Speaker 1: The Valley of Fear, Part one, The Tragedy of Burlstone,
Speaker 1: Chapter one. The warning I am inclined to think, said I,
Speaker 1: I should do so, Sherlock Holmes remarked impatiently. I believe
Speaker 1: that I am one of the most long suffering of mortals,
Speaker 1: but I'll admit that I was annoyed at the sardonic interruption. Really,
Speaker 1: Holmes said I severely. You are a little trying at times.
Speaker 1: He was too much absorbed with his own thoughts to
Speaker 1: give any immediate answer to my remonstrance. He leaned upon
Speaker 1: his hand, with his untasted breakfast before him, and he
Speaker 1: stared at the slip of paper which he had just
Speaker 1: drawn from its envelope. Then he took the envelope itself,
Speaker 1: held it up to the light, and very carefully studded
Speaker 1: both the exterior and the flap. It is Porlock's writing,
Speaker 1: said he thoughtfully. I can hardly doubt that it is
Speaker 1: Porlock's writing, though I have seen it only twice before.
Speaker 1: The Greek e with the peculiar top flourish is distinctive.
Speaker 1: But if it is Porlock, then it must be something
Speaker 1: of the very first importance. He was speaking to himself
Speaker 1: rather than to me, But my vexation disappeared in the
Speaker 1: interest which the words awakened. Who then is Porlock, I asked, Paulock.
Speaker 1: Watson is a nom de plume, a mere identification mark,
Speaker 1: but behind it lies a shifty and evasive personality. In
Speaker 1: a former letter, he frankly informed me that the name
Speaker 1: was not his own, and defied me ever to trace
Speaker 1: him among the teeming millions of this great city. Porlock
Speaker 1: is important not for himself, but for the great man
Speaker 1: with whom he is in touch. Picture to yourself, the
Speaker 1: pilot fish with the shark, the jackal with the lion.
Speaker 1: Anything that is insignificant in companionship with what is formidable.
Speaker 1: Not only formidable Watson, but sinister in the highest degree. Sinister.
Speaker 1: That is where he comes within my purview. You have
Speaker 1: heard me speak of Professor Moriarty, the famous scientific criminal,
Speaker 1: as famous among crooks as my blush is Watson, Holmes
Speaker 1: murmured in a deprecating voice. I was about to say,
Speaker 1: as he is unknown to the public. A touch, a
Speaker 1: distinct touch, cried Holmes. You are developing a certain unexpected
Speaker 1: vein of poor quy humor, Watson, against which I must
Speaker 1: learn to guard myself. But in calling Moriarty a criminal,
Speaker 1: you are uttering libel in the eyes of the law.
Speaker 1: And there lie the glory and the wonder of it.
Speaker 1: The greatest schemer of all time, the organizer of every deviltry,
Speaker 1: the controlling brain of the underworld, a brain which might
Speaker 1: have made or marred the destiny of nations. That's the man.
Speaker 1: But so aloof is he from general suspicion, so immune
Speaker 1: from criticism, so admirable in his management and self effacement,
Speaker 1: that for those very words that you have uttered, he
Speaker 1: could hail you to a court and emerge with your
Speaker 1: year's pension as a solatium for his wounded character? Is
Speaker 1: he not the celebrated author of The Dynamics of an Asteroid,
Speaker 1: a book which ascends to such rarefied heights of pure
Speaker 1: mathematics that it is said that there was no man
Speaker 1: in the scientific press capable of criticizing it. Is this
Speaker 1: a man to traduce foul mouthed doctor and slandered professor,
Speaker 1: Such would be your respective roles, That's genius Watson. But
Speaker 1: if I am spared by lesser men, our day will
Speaker 1: surely come. May I be there to see I exclaimed devoutly.
Speaker 1: But you were speaking of this man Porlock. Ah. Yes,
Speaker 1: the so called Porlock is a link in the chain,
Speaker 1: some little way from its great attachment. Porlock is not
Speaker 1: quite a sound link between ours. He is the only
Speaker 1: flaw in that chain so far as I have been
Speaker 1: able to test it. But no chain is stronger than
Speaker 1: its weakest link. Exactly, my dear Watson. Hence the extreme
Speaker 1: importance of Porlock. Led on by some rudimentary aspirations towards right,
Speaker 1: and encouraged by the judicious stimulation of an occasional ten
Speaker 1: pound note sent to him by devious methods, he has
Speaker 1: once or twice given me advance information which has been
Speaker 1: of value, that highest value which anticipates and prevents, rather
Speaker 1: than avenges crime. I cannot doubt that, if we have
Speaker 1: the cipher, we should find that this communication is of
Speaker 1: the nature that I indicate. Again. Holmes flattered out the
Speaker 1: paper upon his unused plate. I rose, and, leaning over him,
Speaker 1: stared down at the curious inscription, which ran as follows
Speaker 1: five hundred and thirty four c. Two thirteen, one hundred
Speaker 1: and twenty seven, thirty six, thirty one one four seventeen,
Speaker 1: twenty one, forty one Douglas one hundred and nine, two
Speaker 1: hundred ninety three five thirty seven, Burlstone twenty six, Burlstone
Speaker 1: nine forty seven, one hundred and seventy one. What do
Speaker 1: you make of at homes? It is obviously an attempt
Speaker 1: to convey secret information. But what is the use of
Speaker 1: a cipher message without the cipher in this instance? None
Speaker 1: at all? Why do you say in this instance? Because
Speaker 1: there are many ciphers which I would read as easily
Speaker 1: as I do the apocrypha of the Agony column. Such
Speaker 1: crude devices amuse the intelligence without fatiguing it. But this
Speaker 1: is different. It is clearly a reference to the words
Speaker 1: in a page of some book. Until I am told
Speaker 1: which page and which book, I am powerless. But why
Speaker 1: Douglas and Burlstone? Clearly because those are words which were
Speaker 1: not contained in the page in question. Then why has
Speaker 1: he not indicated the book your native shrewdness, my dear Watson,
Speaker 1: that innate cunning, which is the delight of your friends,
Speaker 1: would surely prevent you from enclosing cipher and message in
Speaker 1: the same envelope. Should it miscarry, you are undone. As
Speaker 1: it is, both have to go wrong before any harm
Speaker 1: comes from it. Our second post is now overdue, and
Speaker 1: I shall be surprised if it does not bring us
Speaker 1: either a further letter of explanation, or, as is more probable,
Speaker 1: the very volume to which these figures refer. Holmes's calculation
Speaker 1: was fulfilled within a very few minutes by the appearance
Speaker 1: of Billy the page with the very letter which we
Speaker 1: were expecting the same writing, remarked Holmes as he opened
Speaker 1: the envelope and actually signed. He added in an exultant voice.
Speaker 1: As he unfolded the epistle. Come we are getting on Watson.
Speaker 1: His brow clouded, however, as he glanced over the contents.
Speaker 1: Dear me, this is very disappointing. I fear, Watson, that
Speaker 1: all our expectations come to nothing. I trust that the
Speaker 1: man Porlock will come to no harm. Dear mister Holmes,
Speaker 1: he says, I will go no further in this matter.
Speaker 1: It is too dangerous. He suspects me. I can see
Speaker 1: that he suspects me. He came to me quite unexpectedly,
Speaker 1: after I had actually addressed this envelope with the intention
Speaker 1: of sending you the key to the cipher. I was
Speaker 1: able to cover it up. If he had seen it,
Speaker 1: it would have gone hard with me, but I read
Speaker 1: suspicion in his eyes. Please burn the cipher message, which
Speaker 1: can now be of no use to you. Fred Poorlock
Speaker 1: Holmes sat for some little time, twisting this letter between
Speaker 1: his fingers and frowning as he stared into the fire.
Speaker 1: After all, he said at last, there may be nothing
Speaker 1: in it. It may be only his guilty conscience, knowing
Speaker 1: himself to be a traitor. He may have read the
Speaker 1: accusation in the other's eyes, the other being, I presume
Speaker 1: Professor Moriarty no less. When any of that party talk
Speaker 1: about he, you know whom they mean. There is one
Speaker 1: predominant he for all of them. But what can he do?
Speaker 1: Hum That's a large question. When you have one of
Speaker 1: the first brains of Europe up against you, and all
Speaker 1: the powers of darkness at his back. There are infinite possibilities. Anyhow,
Speaker 1: Friend Porlock is evidently scared out of his senses. Kindly
Speaker 1: compare the writing in the note to that upon its envelope,
Speaker 1: which was done, he tells us, before this ill omened visit.
Speaker 1: The one is clear and firm, the other hardly legible.
Speaker 1: Why did he write at all? Why did he not
Speaker 1: simply drop it? Because he feared I would make some
Speaker 1: inquiry after him in that case, and possibly bring trouble
Speaker 1: on him. No doubt, said I. Of course, I had
Speaker 1: picked up the original cipher message and was bending my
Speaker 1: brows over it. It's pretty maddening to think that an
Speaker 1: important secret may lie here on this slip of paper,
Speaker 1: and that it is beyond human power to penetrate it.
Speaker 1: Sherlock Holmes had pushed away his untasted breakfast and lit
Speaker 1: the unsavory pipe, which was the companion of his deepest meditations.
Speaker 1: I wonder, said he, leaning back and staring at the ceiling.
Speaker 1: Perhaps there are points which have escaped your machiavellian intellect.
Speaker 1: Let us consider the problem in the light of pure reason.
Speaker 1: This man's reference is to a book that is our
Speaker 1: point of departure, a somewhat vague one. Let us see, then,
Speaker 1: if we can narrow it down. As I focus my
Speaker 1: mind upon it, it seems rather less impenetrable. What indications
Speaker 1: have we as to this book? None? Well, well, it
Speaker 1: is surely not quite so bad as that the cipher
Speaker 1: message begins with a large five three four, does it not.
Speaker 1: We may take it as a working hypothesis that five
Speaker 1: three four is the particular page to which the cipher refers.
Speaker 1: So our book has already become a large book, which
Speaker 1: is surely something gained. What other indications have we as
Speaker 1: to the nature of this large book? The next sign
Speaker 1: is C two. What do you make of that, Watson?
Speaker 1: Chapter the second? No doubt hardly that, Watson. You will,
Speaker 1: I am sure agree with me that if the page
Speaker 1: be given, the number of the chapter is immaterial. Also
Speaker 1: that if page five three four finds us only in
Speaker 1: the second chapter, the length of the first one must
Speaker 1: have been really intolerable. Column, I cried, brilliant Watson, you
Speaker 1: are scintillating this morning. If it is not column, then
Speaker 1: I am very much deceived. So now you see we
Speaker 1: begin to visualize a large book printed in double columns,
Speaker 1: which are each of a considerable length. Since one of
Speaker 1: the words is numbered in the document as the two
Speaker 1: hundred and nine third, have we reached the limits of
Speaker 1: what reason can supply? I fear that we have. Surely
Speaker 1: you do yourself an injustice. One more coruscation, my dear Watson,
Speaker 1: yet another brain wave. Had the volume been an unusual one,
Speaker 1: he would have sent it to me instead of that
Speaker 1: he had intended, before his plans were nipped, to send
Speaker 1: me the clue in this envelope. He says so in
Speaker 1: his note, this would seem to indicate that the book
Speaker 1: is one which he thought I would have no difficulty
Speaker 1: in finding for myself. He had it, and he imagined
Speaker 1: that I would have it too. In short, Watson, it
Speaker 1: is a very common book. What you say certainly sounds plausible.
Speaker 1: So we have contracted our field of search to a
Speaker 1: large book printed in double columns and in common use,
Speaker 1: the Bible. I cried triumphantly, good, Watson, Good, But not,
Speaker 1: if I may say so, quite good enough. Even if
Speaker 1: I accepted the compliment for myself, I could hardly name
Speaker 1: any volume which would be less likely to liar the
Speaker 1: other elbow of one of Moriarty's associates. Besides, the editions
Speaker 1: of Holy Writ are so numerous that he could hardly
Speaker 1: suppose that two copies would have the same pagination. This
Speaker 1: is clearly a book which is standardized. He knows for
Speaker 1: certain that his page five three four will exactly agree
Speaker 1: with my page five three four, But very few books
Speaker 1: would correspond with that exactly. Therein lies our salvation. Our
Speaker 1: search is narrowed down to standardized books which any one
Speaker 1: may be supposed to possess. Bradshaw, there are difficulties, Watson.
Speaker 1: The vocabulary of Bradshaw is nervous and terse, but limited.
Speaker 1: The selection of words would hardly lend itself to the
Speaker 1: sending of general messages. We will eliminate Bradshaw. The dictionary
Speaker 1: is I fear inadmissible. For the same reason, what then
Speaker 1: is left an almanac? Excellent, Watson, I am very much
Speaker 1: mistaken if you have not touched the spot an almanac.
Speaker 1: Let us consider the claims of Whittaker's almanac. It is
Speaker 1: in common use, It has the requisite number of pages.
Speaker 1: It is in double column, though reserved in its earlier vocabulary,
Speaker 1: it becomes, if I remember right, quite garrulous towards the
Speaker 1: end he picked the volume from his desk. Here is
Speaker 1: page five hundred and thirty four, Column two, a substantial
Speaker 1: block of print dealing I perceive with the trade and
Speaker 1: resources of British India. Jot down the words, Watson. Number
Speaker 1: thirteen is Marata, not I fear a very auspicious beginning.
Speaker 1: Number one hundred and twenty seven is government, which at
Speaker 1: least makes sense, though somewhat irrelevant to ourselves and Professor Moriarty.
Speaker 1: Now let us try again, what does the Marata government do?
Speaker 1: Alas the next word is pig's bristles. We are undone,
Speaker 1: my good Watson, it is finished. He had spoken in
Speaker 1: jesting vain, but the twitching of his bushy eyebrows bespoke
Speaker 1: his disappointment and irritation. I sat helpless and unhappy, staring
Speaker 1: into the fire. A long silence was broken by a
Speaker 1: sudden exclamation from Holmes, who dashed at a cupboard, from
Speaker 1: which he emerged with a second yellow covered volume in
Speaker 1: his hand. We pay the price, Watson, for being two
Speaker 1: up to date, he cried, We are before our time
Speaker 1: and suffer the usual penalties. Being the seventh of January
Speaker 1: we have very properly laid in the new Almanac. It
Speaker 1: is more than likely that Porlock took his message from
Speaker 1: the old one. No doubt he would have told us
Speaker 1: so had his letter of explanation been written. Now let
Speaker 1: us see what page five three four has in store
Speaker 1: for us. Number thirteen is there, which is much more promising.
Speaker 1: Number one hundred and twenty seven is is there is?
Speaker 1: Holmes's eyes were gleaming with excitement, and his thin nervous
Speaker 1: fingers twitched as he counted the words danger. Ha ha,
Speaker 1: capital put that down, Watson, there is danger may come
Speaker 1: very soon one. Then we have the name Douglas, Rich
Speaker 1: Country now at Burlstone House, Burlstone. Confidence is pressing there, Watson.
Speaker 1: What do you think of pure reason and its fruit?
Speaker 1: If the greengrocer had such a thing as a laurel wreath,
Speaker 1: I should send Billy round for it. I was staring
Speaker 1: at the strange message which I had scrawled as he
Speaker 1: deciphered it upon a sheet of foolscap on my knee.
Speaker 1: What a queer scrambling way of expressing his meaning, said I.
Speaker 1: On the contrary, he has done quite remarkably well, said Holmes.
Speaker 1: When you search a single column for words with which
Speaker 1: to express your meaning, you can hardly expect to get
Speaker 1: everything you want. You are bound to leave something to
Speaker 1: the intelligence of your correspondent. The purport is perfectly clear.
Speaker 1: Some deviltry is intended against one Douglas, whoever he may
Speaker 1: be residing, As stated a rich Country gentleman. He is
Speaker 1: sure confidence was as near as he could get. Too
Speaker 1: confident that it is pressing. There is our result, and
Speaker 1: a very workmanlike little bit of analysis. It was Holmes
Speaker 1: had the impersonal joy of the true artist in his
Speaker 1: better work, even as he mourned darkly when it fell
Speaker 1: below the high level to which he aspired. He was
Speaker 1: still chuckling over his success when Billy swung open the
Speaker 1: door and Inspector MacDonald of Scotland Yard was ushered into
Speaker 1: the room. Those were the early days at the end
Speaker 1: of the eighties, when Alec MacDonald was far from having
Speaker 1: attained the national fame which he has now achieved. He
Speaker 1: was a young but trusted member of the detective force,
Speaker 1: who had distinguished himself in several cases which had been
Speaker 1: in trusted to him. His tall, bony figure gave promise
Speaker 1: of exceptional physical strength, while his great cranium and deep set,
Speaker 1: lustrous eyes spoke no less clearly of the keen intelligence
Speaker 1: which twinkled out from behind his bushy eyebrows. He was
Speaker 1: a silent, precise man, with a duer nature and a
Speaker 1: hard Aberdonian accent. Twice already in his career had Holmes
Speaker 1: helped him to attain success, his own sole reward being
Speaker 1: the intellectual joy of the problem. For this reason, the
Speaker 1: affection and respect of the Scotchman for his amateur colleague
Speaker 1: were profound, and he showed them by the frankness with
Speaker 1: which he consulted Holmes in every difficulty. Mediocrity knows nothing
Speaker 1: higher than itself, but talent instantly recognizes genius, and MacDonald
Speaker 1: had talent enough for his profession to enable him to
Speaker 1: perceive that there was no humiliation in seeking the assistance
Speaker 1: of one who already stood alone in Europe, both in
Speaker 1: his gifts and in his experience. Holmes was not prone
Speaker 1: to friendship, but he was tolerant of the big Scotchman
Speaker 1: and smiled at the sight of him. You are an
Speaker 1: early bird, mister mac said he. I wish you luck
Speaker 1: with your worm. I fear this means that there is
Speaker 1: some mischief afoot. If you said hope instead of fear,
Speaker 1: it would be nearer the truth I'm thinking, mister Holmes,
Speaker 1: the inspector answered, with a knowing grin, Well, maybe a
Speaker 1: wee nip would keep out the raw morning chill. No,
Speaker 1: I won't smoke. I thank you. I'll have to be
Speaker 1: pushing on my way, for the early hours of a
Speaker 1: case are the precious ones, as no man knows better
Speaker 1: than your own self. But But the Inspector had stopped
Speaker 1: suddenly and was staring with a look of absolute amazement,
Speaker 1: at a paper upon the table. It was the sheet
Speaker 1: upon which I had scrawled the enigmatic message Douglas. He said,
Speaker 1: Damed Barlestone, what's this, mister Holmes Manners Watchcraft, Where in
Speaker 1: the name of all that is wonderful did you get
Speaker 1: those names? It is a cipher that doctor Watson and
Speaker 1: I have had occasion to solve. But why what's amiss
Speaker 1: with the names? The inspector looked from one to the
Speaker 1: other of us in dazed astonishment. Just this said he
Speaker 1: that mister Douglas of Burlstone Manor House was horribly murdered
Speaker 1: last night, Chapter two, Sherlock Holmes Discourses. It was one
Speaker 1: of those dramatic moments for which my friend existed. It
Speaker 1: would be an overstatement to say that he was shocked
Speaker 1: or even excited by the amazing announcement without having a
Speaker 1: tinge of cruelty in his singular composition. He was undoubtedly
Speaker 1: callous from long overstimulation. Yet if his emotions were dulled,
Speaker 1: his intellectual perceptions were exceedingly active. There was no trace
Speaker 1: then of the horror which I had myself felt at
Speaker 1: this curt declaration, but his face showed rather the quiet
Speaker 1: and interested composure of the chemist who sees the crystals
Speaker 1: falling into position from his oversaturated solution. Remarkable, said he, remarkable.
Speaker 1: You don't seem surprised, interested, mister Mack, but hardly surprised.
Speaker 1: Why should I be surprised. I receive an anonymous communication
Speaker 1: from a quarter which I know to be important, warning
Speaker 1: me that danger threatens a certain person. Within an hour
Speaker 1: I learned that this danger has actually materialized and that
Speaker 1: the person is dead. I am interested, but as you observe,
Speaker 1: I am not surprised. In a few short sentences, he
Speaker 1: explained to the inspector the facts about the letter and
Speaker 1: the cipher. Mc donald sat with his chin on his
Speaker 1: hands and his great sandy eyebrows bunched into a yellow tangle.
