his lodger, who was a thin, 100 00:07:33.720 --> 00:07:38.480 dark spectacled man with a stoop which gave the impression 101 00:07:38.519 --> 00:07:43.160 of actual physical deformity. I remember that during our short 102 00:07:43.240 --> 00:07:47.519 visit we found the vicar garrulous, but his lodger strangely reticent, 103 00:07:48.720 --> 00:07:53.839 a sad faced, introspective man sitting with averted eyes, brooding 104 00:07:53.879 --> 00:07:57.920 apparently upon his own affairs. These were the two men 105 00:07:57.959 --> 00:08:01.720 who entered abruptly into our little sitting room on Tuesday, 106 00:08:01.800 --> 00:08:07.120 March the sixteenth, shortly after our breakfast hour, preparatory to 107 00:08:07.199 --> 00:08:11.839 our daily excursion upon the moors. Mister Holmes said the 108 00:08:11.920 --> 00:08:15.959 Vicar in an agitated voice, the most extraordinary and tragic 109 00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:18.600 affair has occurred during the night. It is the most 110 00:08:18.680 --> 00:08:21.600 unheard of business. We can only regard it as a 111 00:08:21.639 --> 00:08:24.680 special providence that you should chance to be here at 112 00:08:24.720 --> 00:08:28.160 the time, For in all England you are the one 113 00:08:28.240 --> 00:08:32.519 man we need. I glared at the intrusive vicar with 114 00:08:32.639 --> 00:08:36.679 no very friendly eyes. But Holmes took his pipe from 115 00:08:36.679 --> 00:08:39.799 his lips and sat up in his chair like an 116 00:08:39.799 --> 00:08:44.120 old hound who hears the view halloo. He waved his 117 00:08:44.240 --> 00:08:48.000 hands to the sofa, and our palpitating visitor with his 118 00:08:48.240 --> 00:08:54.159 agitated companion, sat side by side upon it. Mister Mortimer 119 00:08:54.200 --> 00:08:58.519 Tregenis was more self contained than the clergyman, but the 120 00:08:58.559 --> 00:09:01.519 twitching of his thin hand and the brightness of his 121 00:09:01.720 --> 00:09:06.519 dark eyes showed that they shared a common emotion. Shall 122 00:09:06.559 --> 00:09:10.320 I speak or you, he asked of the vicar. Well, 123 00:09:10.679 --> 00:09:13.440 as you seem to have made the discovery, whatever it 124 00:09:13.519 --> 00:09:16.440 may be, and the Vicar to have had it second hand, 125 00:09:17.159 --> 00:09:21.679 perhaps you had better do the speaking, said Holmes. I 126 00:09:21.759 --> 00:09:26.360 glanced at the hastily clad clergyman with the formerly dressed 127 00:09:26.440 --> 00:09:30.600 lodger seated beside him, and was amused at the surprise 128 00:09:30.799 --> 00:09:35.759 which Holmes's simple deduction had brought to their faces. Perhaps 129 00:09:35.799 --> 00:09:38.960 I had best say a few words first, said the vicar, 130 00:09:39.879 --> 00:09:41.840 and then you can judge if you will listen to 131 00:09:41.919 --> 00:09:45.960 the details from mister Tregennis, or whether we should not 132 00:09:46.080 --> 00:09:49.159 hasten at once to the scene of this mysterious affair. 133 00:09:50.759 --> 00:09:55.039 I may explain then that our friend here spent last 134 00:09:55.159 --> 00:10:00.440 evening in the company of his two brothers, Owen and George, 135 00:10:00.600 --> 00:10:05.480 and of his sister Brenda, at their house of tredanic Wartha, 136 00:10:06.039 --> 00:10:09.240 which is near the Old Stone Cross upon the Moor. 137 00:10:10.120 --> 00:10:14.159 He left them shortly after ten o'clock playing cards round 138 00:10:14.159 --> 00:10:18.639 the dining room table, in excellent health and spirits. This morning, 139 00:10:18.720 --> 00:10:21.879 being an early riser, he walked in that direction before 140 00:10:21.919 --> 00:10:25.879 breakfast and was overtaken by the carriage of doctor Richards, 141 00:10:26.240 --> 00:10:28.519 who explained that he had just been sent for on 142 00:10:28.600 --> 00:10:33.720 a most urgent call to tredanic Wartha. Mister Mortimer Tregenis 143 00:10:33.799 --> 00:10:37.679 naturally went with him. When he arrived at tredanic Wartha, 144 00:10:38.200 --> 00:10:42.639 he found an extraordinary state of things. His two brothers 145 00:10:42.679 --> 00:10:46.840 and his sister were seated round the table exactly as 146 00:10:46.840 --> 00:10:49.679 he had left them, the cards still spread in front 147 00:10:49.720 --> 00:10:52.559 of them, and the candles burned down to their sockets. 