Speaker 1: I was going down to Bullstone this morning, said he.
Speaker 1: I had come to ask you if you cared to
Speaker 1: come with me, you and your friend here. But from
Speaker 1: what you say, we might perhaps be doing better work
Speaker 1: in London. I rather think not, said Holmes. Hang it all,
Speaker 1: mister Holmes, cried the inspector. The pippers will be full
Speaker 1: of the Bullstone mystery in a day or two. But
Speaker 1: where's the mystery? If there is a man in London
Speaker 1: who prophesied the crime before ever it occurred, we have
Speaker 1: only to lay our hands on that man and the
Speaker 1: rest will follow, no doubt, mister mack. But how do
Speaker 1: you propose to lay your hands on the so called poorlock?
Speaker 1: Mc donald turned over the letter which Holmes had handed
Speaker 1: him posted in Camberwell. That doesn't help us much, you say,
Speaker 1: is assumed not much to go on. Certainly didn't you
Speaker 1: say that you have sent him money twice? And how
Speaker 1: in notes to Camberwell Post Office did you ever trouble
Speaker 1: to see who called for them? No? The Inspector looked
Speaker 1: surprised and a little shocked. Why not because I always
Speaker 1: keep faith. I had promised when he first wrote that
Speaker 1: I would not try to trace him. You think there
Speaker 1: is someone behind him? I know there is this professor
Speaker 1: that I've heard you mention exactly. Inspector MacDonald smiled, and
Speaker 1: his eyelid quivered as he glanced towards me. I won't
Speaker 1: conceal from you, mister Holmes, that we think in the
Speaker 1: CID that you have a wee bit of a b
Speaker 1: and your bonnet over this professor. I made some inquiries
Speaker 1: myself about the matter. He seems to be a very respectable,
Speaker 1: learned and talented sort of man. I'm glad you got
Speaker 1: so far as to recognize the talent. Come on, you
Speaker 1: can but recognize it. After I heard your view, I
Speaker 1: made it my business to see him. I had a
Speaker 1: chat with him on eclipses. How the talk got that way,
Speaker 1: I kinda think, But he had out to reflect a
Speaker 1: lantern and a globe and made it all clear in
Speaker 1: a minute. He lent me a book, but I don't
Speaker 1: mind saying that it was a bit above my head.
Speaker 1: Though I had a good Aberdeen upbringing. He'd have made
Speaker 1: a grand minister with his thin face and gray hair
Speaker 1: and solemn white way of talking. When he put his
Speaker 1: hand on my shoulder as we were parting, it was
Speaker 1: like a father's blessing before you go out into the cold,
Speaker 1: cruel world. Holmes chuckled and rubbed his hands. Great, he said, great.
Speaker 1: Tell me, friend MacDonald, this pleasing and touching interview was
Speaker 1: I suppose in the professor's study. That's so a fine room?
Speaker 1: Is it? Not? Very fine? Very handsome? Indeed, mister Holmes,
Speaker 1: you sat in front of his writing desk. Just so, oh,
Speaker 1: son in your eyes and his face in the shadow. Well,
Speaker 1: it was evening, but I mind that the lamp was
Speaker 1: turned on my face. It would be did you happen
Speaker 1: to observe a picture over the professor's head? I don't
Speaker 1: miss much, mister Holmes. Maybe I'll learned that from you. Yes,
Speaker 1: I saw the picture a young woman with her head
Speaker 1: on her hands, peeping at you sideways. That painting was
Speaker 1: by Jean Baptiste Greurs. The inspector endeavored to look interested.
Speaker 1: Jean Baptiste Greurs, Holmes continued, joining his fingertips and leaning
Speaker 1: well back in his chair was a French artist who
Speaker 1: flourished between the year seventeen fifty and eighteen hundred. I allude,
Speaker 1: of course, to his working career. Modern criticism has more
Speaker 1: than endorsed the high opinion formed of him by his contemporaries.
Speaker 1: The Inspector's eyes grew abstracted. Hadn't we better? He said?
Speaker 1: We are doing so? Holmes interrupted. All that I am
Speaker 1: saying has a very direct and vital bearing upon what
Speaker 1: you have called the Burlstone mystery. In fact, it may
Speaker 1: in a sense be called the very center of it.
Speaker 1: Mac Donald smiled feebly and looked appealingly to me. Your
Speaker 1: thoughts move a but too quick for me. Mister Holmes,
Speaker 1: you'll leave out a link or two, and I can't
Speaker 1: get over the gap. What in the whole wide world
Speaker 1: can't be the connection between this dead painting man and
Speaker 1: the affair at Bolstone. All knowledge comes useful to the detective,
Speaker 1: remarked Holmes, even the trivial fact that in the year
Speaker 1: eighteen sixty five a picture by Greurs entitled La jeen
Speaker 1: fill a l'anneaux fetched one million, two hundred thousand francs
Speaker 1: more than forty thousand pounds. But the Portalis sale may
Speaker 1: start a train of reflection in your mind. It was
Speaker 1: clear that it did. The inspector looked honestly interested. I
Speaker 1: may remind you, Holmes continued that the professor's salary can
Speaker 1: be ascertained in several trustworthy books of reference. It is
Speaker 1: seven hundred a year. Then how could he buy quite so?
Speaker 1: How could he? Aye? That's remarkable, said the inspector thoughtfully,
Speaker 1: talk away, mister Holmes. I'm just loving it as fine.
Speaker 1: Holmes smiled. He was always warmed by genuine admiration. The
Speaker 1: characteristic of the real artist. What about Burlstone, he asked.
Speaker 1: We've time yet, said the inspector, glancing at his watch.
Speaker 1: I've a cab at the door and it won't take
Speaker 1: us twenty minutes to Victoria. But about this picture, I
Speaker 1: thought you told me once, mister Holmes, that you had
Speaker 1: never met Professor Moriarty. No, I never have. Then, how
Speaker 1: do you know about his rooms? Ah, that's another matter.
Speaker 1: I have been three times in his rooms, twice waiting
Speaker 1: for him under different pretexts, and leaving before he came once. Well,
Speaker 1: I can hardly tell about the once to an official detective.
Speaker 1: It was on the last occasion that I took the
Speaker 1: liberty of running over his papers with the most unexpected results.
Speaker 1: You found something compromising, absolutely nothing. That was what amazed me. However,
Speaker 1: you have now seen the point of the picture. It
Speaker 1: shows him to be a very wealthy man. How did
Speaker 1: he acquire wealth? He is unmarried. His younger brother is
Speaker 1: a station master in the west of England. His chair
Speaker 1: is worth seven hundred a year, and he owns a grurz. Well,
Speaker 1: surely the inference is plain. You mean that he has
Speaker 1: a great income and that he must earn it. In
Speaker 1: an illegal fashion exactly. Of course, I have other reasons
Speaker 1: for thinking, so dozens of exiguous threads which lead vaguely
Speaker 1: up towards the center of the web, where the poisonous,
Speaker 1: motionless creature is lurking. I only mention the grours because
Speaker 1: it brings the matter within the range of your own observation,
Speaker 1: will mister Holmes, I admit that what you say is interesting.
Speaker 1: It's more than interesting, it's just wonderful. But let us
Speaker 1: have it a little clearer, if you can. Is it forgery, coining, burglary?
Speaker 1: Where does the money come from? Have you ever read
Speaker 1: of Jonathan wild Well? The name has a familiar sound
Speaker 1: if someone in a novel, was it not. I don't
Speaker 1: take much stock of detectives in novels, chaps that do
Speaker 1: things and never let you see how they do them.
Speaker 1: That's just inspiration, not business. Jonathan Wilde wasn't a detective,
Speaker 1: and he wasn't in a novel. He was a master criminal,
Speaker 1: and he lived last century seventeen fifty or thereabouts. Then
Speaker 1: he's no use to me. I'm a practical man, mister
Speaker 1: mac The most practical thing that you ever did in
Speaker 1: your life would be to shut yourself up for three
Speaker 1: months and read twelve hours a day at the Annals
Speaker 1: of Crime. Everything comes in circles. Even Professor Moriarty Jonathan
Speaker 1: Wilde was the hidden force of the London criminals, to
Speaker 1: whom he sold his brains and his organization on a
Speaker 1: fifteen percent commission. The old wheel turns and the same
Speaker 1: spoke comes up. It's all been done before and will
Speaker 1: be again. I tell you one or two things about
Speaker 1: Moriati which may interest you. You'll interest me right enough.
Speaker 1: I happen to know who is the first link in
Speaker 1: his chain, a chain with this Napoleon gone wrong at
Speaker 1: one end, and a hundred broken fighting men, pickpockets, blackmailers
Speaker 1: and card sharpers at the other, with every sort of
Speaker 1: crime in between. His chief of staff is Colonel Sebastian Moran,
Speaker 1: as aloof and guarded and inaccessible to the law as himself.
Speaker 1: What do you think he pays him. I'd like to
Speaker 1: hear six thousand a year. That's paying for brain. You
Speaker 1: see the American business principle. I learned that detail quite
Speaker 1: by chance. It's more than the Prime Minister gets. That
Speaker 1: gives you an idea of Moriarti's gains and of the
Speaker 1: scale on which he works. Another point, I made it
Speaker 1: my business to hunt down some of Moriarti's checks lately,
Speaker 1: just common innocent checks that he pays his household bills with.
Speaker 1: They were drawn on six different banks. Does that make
Speaker 1: any impression on your mind? Queer? Certainly? But what do
Speaker 1: you gather from it? That he wanted no gossip about
Speaker 1: his wealth? No single man should know what he had.
Speaker 1: I have no doubt that he has twenty banking accounts,
Speaker 1: the bulk of his fortune abroad in the Deutsche Bank
Speaker 1: or the credit lyonee as likely as not. Sometime, when
Speaker 1: you have a year or two to spare, I commend
Speaker 1: to you the study of Professor Moriarte. Inspector MacDonald had
Speaker 1: grown steadily more impressed as the conversation proceeded. He had
Speaker 1: lost himself in his interest. Now his practical Scotch intelligence
Speaker 1: brought him back with a snap to the matter in
Speaker 1: hand he can keep anyhow, said he, You've got a
Speaker 1: side tracked with your interesting anecdotes, mister Holmes, what really
Speaker 1: counts as your remark that there is some connection between
Speaker 1: the professor and the crime that you get from the
Speaker 1: warning received through the man Porlock can we, for our
Speaker 1: present practical needs, get any further than that we may
Speaker 1: form some conception as to the motives of the crime.
Speaker 1: It is, as I gather from your original remarks, an
Speaker 1: inexplicable or at least an unexplained murder. Now, presuming that
Speaker 1: the source of the crime is as we suspect it
Speaker 1: to be, there might be two different motives. In the
Speaker 1: first place, I may tell you that Moriarty rules with
Speaker 1: a rod of iron over his people. His discipline is tremendous.
Speaker 1: There is only one punishment in his code. It is death.
Speaker 1: Now we might suppose that this murdered man, this Douglas,
Speaker 1: whose approaching fate was known by one of the arch
Speaker 1: criminal's subordinates, had in some way betrayed the chief. His
Speaker 1: punishment followed, and would be known to all, if only
Speaker 1: to put the fear of death into them. Well, that's
Speaker 1: one suggestion, mister Holmes. The other is that it has
Speaker 1: been engineered by Moriarty. In the ordinary course of business.
Speaker 1: Was there any robbery I have not heard. If so,
Speaker 1: it would of course be against the first hypothesis, and
Speaker 1: in favor of the second. Moriarty may have been engaged
Speaker 1: to engineer it. On a promise of part spoils, or
Speaker 1: he may have been paid so much down to manage it,
Speaker 1: either as possible, but whichever it may be, or if
Speaker 1: it is some third combination, it is down at Burlstone
Speaker 1: that we must seek the solution. I know our man
Speaker 1: too well to suppose that he has left anything up
Speaker 1: here which may lead us to him. Then to Bulston
Speaker 1: we must go, cried mac Donald, jumping from his chair.
Speaker 1: My word, it's later than a thought. I can give you, gentlemen,
Speaker 1: five minutes for preparation, and that is all and ample
Speaker 1: for us, both, said Holmes, as he sprang up and
Speaker 1: hastened to change from his dressing gown to his coat.
Speaker 1: While we are on our way, mister mac I will
Speaker 1: ask you to be good enough to tell me all
Speaker 1: about it. All about it proved to be disappointingly little,
Speaker 1: and yet there was enough to assure us that the
Speaker 1: case before us might well be worthy of the expert's
Speaker 1: closest attention. He brightened and rubbed his thin hands together
Speaker 1: as he listened to the meager but remarkable details. The
Speaker 1: long series of sterile weeks lay behind us, and here
Speaker 1: at last there was a fitting object for those remarkable powers, which,
Speaker 1: like all special gifts, become irksome to their owner when
Speaker 1: they are not in use. That razor brain blunted and
Speaker 1: rusted with inn action. Sherlock Holmes's eyes glistened, his pale
Speaker 1: cheeks took a warmer hue, and his whole eager face
Speaker 1: shone with an inward light. When the call for work
Speaker 1: reached him. Leaning forward in the cab, he listened intently
Speaker 1: to McDonald's short sketch of the problem which awaited us
Speaker 1: in Sussex. The inspector was himself dependent, as he explained
Speaker 1: to us upon a scribbled account forwarded to him by
Speaker 1: the milk train in the early hours of the morning.
Speaker 1: White Mason, the local officer, was a personal friend, and
Speaker 1: hence MacDonald had been notified much more promptly than is
Speaker 1: usual at Scotland Yard when provincials need their assistance. It
Speaker 1: is a very cold scent upon which the metropolitan expert
Speaker 1: is generally asked to run. Dear Inspector MacDonald said, the
Speaker 1: letter which he read to us official requisition for your
Speaker 1: services is in separate envelope. This is for your private eye.
Speaker 1: Wire me what train in the morning you can get
Speaker 1: for Burlstone, and I will meet it or have it
Speaker 1: met if I am too occupied, This case is a snorter.
Speaker 1: Don't waste a moment in getting started. If you can
Speaker 1: bring mister Holmes, please do so, for he will find
Speaker 1: something after his own heart. We would think the whole
Speaker 1: had been fixed up for theatrical effect if there wasn't
Speaker 1: a dead man in the middle of it. My word,
Speaker 1: it is a snorter. Your friend seems to be no fool,
Speaker 1: remarked Holmes. No, sir, Whitemason is a very live man.
Speaker 1: If I am any judge, well have you anything more
Speaker 1: only that he will give us every detail when we meet.
Speaker 1: Then how did you get at mister Douglas and the
Speaker 1: fact that he had been horribly murdered? That was in
Speaker 1: the enclosed official report. I didn't say horrible, that's not
Speaker 1: a recognized official term. It gave the name John Douglas.
Speaker 1: He mentioned his injuries had been in the head from
Speaker 1: the discharge of a shotgun. It also mentioned the hour
Speaker 1: of the alarm, which was close on to midnight last night.
Speaker 1: It added that the case was undoubtedly one of murder
Speaker 1: and that no arrest had been made, and that the
Speaker 1: case was one which presented some very perplexing and extraordinary features.
Speaker 1: That's absolutely all we have at present, mister Holmes. Then
Speaker 1: with your permission, we will leave it at that, Mister
Speaker 1: mac The temptation to form premature theories upon insufficient data
Speaker 1: is the bane of our profession. I can see only
Speaker 1: two things for certain at present, a great brain in
Speaker 1: London and a dead man in Sussex. It's the chain
Speaker 1: between that we are going to trace Chapter three, the
Speaker 1: Tragedy of Burlstone. For a moment, I will ask leave
Speaker 1: to remove my own insignificant personality, and to describe events
Speaker 1: which occurred before we arrived upon the scene by light
Speaker 1: of knowledge which came to us afterwards. Only in this
Speaker 1: way can I make the reader appreciate the people concerned
Speaker 1: and the strange setting in which their fate was cast.
Speaker 1: The village of Burlstone is a small and very ancient
Speaker 1: cluster of half timbered cottages on the northern border of
Speaker 1: the County of Sussex. For centuries it had remained unchanged,
Speaker 1: but within the last few years its picturesque appearance and
Speaker 1: situation have attracted a number of well to do residents
Speaker 1: whose villas peep out from the woods. Around These woods
Speaker 1: are locally supposed to be the extreme fringe of the
Speaker 1: great wheeled forest, which thins away until it reaches the
Speaker 1: northern chalk Downs. A number of small shops have come
Speaker 1: into being to meet the wants of the increased part population.
Speaker 1: So there seemed some prospect that Burlstone may soon grow
Speaker 1: from an ancient village into a modern town. It is
Speaker 1: the center for a considerable area of country since Tunbridge Wells,
Speaker 1: the nearest place of importance is ten or twelve miles
Speaker 1: to the eastward over the borders of Kent. About half
Speaker 1: a mile from the town, standing in an old park
Speaker 1: famous for its huge beech trees, is the ancient manor
Speaker 1: House of Burlstone. Part of this venerable building dates back
Speaker 1: to the time of the First Crusade, when Hugo de
Speaker 1: Capus built a fortelise in the center of the estate,
Speaker 1: which had been granted to him by the Red King.
Speaker 1: This was destroyed by fire in fifteen forty three, and
Speaker 1: some of its smoke blackened corner stones were used when
Speaker 1: in Jacobean times a brick country house rose upon the
Speaker 1: ruins of the feudal castle. The manor house, with its
Speaker 1: many gables and its small diamond paned windows, were still
Speaker 1: much as the builder had left it in the early
Speaker 1: seventeenth century. Of the double moats which had guarded its
Speaker 1: more warlike predecessor. The outer had been allowed to dry
Speaker 1: up and served the humble function of a kitchen garden.
Speaker 1: The inner one was still there and lay forty feet
Speaker 1: in breadth, though now only a few feet in depth,
Speaker 1: round the whole house. A small stream fed it and
Speaker 1: continued beyond it, so that the sheet of water, though turbid,
Speaker 1: was never ditch like or unhealthy. The ground floor windows
Speaker 1: were within a foot of the surface of the water.
Speaker 1: The only approach to the house was over a drawbridge,
Speaker 1: the chains and windless of which had long been rusted
Speaker 1: and broken. The latest tenants of the manor house had, however,
Speaker 1: with characteristic energy, set this right, and the drawbridge was
Speaker 1: not only capable of being raised, but actually was raised
Speaker 1: every evening and lowered every morning. By thus renewing the
Speaker 1: custom of the old feudal days, the manor house was
Speaker 1: converted into an island during the night, a fact which
Speaker 1: had a very direct bearing upon the mystery which was
Speaker 1: soon to engage the attention of all England. The house
Speaker 1: had been untenanted for some years and was threatening to
Speaker 1: molder into a picturesque decay when the Douglases took possession
Speaker 1: of it. This family consisted of only two individuals, John
Speaker 1: Douglas and his wife. Douglas was a remarkable man, both
Speaker 1: in character and in person. In age, he may have
Speaker 1: been about fifty, with a strong, jawed, rugged face, a
Speaker 1: grizzling mustache, peculiarly keen gray eyes, and a wiry, vigorous
Speaker 1: figure which had lost nothing of the strength and activity
Speaker 1: of youth. He was cheery and genial to all, but
Speaker 1: somewhat offhand in his manners, giving the impression that he
Speaker 1: had seen life in social strata on some far lower
Speaker 1: horizon than the county society of Sussex. Yet though looked
Speaker 1: at with some curiosity and reserve by his more cultivated neighbors,
Speaker 1: he soon acquired a great popularity among the villagers, subscribing
Speaker 1: handsomely to all local objects and attending their smoking concerts
Speaker 1: and other functions, where having a remarkably rich tenor voice,
Speaker 1: he was always ready to oblige with an excellent song.
Speaker 1: He appeared to have plenty of money, which was said
Speaker 1: to have been gained in the California gold fields. And
Speaker 1: it was clear from his own talk and that of
Speaker 1: his wife, that he had spent a part of his
Speaker 1: life in America. The good impression which had been produced
Speaker 1: by his generosity and by his democratic manners, was increased
Speaker 1: by a reputation gained for utter indifference to danger. Though
Speaker 1: a wretched rider, he turned out at every meet and
Speaker 1: took the most amazing falls in his determination to hold
Speaker 1: his own with the best. When the vicarage caught fire,
Speaker 1: he distinguished himself also by the fearlessness with which he
Speaker 1: re entered the building to save property after the local
Speaker 1: fire brigade had given it up as impossible. Thus it
Speaker 1: came about that John Douglas of the manor House had
Speaker 1: within five years won himself quite a reputation in Burlstone.