148 00:10:53.080 --> 00:10:57.240 The sister lay back stone dead in her chair, while 149 00:10:57.279 --> 00:11:00.000 the two brothers sat on each side of her, laughing, 150 00:11:00.600 --> 00:11:04.519 shouting and singing, the senses stricken clean out of them, 151 00:11:05.159 --> 00:11:07.559 all three of them. The dead woman and the two 152 00:11:07.600 --> 00:11:11.399 demented men retained upon their faces an expression of the 153 00:11:11.519 --> 00:11:15.399 utmost horror, a convulsion of terror which was dreadful to 154 00:11:15.440 --> 00:11:18.440 look upon. There was no sign of the presence of 155 00:11:18.480 --> 00:11:21.399 anyone in the house except missus Porter, the old cook 156 00:11:21.440 --> 00:11:25.039 and housekeeper, who declared that she had slept deeply and 157 00:11:25.159 --> 00:11:29.039 heard no sound during the night. Nothing had been stolen 158 00:11:29.159 --> 00:11:33.120 or disarranged. And there is absolutely no explanation of what 159 00:11:33.360 --> 00:11:35.879 the horror can be which has frightened a woman to 160 00:11:36.000 --> 00:11:41.399 death and two strong men out of their senses. There 161 00:11:41.480 --> 00:11:45.320 is the situation, mister Holmes, in a nutshell, and if 162 00:11:45.360 --> 00:11:47.799 you can help us to clear it up, you will 163 00:11:47.840 --> 00:11:51.360 have done a great work. I had hoped that in 164 00:11:51.440 --> 00:11:54.480 some way I could coax my companion back into the 165 00:11:54.600 --> 00:11:58.559 quiet which had been the object of our journey. But 166 00:11:58.639 --> 00:12:02.519 one glance at his inn tense face and contracted eyebrows 167 00:12:03.279 --> 00:12:07.759 told me how vain was now the expectation. He sat 168 00:12:07.840 --> 00:12:11.759 for some little time in silence, absorbed in the strange 169 00:12:11.879 --> 00:12:16.080 drama which had broken in upon our peace. I will 170 00:12:16.320 --> 00:12:19.840 look into this matter, he said at last. On the 171 00:12:19.840 --> 00:12:21.799 face of it, it would appear to be a case 172 00:12:21.840 --> 00:12:26.080 of a very exceptional nature. Have you been there yourself, 173 00:12:26.279 --> 00:12:30.600 mister Roundey, No, mister Holmes. Mister Tregenis brought back the 174 00:12:30.639 --> 00:12:33.840 account to the vicarage, and I at once hurried over 175 00:12:33.960 --> 00:12:37.399 with him to consult you. How far is it to 176 00:12:37.480 --> 00:12:42.440 the house where this singular tragedy occurred? About a mile inland? 177 00:12:43.080 --> 00:12:46.519 Then we shall walk over together, But before we start, 178 00:12:47.159 --> 00:12:51.679 I must ask you a few questions, Mister Mortimer Tregenis, 179 00:12:52.279 --> 00:12:56.360 the other had been silent all this time, but I 180 00:12:56.399 --> 00:13:00.960 had observed that his more controlled excitement was even greater 181 00:13:01.120 --> 00:13:05.919 than the obtrusive emotion of the clergyman. He sat with 182 00:13:05.960 --> 00:13:10.440 a pale, drawn face, his anxious gaze fixed upon Holmes, 183 00:13:11.240 --> 00:13:16.679 and his thin hands clasped convulsively together. His pale lips 184 00:13:16.799 --> 00:13:20.519 quivered as he listened to the dreadful experience which had 185 00:13:20.559 --> 00:13:24.759 befallen his family, and his dark eyes seemed to reflect 186 00:13:24.840 --> 00:13:28.960 something of the horror of the scene. Ask what you like, 187 00:13:29.039 --> 00:13:32.639 mister Holmes, said he eagerly. It is a bad thing 188 00:13:32.679 --> 00:13:34.919 to speak of, but I will answer you the truth. 