Speaker 1: His wife, too, was popular with those who had made
Speaker 1: her acquaintance, though after the English fashion, the callers upon
Speaker 1: a stranger who settled in the county without introductions were
Speaker 1: few and far between. This mattered the less to her,
Speaker 1: as she was retiring by disposition, and very much absorbed
Speaker 1: to all appearance in her husband and her domestic duties.
Speaker 1: It was known that she was an English lady who
Speaker 1: had met mister Douglas in London, he being at that
Speaker 1: time I'm a widower. She was a beautiful woman, tall,
Speaker 1: dark and slender, some twenty years younger than her husband,
Speaker 1: a disparity which seemed in no wise to mar the
Speaker 1: contentment of their family life. It was remarked, sometimes, however,
Speaker 1: by those who knew them best, that the confidence between
Speaker 1: the two did not appear to be complete, since the
Speaker 1: wife was either very reticent about her husband's past life,
Speaker 1: or else has seemed more likely, was imperfectly informed about it.
Speaker 1: It had also been noted and commented upon by a
Speaker 1: few observant people that there were signs sometimes of some
Speaker 1: nerve strain upon the part of missus Douglas, and that
Speaker 1: she would display acute uneasiness if her absent husband should
Speaker 1: ever be particularly late in his return. On a quiet
Speaker 1: countryside where all gossip is welcome, this weakness of the
Speaker 1: lady of the manor house did not pass without remark,
Speaker 1: and it bulked larger upon people's memory when the events
Speaker 1: arose which gave it a very special significance. There was
Speaker 1: yet another individual whose residence under that roof was, it
Speaker 1: is true, only an intermittent one, but whose presence at
Speaker 1: the time of the strange happenings which will now be narrated,
Speaker 1: brought his name prominently before the public. This was Cecil
Speaker 1: James Barker of hales Lodge, Hampstead. Cecil Barker's tall, loose
Speaker 1: jointed figure was a familiar one in the main street
Speaker 1: of Burlstone Village, for he was a frequent and welcome
Speaker 1: visitor at the manor house. He was the more noticed
Speaker 1: as being the only friend of the past unknown life
Speaker 1: of mister Douglas who was ever seen in his new
Speaker 1: English surroundings. Barker was himself an undoubted Englishman, but by
Speaker 1: his remarks it was clear that he had first known
Speaker 1: Douglas in America and had there lived on intimate terms
Speaker 1: with him. He appeared to be a man of considerable wealth,
Speaker 1: and was reputed to be a bachelor in age. He
Speaker 1: was rather younger than Douglas, forty five at the most,
Speaker 1: a tall, straight, broad chested fellow, with a clean shaved,
Speaker 1: prize fighter face, thick, strong black eyebrows, and a pair
Speaker 1: of masterful black eyes, which might, even without the aid
Speaker 1: of his very capable hands, clear away for him through
Speaker 1: a hostile crowd. He neither rode nor shot, but spent
Speaker 1: his days in wandering round the old village with his
Speaker 1: pipe in his mouth, or in driving with his host
Speaker 1: or in his absence with his hostess over the beautiful countryside.
Speaker 1: An easy going, free handed gentleman, said Eames the butler.
Speaker 1: But my word, I'd rather not be the man that
Speaker 1: crossed him. He was cordial and intimate with Douglas, and
Speaker 1: he was no less friendly with his wife, a friendship
Speaker 1: which more than once seemed to cause some irritation to
Speaker 1: the husband, so that even the servants were able to
Speaker 1: perceive his annoyance. Such was the third person, who was
Speaker 1: one of the family when the catastrophe occurred. As to
Speaker 1: the other denizens of the old building, it will suffice
Speaker 1: out of a large household to mention the prim respectable
Speaker 1: and capable Aims and missus Allen, a buxam and cheerful
Speaker 1: person who relieved the lady of some of her household cares.
Speaker 1: The other six servants in the house bear no relation
Speaker 1: to the events of the night of January sixth. It
Speaker 1: was at eleven forty five that the first alarm reached
Speaker 1: the small local police station in charge of Sergeant Wilson
Speaker 1: of the Sussex Constabulary. Cecil Barker, much excited, had rushed
Speaker 1: up to the door and pealed furiously upon the bell.
Speaker 1: A terrible tragedy had occurred at the manor house and
Speaker 1: John Douglas had been murdered. That was the breathless burden
Speaker 1: of his message. He had hurried back to the house,
Speaker 1: followed within a few minutes by the police sergeant, who
Speaker 1: arrived at the scene of the crime a little after
Speaker 1: twelve o'clock after taking prompt steps to warn the county
Speaker 1: authorities that something serious was afoot. On reaching the manor house,
Speaker 1: the sergeant had found the drawbridge down, the windows lighted up,
Speaker 1: and the whole household in a state of wild confusion
Speaker 1: and alarm. The white faced servants were huddling together in
Speaker 1: the hall, with the frightened butler wringing his hands in
Speaker 1: the doorway. Only Cecil Barker seemed to be master of
Speaker 1: himself and his emotions. He had opened the door which
Speaker 1: was nearest to the entrance, and he had beckoned to
Speaker 1: the sergeant to follow him. At that moment there arrived
Speaker 1: doctor Wood, a brisk and capable general practitioner from the village.
Speaker 1: The three men entered the fatal room together, while the
Speaker 1: horror stricken butler followed at their heels, closing the door
Speaker 1: behind him to shut out the terrible scene from the
Speaker 1: maid servants. The dead man lay on his back, sprawling
Speaker 1: with outstretched limbs, in the center of the room. He
Speaker 1: was clad only in a pink dressing gown which covered
Speaker 1: his nightclothes. There were carpet slippers on his bare feet.
Speaker 1: The doctor knelt beside him and held down the hand
Speaker 1: lamp which had stood on the table. One glance at
Speaker 1: the victim was enough to show the healer that his
Speaker 1: presence could be dispensed with. The man had been horribly injured.
Speaker 1: Lying across his chest was a curious weapon, a shot
Speaker 1: gun with the barrel sawed off a foot in front
Speaker 1: of the triggers. It was clear that this had been
Speaker 1: fired at close range, and that he had received the
Speaker 1: whole charge in the face, blowing his head almost to pieces.
Speaker 1: The triggers had been wired together so as to make
Speaker 1: the simultaneous discharge more destructive. The country policeman was unnerved
Speaker 1: and troubled by the tremendous responsibility which had come so
Speaker 1: suddenly upon him. We will touch nothing until my superiors arrive,
Speaker 1: he said in a hushed voice, staring in horror at
Speaker 1: the dreadful head. Nothing has been touched up to now,
Speaker 1: said Cecil Barker. I'll answer for that. You see it
Speaker 1: all exactly as I found it. When was that the
Speaker 1: sergeant had drawn out his note book. It was just
Speaker 1: half past eleven. I had not begun to undress, and
Speaker 1: I was sitting by the fire in my bedroom when
Speaker 1: I heard the report. It was not very loud, it
Speaker 1: seemed to be muffled. I rushed down. I don't suppose
Speaker 1: it was thirty seconds before I was in the room.
Speaker 1: Was the door open, Yes, it was open. Poor Douglas
Speaker 1: was lying as you see him. His bedroom candle was
Speaker 1: burning on the table. It was I who lit the lamp.
Speaker 1: Some minutes afterward, Did you see no one? No? I
Speaker 1: heard Missus Douglas coming down the stair behind me, and
Speaker 1: I rushed out to prevent her from seeing this dreadful sight.
Speaker 1: Missus Allen, the housekeeper, came and took her away. Eames
Speaker 1: had arrived and we ran back into the room once more.
Speaker 1: But surely I have heard that the drawbridge is kept
Speaker 1: up all night. Yes, it was up until I lowered it. Then,
Speaker 1: how could any murderer have got away? It is out
Speaker 1: of the question. Mister Douglas must have shot himself. That
Speaker 1: was our first idea. But see Barker drew aside the
Speaker 1: curtain and showed that the long diamond paned window was
Speaker 1: open to its full extent. And look at this. He
Speaker 1: held the lamp down and illuminated a smudge of blood,
Speaker 1: like the mark of a boot sole upon the window sill.
Speaker 1: Some one has stood there in getting out. You mean
Speaker 1: that some one waded across the moat exactly. Then, if
Speaker 1: you were in the room within half a minute of
Speaker 1: the crime, he must have been in the water at
Speaker 1: that very moment. I have not a doubt of it.
Speaker 1: I wish to Heaven that I had rushed to the window,
Speaker 1: but the curtain screened it, as you can see, and
Speaker 1: so it never occurred to me. Then I heard the
Speaker 1: step of missus Douglas, and I could not let her
Speaker 1: enter the room. It would have been too horrible. Horrible enough,
Speaker 1: said the doctor, looking at the shattered head and the
Speaker 1: terrible marks which surrounded it. I have never seen such
Speaker 1: injuries since the Burlstone railway smash. But I say, remarked
Speaker 1: the police sergeant, whose slow bucolic common sense was still
Speaker 1: pondering the open window. That's all very well, your saying
Speaker 1: that a man escaped by wading this moat. But what
Speaker 1: I ask you is, how did he ever get into
Speaker 1: the house at all if the bridge was up. Ah,
Speaker 1: that's the question, said Barker. At what a clock was
Speaker 1: it raised? It was nearly six o'clock, said Eames, the butler.
Speaker 1: I've heard, said the sergeant, that it was usually raised
Speaker 1: at sunset. That would be nearer half past four than
Speaker 1: six at this time of year. Missus Douglas had visitors
Speaker 1: to tea, said Eames. I couldn't raise it until they went.
Speaker 1: Then I wound it up myself. Then it comes to this,
Speaker 1: said the sergeant, if anyone came from outside. If they did,
Speaker 1: they must have got in across the bridge before six
Speaker 1: and been in hiding ever since until mister Douglas came
Speaker 1: into the room after eleven. That is so. Mister Douglas
Speaker 1: went round the house every night, the last thing before
Speaker 1: he turned in to see that the lights were right.
Speaker 1: That brought him in here. The man was waiting and
Speaker 1: shot him. Then he got away through the window and
Speaker 1: left his gun behind him. That's how I read it,
Speaker 1: for nothing else will fit the facts. The sergeant picked
Speaker 1: up a card with which lay beside the dead man
Speaker 1: on the floor. The initials v V and under them
Speaker 1: the number three four one were rudely scrawled in ink
Speaker 1: upon it. Whilst this, he asked. Holding it up, Barker
Speaker 1: looked at it with curiosity. I never noticed it before,
Speaker 1: he said. The murderer must have left it behind v
Speaker 1: V three four one. I could make no sense of that.
Speaker 1: The sergeant kept turning it over in his big fingers.
Speaker 1: What's vv somebody's initials? Maybe? What have you got there,
Speaker 1: doctor Wood? It was a good sized hammer which had
Speaker 1: been lying on the rug in front of the fireplace,
Speaker 1: A substantial workman like hammer. Cecil Barker pointed to a
Speaker 1: box of brass headed nails upon the mantelpiece. Mister Douglas
Speaker 1: was altering the pictures yesterday, he said, I saw him
Speaker 1: myself standing upon that chair and fixing the big picture
Speaker 1: above it. That accounts for the hammer. We'd best put
Speaker 1: it back on the rug where we found it, said
Speaker 1: the sergeant, scratching his puzzled head in his perplexity. It
Speaker 1: will want the best brains in the force to get
Speaker 1: to the bottom of this thing. It will be a
Speaker 1: London job before it is finished. He raised the hand
Speaker 1: lamp and walked slowly round the room. Hullo, he cried, excitedly,
Speaker 1: drawing the window curtain to one side. What o' clark
Speaker 1: were those curtains drawn when the lamps were lit, said
Speaker 1: the butler. It would be shortly after four some one
Speaker 1: had been hiding here. Sure enough, he held down the
Speaker 1: light and the marks of muddy boots were very visible
Speaker 1: in the corner. I'm bound to say this bears out
Speaker 1: your theory, mister Barker. It looks as if the man
Speaker 1: got into the house after four when the curtains were drawn,
Speaker 1: and before six when the bridge was raised. He slipped
Speaker 1: into this room because it was the first that he saw.
Speaker 1: There was no other place where he hide, so he
Speaker 1: popped in behind the curtain. That all seems clear enough.
Speaker 1: It is likely that his main idea was to burgle
Speaker 1: the house, but mister Douglas chanced to come upon him,
Speaker 1: so he murdered him and escaped. That's how I read it,
Speaker 1: said Barker. But I say, aren't we wasting precious time?
Speaker 1: Couldn't we start out and scout the country before the
Speaker 1: fellow gets away. The sergeant considered for a moment. There
Speaker 1: are no trains before six in the morning, so he
Speaker 1: can't get away by rail. If he goes by road
Speaker 1: with his legs all dripping, it's odds that someone will
Speaker 1: notice him anyhow. I can't leave here myself until I'm relieved,
Speaker 1: but I think none of you should go until we
Speaker 1: see more clearly how we all stand. The doctor had
Speaker 1: taken the lamp and was narrowly scrutinizing the body. What's
Speaker 1: this mark, he asked? Could this have any connection with
Speaker 1: the crime. The dead man's right arm was thrust out
Speaker 1: from his dressing gown and exposed as high as the elbow.
Speaker 1: About half way up the forearm was a curious brown design,
Speaker 1: a triangle inside a circle, standing out in vivid relief
Speaker 1: upon the lard colored skin. It's not tattooed, said the doctor,
Speaker 1: peering through his glasses. I never saw anything like it.
Speaker 1: The man has been branded at some time, as they
Speaker 1: brand cattle. What is the meaning of this. I don't
Speaker 1: profess to know the meaning of it, said Cecil Barker,
Speaker 1: but I have seen the mark on Douglas many times.
Speaker 1: This last ten years, and so have I, said the butler,
Speaker 1: many a time, when the Master has rolled up his sleeves.
Speaker 1: I have noticed that very mark. I've often wondered what
Speaker 1: it could be. Then it has nothing to do with
Speaker 1: the crime anyhow, said the sergeant. But it's a rum
Speaker 1: thing all the same. Everything about this case is rum Well,
Speaker 1: what is it now? The butler had given an exclamation
Speaker 1: of astonishment and was pointing at the dead man's outstretched hand.
Speaker 1: They've taken his wedding ring, he gasped. What. Yes, Indeed,
Speaker 1: Master always wore his plain gold wedding ring on the
Speaker 1: little finger of his left hand. That ring with the
Speaker 1: rough nugget on it was above it, and the twisted
Speaker 1: snake ring on the third finger. There's the nugget and
Speaker 1: there's the snake, but the wedding ring is gone. He's right,
Speaker 1: said Barker. Do you tell me, said the sergeant, that
Speaker 1: the wedding ring was below the other always. Then the
Speaker 1: murderer or whoever it was, first, took off this ring
Speaker 1: you call the nugget ring, then the wedding ring, and
Speaker 1: afterwards put the nugget ring back again. That is so,
Speaker 1: the worthy country policeman shook his head. Seems to me,
Speaker 1: the sooner we get London on to this case, the
Speaker 1: better said he. White Mason is a smart man. No
Speaker 1: local job has ever been too much for white Mason.
Speaker 1: It won't belong now before he is here to help us.
Speaker 1: But I expect we'll have to look to London before
Speaker 1: we are through. Anyhow, I'm not ashamed to say that
Speaker 1: it is a deal too thick for the likes of me.
Speaker 1: Chapter four Darkness. At three in the morning, the Chief
Speaker 1: Sussex Detective, obeying the urgent call from Sergeant Wilson of Burlstone,
Speaker 1: arrived from headquarters in a light dog cart behind a
Speaker 1: breathless trotter by the five forty train. In the morning,
Speaker 1: he had sent his message to Scotland Yard, and he
Speaker 1: was at the Burlstone station at twelve o'clock to welcome us.
Speaker 1: White Mason was a quiet, comfortable looking person in a
Speaker 1: loose tweed suit, with a clean shaved, ruddy face, a
Speaker 1: stoutish body, and powerful bandy legs adorned with gaiters, looking
Speaker 1: like a small farmer, a retired gamekeeper, or anything upon
Speaker 1: earth except a very favorable specimen of the provincial criminal officer.
Speaker 1: A real downright snorter, mister mc donald, He kept repeating,
Speaker 1: We'll have the pressmen down like flies when they understand it.
Speaker 1: I'm hoping we will get our work done before they
Speaker 1: get poking their noses into it and messing up all
Speaker 1: the trails. There's been nothing like this that I can remember.
Speaker 1: There are some bits that will come home to you,
Speaker 1: mister Holmes, or I'm mistaken, and you also, doctor Watson
Speaker 1: for the medicals, will have a word to say before
Speaker 1: we finish. Your room is at the Westville Arms. There's
Speaker 1: no other place, but I hear that it is clean
Speaker 1: and good. The man will carry your bags this way, gentlemen,
Speaker 1: if you please. He was a very bustling and genial person,
Speaker 1: this Sussex detective. In ten minutes we had all found
Speaker 1: our quarters. In ten more, we were seated in the
Speaker 1: parlor of the Inn and being treated to a rapid
Speaker 1: sketch of those events which have been outlined in the
Speaker 1: previous chapter. MacDonald made an occasional note while Holmes sat
Speaker 1: absorbed with the expression of surprised and reverent admiration with
Speaker 1: which the botanist surveys the rare and precious bloom. Remarkable,
Speaker 1: he said, when the story was unfolded most remarkable. I
Speaker 1: can hardly recall any case where the features have been
Speaker 1: more peculiar. I thought you would say so, mister Holmes,
Speaker 1: said White Mason, in great delight. We're well up with
Speaker 1: the times in Sussex. I've told you now how matters
Speaker 1: were up to the time when I took over from
Speaker 1: Sergeant Wilson between three and four this morning. My word,
Speaker 1: I made the old Mayor go. But I need not
Speaker 1: have been in such a hurry, as it turned out,
Speaker 1: for there was nothing immediate that I could do. Sergeant
Speaker 1: Wilson had all the facts. I checked them and considered them,
Speaker 1: and maybe added a few of my own. What were they,
Speaker 1: asked Holmes eagerly. Well. I first had the hammer examined.
Speaker 1: There was doctor Wood there to help me. We found
Speaker 1: no signs of violence upon it. I was hoping that
Speaker 1: if mister Douglas defended himself with the hammer, he might
Speaker 1: have left his mark upon the murderer before he dropped
Speaker 1: it on the mat. But there was no stain. That,
Speaker 1: of course, proves nothing at all, remarked Inspector MacDonald. There
Speaker 1: has been many a hammer murder and no trace on
Speaker 1: the hammer. Quite so It doesn't prove it wasn't used,
Speaker 1: but there might have been stains, and that would have
Speaker 1: helped us. As a matter of fact, there were none.
Speaker 1: Then I examined the gun. They were buckshot cartridges, and
Speaker 1: a sergeant Wilson pointed out the triggers were wired together
Speaker 1: so that if you pulled on the hinder one, both
Speaker 1: barrels were discharged. Whoever fixed that up had made up
Speaker 1: his mind that he was going to take no chances
Speaker 1: of missing his man. The sword gun was not more
Speaker 1: than two foot long. One could carry it easily under
Speaker 1: one's coat. There was no complet maker's name, but the
Speaker 1: printed letters P, E N were on the fluting between
Speaker 1: the barrels, and the rest of the name had been
Speaker 1: cut off by the saw. A big P with a
Speaker 1: flourish above it, E and N smaller, asked Holmes, exactly
Speaker 1: Pennsylvania Small Arms Company, well known American firm, said Holmes.
Speaker 1: White Mason gazed at my friend as the little village
Speaker 1: practitioner looks at the Harley Street specialist, who by a
Speaker 1: word can solve the difficulties that perplex him. That is
Speaker 1: very helpful, mister Holmes. No doubt you are right wonderful, wonderful.
Speaker 1: Do you carry the names of all the gun makers
Speaker 1: in the world in your memory? Holmes dismissed the subject
Speaker 1: with a wave. No doubt it is an American shotgun,
Speaker 1: White Mason continued, I seem to have read that a
Speaker 1: sword off shotgun is a weapon used in some parts
Speaker 1: of America. Apart from the name upon the barrel, the
Speaker 1: idea had occurred to me. There is some evidence there
Speaker 1: that this man who entered the house and killed its
Speaker 1: master was an American. Mac Donald shook his head. Man,
Speaker 1: you are surely traveling over fast, said he. I have
Speaker 1: had no evidence yet that any stranger was ever in
Speaker 1: the house at all. The open window, the blood on
Speaker 1: the sill, the queer card, the marks of boots in
Speaker 1: the corner, the gun, nothing there that could not have
Speaker 1: been arranged. Mister Douglas was an American, or had lived
Speaker 1: long in America, sawed mister Barker. You don't need to
Speaker 1: import an American from outside in order to account for
Speaker 1: American doings. Eames, the butler, what about him? Is he reliable?
Speaker 1: Ten years with Sir Charles Chandos as solid as a rock.
Speaker 1: He has been with Douglas ever since he took the
Speaker 1: manor house five years ago. He has never seen a
Speaker 1: gun of this sort in the house. The gun was
Speaker 1: made to conceal, that's why the barrels were swored that
Speaker 1: would fit into any box. How could he swear there
Speaker 1: was no such gun in the house. Well, anyhow, he
Speaker 1: had never seen one. Mac Donald shook his obstinate Scotch head.
Speaker 1: I'm not convinced yet that there was ever any one
Speaker 1: in the house, said he I'm asking you to conceider.
Speaker 1: His accent became more Abadonian as he lost himself in
Speaker 1: his argument. I'm asking you to concede, don What it
Speaker 1: involves if you suppose that this gun was ever brought
Speaker 1: into the house, and that all these strange things were
Speaker 1: done by a person from outside. Oh man, it's just inconceivable.
Speaker 1: It's clean against common sense. I put it to you,
Speaker 1: mister Holmes, judging it by what we have heard, Well
Speaker 1: state your case, mister mac said Holmes in his most
Speaker 1: judicial style. The man is not a burglar, supposing that
Speaker 1: he ever existed the ring business, and the hard point
Speaker 1: to premeditated murder for some private reason. Very good. Here
Speaker 1: is a man who slips into a house with the
Speaker 1: deliberate intention of committing murder. He knows, if he knows anything,
Speaker 1: that he will have a difficulty in making his escape
Speaker 1: as the house is surrounded with water. What weapon would
Speaker 1: he choose? You would say, the most silent in the world.
Speaker 1: Then he could hope, when the deed was done, to
Speaker 1: slip quickly from the window, to wait the moat, and
Speaker 1: to get away at his leisure. That's understandable. But is
Speaker 1: it understandable that he should go out of his way
Speaker 1: to bring with him the most noisy weapon he could select,
Speaker 1: knowing well that it will fetch every human being in
Speaker 1: the house to the spot as quick as they can run,
Speaker 1: and that it is all odds that he will be
Speaker 1: seen before he can get across the moat. Is that credible,
Speaker 1: mister Holmes. Well you put the case strongly, my friend
Speaker 1: replied thoughtfully. It certainly needs a good deal of justification.
Speaker 1: May I ask, mister Whitemason whether you examined the farther
Speaker 1: side of the moat at once to see if there
Speaker 1: were any signs of the man having climbed out from
Speaker 1: the water. There were no signs, mister Holmes, But it
Speaker 1: is a stone ledge and one could hardly expect them
Speaker 1: no tracks or marks none. Ha. Would there be any objection,
Speaker 1: mister Whitemason to our going down to the house at once?
Speaker 1: There may possibly be some small point which might be suggestive.
Speaker 1: I was going to propose it, mister Holmes, but I
Speaker 1: thought it well to put you in touch with all
Speaker 1: the facts before we go. I suppose if anything should
Speaker 1: strike you. White Mason looked doubtfully at the amateur. I
Speaker 1: have worked with mister Holmes before, said Inspector mac Donald.
Speaker 1: He plays the game my own idea of the game
Speaker 1: at any rate, said Holmes, with a smile. I go
Speaker 1: into a case to help the ends of justice and
Speaker 1: the work of the police. If I have ever separated
Speaker 1: myself from the official force, it is because they have
Speaker 1: first separated themselves from me. I have no wish ever
Speaker 1: to score at their expense. At the same time, mister Whitemason,
Speaker 1: I claimed the right to work in my own way
Speaker 1: and give my results at my own time, complete rather
Speaker 1: than in stages. I am sure we are honored by
Speaker 1: your presence, and to show you all we know, said
Speaker 1: white Mason. Cordially, come along, doctor Watson, and when the
Speaker 1: time comes, we all hope for a place in your book.
Speaker 1: We walked down the quaint village street, with a row
Speaker 1: of pollarded elms on each side of it. Just beyond
Speaker 1: were two ancient stone pillars, weather stained and lichen blotched,
Speaker 1: bearing upon their summits a shapeless something which had once
Speaker 1: been the rampant lion of carpas of Burlstone. A short
Speaker 1: walk along the winding drive, with such sword and oaks
Speaker 1: around it as one only sees in rural England. Then
Speaker 1: a sudden turn, and the long, low Jacobian house of
Speaker 1: dingy liver colored brick lay before us, with an old
Speaker 1: fashioned garden of cut ewes on each side of it.
Speaker 1: As we approached it, there was the wooden drawbridge, the
Speaker 1: beautiful broad moat, as still and luminous as quicksilver in
Speaker 1: the cold winter sunshine. Three centuries had flowed past the
Speaker 1: old manor house, centuries of births and of homecomings, of
Speaker 1: country dances, and of the meetings of fox hunters. Strange
Speaker 1: that now, in its old age, this dark business should
Speaker 1: have cast its shadow upon the venerable walls. And yet
Speaker 1: those strange peaked roofs and quaint overhung gables were a
Speaker 1: fitting covering to grim and terrible intrigue. As I looked
Speaker 1: at the deep set windows and the long sweep of
Speaker 1: the dull colored water lapped front, I felt that no
Speaker 1: more fitting scene could be set for such a tragedy.
Speaker 1: That's the window, said white Mason. That one on the
Speaker 1: immediate right of the drawbridge. It's opened just as it
Speaker 1: was found last night. It looks rather narrow for a
Speaker 1: man to pass. Well, it wasn't a fat man anyhow.
Speaker 1: We don't need your deductions, mister Holmes, to tell us that.
Speaker 1: But you or I could squeeze through, all right. Holmes
Speaker 1: walked to the edge of the moat and looked across.
Speaker 1: Then he examined the stone ledge and the grass border
Speaker 1: beyond it. I've had a good look, mister Holmes, said
Speaker 1: White Mason. There is nothing there, and no sign that
Speaker 1: any one has landed. But why should he leave any sign? Exactly?
Speaker 1: Why should he? Is the water always turbid, generally about
Speaker 1: this color. The stream brings down the clay. How deep
Speaker 1: is it? About two feet at each side and three
Speaker 1: in the middle. So we can put aside all idea
Speaker 1: of the man having been drowned in crossing. No, a
Speaker 1: child could not be drowned in it. We walked across
Speaker 1: the drawbridge and were admitted by a quaint, gnarled, dried
Speaker 1: up person who was the butler Ames. The poor old
Speaker 1: fellow was white and quivering from the shock. The village sergeant,
Speaker 1: a tall, formal melancholy man, still held his vigil in
Speaker 1: the room of fate. The doctor had departed anything fresh,
Speaker 1: Sergeant Wilson asked Whitemason. No, sir, then you can go home.
Speaker 1: You've had enough. We can send for you if we
Speaker 1: want you. The butler had better wait outside. Tell him
Speaker 1: to warn mister Cecil Barker, Missus Douglas, and the housekeeper
Speaker 1: that we may want a word with them presently now, gentlemen,
Speaker 1: perhaps he will allow me to give you the views
Speaker 1: I have formed first, and then you will be able
Speaker 1: to arrive at your own He impressed, made this country specialist.
Speaker 1: He had a solid grip of fact and a cool, clear,
Speaker 1: common sense brain, which should take him some way in
Speaker 1: his profession. Holmes listened to him intently, with no sign
Speaker 1: of that impatience which the official exponent too often produced.
Speaker 1: Is it suicide or is it murder? That's our first question, gentlemen.
Speaker 1: Is it not? If it were suicide. Then we have
Speaker 1: to believe that this man began by taking off his
Speaker 1: wedding ring and concealing it. That he then came down
Speaker 1: here in his dressing gown, trampled mud into a corner
Speaker 1: behind the curtain in order to give the idea some
Speaker 1: one had waited for him, opened the window, put blood
Speaker 1: on the We can surely dismiss that, said mac donald.
Speaker 1: So I think suicide is out of the question. Then
Speaker 1: a murder has been done. What we have to determine
Speaker 1: is whether it was done by some one outside or
Speaker 1: inside the house. Well, let's hear the argument. There are
Speaker 1: considerable difficulties both ways, and yet one or the other
Speaker 1: it must be. We will suppose first that some person
Speaker 1: or persons inside the house did the crime. They got
Speaker 1: this man down here at a time when everything was still,
Speaker 1: and yet no one was asleep. They then did the
Speaker 1: deed with the queerest and noisiest weapon in the world,
Speaker 1: so as to tell everyone what had happened, a weapon
Speaker 1: that was never seen in the house before. That does
Speaker 1: not seem a very likely start, does it, No, it
Speaker 1: does not. Well, then everyone is agreed that after the
Speaker 1: alarm was given only a minute at the most had
Speaker 1: passed before the whole household, not mister Cecil Barker alone,
Speaker 1: though he claims to have been the first, but Aims
Speaker 1: and all of them were on the spot. Do you
Speaker 1: tell me that in that time the guilty person managed
Speaker 1: to make footmarks in the corner, open the window, mark
Speaker 1: the sill with blood, take the wedding ring off the
Speaker 1: dead man's finger, and all the rest of it. It's impossible,
Speaker 1: you put it very clearly, said Holmes. I am inclined
Speaker 1: to agree with you. Well, then we are driven back
Speaker 1: to the theory that it was done by someone from outside.
Speaker 1: He'll faced with some big difficulties, but anyhow they have
Speaker 1: ceased to be impossibilities. The man got into the house
Speaker 1: between four thirty and six, that is to say, between
Speaker 1: dusk and the time when the bridge was raised. There
Speaker 1: had been some visitors and the door was open, so
Speaker 1: there was nothing to prevent him. He may have been
Speaker 1: a common burglar, or he may have had some private
Speaker 1: grudge against mister Douglas. Since mister Douglas has spent most
Speaker 1: of his life in America, and this shotgun seems to
Speaker 1: be an American weapon, it would seem that the private
Speaker 1: grudge is the more likely theory he slipped into this
Speaker 1: room because it was the first he came to, and
Speaker 1: he hid behind the curtain. There he remained until past
Speaker 1: eleven at night. At that time mister Douglas entered the room.
Speaker 1: It was a short interview, if there were any interview
Speaker 1: at all. For missus Douglas declares that her husband had
Speaker 1: not left her more than a few minutes when she
Speaker 1: heard the shot. The candle shows that said Holmes exactly.
Speaker 1: The candle, which was a new one, is not burned
Speaker 1: more than half an inch. He must have placed it
Speaker 1: on the table before he was attacked, Otherwise, of course
Speaker 1: it would have fallen when he fell. This shows that
Speaker 1: he was not attacked the instant that he entered the
Speaker 1: room when mister Barker arrived, the candle was lit and
Speaker 1: the lamp was out. That's all clear enough. Well, now
Speaker 1: we can reconstruct things on those lines. Mister Douglas enters
Speaker 1: the room. He puts down the candle. A man appears
Speaker 1: from behind the curtain. He is armed with this gun.
Speaker 1: He demands the wedding ring. Heaven only knows why, but
Speaker 1: so it must have been mister Douglas gave it up.
Speaker 1: Then either in cold blood or in the course of
Speaker 1: a struggle. Douglas may have gripped the hammer that was
Speaker 1: found upon the mat. He shot Douglas in this horrible way,
Speaker 1: he dropped his gun, and also it would seem this
Speaker 1: queer card v V three four one, whatever that may mean.
Speaker 1: And he made his escape through the window and acros
Speaker 1: the moat at the very moment when Cecil Barker was
Speaker 1: discovering the crime. How's that, mister Holmes? Very interesting, but
Speaker 1: just a little unconvincing. Man, It would be absolute nonsense
Speaker 1: if it wasn't that. Anything else is even worse, cried MacDonald.
Speaker 1: Somebody killed the man, and whoever it was, I could
Speaker 1: clearly prove to you that he should have done it
Speaker 1: some other way. What does he mean by allowing his
Speaker 1: retreat to be cut off like that? What does he
Speaker 1: mean by using a shotgun when silence was his one
Speaker 1: chance of escape? Come, mister Holmes, it's up to you
Speaker 1: to give us a lead, since you say, mister White
Speaker 1: Meason's theory is unconvincing. Holmes had sat intently observant during
Speaker 1: this long discussion, missing no word that was said, with
Speaker 1: his keen eyes darting to right and to left, and
Speaker 1: his forehead wrinkled with speculation. I should like a few
Speaker 1: more facts before I get so far as a theory,
Speaker 1: mister Mack said, he kneeling down beside the body. Dear me,
Speaker 1: these injuries are really appalling. Can we have the butler
Speaker 1: in for a moment, Aimes, I understand that you have
Speaker 1: often seen this very unusual mark, a branded triangle inside
Speaker 1: a circle upon mister Douglas's forearm frequently, Sir, you never
Speaker 1: heard any speculation as to what it meant. No, sir,
Speaker 1: it must have caused great pain when it was inflicted.
Speaker 1: It is undoubtedly a burn. Now I observe, Aimes, that
Speaker 1: there is a small piece of plaster at the angle
Speaker 1: of mister Douglas's jaw. Did you observe that in life? Yes, sir,
Speaker 1: he cut himself in shaving yesterday morning. Did you ever
Speaker 1: know him to cut himself in shaving before? Not for
Speaker 1: a very long time, sir. Suggestive, said Holmes. It may,
Speaker 1: of course be a mere coincidence, or it may point
Speaker 1: to some nervousness which would indicate that he had reason
Speaker 1: to apprehend danger. Had you noticed anything unusual in his
Speaker 1: conduct yesterday? Eames struck me that he was a little
Speaker 1: restless and excited. Sir, ha, the attack may not have
Speaker 1: been entirely unexpected. We do seem to make a little progress,
Speaker 1: do we not. Perhaps you would rather do the questioning,
Speaker 1: mister mack. No, mister Holmes has in better hands than mine. Well,
Speaker 1: then we will pass to this card v V three
Speaker 1: four one. It is rough cardboard. Have you any of
Speaker 1: the sort in the house? I don't think so. Holmes
Speaker 1: walked across to the desk and dabbed a little ink
Speaker 1: from each bottle. Onder the blotting paper. It was not
Speaker 1: printed in this room, he said. This is black ink,
Speaker 1: and the other purplish. It was done by a thick pen,
Speaker 1: and these off fine. No, it was done elsewhere. I
Speaker 1: should say, can you make anything of the inscription? Aims no,
Speaker 1: sir nothing. What do you think, mister mac It gives
Speaker 1: me the impression of a secret society of some sort,
Speaker 1: the same with his badge upon the forearm. That's my idea, too,
Speaker 1: said Whitemason. Well we can adopt it as a working hypothesis,
Speaker 1: and then see how far our difficulties disappear. An agent
Speaker 1: from such a society makes his way into the house,
Speaker 1: waits for mister Douglas blows his head nearly off with
Speaker 1: this weapon and escapes by wading the mote, after leaving
Speaker 1: a card beside the dead man, which will, when mentioned
Speaker 1: in the papers, tell other members of the society that
Speaker 1: vengeance has been done. That all hangs together. But why
Speaker 1: this gun of all weapons exactly? And why the missing
Speaker 1: ring quite so? And why no arrest? It's past two now.
Speaker 1: I take it for granted that since dawn every constable
Speaker 1: within forty miles has been looking out for a wet stranger.
Speaker 1: That is so mister Holmes, Well, unless he has a
Speaker 1: burrow close by or a change of clothes ready, they
Speaker 1: can hardly miss him. And yet they have missed him
Speaker 1: up to now. Holmes had gone to the window and
Speaker 1: was examining with his lens the blood mark on the sill.
Speaker 1: It is clearly the tread of a shoe. It is
Speaker 1: remarkably broad a splay foot, one would say, curious, because
Speaker 1: so far as one can trace any footmark in this
Speaker 1: mud stained corner, one would say it was a more
Speaker 1: shapely soul. However, they are certainly very indistinct. What's this
Speaker 1: under the side table, mister Douglas's Dumbbells, said Eames, dumb bell.
Speaker 1: There's only one. Where's the other? I don't know, mister Holmes.
Speaker 1: There may have been only one. I have not noticed
Speaker 1: them for months, one dumb bell, Holmes said seriously. But
Speaker 1: his remarks were interrupted by a sharp knock at the door.
Speaker 1: At all sunburned, capable looking, clean shaved man looked in
Speaker 1: at us. I had no difficulty in guessing that it
Speaker 1: was the Cecil Barker of whom I had heard. His
Speaker 1: masterful eyes traveled quickly with a questioning glance from face
Speaker 1: to face. Sorry to interrupt your consultation, said he, but
Speaker 1: you should hear the latest news an arrest. No such luck,
Speaker 1: but they found his bicycle. The fellow left his bicycle
Speaker 1: behind him. Come and have a look. It is within
Speaker 1: a hundred yards of the hall door. We found three
Speaker 1: or four grooms and idlers standing in the drive inspecting
Speaker 1: a bicycle which had been drawn out from a clump
Speaker 1: of evergreens in which it had been concealed. It was
Speaker 1: a well used rudge whitworth splashed as from a considerable journey.
Speaker 1: There was a saddle bag with spanner and oil can,
Speaker 1: but no clue as to the owner. It would be
Speaker 1: a grand help to the police, said the inspector, if
Speaker 1: these things were numbered and registered. Bert, we must be
Speaker 1: thankful for what we've got. If we can't find where
Speaker 1: he went to, at least we are likely to get
Speaker 1: where he came from. But what in the name of
Speaker 1: all that is wonderful made the fellow leave it behind?
Speaker 1: And how in the world has he got away without it?
Speaker 1: We don't seem to get a gleam of light in
Speaker 1: the case, mister Holmes, don't we, my friend answered thoughtfully,
Speaker 1: I wonder Chapter five the people of the drama? Have
Speaker 1: you seen all you want of the study? Asked Whitemason.
Speaker 1: As we re entered the house for the time, said
Speaker 1: the inspector, and Holmes nodded. Then perhaps you would now
Speaker 1: like to hear the evidence of some of the people
Speaker 1: in the house where he could use the dining room, Emes,
Speaker 1: please come yourself first and tell us what you know.
Speaker 1: The butler's account was a simple and a clear one,
Speaker 1: and he gave a convincing impression of sincerity. He had
Speaker 1: been engaged five years before when Douglas first came to Burlstone.
Speaker 1: He understood that mister Douglas was a rich gentleman who
Speaker 1: had made his money in America. He had been a
Speaker 1: kind and considerate employer, not quite what Ames was used
Speaker 1: to perhaps, but one can't have everything. He never saw
Speaker 1: any signs of apprehension in mister Douglas. On the contrary,
Speaker 1: he was the most fearless man he had ever known.
Speaker 1: He ordered the drawbridge to be pulled up every night
Speaker 1: because it was the ancient custom of the old house,
Speaker 1: and he liked to keep the old ways up. Mister
Speaker 1: Douglas seldom went to London or left the village, but
Speaker 1: on the day before the crime, he had been shopping
Speaker 1: at Tunbridge Wells. He Eames had observed some restlessness and
Speaker 1: excitement on the part of mister Douglas that day, for
Speaker 1: he had seemed impatient and irritable, which was unusual with him.
Speaker 1: He had not gone to bed that night, but was
Speaker 1: in the pantry at the back of the house putting
Speaker 1: away the silver when he heard the bell ring violently.