189 00:13:35.720 --> 00:13:40.399 Tell me about last night, well, mister Holmes, I sucked there, 190 00:13:40.639 --> 00:13:43.840 as the vicar has said, and my elder brother George 191 00:13:43.919 --> 00:13:47.639 proposed a game of whist. Afterwards we sat down about 192 00:13:47.720 --> 00:13:50.879 nine o'clock. There was a quarter past ten when I 193 00:13:51.000 --> 00:13:53.840 moved to go. I left them all round the table 194 00:13:53.879 --> 00:13:57.919 as merry as could be. Who let you out? Missus 195 00:13:57.960 --> 00:14:00.679 Porter had gone to bed, so I let my self out. 196 00:14:01.360 --> 00:14:04.559 I shut the hall door behind me. The window of 197 00:14:04.600 --> 00:14:07.360 the room in which they sat was closed, but the 198 00:14:07.399 --> 00:14:10.600 blind was not drawn down. There was no change in 199 00:14:10.679 --> 00:14:14.000 door or window this morning, or any reason to think 200 00:14:14.039 --> 00:14:17.279 that any stranger had been to the house. Yeah, there 201 00:14:17.320 --> 00:14:21.600 they sat, driven clean, mad with terror, and BRender lying 202 00:14:21.799 --> 00:14:25.000 dead of fright with her head hanging over the arm 203 00:14:25.080 --> 00:14:27.840 of the chair. I'll never get the sight of that 204 00:14:28.000 --> 00:14:30.039 room out of my mind so long as I live. 205 00:14:31.159 --> 00:14:34.919 The facts as you state them are certainly most remarkable, 206 00:14:35.240 --> 00:14:38.440 said Holmes. I take it that you have no theory 207 00:14:38.480 --> 00:14:43.159 yourself which can in any way account for them as devilish, 208 00:14:43.159 --> 00:14:47.440 mister Holmes. Devilish, cried Mortimer Tregennis. It is not of 209 00:14:47.480 --> 00:14:50.440 this world. Something has come into that room which has 210 00:14:50.559 --> 00:14:53.840 dashed the light of reason from their minds. What human 211 00:14:53.919 --> 00:14:58.679 contrivance could do that? I fear, said Holmes, that if 212 00:14:58.679 --> 00:15:01.919 the matter is beyond humananity, it is certainly beyond me. 213 00:15:03.039 --> 00:15:08.320 Yet we must exhaust all natural explanations before we fall 214 00:15:08.399 --> 00:15:12.080 back upon such a theory as this. As to yourself, 215 00:15:12.240 --> 00:15:15.840 mister treguinnis, I take it you were divided in some 216 00:15:16.000 --> 00:15:19.840 way from your family, since they lived together and you 217 00:15:19.960 --> 00:15:23.679 had rooms apart. That is so, mister Holmes, though the 218 00:15:23.720 --> 00:15:26.840 matter is past and done with. We were a family 219 00:15:26.879 --> 00:15:30.159 of tin miners at Red Root, but we sold our 220 00:15:30.279 --> 00:15:33.200 venture to a company and so retired with enough to 221 00:15:33.279 --> 00:15:36.320 keep us. I won't deny that there was some feeling 222 00:15:36.639 --> 00:15:39.399 about the division of the money, and it stood between 223 00:15:39.480 --> 00:15:42.519 us for a time, but it was all forgiven and forgotten, 224 00:15:43.120 --> 00:15:47.440 and we were the best of friends together. Looking back 225 00:15:47.559 --> 00:15:52.559 at the evening which you spent together, does anything stand 226 00:15:52.600 --> 00:15:55.799 out in your memory as throwing any possible light upon 227 00:15:55.799 --> 00:16:01.200 the tragedy? Think carefully, mister Tregennis, for any clue which 228 00:16:01.240 --> 00:16:04.440 can help me. There is nothing at all, sir. Your 229 00:16:04.480 --> 00:16:08.799 people were in their usual spirits, never better were they 230 00:16:08.879 --> 00:16:13.639 nervous people. Did they ever show any apprehension of coming danger? 231 00:16:14.639 --> 00:16:18.039 Nothing of the kind. You have nothing to add then, 232 00:16:18.279 --> 00:16:23.440 which could assist me. Mortimer tregenis considered earnestly for a moment. 233 00:16:24.080 --> 00:16:26.799 There is one thing that occurs to me, said he 234 00:16:26.879 --> 00:16:30.120 at last. As we sat at the table, my back 235 00:16:30.279 --> 00:16:33.879 was to the window, and my brother George, he being 236 00:16:34.000 --> 00:16:37.440 my partner at cards, was facing it. I saw him 237 00:16:37.440 --> 00:16:41.200 once look hard over my shoulder, so I turned round 238 00:16:41.240 --> 00:16:45.600 and looked also. The blind was up and the window shut, 239 00:16:46.559 --> 00:16:49.399 but I could just make out the bushes on the lawn, 240 00:16:50.200 --> 00:16:52.679 and it seemed to me for a moment that I 241 00:16:52.720 --> 00:16:56.759 saw something moving among them. I couldn't even say if 242 00:16:56.799 --> 00:17:00.200 it was man or animal, but I just thought there 243 00:17:00.279 --> 00:17:03.399 was something there. When I asked him what he was 244 00:17:03.399 --> 00:17:05.880 looking at, he told me that he had the same feeling. 245 00:17:06.720 --> 00:17:11.160 That is all that I can say. Did you not investigate? No, 246 00:17:11.640 --> 00:17:16.079 the matter passed as unimportant. You left them then without 247 00:17:16.119 --> 00:17:20.279 any premonition of evil, none at all. I am not 248 00:17:20.440 --> 00:17:23.079 clear how you came to hear the news so early 249 00:17:23.160 --> 00:17:26.680 this morning. I am an early riser and generally take 250 00:17:26.720 --> 00:17:30.759 a walk before breakfast. This morning I had hardly started 251 00:17:30.799 --> 00:17:34.359 when the doctor in his carriage overtook me. He told 252 00:17:34.359 --> 00:17:36.640 me that old missus Porter had sent a boy down 253 00:17:36.640 --> 00:17:39.400 with an urgent message. I sprang in beside him and 254 00:17:39.480 --> 00:17:42.680 we drove on. When we got there. We looked into 255 00:17:42.680 --> 00:17:47.119 that dreadful room. The candles and the fire must have 256 00:17:47.160 --> 00:17:51.000 burnt out hours before, and they had been sitting there 257 00:17:51.039 --> 00:17:54.720 in the dark until dawn had broken. The doctor said, 258 00:17:54.759 --> 00:17:58.440 BRender must have been dead at least six hours. There 259 00:17:58.440 --> 00:18:01.799 were no signs of violence. She just lay across the 260 00:18:01.920 --> 00:18:04.519 arm of the chair with that look on her face. 261 00:18:05.640 --> 00:18:10.240 George and Owen were singing snatches of songs and gibberin 262 00:18:10.759 --> 00:18:14.319 like two great apes. Oh, it was awful to see. 263 00:18:14.680 --> 00:18:17.039 I couldn't stand it. And the doctor was as white 264 00:18:17.079 --> 00:18:20.200 as a sheet. Indeed, he fell into a chair in 265 00:18:20.240 --> 00:18:22.960 a sort of feint, and we nearly had him on 266 00:18:23.000 --> 00:18:28.599 our hands as well. Remarkable, most remarkable, said Holmes, rising 267 00:18:28.759 --> 00:18:32.240 and taking his hat. I think perhaps we had better 268 00:18:32.279 --> 00:18:37.200 go down to tredanic warfare without further delay. I confess 269 00:18:37.279 --> 00:18:39.680 that I have seldom known a case which, at first 270 00:18:39.759 --> 00:18:45.359 sight presented the more singular problem. Our proceedings of that 271 00:18:45.440 --> 00:18:51.079 first morning did little to advance the investigation. It was marked, however, 272 00:18:51.240 --> 00:18:54.880 at the outset by an incident which left the most 273 00:18:54.920 --> 00:18:59.279 sinister