Speaker 1: He heard no shot, but it was hardly possible he would,
Speaker 1: as the pantry and kitchens were at the very back
Speaker 1: of the house, and there were several closed doors and
Speaker 1: a long passage between. The housekeeper had come out of
Speaker 1: her room. Attracted by the violent ringing of the bell,
Speaker 1: they had gone to the front of the house together.
Speaker 1: As they reached the bottom of the stairs, he had
Speaker 1: seen Missus Douglas coming down. It. No, she was not hurrying.
Speaker 1: It did not seem to him that she was particularly agitated.
Speaker 1: Just as she reached the bottom of the stair, mister
Speaker 1: Barker had rushed out of the study. He had stopped
Speaker 1: Missus Douglas and begged her to go back, for God's sake,
Speaker 1: go back to your room, he cried, poor Jack is dead.
Speaker 1: You can do nothing for God's sake. Go back. After
Speaker 1: some persuasion upon the stairs, Missus Douglas had gone back.
Speaker 1: She did not scream, She made no outcry whatever. Missus Allen,
Speaker 1: the housekeeper, had taken her upstairs and stayed with her
Speaker 1: in the bedroom. Eames and mister Barker had then returned
Speaker 1: to the study, where they had found everything exactly as
Speaker 1: the police had seen it. The candle was not lit
Speaker 1: at that time, but the lamp was burning. They had
Speaker 1: looked out of the window, but the night was very
Speaker 1: dark and nothing could be seen or heard. They had
Speaker 1: then rushed out into the hall, where Eames had turned
Speaker 1: the windowless, which lowered the drawbridge. Mister Barker had then
Speaker 1: hurried off to get the police. Such in its essentials
Speaker 1: was the evidence of the butler. The account of Missus Allen,
Speaker 1: the housekeeper, was, so far as it went, a corroboration
Speaker 1: of that of her fellow servant. The housekeeper's room was
Speaker 1: rather nearer to the front of the house than the
Speaker 1: pantry in which Eames had been working. She was preparing
Speaker 1: to go to bed when the loud ringing of the
Speaker 1: bell had attracted her attention. She was a little hard
Speaker 1: of hearing. Perhaps that was why she had not heard
Speaker 1: the shot, But in any case, the study was a
Speaker 1: long way off. She remembered hearing some sound, which she
Speaker 1: imagined to be the slamming of a door. That was
Speaker 1: a good deal earlier, half an hour at least before
Speaker 1: the ringing of the bell. When mister Eames ran to
Speaker 1: the front, she went with him. She saw mister Barker,
Speaker 1: very pale and excited, come out of the study. He
Speaker 1: intercepted Missus Douglas, who was coming down the stairs. He
Speaker 1: entreated her to go back, and she answered him, but
Speaker 1: what she said could not be heard. Take her up,
Speaker 1: stay with her he had said to Missus Allan. She
Speaker 1: had therefore taken her to the bedroom and endeavored to
Speaker 1: soothe her. She was greatly excited, trembling all over, but
Speaker 1: made no other attempt to go down stairs. She just
Speaker 1: sat in her dressing gown by her bedroom fire, with
Speaker 1: her head sunk in her hands. Missus Allen stayed with
Speaker 1: her most of the night. As to the other servants,
Speaker 1: they had all gone to bed, and the alarm did
Speaker 1: not reach them until just before the police arrived. They
Speaker 1: slept at the extreme back of the house and could
Speaker 1: not possibly have heard anything so far. The housekeeper could
Speaker 1: add nothing on cross examination save lamentations and expressions of amazement.
Speaker 1: Cecil Barker succeeded Missus Allen as a witness as to
Speaker 1: the occurrences of the night before. He had very little
Speaker 1: to add to what he had already told the police. Personally,
Speaker 1: he was convinced that the murderer had escaped by the window.
Speaker 1: The bloodstain was conclusive in his opinion on that point. Besides,
Speaker 1: as the bridge was up, there was no other possible
Speaker 1: way of escaping. He could not explain what had become
Speaker 1: of the assassin or why he had not taken his bicycle.
Speaker 1: If it were indeed his, he could not possibly have
Speaker 1: been drowned in the moat, which was at no place
Speaker 1: more than three feet deep. In his own mind, he
Speaker 1: had a very definite theory about the murder. Douglas was
Speaker 1: a reticent man, and there were some chapters in his
Speaker 1: life of which he never spoke. He had emigrated to
Speaker 1: America when he was a very young man. He had
Speaker 1: prospered well, and Barker had first met him in California,
Speaker 1: where they had become partners in a successful mining claim
Speaker 1: at a place called Benito Cannon. They had done very well,
Speaker 1: but Douglas had suddenly sold out and started for England.
Speaker 1: He was a widower at that time. Barker had afterwards
Speaker 1: realized his money and come to live in London. Thus
Speaker 1: they had renewed their friendship. Douglas had given him the
Speaker 1: impression that some danger was hanging over his head, and
Speaker 1: he had always looked upon his sudden departure from California,
Speaker 1: and also his renting a house in so quiet a
Speaker 1: place in England, as being connected with this peril. He
Speaker 1: imagined that some secret society, some implacable organization, was on
Speaker 1: Douglas's track, which would never rest until it killed him.
Speaker 1: Some remarks of his had given him this idea. Though
Speaker 1: he had never told him what the society was, nor
Speaker 1: how he had come to offend it. He could only
Speaker 1: suppose that the legend upon the placard had some reference
Speaker 1: to this secret society. How long were you worth? Douglas
Speaker 1: in California, asked Inspector mac donald. Five years altogether. He
Speaker 1: was a bachelor, you say, a widower. Have yer ever
Speaker 1: heard where his first wife came from. No? I remember
Speaker 1: his saying that she was of German extraction, and I
Speaker 1: have seen her portrait. She was a very beautiful woman.
Speaker 1: She died of typhoid the year before I met him.
Speaker 1: You don't associate his past with any particular part of America.
Speaker 1: I have heard him talk of Chicago. He knew that
Speaker 1: city well and had worked there. I have heard him
Speaker 1: talk of the coal and iron districts. He had traveled
Speaker 1: a good deal in his time. Was he a politician?
Speaker 1: Had this secret society to do with politics? No, he
Speaker 1: cared nothing about politic You have no reason to think
Speaker 1: it was criminal. On the contrary, I never met a
Speaker 1: straighter man in my life. Was there anything curious about
Speaker 1: his life in California. He liked best to stay and
Speaker 1: to work at our claim in the mountains. He would
Speaker 1: never go where other men were if he could help it.
Speaker 1: That's why I first thought that someone was after him. Then,
Speaker 1: when he left so suddenly for Europe, I made sure
Speaker 1: that it was so. I believed that he had a
Speaker 1: warning of some sort. Within a week of his leaving,
Speaker 1: half a dozen men were inquiring for him, or sort
Speaker 1: of men. Well, they were a mighty hard looking crowd.
Speaker 1: They came up to the claim and wanted to know
Speaker 1: where he was. I told them that he was gone
Speaker 1: to Europe and that I did not know where to
Speaker 1: find him. They meant him no good. It was easy
Speaker 1: to see that were these men Americans Californians. Well, I
Speaker 1: didn't know about Californians. They were Americans, all right, but
Speaker 1: they were not miners. I don't know what they were,
Speaker 1: and was very glad to see their backs. That was
Speaker 1: six years ago, near a seven. And then you were
Speaker 1: together five years in California, so that this business dates
Speaker 1: back not less than eleven years at the least. That
Speaker 1: is so, it must be a very serious feud that
Speaker 1: would be kept up with such earnestness for as long
Speaker 1: as that it would be no light thing that would
Speaker 1: give rise to it. I think it shadowed his whole life.
Speaker 1: It was never quite out of his mind. But if
Speaker 1: a man had a danger hanging over him and knew
Speaker 1: what it was, don't you think he would turn to
Speaker 1: the police for protection. Maybe it was some danger that
Speaker 1: he could not be protected against. There's one thing you
Speaker 1: should know. He always went about armed. His revolver was
Speaker 1: never out of his pocket. But by bad luck, he
Speaker 1: was in his dressing gown and had left it in
Speaker 1: the bedroom last night once the bridge was up. I
Speaker 1: guess he thought he was safe. I should like these
Speaker 1: dates a little clearer, said mac Donald. It is quite
Speaker 1: six years since Douglas left California. You followed him next year,
Speaker 1: did you not? That is so, and he had been
Speaker 1: married five years. You must have returned about the time
Speaker 1: of the marriage, about a month before. I was his
Speaker 1: best man. Did you know missus Douglas before her marriage? No?
Speaker 1: I did not. I'd been away from England for ten years.
Speaker 1: But you have seen a good deal of her. Since
Speaker 1: Barker looked sternly at the detective, I have seen a
Speaker 1: good deal of him since, he answered, if I have
Speaker 1: seen her, it is because you cannot visit a man
Speaker 1: without knowing his wife. If you imagine there is any connection,
Speaker 1: I imagine nothing, mister Barker. I am bound to make
Speaker 1: every inquiry which can bear upon the case, but I
Speaker 1: mean no offense. Some inquiries are offensive, Barker answered angrily.
Speaker 1: There's only the facts that we want. It is in
Speaker 1: your interest and everyone's interest that they should be cleared up.
Speaker 1: Did mister Douglas entirely approve your friendship with his wife?
Speaker 1: Barker grew paler, and his great strong hands were clasped
Speaker 1: convulsively together. You have no right to ask such questions,
Speaker 1: he cried, What has this to do with the matter
Speaker 1: you are investigating? I must repeat the question. Well, I
Speaker 1: refuse to answer. You can refuse to answer, but you
Speaker 1: must be aware that your refusal is in itself an answer,
Speaker 1: for you would not refuse if you had not something
Speaker 1: to conceal. Barker stood for a moment, with his face
Speaker 1: set grimly and his strong black eyebrows drawn low in
Speaker 1: intense thought. Then he looked up with a smile. Well,
Speaker 1: I guess you, gentlemen, are only doing your clear duty
Speaker 1: after all, and I have no right to stand in
Speaker 1: the way of it. I'd only ask you not to
Speaker 1: worry missus Douglas over this matter, for she has enough
Speaker 1: upon her. Just now, I may tell you that poor
Speaker 1: Douglas had just one fault in the world, and that
Speaker 1: was his jealousy. He was fond of me. No man
Speaker 1: could be fonder of a friend. And he was devoted
Speaker 1: to his wife. He loved me to come here, and
Speaker 1: was forever sending for me. And yet if his wife
Speaker 1: and I talked together, or there seemed any sympathy between us,
Speaker 1: a kind of wave of jealousy would pass over him,
Speaker 1: and he would be off the handle and saying the
Speaker 1: wildest things in a moment. More than once. I've sworn
Speaker 1: off coming for that reason. And then he would write
Speaker 1: me such penitent, imploring letters that I just had to
Speaker 1: But you can take it from me, gentlemen, if it
Speaker 1: was my last word, that no man ever had a
Speaker 1: more loving, faithful wife. And I can say also, no
Speaker 1: friend could be more loyal than I. It was spoken
Speaker 1: with fervor and feeling, And yet Inspector mac Donald could
Speaker 1: not dismiss the subject. You are aware, said he that
Speaker 1: the dead man's wedding ring has been taken from his finger.
Speaker 1: So it appears, said Barker, What do you mean by appeers?
Speaker 1: You know it as a fact. The man seemed confused
Speaker 1: and undecided. When I said appears, I meant that it
Speaker 1: was conceivable that he had himself taken off the ring.
Speaker 1: The mere fact that the ring should be absent, whoever
Speaker 1: may have removed it, would suggest to any one's mind,
Speaker 1: would it not, that the marriage and the tragedy were connected.
Speaker 1: Barker shrugged his broad shoulders. I can't profess to say
Speaker 1: what it means, he answered, But if you mean to
Speaker 1: hint that it could reflect in any way upon this
Speaker 1: lady's honor, his eyes blazed for an instant, and then,
Speaker 1: with an evident effort, he got a grip upon his
Speaker 1: own emotions. Well you are on the wrong track, that's all.
Speaker 1: I don't know that I've anything else to ask you
Speaker 1: at present, said mac Donald coldly. There was one more point,
Speaker 1: remarked Sherlock Holmes. When you entered the room. There was
Speaker 1: only a candle lighted on the table, was there not? Yes?
Speaker 1: That was so. By its light you saw that some
Speaker 1: terrible incident had occurred exactly you at once rang for help. Yes,
Speaker 1: and it arrived very speedily, within a minute or so.
Speaker 1: And yet when they arrived they found that the candle
Speaker 1: was out and that the lamp had been lighted. That
Speaker 1: seems very remarkable. Again, Barker showed some signs of indecision.
Speaker 1: I don't see that it was remarkable, mister Holmes, he answered,
Speaker 1: after a pause. The candle threw a very bad light.
Speaker 1: My first thought was to get a better one. The
Speaker 1: lamp was on the table, so I lit it and
Speaker 1: blew out the candle exactly. Holmes asked no further question,
Speaker 1: and Barker, with a deliberate look from one to the
Speaker 1: other of us, which had, as it seemed to me,
Speaker 1: something of defiance in it, turned and left the room.
Speaker 1: Inspector MacDonald had sent up a note to the effect
Speaker 1: that he would wait upon missus Douglas in her room,
Speaker 1: but she had replied that she would meet us in
Speaker 1: the dining room. She entered now, a tall and beautiful
Speaker 1: woman of thirty, reserved and self possessed to a remarkable degree,
Speaker 1: very different from the tragic and distracted figure I had pictured.
Speaker 1: It is true that her face was pale and drawn
Speaker 1: like that of one who has endured a great shock.
Speaker 1: But her manner was composed, and the finely molded hand
Speaker 1: which she rested upon the edge of the table was
Speaker 1: as steady as my own. Her sad appealing eyes traveled
Speaker 1: from one to the other of us with a curiously
Speaker 1: inquisitive expression that questioning Gay's transfer itself suddenly into abrupt speech.
Speaker 1: Have you found anything out yet, she asked? Was it
Speaker 1: my imagination that there was an undertone of fear rather
Speaker 1: than of hope in the question. We have taken every
Speaker 1: possible step, Missus Douglas, said the inspector. You may rest
Speaker 1: assured that nothing will be neglected. Spare no money, she said,
Speaker 1: in a dead even tone. It is my desire that
Speaker 1: every possible effort should be made. Perhaps you can tell
Speaker 1: us something which may throw some light upon the matter.
Speaker 1: I fear not, but all I know is at your service.
Speaker 1: We have heard from mister Cecil Barker that you did
Speaker 1: not actually see, that you were never in the room
Speaker 1: where the tragedy occurred. No, he turned me back upon
Speaker 1: the stairs. He begged me to return to my room.
Speaker 1: Quite so, you had heard the shot, and you had
Speaker 1: at once come down. I put on my dressing gown
Speaker 1: and then came down. How long was it after hearing
Speaker 1: the shot that you were stopped on the stair by
Speaker 1: mister Barker. It may have been a couple of minutes.
Speaker 1: It is so hard to reckon time at such a moment.
Speaker 1: He implored me not to go on. He assured me
Speaker 1: that I could do nothing. Then Missus Allen, the housekeeper,
Speaker 1: led me upstairs again. It was all like some dreadful dream.
Speaker 1: Can you give us any idea how long your husband
Speaker 1: had been downstairs before you heard the shot? No, I
Speaker 1: cannot say. He went from his dressing room and I
Speaker 1: did not hear him go. He did the round of
Speaker 1: the house every night, for he was nervous of fire.
Speaker 1: It is the only thing that I have ever known
Speaker 1: him nervous of. That is just the point which I
Speaker 1: want to come to. Missus Douglas. You have known your
Speaker 1: husband only in England, have you not? Yes, we have
Speaker 1: been married five years. Have you heard him speak of
Speaker 1: anything which occurred in America and might bring some danger
Speaker 1: upon him? Missus Douglas thought earnestly before she answered yes.
Speaker 1: She said, at last, I have always felt that there
Speaker 1: was a danger hanging over him. He refused to discuss
Speaker 1: it with me. It was not from want of confidence
Speaker 1: in me. There was the most complete love and confidence
Speaker 1: between us. But it was out of his desire to
Speaker 1: keep all alarm away from me. He thought I should
Speaker 1: brood over it if I knew all, and so he
Speaker 1: was silent. How did you know it, then, missus Douglas's
Speaker 1: face lit with a quick smile. Can a husband ever
Speaker 1: carry about a secret all his life and a woman
Speaker 1: who loves him have no suspicion of it? I knew
Speaker 1: it by his refusal to talk about some episodes in
Speaker 1: his American life. I knew it by certain precautions he took.
Speaker 1: I knew it by certain words he let fall. I
Speaker 1: knew it by the way he looked at unexpected strangers.
Speaker 1: I was perfectly certain that he had powerful enemies, that
Speaker 1: he believed they were on his track, that he was
Speaker 1: always on his guard against them. I was so sure
Speaker 1: of it that for years I have been terrified if
Speaker 1: ever he came home later than was expected? Might I ask,
Speaker 1: asked Holmes, what the words were which attracted your attention?
Speaker 1: The valley of fear? The lady answered that was an
Speaker 1: expression he has used when I questioned him, I have
Speaker 1: been in the Valley of Fear. I am not out
Speaker 1: of it yet. Are we never to get out of
Speaker 1: the Valley of Fear? I have asked him, when I
Speaker 1: have seen him more serious than usual, Sometimes I think
Speaker 1: that we never shall? He has answered, surely. You asked
Speaker 1: him what he meant by the Valley of fear? I did,
Speaker 1: But his face would become very grave, and he would
Speaker 1: shake his head. It is bad enough that one of
Speaker 1: us should have been in its shadow, he said, Please
Speaker 1: guard it shall never fall upon you. It was some
Speaker 1: real valley in which he had lived, and in which
Speaker 1: something terrible had occurred to him. Of that I am certain,
Speaker 1: But I can tell you no more. And he never
Speaker 1: mentioned any names. Yes, he was delirious with fever once
Speaker 1: when he had his hunting accident three years ago. Then
Speaker 1: I remember that there was a name that came continually
Speaker 1: to his lips. He spoke it with anger and a
Speaker 1: sort of horror. Mc ginty was the name body Master
Speaker 1: mc ginty. I asked him when he recovered who body
Speaker 1: Master mc ginty was, and whose body he was master of?
Speaker 1: Never of mine, thank god, he answered with a laugh,
Speaker 1: And that was all I could get from him. But
Speaker 1: there is a connection between body Master mc ginty and
Speaker 1: the Valley of Fear. There is one other point, said
Speaker 1: Inspector mac donald. You met mister Douglas in a boarding
Speaker 1: house in London, did you not, and became engaged to him.
Speaker 1: There was there any romance, anything secret or mysterious about
Speaker 1: the wedding. There was romance, There is always romance. There
Speaker 1: was nothing mysterious. He had no rival. No, I was
Speaker 1: quite free. You have heard no doubt that his wedding
Speaker 1: ring has been taken. Does that suggest anything to you?
Speaker 1: Suppose that some enemy of his old life had tracked
Speaker 1: him down and committed this crime. What possible reason could
Speaker 1: he have for taking his wedding ring? For an instant,
Speaker 1: I could have sworn that the faintest shadow of a
Speaker 1: smile flickered over the woman's lips. I really cannot tell,
Speaker 1: she answered, It is certainly a most extraordinary thing. Well,
Speaker 1: we will not detain you any longer, and we are
Speaker 1: sorry to have put you to this trouble at such
Speaker 1: a time, said the inspector. There are some other points,
Speaker 1: no doubt, but we can refer to you as they arise.
Speaker 1: She arose, and I was again, conscious of that quick
Speaker 1: questioning glance with which she had surveyed us. What impression
Speaker 1: has my evidence made upon you? The question might as
Speaker 1: well have been spoken. Then with a bow, she swept
Speaker 1: from the room. She is a beautiful woman, a very
Speaker 1: beautiful woman, said mac Donald thoughtfully, after the door had
Speaker 1: closed behind her. This man Barker has certainly been down
Speaker 1: here a good deal. He is a man who might
Speaker 1: be attractive to a woman. He admits that the dead
Speaker 1: man was jealous, and maybe he knew best himself what
Speaker 1: course he had for jealousy. Then there's that wedding ring.