impression upon my mind. The approach to the spot 274 00:18:59.319 --> 00:19:02.839 at which the tragedy occurred is down a narrow, winding 275 00:19:02.960 --> 00:19:06.759 country lane. While we made our way along it, we 276 00:19:06.880 --> 00:19:10.359 heard the rattle of a carriage coming towards us, and 277 00:19:10.400 --> 00:19:14.519 stood aside to let it pass. As it drove by us, 278 00:19:14.599 --> 00:19:17.799 I caught a glimpse through the closed window of a 279 00:19:17.839 --> 00:19:23.559 horribly contorted, grinning face glaring out at us. Those staring 280 00:19:23.599 --> 00:19:28.000 eyes and gnashing teeth flashed past us like a dreadful vision. 281 00:19:28.759 --> 00:19:33.000 My brothers cried Mortimer Trogenis, white to his lips. They 282 00:19:33.000 --> 00:19:37.079 had taken them to Helstone. We looked with horror after 283 00:19:37.119 --> 00:19:42.119 the black carriage, lumbering upon its way. Then we turned 284 00:19:42.119 --> 00:19:46.039 our steps towards this ill omened house in which they 285 00:19:46.039 --> 00:19:49.839 had met their strange fate. It was a large and 286 00:19:50.000 --> 00:19:53.880 bright dwelling, rather a villa than a cottage, with a 287 00:19:53.960 --> 00:19:58.519 considerable garden, which was already in that cornish air well 288 00:19:58.559 --> 00:20:04.039 filled with spring flowers. Towards this garden the window of 289 00:20:04.119 --> 00:20:08.960 the sitting room fronted, and from it, according to Mortimer Tregenis, 290 00:20:09.240 --> 00:20:12.160 must have come that thing of evil, which had, by 291 00:20:12.279 --> 00:20:17.759 sheer horror, in a single instant, blasted their minds. Holmes 292 00:20:17.799 --> 00:20:21.359 walked slowly and thoughtfully among the flower pots and along 293 00:20:21.400 --> 00:20:26.200 the path before we entered the porch. So absorbed was 294 00:20:26.240 --> 00:20:29.880 he in his thoughts, I remember that he stumbled over 295 00:20:29.920 --> 00:20:34.839 the watering pot, upset its contents, and deluged both our 296 00:20:34.920 --> 00:20:39.559 feet and the garden path. Inside the house, we were 297 00:20:39.599 --> 00:20:44.200 met by the elderly Cornish housekeeper, missus Porter, who, with 298 00:20:44.319 --> 00:20:47.079 the aid of a young girl, looked after the wants 299 00:20:47.079 --> 00:20:52.039 of the family. She readily answered all Holmes's questions. She 300 00:20:52.160 --> 00:20:56.000 had heard nothing in the night. Her employers had all 301 00:20:56.039 --> 00:20:59.720 been in excellent spirits lately, and she had never known 302 00:20:59.759 --> 00:21:04.079 them more cheerful and prosperous. She had fainted with horror 303 00:21:04.559 --> 00:21:07.240 upon entering the room in the morning and seeing that 304 00:21:07.359 --> 00:21:11.680 dreadful company round the table. She had, when she recovered, 305 00:21:11.960 --> 00:21:14.640 thrown open the window to let the morning air in, 306 00:21:15.359 --> 00:21:18.000 and had run down to the lane when she sent 307 00:21:18.039 --> 00:21:21.400 a farm lad for the doctor. The lady was on 308 00:21:21.440 --> 00:21:24.839 her bed upstairs if we cared to see her. It 309 00:21:24.920 --> 00:21:27.640 took four strong men to get the brothers into the 310 00:21:27.680 --> 00:21:31.480 asylum carriage. She would not herself stay in the house 311 00:21:31.519 --> 00:21:35.839 another day, and was starting that very afternoon to rejoin 312 00:21:35.920 --> 00:21:40.720 her family at Saint Ives. We ascended the stairs and 313 00:21:40.920 --> 00:21:44.920 viewed the body. Miss Brenda Tregenis had been a very 314 00:21:44.960 --> 00:21:50.200 beautiful girl, though now verging upon middle age. Her dark, 315 00:21:50.480 --> 00:21:55.000 clear cut face was handsome even in death. But there 316 00:21:55.000 --> 00:21:58.440 still lingered upon it something of that convulsion of horror 317 00:21:59.119 --> 00:22:03.359 which had been her life. Lasked human emotion. From her bedroom, 318 00:22:03.720 --> 00:22:07.799 we descended to the sitting room where this strange tragedy 319 00:22:07.920 --> 00:22:12.759 had actually occurred. The charred ashes of the overnight fire 320 00:22:13.119 --> 00:22:16.359 lay in the grate. On the table were the four 321 00:22:16.480 --> 00:22:21.400 guttered and burned out candles, with the cards scattered over 322 00:22:21.480 --> 00:22:26.839 its surface. The chairs had been moved back against the walls, 323 00:22:26.880 --> 00:22:29.640 but all else was as it had been the night before. 324 00:22:31.200 --> 00:22:35.519 Homes paced with light swift steps about the room. He 325 00:22:35.559 --> 00:22:39.799 sat in the various chairs, drawing them up and reconstructing 326 00:22:39.839 --> 00:22:44.480 their positions. He tested how much of the garden was visible. 327 00:22:45.400 --> 00:22:49.640 He examined the floor, the ceiling, and the fireplace. But 328 00:22:49.759 --> 00:22:52.880 never once did I see that sudden brightening of his 329 00:22:53.000 --> 00:22:56.319 eyes and tightening of his lips, which would have told 330 00:22:56.359 --> 00:22:58.839 me that he saw some gleam of light in this 331 00:22:59.200 --> 00:23:05.200 utter duck. Why a fire? He asked once? Had they 332 00:23:05.279 --> 00:23:09.240 always a fire in this small room? On a spring evening? 333 00:23:10.400 --> 00:23:14.519 Mortimer Tregenis explained that the night was cold and damp 334 00:23:15.000 --> 00:23:18.359 for that reason. After his arrival, the fire was lit. 335 00:23:19.039 --> 00:23:21.920 What are you going to do now, mister Holmes, he asked. 336 00:23:22.960 --> 00:23:25.960 My friend smiled and laid his hand upon my arm. 337 00:23:26.839 --> 00:23:30.039 I think, Watson, that I shall resume that course of 338 00:23:30.160 --> 00:23:34.960 tobacco poisoning. Would you have so often and so justly condemned? 339 00:23:35.279 --> 00:23:39.440 Said he? With your permission, gentlemen, we will now return 340 00:23:39.519 --> 00:23:42.839 to our cottage, for I am not aware that any 341 00:23:42.920 --> 00:23:45.920 new factor is likely to come to our notice here. 342 00:23:47.000 --> 00:23:50.119 I will turn the facts over in my mind, mister Tregenis, 343 00:23:50.880 --> 00:23:54.359 and should anything occur to me, I will certainly communicate 344 00:23:54.400 --> 00:23:58.000 with you and the vicar. In the meantime, I wish 345 00:23:58.000 --> 00:24:02.359 you both good morning. It was not until long after 346 00:24:02.440 --> 00:24:06.160 we were back in Poldieu Cottage that Holmes broke his 347 00:24:06.319 --> 00:24:11.480 complete and absorbed silence. He sat coiled in his arm chair, 348 00:24:12.319 --> 00:24:17.039 his haggard and ascetic face hardly visible amid the blue 349 00:24:17.079 --> 00:24:21.640 swirl of his tobacco smoke, his black brows drawn down, 350 00:24:22.279 --> 00:24:28.039 his forehead contracted, his eyes vacant and far away. Finally, 351 00:24:28.119 --> 00:24:30.759 he laid down his pipe and sprang to his feet. 352 00:24:31.200 --> 00:24:34.720 It won't do Watson said he with a laugh. Let 353 00:24:34.839 --> 00:24:38.960 us walk along the cliffs together and search for flint arrows. 354 00:24:39.640 --> 00:24:42.640 We are more likely to find them than clues to 355 00:24:42.680 --> 00:24:46.920 this problem. To let the brain work without sufficient material 356 00:24:47.519 --> 00:24:51.119 is like racing an engine. It racks itself to pieces. 