Speaker 1: You can't get past that. The man who tears a
Speaker 1: wedding ring off a dead man's What do you say
Speaker 1: to it? Mister Holmes, My friend had sat with his
Speaker 1: head upon his hands, sunk in the deepest thought. Now
Speaker 1: he rose and rang the bell. Eames, he said, when
Speaker 1: the butler entered, where is mister cecil Barker? Now, I'll say, sir,
Speaker 1: He came back in a moment to say that Barker
Speaker 1: was in the garden. Can you remember, Ames, what mister
Speaker 1: Barker had on his feet last night when you joined
Speaker 1: him in the study. Yes, mister Rohlmes, he had a
Speaker 1: pair of bedroom slippers. I brought him his boots when
Speaker 1: he went for the police. Where are the slippers now?
Speaker 1: They are still under the chair in the hall. Very good, Aames.
Speaker 1: It is of course important for us to know which
Speaker 1: tracks may be mister Barker's and which from outside. Yes, Sir,
Speaker 1: I may say that I noticed that the slippers were
Speaker 1: stained with blood, so indeed were my own. That is
Speaker 1: natural enough, considering the condition of the room. Very good, Aims.
Speaker 1: We will ring if we want. A few minutes later
Speaker 1: we were in the study. Holmes had brought with him
Speaker 1: the carpet slippers from the hall. As Ames had observed,
Speaker 1: the souls of both were dark with blood. Strange, murmured Holmes,
Speaker 1: as he stood in the light of the window and
Speaker 1: examined them minutely. Very strange, indeed, Stooping with one of
Speaker 1: his quick feline pounces, he placed the slipper upon the
Speaker 1: blood mark on the sill. It exactly corresponded. He smiled
Speaker 1: in silence at his colleagues. The inspector was transfigured with excitement.
Speaker 1: His native accent rattled like a stick upon railings Man.
Speaker 1: He cried, there's not a doubt of it. Barker has
Speaker 1: just marked the window himself. It's a good deal broader
Speaker 1: than any bootmark. A mind that you said it was
Speaker 1: a splay foot, and here's the explanation. But what's the game,
Speaker 1: mister Holmes, what's the game? Ay, what's the game? My
Speaker 1: friend repeated thoughtfully. Whitemason chuckled and rubbed his fat hands
Speaker 1: together in his professional satisfaction. I said it was a snorter,
Speaker 1: he cried, and a real snorter. It is chapter six,
Speaker 1: a dawning light. The three detectives had many matters of
Speaker 1: detail into which to inquire, so I returned alone to
Speaker 1: our modest quarters at the village Inn. But before doing so,
Speaker 1: I took a stroll in the curious old world garden,
Speaker 1: which flanked the house. Rows of very ancient yew trees
Speaker 1: cut into strange designs girded it round. Inside was a
Speaker 1: beautiful stretch of lawn with an old sun dial in
Speaker 1: the middle, the whole effect so soothing and RESTful that
Speaker 1: it was welcome to my somewhat jangled nerves. In that
Speaker 1: deeply peaceful atmosphere, one could forget or remember only of
Speaker 1: some fantastic nightmare that darkened study. With the sprawling blood
Speaker 1: stained figure on the floor. And yet as I strolled
Speaker 1: round it and tried to steep my soul in its
Speaker 1: gentle balm, a strange incident occurred which brought me back
Speaker 1: to the tragedy and left a sinister impression in my mind.
Speaker 1: I have said that a decoration of yew trees circled
Speaker 1: the garden, but the end farthest from the house, they
Speaker 1: thickened into a continuous hedge. On the other side of
Speaker 1: this hedge, concealed from the eyes of any one approaching
Speaker 1: from the direction of the house, there was a stone seat.
Speaker 1: As I approached the spot, I was aware of voices,
Speaker 1: some remark in the deep tones of a man, answered
Speaker 1: by a little ripple of feminine laughter. An instant later
Speaker 1: I had come round the end of the hedge, and
Speaker 1: my eyes lit upon Missus Douglas and the man Barker,
Speaker 1: before they were aware of my presence. Her appearance gave
Speaker 1: me a shock. In the dining room, she had been
Speaker 1: demure and discreet. Now all pretense of grief had passed
Speaker 1: away from her, her eyes shone with the joy of living,
Speaker 1: and her face still quivered with amusement at some remark
Speaker 1: of her companion. He sat forward, his hands clasped and
Speaker 1: his forearms on his knees, with an answering smile upon
Speaker 1: his bold, handsome face. In an instant, but it was
Speaker 1: just one instant too late. They resumed their solemn masks
Speaker 1: as my figure came into view. A hurried word or
Speaker 1: two passed between them, and then Barker rose and came
Speaker 1: towards me. Excuse me, sir, said he, But am I
Speaker 1: addressing doctor Watson? I bowed with a coldness which showed,
Speaker 1: I dare say, very plainly the impression which had been
Speaker 1: produced upon my mind. We thought that it was probably you,
Speaker 1: as your friendship with mister Sherlock Holmes is so well known.
Speaker 1: Would you mind coming over and speaking to missus Douglas
Speaker 1: for one instant? I followed him with a dour face.
Speaker 1: Very clearly I could see in my mind's eye that
Speaker 1: shattered figure on the floor. Here, within a few hours
Speaker 1: of the tragedy were his wife and his nearest friend
Speaker 1: laughing together behind a bush in the garden which had
Speaker 1: been his I greeted the lady with reserve. I had
Speaker 1: grieved with her grief in the dining room. Now I
Speaker 1: met her appealing gaze with an unresponsive eye. I fear
Speaker 1: that you think me callous and hard hearted, said she.
Speaker 1: I shrugged my shoulders. It is no business of mine,
Speaker 1: said I. Perhaps some day you will do me justice
Speaker 1: if you only realized. There is no need why doctor
Speaker 1: Watson should realize, said Barker, quickly, as he has himself said,
Speaker 1: it is no possible business of his, exactly said I,
Speaker 1: and so I will beg leave to resume my walk
Speaker 1: one moment, doctor Watson, cried the woman in a pleading voice.
Speaker 1: There is one question which you can answer with more
Speaker 1: authority than any one else in the world, and it
Speaker 1: may make a very great difference to me. You know
Speaker 1: mister Holmes and his relations with the police better than
Speaker 1: any one else can. Supposing that a matter were brought
Speaker 1: confidentially to his knowledge, is it absolutely necessary that he
Speaker 1: should pass it on to the detectives. Yes, that's it,
Speaker 1: said Barker, eagerly. Is he on his own or is
Speaker 1: he entirely in with them? I really don't know that
Speaker 1: I should be justified in discussing such a point. I
Speaker 1: beg I implore that you will, doctor Watson. I assure
Speaker 1: you that you will be helping us, helping me greatly,
Speaker 1: if you will guide us on that point. There was
Speaker 1: such a ring of sincerity in the woman's voice that
Speaker 1: for the instant I forgot all about her levity and
Speaker 1: was moved only to do her will. Mister Holmes is
Speaker 1: an independent investigator, I said. He is his own master
Speaker 1: and would act as his own judgment directed. At the
Speaker 1: same time, he would naturally feel loyalty towards the officials
Speaker 1: who were working on the same case, and he would
Speaker 1: not conceal from them anything which would help them in
Speaker 1: bringing a criminal to justice. Beyond this, I can say nothing,
Speaker 1: and I would refer you to mister Holmes himself if
Speaker 1: you wanted fuller information. So saying, I raised my hat
Speaker 1: and went upon my way, leaving them still seated behind
Speaker 1: that concealing hedge. I looked back as I round the
Speaker 1: far end of it, and saw that they were still
Speaker 1: talking very earnestly together, And as they were gazing after me,
Speaker 1: it was clear that it was our interview that was
Speaker 1: the subject of their debate. I wish none of their confidences,
Speaker 1: said Holmes, when I reported to him what had occurred.
Speaker 1: He had spent the whole afternoon at the manor house
Speaker 1: in consultation with his two colleagues, and returned about five
Speaker 1: with a ravenous appetite for a high tea, which I
Speaker 1: had ordered for him. No confidence is Watson, for they
Speaker 1: are mighty awkward. If it comes to an arrest for
Speaker 1: conspiracy and murder? You think it will come to that?
Speaker 1: He was in his most cheerful land debonair humor, My
Speaker 1: dear Watson, when I have exterminated that fourth egg, I
Speaker 1: shall be ready to put you in touch with the
Speaker 1: whole situation. I don't say that we have fathomed it,
Speaker 1: far from it. But when we have traced the missing
Speaker 1: dumb bell, the dumb bell, dear me, Watson, is it
Speaker 1: possible that you have not penetrated the fact that the
Speaker 1: case hangs upon the missing dumb bell? Well, well, you
Speaker 1: need not be downcast, for between ourselves, I don't think
Speaker 1: that either inspector Mac or the excellent local practitioner has
Speaker 1: grasped the overwhelming importance of this incident. One dumb bell. Watson,
Speaker 1: consider an athlete with one dumb bell. Picture to yourself
Speaker 1: the unilateral development the imminent danger of spinal curvature. Shocking, Watson, shocking.
Speaker 1: He sat with his mouthful of toast, and his eyes
Speaker 1: sparkling with mischief watching my intellectual entanglement. The mere sight
Speaker 1: of his excellent appetite was an assurance of success, for
Speaker 1: I had very clear recollections of days and nights without
Speaker 1: a thought of food, when his baffled mind had chafed
Speaker 1: before some problem, while his thin, eager features became more
Speaker 1: attenuated with the asceticism of complete men concentration. Finally, he
Speaker 1: lit his pipe, and sitting in the ingle nook of
Speaker 1: the old village in he talked slowly and at random
Speaker 1: about his case, rather as one who thinks aloud than
Speaker 1: as one who makes a considered statement. A lie, Watson,
Speaker 1: a great, big, thumping, obtrusive, uncompromising lie. That's what meets
Speaker 1: us sunder threshold. There is our starting point. The whole
Speaker 1: story told by Barker is a lie. But Barker's story
Speaker 1: is corroborated by missus Douglas. Therefore she is lying. Also,
Speaker 1: they are both lying and in a conspiracy. So now
Speaker 1: we have the clear problem. Why are they lying and
Speaker 1: what is the truth which they are trying so hard
Speaker 1: to conceal? Let us try, Watson, you and I if
Speaker 1: we can get behind the lie and reconstruct the true
Speaker 1: How do I know that they are lying? Because it
Speaker 1: is a clumsy fabrication which simply could not be true. Consider,
Speaker 1: according to the story given to us, the assassin had
Speaker 1: less than a minute after the murder had been committed
Speaker 1: to take that ring, which was under another ring from
Speaker 1: the dead man's finger, to replace the other ring, a
Speaker 1: thing which she would surely never have done, and to
Speaker 1: put that singular card beside his victim. I say that
Speaker 1: this was obviously impossible. You may argue, but I have
Speaker 1: too much respect for your judgment, Watson, to think that
Speaker 1: you will do so. That the ring may have been
Speaker 1: taken before the man was killed, The fact that the
Speaker 1: candle had been lit only a short time shows that
Speaker 1: there had been no lengthy interview. Was Douglas, from what
Speaker 1: we hear of his fearless character, a man who would
Speaker 1: be likely to give up his wedding ring at such
Speaker 1: short notice? Or could we conceive of his giving it
Speaker 1: up at all? No, No, Watson, The assassin was alone
Speaker 1: with the dead man for some time, with the lamp lit.
Speaker 1: Of that, I have no doubt at all. But the
Speaker 1: gunshot was apparently the cause of death. Therefore the shot
Speaker 1: must have been fired some time earlier than we are told.
Speaker 1: But there could be no mistake about such a matter
Speaker 1: as that we are in the presence therefore of a
Speaker 1: deliberate conspiracy upon the part of the two people who
Speaker 1: heard the gun shot, of a man Barker and of
Speaker 1: the woman Douglas. When on the top of this I
Speaker 1: am able to show that the blood mark on the
Speaker 1: windowsill was deliberately placed there by Barker in order to
Speaker 1: give a false clue to the police. You will admit
Speaker 1: that the case grows dark against him. Now we have
Speaker 1: to ask ourselves at what hour the murder actually did occur.
Speaker 1: After half past ten, the servants were moving about the house,
Speaker 1: so it was certainly not before that time. At a
Speaker 1: quarter to eleven, they had all gone to their rooms,
Speaker 1: with the exception of Ames, who was in the pantry.
Speaker 1: I have been trying some experiments after you left us
Speaker 1: this afternoon, and I find that no noise which mac
Speaker 1: Donald can make in the study can penetrate to me
Speaker 1: in the pantry when all the doors are shut. It
Speaker 1: is otherwise, however, from the housekeeper's room. It is not
Speaker 1: so far down the corridor, and from it I could
Speaker 1: vaguely hear a voice when it was very loudly raised.
Speaker 1: The sound from a shotgun is to some extent muffled.
Speaker 1: When the discharge is at very close range, as it
Speaker 1: undoubtedly was in this instance, it would not be very loud,
Speaker 1: and yet in the silence of the night, it should
Speaker 1: have easily penetrated to Missus Allan's room. She is, as
Speaker 1: she has told us, somewhat deaf, but none the less.
Speaker 1: She mentioned in her evidence that she did hear something
Speaker 1: like a door slamming half an hour before the alarm
Speaker 1: was given. Half an hour before the alarm was given
Speaker 1: would be a quarter to eleven. I have no doubt
Speaker 1: that what she heard was the report of the gun,
Speaker 1: and that this was the real instant of the murder.
Speaker 1: If this is so, we have now to determine what
Speaker 1: Barker and Missus Douglas, presuming that they are not the
Speaker 1: actual murderers, could have been doing from quarter to eleven
Speaker 1: when the sound of the shot brought them down until
Speaker 1: quarter past eleven, when they rang the bell and summoned
Speaker 1: the servants. What were they doing and why did they
Speaker 1: not instantly give the alarm? That is the question which
Speaker 1: faces us, and when it has been answered, we shall
Speaker 1: surely have gone some way to solve our problem. I
Speaker 1: am convinced myself, said I that there is an understanding
Speaker 1: between those two people. She must be a heartless creature
Speaker 1: to sit laughing at some jest within a few hours
Speaker 1: of her husband's murder. Exactly, she does not shy as
Speaker 1: a wife, even in her own account of what occurred.
Speaker 1: I'm not a whole souled admirer of womankind, as you
Speaker 1: are aware, Watson, but my experience of life has taught
Speaker 1: me that there are few wives, having any regard for
Speaker 1: their husbands, who would let any man's spoken word stand
Speaker 1: between them and that husband's dead body. Should I ever
Speaker 1: marry Watson, I should hope to inspire my wife with
Speaker 1: some feeling which would prevent her from being walked off
Speaker 1: by a housekeeper when my corpse was lying within a
Speaker 1: few yards of her. It was badly stage managed, for
Speaker 1: even the rawest investigators must be struck by the absence
Speaker 1: of the usual feminine anulation. If there had been nothing else,
Speaker 1: this incident alone would have suggested a pre arranged conspiracy.
Speaker 1: To my mind. You think, then, definitely, that Barker and
Speaker 1: missus Douglas are guilty of the murder. There is an
Speaker 1: appalling directness about your questions. What said Holmes, shaking his
Speaker 1: pipe at me, They come at me like bullets. If
Speaker 1: you put it that, missus, Douglas and Barker know the
Speaker 1: truth about the murder and are conspiring to conceal it,
Speaker 1: then I can give you a whole souled answer. I'm
Speaker 1: sure they do. But your more deadly proposition is not
Speaker 1: so clear. Let us for a moment consider the difficulties
Speaker 1: which stand in the way. We will suppose that this
Speaker 1: couple are united by the bonds of a guilty love,
Speaker 1: and that they have determined to get rid of the
Speaker 1: man who stands between them. It is a large supposition,
Speaker 1: for discreet inquiry among servants and others has failed to
Speaker 1: corroborate it in any way. On the contrary, there is
Speaker 1: a good deal of evidence that the Douglases were very
Speaker 1: attached to each other. That I am sure cannot be true,
Speaker 1: said I, thinking of the beautiful smiling face in the garden. Well,
Speaker 1: at least they gave that impression. However, we will suppose
Speaker 1: that they are an extraordinarily astute couple who deceive everyone.
Speaker 1: Upon this point, and conspire to murder the husband. He
Speaker 1: happens to be a man over whose head some danger hangs.
Speaker 1: We have only their word for that. Holmes looked thoughtful.
Speaker 1: I see, Watson, you are sketching out a theory by
Speaker 1: which everything they say from the beginning is false. According
Speaker 1: to your idea, there was never any hidden menace, or
Speaker 1: secret society, or valley of fear, or boss mcsombody or
Speaker 1: anything else. Well, that is a good sweeping generalization. Let
Speaker 1: us see what that brings us to. They invent this
Speaker 1: theory to account for the crime. They then play up
Speaker 1: to the idea by leaving this bicycle in the park
Speaker 1: as proof of the existence of some outsider. The stain
Speaker 1: on the window sill conveys the same idea, so does
Speaker 1: the card on the body, which might have been prepared
Speaker 1: in the house. That all fits into your hypothesis, Watson.
Speaker 1: But now we come on the nasty, angular, uncompromising bits
Speaker 1: which won't slip into their places. Why a cut off shotgun,
Speaker 1: of all weapons, and an American one at that. How
Speaker 1: could they be so sure that the sound of it
Speaker 1: would not bring someone on to them. It's a mere chance,
Speaker 1: as it is that missus Allen did not start out
Speaker 1: to inquire for the slamming door. Why did your guilty
Speaker 1: couple do all this? Watson? I confess that I can't
Speaker 1: explain it. Then again, if a woman and her lover
Speaker 1: conspired a murderer husband, are they going to advertise their
Speaker 1: guilt by ostentatiously removing his wedding ring after his death?
Speaker 1: Does that strike you as very probable? Watson? No, it
Speaker 1: does not. And once again, if the thought of leaving
Speaker 1: a bicycle concealed outside had occurred to you, would it
Speaker 1: really have seemed worth doing? When the dullest detective would
Speaker 1: naturally say this is an odds blind as the bicycle
Speaker 1: is the first thing which the fugitive needed in order
Speaker 1: to make his escape, I can conceive of no explanation.
Speaker 1: And yet there should be no combination of events for
Speaker 1: which the wit of man cannot conceive an explanation simply
Speaker 1: as a mental exercise, without any assertion that it is true.
Speaker 1: Let me indicate a possible line of thought. It is,
Speaker 1: I admit, mere imagination, But how often his imagination the
Speaker 1: mother of truth. We will suppose that there was a
Speaker 1: guilty secret, a really shameful secret, in the life of
Speaker 1: this man Douglas. This leads to his murder by someone
Speaker 1: who is We will suppose an avenger, someone from outside.
Speaker 1: This avenger, for some reason which I confess I am
Speaker 1: still at a loss to explain, took the dead man's
Speaker 1: wedding ring. The vendetta might conceivably date back to the
Speaker 1: man's first marriage, and the ring be taken for some
Speaker 1: such reason. Before this avenger got away and the wife
Speaker 1: had reached the room, the assassin convinced them that any
Speaker 1: attempt to arrest him would lead to the publication of
Speaker 1: some hideous scandal. They were converted to this idea and
Speaker 1: preferred to let him go. For this purpose. They probably
Speaker 1: lowered the bridge, which can be done quite noiselessly, and
Speaker 1: then raised it again. He made his escape, and for
Speaker 1: some reason thought that he could do so more safely
Speaker 1: on foot than on the bicycle. He therefore left his
Speaker 1: machine where it would not be discovered until he had
Speaker 1: got safely away. So far we are within the bounds
Speaker 1: of possibility, are we not? Well, it is possible, no doubt,
Speaker 1: said I, with some reserve. We have to remember, Watson,
Speaker 1: that whatever occurred is certainly something very extraordinary. Well, now
Speaker 1: to continue our suppositious case, the couple, not necessarily a
Speaker 1: guilty couple, realize, after the murderer is gone, that they
Speaker 1: have placed themselves in a position in which it may
Speaker 1: be difficult for them to prove that they did not
Speaker 1: themselves either do the deed or connive at it. They
Speaker 1: rapidly and rather clumsily met the situation. The mark was
Speaker 1: put by Barker's blood stained slipper upon the window sill
Speaker 1: to suggest how the fugitive got away. They obviously were
Speaker 1: the two who must have heard the sound of the gun,
Speaker 1: so they gave the alarm exactly as they would have done,
Speaker 1: but a good half hour after the event. And how
Speaker 1: do you propose to prove all this? Well, if there
Speaker 1: were an outsider, he may be traced and taken. That
Speaker 1: would be the most effective of all proofs. But if not, well,
Speaker 1: the resources of science are far from being exhausted. I
Speaker 1: think that an evening alone in that study would help
Speaker 1: me much. An evening alone I proposed to go up
Speaker 1: there presently. I have arranged it with the estimable aims.
Speaker 1: Who is by no means wholehearted about Barker? I shall
Speaker 1: sit in that room and see if its atmosphere brings
Speaker 1: the inspiration. I'm a believer in the genius lockheye, you smile,
Speaker 1: friend Watson. Well we shall see by the way you
Speaker 1: have that big umbrella of yours, have you not it
Speaker 1: is here? Well, I'll borrow that if I may, certainly,
Speaker 1: But what a wretched weapon. If there is danger, nothing serious,
Speaker 1: my dear Watson, or I should certainly ask for your assistance,
Speaker 1: But I'll take the umbrella. At present, I am only
Speaker 1: awaiting the return of our colleagues from Tunbridge Wells, where
Speaker 1: they are at present engaged in trying for a likely
Speaker 1: owner to the bicycle. It was nightfall before Inspector mac
Speaker 1: Donald and Whitemason came back from their expedition, and they
Speaker 1: arrived exultant, reporting a great advance in our investigation. Man,
Speaker 1: I'll admit that I had my doubts if there was
Speaker 1: ever an outsider, said mac Donald. But that's all past.
Speaker 1: Now we've had the bicycle identified and we have a
Speaker 1: description of our man. So that's a long step on
Speaker 1: our journey. It sounds to me like the beginning of
Speaker 1: the end, said Holmes. I'm sure I congratulate you both
Speaker 1: with all my heart. Will has started from the fact
Speaker 1: that mister Douglas had seemed disturbed since the day before
Speaker 1: when he had been at Tunbridge Wells. It was at
Speaker 1: Tunbridge Wells then that he had become conscious of some danger.
Speaker 1: It was clear therefore, that if a man had come
Speaker 1: over with a bicycle, it was from Tunbridge Wells that
Speaker 1: he might be expected to have come. We took the
Speaker 1: bicycle over with us and showed it at the hotels.
Speaker 1: It was identified at once by the manager of the
Speaker 1: Eagle Commercial as belonging to a man named Hargrave, who
Speaker 1: had taken a room there two days before. This bicycle
Speaker 1: and a small valise were his whole belongings. He had
Speaker 1: registered his name as coming from London, but had given
Speaker 1: no address. The valise was London made and the con
Speaker 1: tents were British, but the man himself was undoubtedly an American.
Speaker 1: Well well, said Holmes, gleefully, you have indeed done some
Speaker 1: solid work while I have been sitting spinning theories with
Speaker 1: my friend. It's a lesson in being practical, mister mack ay.
Speaker 1: As just that, mister Holmes, said the inspector with satisfaction.
Speaker 1: But this may all fit in with your theories, I remarked,
Speaker 1: that may or may not be, but let us hear
Speaker 1: the end, mister mack. Was there nothing to identify this man,
Speaker 1: so little that it was evident that he had carefully
Speaker 1: guarded himself against identification. There were no papers or letters,
Speaker 1: and no marking upon the clothes. A cycle map of
Speaker 1: the county lay on his bedroom table. He had left
Speaker 1: the hotel after breakfast yesterday morning on his bicycle, and
Speaker 1: no more was heard of him until our inquiries. That's
Speaker 1: what puzzles me, mister Holmes, said Whitemason. If the fellow
Speaker 1: did not want the hue and cry raised over him,
Speaker 1: one would imagine that he would have returned and remained
Speaker 1: at the hotel. As an inoffensive tourist. As it is,
Speaker 1: he must know that he will be reported to the
Speaker 1: police by the hotel manager, and that his disappearance will
Speaker 1: be connected with the murder. So one would imagine still
Speaker 1: he has been justified of his wisdom up to date
Speaker 1: at any rate, since he has not been taken. But
Speaker 1: his description what of that? McDonald referred to his notebook
Speaker 1: here we have it so far as they could give it.
Speaker 1: They don't seem to have taken any very particular stock
Speaker 1: of him. But still, the porter, the clerk, and the
Speaker 1: chambermaid are all agreed that this about covers the points.
Speaker 1: He was a man about five foot nine in height,
Speaker 1: fifty or so years of age, his hair slightly grizzled,
Speaker 1: a grayish mustache, a carved nose, and a face which
Speaker 1: all of them described as fierce and forbidding well by
Speaker 1: the expression. That might almost be a description of Douglas himself,
Speaker 1: said Holmes. He is just over fifty, with grizzled hair
Speaker 1: and mustache, and about the same height. Did you get
Speaker 1: anything else? He was dressed in a heavy gray suit
Speaker 1: with a reefer jacket, and he wore a short yellow
Speaker 1: overcoat and a soft cap. What about the shotgun that
Speaker 1: is less than two feet long? It could very well
Speaker 1: have fitted into his valise. He could have carried it
Speaker 1: inside his overcoat without difficulty. And how do you consider
Speaker 1: that all this bears upon the general case? Well, mister Holmes,
Speaker 1: said mac donald. When we have got our man, and
Speaker 1: you may be sure that I had his description on
Speaker 1: the wires within five minutes of hearing it, we shall
Speaker 1: be better able to judge. But even as it stands,
Speaker 1: we have surely gone a long way. We know that
Speaker 1: an American calling himself Hargrave, came to Tunbridge Wells two
Speaker 1: days go with bicycle and valise in the latter was
Speaker 1: a sord off shotgun, so he came with the deliberate
Speaker 1: purpose of crime. Yesterday morning he set off at this
Speaker 1: place on his bicycle with his gun concealed in his overcoat.
Speaker 1: No one saw him arrive so far as we can learn.
Speaker 1: But he did not need to pass through the village
Speaker 1: to reach the park gates, and there are many cyclists
Speaker 1: upon the road. Presumably he at once concealed his cycle
Speaker 1: among the laurels where it was found, and possibly lucked
Speaker 1: there himself with his eye on the house, waiting for
Speaker 1: mister Douglas to come out. The shotgun is a strange
Speaker 1: weapon to use inside a house, but he had intended
Speaker 1: to use it outside, and there it has very obvious advantages,
Speaker 1: as it would be impossible to miss with it, and
Speaker 1: the sound of shots is so common in an English
Speaker 1: sporting neighborhood that no particular notice would be taken. That
Speaker 1: is all very clear, said Holmes. Well, mister Douglas did
Speaker 1: not appear. What was he to do next? He left
Speaker 1: his bicycle and approached the house in the twilight, he
Speaker 1: found the bridge down and no one about. He took
Speaker 1: his chance, intending no doubt to make some excuse if
Speaker 1: he met anyone. He met no one. He slipped into
Speaker 1: the first room that he saw and concealed himself behind
Speaker 1: the curtain. Thence he could see the drawbridge go up,
Speaker 1: and he knew that his only escape was through the moat.
Speaker 1: He waited until Corte passed eleven. When mister Douglas, upon
Speaker 1: his usual nightly round, came into the room. He shot
Speaker 1: him and escaped as arranged. He was aware that the
Speaker 1: bicycle would be described by the hotel people and be
Speaker 1: a clue against him, so he left it there and
Speaker 1: made his way by some other means to London, out
Speaker 1: of some safe hiding place which he had already arranged.
Speaker 1: How is that, mister Holmes, Well, mister mac it is
Speaker 1: very good and very clear. So far as it goes.
Speaker 1: That is your end of the story. My end is
Speaker 1: that the crime was committed half an hour earlier than reported,
Speaker 1: that missus Douglas and Barker are both in a conspiracy
Speaker 1: to conceal something that they aided the murderer's escape, or
Speaker 1: at least that they reached the room before he escaped,
Speaker 1: and that they fabricated evidence of his escape through the window,
Speaker 1: whereas in all probability they had themselves let him go
Speaker 1: by lowering the bridge. That's my reading half the first half.
Speaker 1: The two detectives shook their heads. Well, mister Holmes, if
Speaker 1: this is true, we only tumble out of one mystery
Speaker 1: into another, said the London inspector, and in some ways
Speaker 1: a worse one, added White Mason. The lady has never
Speaker 1: been in America in all her life. What possible connection
Speaker 1: could she have with an American ass us in which
Speaker 1: would cause her to shelter him? I freely admit the difficulties,
Speaker 1: said Holmes. I propose to make a little investigation of
Speaker 1: my own to night, and it is just possible that
Speaker 1: it may contribute something to the common cause. Can we
Speaker 1: help you, mister Holmes, No, no darkness and doctor Watson's umbrella.
Speaker 1: My wants are simple, and Aimes the faithful Aimes no
Speaker 1: doubt he will stretch a point for me. All my
Speaker 1: lines of thought lead me back invariably to the one
Speaker 1: basic question. Why should an athletic man develop his frame
Speaker 1: upon so unnatural an instrument as a single dumb bell.
Speaker 1: It was late that night when Holmes returned from his
Speaker 1: solitary excursion. We slept in a double bedded room, which
Speaker 1: was the best that the little country inn could do
Speaker 1: for us. I was already asleep when I was partly
Speaker 1: awakened by his entrance. Well Holmes, I murmured, have you
Speaker 1: found anything out? He stood beside me in silence, his
Speaker 1: candle in his hand. Then the tall, lean figure inclined
Speaker 1: towards me, I say, Watson, He whispered, would you be
Speaker 1: afraid to sleep in the same room with a lunatic,
Speaker 1: A man with softening of the brain, an idiot whose
Speaker 1: mind has lost its grip? Not in the least, I answered,
Speaker 1: in astonishment. Ah, that's lucky, he said, And not another
Speaker 1: word would he utter that night. Chapter seven, The Solution.
Speaker 1: Next morning, after breakfast, we found Inspector mac donald and
Speaker 1: Whitemason seated in close consultation in the small parlor of
Speaker 1: the local police sergeant. On the table in front of
Speaker 1: them were piled a number of letters and telegrams which
Speaker 1: they were carefully sorting and docketing. Three had been placed
Speaker 1: on one side, still on the track of the elusive
Speaker 1: bicyclist Holmes asked, cheerfully, what is the latest news of
Speaker 1: the ruffian? Mac Donald pointed ruefully to his heap of correspondence.
Speaker 1: He is at present reported from Leicester, Nottingham, Southampton, Darby,
Speaker 1: east Ham, Richmond, and fourteen other places. In three of
Speaker 1: them east Ham, Lester and Liverpool. There is a clear
Speaker 1: case against him, and he has actually been arrested. The
Speaker 1: country seems to be full of the fugitives with the
Speaker 1: yellow coats. Dear me, said Holmes sympathetically. Now, mister Mack
Speaker 1: and you, mister Whitemason, I wish to give you a
Speaker 1: very earnest piece of a vice. When I went into
Speaker 1: this case with you, I bargained, as you will no
Speaker 1: doubt remember, that I should not present you with half
Speaker 1: proved theories, but that I should retain and work out
Speaker 1: my own ideas until I had satisfied myself that they
Speaker 1: were correct. For this reason, I am not at the
Speaker 1: present moment telling you all that is in my mind.
Speaker 1: On the other hand, I said that I would play
Speaker 1: the game fairly by you, and I do not think
Speaker 1: it is a fair game to allow you, for one
Speaker 1: unnecessary moment, to waste your energies upon a profitless task. Therefore,
Speaker 1: I am here to advise you this morning, and my
Speaker 1: advice to you is summed up in three words. Abandon
Speaker 1: the case. Mac Donald and Whitemason stared in amazement at
Speaker 1: their celebrated colleague. You consider it hopeless, cried the inspector.
Speaker 1: I consider your case to be hopeless. I do not
Speaker 1: consider that it is hopeless to arrive the truth. But
Speaker 1: the cyclist, he is not an invention. We have his description,
Speaker 1: his valise, his bicycle. The fellow must be somewhere. Why
Speaker 1: should we not get him? Yes, yes, no doubt he
Speaker 1: is somewhere, and no doubt we shall get him. But
Speaker 1: I would not have you waste your energies in east
Speaker 1: Ham or Liverpool. I am sure that we can find
Speaker 1: some shorter cut to a result. You are holding something back.
Speaker 1: It's hardly fair of you, mister Holmes. The inspector was annoyed.
Speaker 1: You know my methods of work, mister mac but I
Speaker 1: will hold it back for the shortest time possible. I
Speaker 1: only wish to verify my details in one way, which
Speaker 1: can very readily be done, and then I make my
Speaker 1: bow and return to London, leaving my results entirely at
Speaker 1: your service. I owe you too much to act otherwise,
Speaker 1: For in all my experience I cannot recall any more
Speaker 1: singular and interesting study. This is clean beyond me. Mister Holmes.
Speaker 1: We saw you when we returned from Tunbridge Wells last night,
Speaker 1: and you were in general agreement with our results. What
Speaker 1: has happened since then? To give you a completely new
Speaker 1: idea of the case. Well, since you ask me, I
Speaker 1: spent as I told you that I would, some hours
Speaker 1: last night at the manor house. Well what happened? Ah?
Speaker 1: I can only give you a very general answer to that.
Speaker 1: For the moment, by the way, I have been reading
Speaker 1: a short but clear and interesting account of the old building,
Speaker 1: purchasable at the modest sum of one penny from the
Speaker 1: local tobacconist. Here Holmes drew a small tract embellished with
Speaker 1: a rude engraving of the ancient manor house from his
Speaker 1: westcoat pocket. It immensely adds to the zest of an investigation.
Speaker 1: My dear mister mac when one is in conscious sympathy
Speaker 1: with the historical actsmosphere of one's surroundings, don't look so impatient,
Speaker 1: For I assure you that even so bald an account
Speaker 1: as this raises some sort of picture of the past
Speaker 1: in one's mind. Permit me to give you a sample.
Speaker 1: Erected in the fifth year of the reign of James
Speaker 1: the First, and standing upon the site of a much
Speaker 1: older building, the manor House of Burlstone, presents one of
Speaker 1: the finest surviving examples of the moated Jacobean residence. You
Speaker 1: are making fools of us, mister Holmes. Tut tut, mister Mack.
Speaker 1: The first sign of temper I have detected in you. Well,
Speaker 1: I won't read it verbatim, since you feel so strongly
Speaker 1: upon the subject. But when I tell you that there
Speaker 1: is some account of the taking of the place by
Speaker 1: a parliamentary colonel in sixteen forty four, of the concealment
Speaker 1: of Charles for several days in the course of the
Speaker 1: Civil War, and finally of a visit there by the
Speaker 1: Second George, you will admit that there are various associations
Speaker 1: of interest connected with this ancient house. I don't doubt it,
Speaker 1: mister Homes, But that is no business of ours, is
Speaker 1: it not? Is it not breadth of you, my dear
Speaker 1: mister mac is one of the essentials of our profession.
Speaker 1: The interplay of ideas, and the oblique uses of knowledge
Speaker 1: are often of extraordinary interest. You will excuse these remarks
Speaker 1: from one who, though a mere connoisseur of crime, is
Speaker 1: still rather older and perhaps more experienced than yourself. I'm
Speaker 1: the first to admit that, said the detective heartily. You
Speaker 1: get to your point, I admit, but you have such
Speaker 1: a deuced round the corner way of doing it. Will well,
Speaker 1: I'll drop the past history and get down to present
Speaker 1: day facts. I called last night, as I have already said,
Speaker 1: at the manor house. I did not see either Barker
Speaker 1: or Missus Douglas. I saw no necessity to disturb them,
Speaker 1: but I was pleased to hear that the lady was
Speaker 1: not visibly pining, and that she had partaken of an
Speaker 1: excellent dinner. My visit was specially made to the good
Speaker 1: mister Ames, with whom I exchanged some amiabilities, which culminated
Speaker 1: in his allowing me, without reference to any one else,
Speaker 1: to sit alone for a time in the study. What
Speaker 1: with that, I ejaculated, No, No, everything is now in order.
Speaker 1: You gave permission for that, mister mac As I am
Speaker 1: informed the room was in its normal state, and in
Speaker 1: it I passed an instructive quarter of an hour. What
Speaker 1: were you doing well not to make a mystery of
Speaker 1: so simple a matter. I was looking for the missing
Speaker 1: dumb bell. It has always bulked rather large in my
Speaker 1: estimate of the case. I ended by finding it. Where Ah,
Speaker 1: there we come to the edge of the unexplored. Let
Speaker 1: me go a little further, a very little further, and
Speaker 1: I will promise that you shall share everything that I know. Well,
Speaker 1: we're bound to take you on your own terms, said
Speaker 1: the inspector. But when it comes to telling us to
Speaker 1: abandon the case, why in the name of goodness should
Speaker 1: we abandon the case? For the simple reason, my dear
Speaker 1: mister mac, that you have not got the first idea
Speaker 1: what it is that you are investigating. We are investigating
Speaker 1: the murder of mister John Douglas of Burlstone, Manor. Yes, yes,
Speaker 1: so you are. But don't trouble to trace the mysterious
Speaker 1: gentleman upon the bicycle. I assure you that it won't
Speaker 1: help you. Then what do you suggest that we do.
Speaker 1: I will tell you exactly what to do if you
Speaker 1: will do it well, I'm bound to say, I've always
Speaker 1: found you had reason behind all your queer ways. I'll
Speaker 1: do what you advise, and you, mister Whitemason, the country detective,
Speaker 1: looked helplessly from one to the other. Holmes and his
Speaker 1: methods were new to him. Well, if it is good
Speaker 1: enough for the inspector, it is good enough for me,
Speaker 1: he said at last, capital said Holmes, Well, then I
Speaker 1: should recommend a nice, cheery country walk for both of you.
Speaker 1: They tell me that the views from Burlstone Ridge over
Speaker 1: the Wield are very remarkable. No doubt lunch could be
Speaker 1: got at some suitable hostelry, though my ignorance of the
Speaker 1: country prevents me from recommending one. In the evening, tired
Speaker 1: but happy man thus as getting past a joke, cried
Speaker 1: mac Donald, rising angrily from his chair. Well, well, spend
Speaker 1: the day as you like, said Holmes, patting him cheerfully
Speaker 1: upon the shoulder. Do what you like and go where
Speaker 1: you will, but meet me here before dusk without fail,
Speaker 1: without fail. Mister mack, that sounds more like sanity. All
Speaker 1: of it was excellent advice, but I don't insist so
Speaker 1: long as you are here when I need you. But now,
Speaker 1: before we part, I want you to write a note
Speaker 1: to mister Barker. Well, I'll dictate it if you like ready,
Speaker 1: Dear sir, it has struck me that it is our
Speaker 1: duty to drain the moat in the hope that we
Speaker 1: may find some as impossible, said the inspector, I've made inquiry. Tut, tut,
Speaker 1: my dear sir, Please do what I ask you. Well,
Speaker 1: go on in the hope that we may find something
Speaker 1: which may bear upon our investigation. I have made arrangements,
Speaker 1: and the workmen will be at work early to morrow morning,
Speaker 1: diverting the stream. Impossible, diverting the stream, so I thought
Speaker 1: it best to explain matters beforehand. Now sign that and
Speaker 1: send it by hand about four o'clock. At that hour
Speaker 1: we shall meet again in this room. Until then we
Speaker 1: may each do what we like, for I can assure
Speaker 1: you that this inquiry has come to a definite pause.