357 00:24:51.480 --> 00:24:56.200 The sea, air, sunshine, and patience, Watson. All else will 358 00:24:56.240 --> 00:25:01.640 come now. Let us calmly def find our position, Watson, 359 00:25:02.240 --> 00:25:06.319 he continued, as we skirted the cliffs together. Let us 360 00:25:06.359 --> 00:25:10.079 get a firm grip of the very little which we 361 00:25:10.279 --> 00:25:14.400 do know, so that when fresh facts arise, we may 362 00:25:14.440 --> 00:25:16.960 be ready to fit them into their places. I take 363 00:25:17.039 --> 00:25:20.279 it in the first place that neither of us is 364 00:25:20.319 --> 00:25:25.079 prepared to admit diabolical intrusions into the affairs of men. 365 00:25:26.359 --> 00:25:30.039 Let us begin by ruling that entirely out of our minds, 366 00:25:30.640 --> 00:25:35.160 very good, there remain three persons who have been grievously 367 00:25:35.200 --> 00:25:39.920 stricken by some conscious or unconscious human agency. That is 368 00:25:40.000 --> 00:25:47.039 firm ground. Now, when did this occur? Evidently, assuming his 369 00:25:47.279 --> 00:25:51.400 narrative to be true, it was immediately after mister Mortimer 370 00:25:51.440 --> 00:25:55.880 Tregenis had left the room. That is a very important point. 371 00:25:56.720 --> 00:26:00.319 The presumption is that it was within a few minutes afterwards. 372 00:26:00.880 --> 00:26:04.440 The cards still lay upon the table. It was already 373 00:26:04.480 --> 00:26:08.119 past their usual hour for bed, yet they had not 374 00:26:08.359 --> 00:26:12.359 changed their position or pushed back their chairs. I repeat 375 00:26:12.400 --> 00:26:17.519 then that the occurrence was immediately after his departure, and 376 00:26:17.680 --> 00:26:23.079 not later than eleven o'clock last night. Our next obvious 377 00:26:23.119 --> 00:26:27.079 step is to check, so far as we can, the 378 00:26:27.119 --> 00:26:32.440 movements of Mortimer Tregenis after he left the room. In 379 00:26:32.519 --> 00:26:35.519 this there is no difficulty, as they seemed to be 380 00:26:35.680 --> 00:26:39.759 above suspicion. Knowing my methods as you do. You were, 381 00:26:39.759 --> 00:26:44.480 of course conscious of the somewhat clumsy water pot expedient 382 00:26:45.559 --> 00:26:48.680 by which I obtained a clearer impress of his foot 383 00:26:49.160 --> 00:26:52.880 than might otherwise have been possible. The wet sandy path 384 00:26:53.039 --> 00:26:58.240 took it admirably. Last night was also wet, you will remember, 385 00:26:59.039 --> 00:27:02.319 and it was not difficult, having obtained a sample print 386 00:27:02.880 --> 00:27:06.599 to pick out his track among others, and to follow 387 00:27:06.640 --> 00:27:10.559 his movements. He appears to have walked away swiftly in 388 00:27:10.640 --> 00:27:15.640 the direction of the vicarage. If then Mortimer Trogenis disappeared 389 00:27:15.680 --> 00:27:20.200 from the scene and yet some outside person affected the 390 00:27:20.240 --> 00:27:25.720 card players, how can we reconstruct that person and how 391 00:27:25.920 --> 00:27:30.279 was such an impression of horror conveyed missus Porter may 392 00:27:30.279 --> 00:27:35.079 be eliminated. She is evidently harmless. Is there any evidence 393 00:27:35.240 --> 00:27:37.799 that some one crept up to the garden window and 394 00:27:37.920 --> 00:27:42.039 in some manner produced so terrific an effect that he 395 00:27:42.160 --> 00:27:46.160 drove those who saw it out of their senses. The 396 00:27:46.200 --> 00:27:50.240 only suggestion in this direction comes from Mortimer Trogenis himself, 397 00:27:50.319 --> 00:27:53.839 who says that his brother spoke about some movement in 398 00:27:53.920 --> 00:27:58.640 the garden that is certainly remarkable. As the night was rainy, cloudy, 399 00:27:58.759 --> 00:28:02.559 and dark, any one who had the design to alarm 400 00:28:02.680 --> 00:28:05.640 these people would be compelled to place his very face 401 00:28:05.680 --> 00:28:09.119