Speaker 1: Evening was drawing in when we reassembled. Holmes was very
Speaker 1: serious in his manner, myself curious, and the detectives obviously
Speaker 1: critical and annoy Well, gentlemen, said my friend gravely. I
Speaker 1: am asking you now to put everything to the test
Speaker 1: with me, and you will judge for yourselves whether the
Speaker 1: observations I have made justify the conclusions to which I
Speaker 1: have come. It is a chill evening, and I do
Speaker 1: not know how long our expedition may last, so I
Speaker 1: beg that you will wear your warmest coats. It is
Speaker 1: of the first importance that we should be in our
Speaker 1: places before it grows dark, So with your permission, we
Speaker 1: shall get started at once. We passed along the outer
Speaker 1: bounds of the manor house park until we came to
Speaker 1: a place where there was a gap in the rails
Speaker 1: which fenced it. Through this we slipped, and then, in
Speaker 1: the gathering gloom, we followed Homes until we had reached
Speaker 1: a shrubbery which lies nearly opposite to the main door
Speaker 1: and the drawbridge. The latter had not been raised. Homes
Speaker 1: crouched down behind the screen of laurels, and we all
Speaker 1: three followed his example. Well what are we to do now,
Speaker 1: asked mac Donald, with some gruffness. Possess our souls in
Speaker 1: patience and make as little noise as possible. Holmes answered,
Speaker 1: what are we here for at all? I really think
Speaker 1: that you might treat us with more frankness, Holmes laughed.
Speaker 1: Watson insists that I am the dramatist in real life,
Speaker 1: said he. Some touch of the artist wells up within me,
Speaker 1: and calls insistently for a well staged performance. Surely our profession,
Speaker 1: mister Mack, would be a drab and sordid one, if
Speaker 1: we did not sometimes set the scene so as to
Speaker 1: glorify our results. The blunt accusation, the brutal tap upon
Speaker 1: the shoulder. What can one make of such a denouement?
Speaker 1: But the quick inference, the subtle trap, the clever forecast
Speaker 1: of coming events, the triumphant vindication of bold theories. Are
Speaker 1: these not the pride and the justification of our life's work?
Speaker 1: At the present moment you thrill with the glamor of
Speaker 1: the situation and the anticipation of the hunt. Where would
Speaker 1: be that thrill if I had been as definite as
Speaker 1: a time table. I only ask a little patience, mister
Speaker 1: mac and all will be clear to you. Well. I
Speaker 1: hope the pride and justification and the rest of it
Speaker 1: will come before we all get our death of cold,
Speaker 1: said the London detective, with comic resignation. We all had
Speaker 1: good reason to join in the aspiration, for our vigil
Speaker 1: was a long and bitter one. Slowly the shadows darkened
Speaker 1: over the long, somber face of the old house, A cold,
Speaker 1: damp reek from the moat chilled us to the bones
Speaker 1: and set our teeth chattering. There was a single lamp
Speaker 1: over the gateway and a steady globe of light in
Speaker 1: the fatal study. Everything else was dark. And still, how
Speaker 1: long is this to last? Asked the inspector. Finally, and
Speaker 1: what is it we are watching for? I have no
Speaker 1: more notion than you how long it is to last?
Speaker 1: Holmes answered, with some asperity. If criminals would always schedule
Speaker 1: their movements like railway trains, it would certainly be more
Speaker 1: convenient for all of us. As to what it is
Speaker 1: we Well, that's what we are watching for. As he spoke,
Speaker 1: the bright yellow light in the study was obscured by
Speaker 1: somebody passing to and fro before it. The laurels among
Speaker 1: which we lay were immediately opposite the window, and not
Speaker 1: more than a hundred feet from it. Presently, it was
Speaker 1: thrown open with a whining of hinges, and we could
Speaker 1: dimly see the dark outline of a man's head and
Speaker 1: shoulders looking out into the gloom. For some minutes, he
Speaker 1: peered forth in furtive, stealthy fashion, as one who wishes
Speaker 1: to be assured that he is unobserved. Then he leaned
Speaker 1: forward and in the intense silence we were aware of
Speaker 1: the soft lapping of agitated water. He seemed to be
Speaker 1: stirring up the moat with something which he held in
Speaker 1: his hand. Then suddenly he hauled something in as a
Speaker 1: fisherman lands a fish, some large round object, which obscured
Speaker 1: the light as it was dragged through the open casement.
Speaker 1: Now cried Holmes. Now we were all upon our feet,
Speaker 1: staggering after him with our stiffened limbs, while he ran
Speaker 1: swiftly across the bridge and rang violently at the bell.
Speaker 1: There was the rasping of bolts from the other side,
Speaker 1: and the amazed Aims stood in the entrance. Holmes brushed
Speaker 1: him aside without a word, and, followed by all of us,
Speaker 1: rushed into the room which had been occupied by the
Speaker 1: man whom we had been watching. The oil lamp on
Speaker 1: the table represented the glow which we had seen from outside.
Speaker 1: It was now in the hand of cecil Bar, who
Speaker 1: held it towards us. As we entered. Its light shone
Speaker 1: upon his strong, resolute, clean shaved face and his menacing eyes.
Speaker 1: What the devil is the meaning of all this? He cried?
Speaker 1: What are you after? Anyhow, Holmes took a swift glance round,
Speaker 1: and then pounced upon a sodden bundle tied together with cord,
Speaker 1: which lay where it had been thrust under the writing table.
Speaker 1: This is what we are after, mister Barker. This bundle
Speaker 1: waited with a dumb bell, which you have just raised
Speaker 1: from the bottom of the moat. Barker stared at Holmes
Speaker 1: with amazement in his face. How in thunder came you
Speaker 1: to know anything about it? He asked, simply that I
Speaker 1: put it there. You put it there? You, perhaps, I
Speaker 1: should have said, replaced it there, said Holmes. You will remember,
Speaker 1: in Spector mac donald, that I was somewhat struck by
Speaker 1: the absence of a dumb bell. I drew your attention
Speaker 1: to it, but with the pressure of other events, you
Speaker 1: had hardly the time to give it the conceit iteration
Speaker 1: which would have enabled you to draw deductions from it.
Speaker 1: When water is near and a weight is missing, it
Speaker 1: is not a very far fetched supposition that something has
Speaker 1: been sunk in the water. The idea was at least
Speaker 1: worth testing. So with the help of Ames, who admitted
Speaker 1: me to the room, and the crook of doctor Watson's umbrella,
Speaker 1: I was able last night to fish up and inspect
Speaker 1: this bundle. It was of the first importance, however, that
Speaker 1: we should be able to prove who placed it there.
Speaker 1: This we accomplished by the very obvious device of announcing
Speaker 1: that the moat would be dried to morrow, which had
Speaker 1: of course the effect that whoever had hidden the bundle
Speaker 1: would most certainly withdraw it the moment that darkness enabled
Speaker 1: him to do so. We have no less than four
Speaker 1: witnesses as to who it was who took advantage of
Speaker 1: the opportunity, And so, mister Barker, I think the word
Speaker 1: lies now with you. Sherlock Holmes put the sopping bundle
Speaker 1: upon the table beside the lamp and undid the cord
Speaker 1: which bounded from within. He extracted a dumb bell, which
Speaker 1: he tossed down to its fellow in the corner. Next
Speaker 1: he drew forth a pair of boots American as you perceive,
Speaker 1: he remarked, pointing to the toes. Then he laid upon
Speaker 1: the table a long, deadly sheathed knife. Finally, he unraveled
Speaker 1: a bundle of clothing comprising a complete set of underclothes, socks,
Speaker 1: a gray tweed suit, and a short yellow overcoat. The
Speaker 1: clothes are commonplace remarked Holmes, save only the overcoat, which
Speaker 1: is full of suggestive touches. He held it tenderly towards
Speaker 1: the light. Here, as you perceive, is the inner pocket
Speaker 1: prolonged into the lining in such fashion as to give
Speaker 1: ample space for the truncated fowling piece. The tailor's tab
Speaker 1: is on the neck kneel outfitter the Missa U s A.
Speaker 1: I have spent an instructive afternoon in the Rector's library,
Speaker 1: and have enlarged my knowledge by adding the fact that
Speaker 1: Vermissa is a flourishing little town at the head of
Speaker 1: one of the best known coal and iron valleys in
Speaker 1: the United States. I have some recollection, mister Barker, that
Speaker 1: you associated the coal districts with mister Douglas's first wife.
Speaker 1: And it would surely not be too far fetched an
Speaker 1: inference that the v V upon the card by the
Speaker 1: dead body might stand for Vermissa Valley, or that this
Speaker 1: very valley which sends forth emissaries of murder may be
Speaker 1: that valley of fear of which we have heard so much.
Speaker 1: Is fairly clear. And now, mister Barker, I seem to
Speaker 1: be standing rather in the way of your explanation. It
Speaker 1: was a sight to see Cecil Barker's expressive face during
Speaker 1: this exposition of the great detective. Anger, Amazement, consternation, and
Speaker 1: indecision swept over it in turns, and finally he took
Speaker 1: refuge in a somewhat acrid irony. You know such a lot,
Speaker 1: mister Holmes. Perhaps you had better tell us some more,
Speaker 1: he sneered. I have no doubt that I could tell
Speaker 1: you a great deal more, mister Barker, but it would
Speaker 1: come with a better grace from you. Oh you think so,
Speaker 1: do you? Well? All I can say is that if
Speaker 1: there's any secret here, it is not my secret, and
Speaker 1: I am not the man to give it away. Well,
Speaker 1: if you take that line, mister Barker, said the inspector quietly.
Speaker 1: We must just keep you in sight until we have
Speaker 1: the warrant and can hold you. You can do what
Speaker 1: you damn please about that, said Barker defiantly. The proceedings
Speaker 1: seemed to have come to a definite end so far
Speaker 1: as he was concerned, For one had only to look
Speaker 1: at that granite face to realize that no penn forte
Speaker 1: de dieu would ever force him to plead against his will.
Speaker 1: The deadlock was broken, however, by a woman's voice. Missus
Speaker 1: Douglas had been standing listening at the half opened door,
Speaker 1: and now she entered the room. You have done enough
Speaker 1: for our cecil, said she, whatever comes of it in
Speaker 1: the future. You have done enough enough, and more than enough,
Speaker 1: remarked Sherlock Holmes gravely. I have every sympathy with you, madam,
Speaker 1: and should strongly urge you to have some confidence in
Speaker 1: the common sense of our jurisdiction and to take the
Speaker 1: police voluntarily into your complete confidence. It may be that
Speaker 1: I am myself at fault for not following up the
Speaker 1: hint which you conveyed to me through my friend doctor Watson,
Speaker 1: But at that time I had every reason to believe
Speaker 1: that you were directly concerned in the crime. Now I
Speaker 1: am assured that this is not so. At the same time,
Speaker 1: there is much that is unexplained, and I should strongly
Speaker 1: recommend that you ask mister Douglas to tell us his
Speaker 1: own story. Missus Douglas gave a cry of astonishment at
Speaker 1: Holmes's words. The detectives and I must have echoed it
Speaker 1: when we were aware of a man who seemed to
Speaker 1: have emerged from the wall, who advanced now from the
Speaker 1: gloom of the corner in which he had appeared. Missus
Speaker 1: Douglas turned and in an instant her arms were round him.
Speaker 1: Barker had seized his outstretched hand. It's best this way, Jack,
Speaker 1: his wife repeated, I am sure that it is best. Indeed, yes,
Speaker 1: mister Douglas, said Sherlock Holmes, I am sure that you
Speaker 1: will find it best. The man stood blinking at us
Speaker 1: with the dazed look of one who comes from the
Speaker 1: dark into the light. It was a remarkable face, bold
Speaker 1: gray eyes, a strong, short, clipped, grizzled mustache, a square
Speaker 1: projecting chin, and a humorous mouth. He took a good
Speaker 1: look at us all, and then, to my amazement, he
Speaker 1: advanced to me and handed me a bundle of paper.
Speaker 1: I've heard of you, said he in a voice which
Speaker 1: was not quite English and not quite American, but was
Speaker 1: altogether mellow and pleasing. You are the historian of this bunch, well,
Speaker 1: doctor Watson, You've never had such a story as that
Speaker 1: passed through your hands before, and I'll lay my last
Speaker 1: dollar on that. Tell it your own way. But there
Speaker 1: are the facts, and you can't miss the public so
Speaker 1: long as you have those. I've been cooped up two days,
Speaker 1: and I've spent the daylight hours as much daylight as
Speaker 1: I could get in that rat trap. In putting the
Speaker 1: thing into words, You're welcome to them, you and your public.
Speaker 1: That's the story of the Valley of Fear. That's the past,
Speaker 1: mister Douglas, said Sherlock Holmes quietly. What we desire now
Speaker 1: is to hear your story of the present. You'll have it, sir,
Speaker 1: said Douglas. May I smoke as I talk? Well, thank you,
Speaker 1: mister Holmes. You're a smoker yourself, if I remember right,
Speaker 1: And you'll guess what it is to be sitting for
Speaker 1: two days with tobacco in your pocket and afraid that
Speaker 1: the smell will give you away. He leaned against the
Speaker 1: mantelpiece and sucked at the cigar which Holmes had handed him.
Speaker 1: I've heard of you, mister Holmes. I never guessed that
Speaker 1: I should meet you. But before you are through with that,
Speaker 1: he nodded at my papers, you will say I've brought
Speaker 1: you something fresh. Inspector mac Donald had been staring at
Speaker 1: the new comer with the greatest amazement. Well this fairly
Speaker 1: beasts me, he cried, at last. If you are mister
Speaker 1: John Douglas of Bertlestone manor then whose death have we
Speaker 1: been investigating for these two days? And where in the
Speaker 1: world have you sprung from? Now? You seem to me
Speaker 1: to come out of the floor like a jack in
Speaker 1: a box. Ah, mister mac, said Holmes, shaking a reproving forefinger.
Speaker 1: You would not read that excellent local compilation which described
Speaker 1: the concealment of King Charles. People did not hide in
Speaker 1: those days without excellent hiding places, and the hiding place
Speaker 1: that has once been used may be again. I had
Speaker 1: persuaded myself that we should find mister Douglas under this roof.
Speaker 1: And how long have you been playing this trick upon us,
Speaker 1: mister Holmes, said the inspector angrily. How long have you
Speaker 1: allowed us to waste ourselves upon a search that you
Speaker 1: knew to be an absurd one? Not one instant, my
Speaker 1: dear mister Mack. Only last night did I form my
Speaker 1: views of the case, as they could not be put
Speaker 1: to the proof until this evening. I invited you and
Speaker 1: your colliague to take a holiday for the day. Pray
Speaker 1: what more could I do? When I found the suit
Speaker 1: of clothes in the moat, it at once became apparent
Speaker 1: to me that the body we had found could not
Speaker 1: have been the body of mister John Douglas at all,
Speaker 1: but must be that of the bicyclist from Tunbridge Wells.
Speaker 1: No other conclusion was possible. Therefore, I had to determine
Speaker 1: where mister John Douglas himself could be, and the balance
Speaker 1: of probability was that, with the connivance of his wife
Speaker 1: and his friend, he was concealed in a house which
Speaker 1: had such conveniences for a fugitive, and awaiting quieter times
Speaker 1: when he could make his final escape. Well you've figured
Speaker 1: it out about right, said Douglas approvingly. I thought i'd
Speaker 1: dodge your British law, for I was not sure how
Speaker 1: I stood under it. And also I saw my chance
Speaker 1: to throw these hounds once and for all off my track.
Speaker 1: Mind you, from first to last, I have done nothing
Speaker 1: to be ashamed of, and nothing that I would not
Speaker 1: do again. But you'll judge that for yourselves when I
Speaker 1: tell you my story. Never mind warning me, inspector, I'm
Speaker 1: ready to stand pat upon the truth. I'm not going
Speaker 1: to begin at the beginning. That's all there, he indicated.
Speaker 1: My bundle of papers and a mighty queer yarn, you'll
Speaker 1: find it. It all comes down to this, that there
Speaker 1: are some men that have good cause to hate me,
Speaker 1: and would give their last dollar to know that they
Speaker 1: have got me. So long as I am alive and
Speaker 1: they are alive, there is no safety in this world
Speaker 1: for me. They hunted me from Chicago to California, then
Speaker 1: they chased me out of America. But when I married
Speaker 1: and settled down in this quiet spot, I thought my
Speaker 1: last years were going to be peaceable. I never explained
Speaker 1: to my wife how things were. Why should I pull
Speaker 1: her into it? She would never have a quiet moment again,
Speaker 1: but would always be imagining trouble. I fancy she knew something.
Speaker 1: I may have dropped a word here or a word there,
Speaker 1: But until yesterday, after you gentlemen, had seen her, she
Speaker 1: never knew the rights of the matter. She told you
Speaker 1: all she knew, and so did Barker Hear, For on
Speaker 1: the night when this thing happened, there was mighty little
Speaker 1: time for explanations. She knows everything now, and I would
Speaker 1: have been a wiser man if I had told her sooner.
Speaker 1: But it was a hard question, dear. He took her
Speaker 1: hand for an instant in his own and I acted
Speaker 1: for the best well gentlemen. The day before these happenings,
Speaker 1: I was over in Tunbridge Wells and I got a
Speaker 1: glimpse of a man in the street. It was only
Speaker 1: a glimpse, but I have a quick eye for these things,
Speaker 1: and I never doubted who it was. It was the
Speaker 1: worst enemy I had among them all, one who has
Speaker 1: been after me like a hungry wolf after a caribou
Speaker 1: all these years. I knew there was trouble coming, and
Speaker 1: I came home and made ready for it. I guessed
Speaker 1: i'd fight through it all right on my own. My
Speaker 1: luck was a proverb in the States about seventy six.
Speaker 1: I never doubted that it would be with me. Still,
Speaker 1: I was on my guard all that next day and
Speaker 1: never went out into the park. It's as well, or
Speaker 1: he'd have had the drop on me with that buckshot
Speaker 1: gun of his before ever I could draw on him.
Speaker 1: After the bridge was up, my mind was always more
Speaker 1: RESTful when that bridge was up. In the evenings, I
Speaker 1: put the thing clear out of my head. I never
Speaker 1: dreamed of his getting into the house and waiting for me.
Speaker 1: But when I made my round in my dressing gown,
Speaker 1: as was my habit, I had no sooner entered the
Speaker 1: study than I scented danger. I guess when a man
Speaker 1: has had dangers in his life, and I've had more
Speaker 1: than most in my time, there is a kind of
Speaker 1: sixth sense that waved the red flag. I saw the
Speaker 1: signal clear enough, and yet I couldn't tell you why.
Speaker 1: Next instance, I spotted a boot under the window curtain,
Speaker 1: and then I saw why. Plain enough, are just the
Speaker 1: one candle that was in my hand, but there was
Speaker 1: a good light from the hall lamp through the open door.
Speaker 1: I put down the candle and jumped for a hammer
Speaker 1: that I had left on the mantel. At the same
Speaker 1: moment he sprang at me. I saw the glint of
Speaker 1: a knife, and I lashed at him with the hammer.
Speaker 1: I got him somewhere, for the knife tinkled down on
Speaker 1: the floor. He dodged round the table as quick as
Speaker 1: an eel, and a moment later he had got his
Speaker 1: gun from under his coat. I heard him cock it,
Speaker 1: but I had got hold of it before he could fire.
Speaker 1: I had it by the barrel, and we wrestled for
Speaker 1: it all ends up for a minute or more. It
Speaker 1: was death to the man that lost his grip. He
Speaker 1: never lost his grip, but he got it butt downward
Speaker 1: for a moment too long. Maybe it was I that
Speaker 1: pulled the trigger. Maybe we just jolted it off between us. Anyhow,
Speaker 1: he got both barrels in the face, and there I
Speaker 1: was staring down at all that was left of Ted Baldwin.
Speaker 1: I'd recognized him in the township and again when he
Speaker 1: sprang for me, but his own mother wouldn't recognize him
Speaker 1: as I saw him. Then. I'm used to rough work,
Speaker 1: but I fairly turned sick at the sight of him.
Speaker 1: I was hanging on the side of the table when
Speaker 1: Barker came hurrying down. I heard my wife coming, and
Speaker 1: I ran to the door and stopped her. It was
Speaker 1: no sight for a woman. I promised I'd come to
Speaker 1: her soon. I said a word or two to Barker.
Speaker 1: He took it all in at a glance, and we
Speaker 1: waited for the rest to come along. But there was
Speaker 1: no sign of them. Then we understood that they could
Speaker 1: hear nothing, and that all that had happened was known
Speaker 1: only to ourselves. It was at that instant that the
Speaker 1: idea came to me. I was fairly dazzled by the
Speaker 1: brilliance of it. The man's sleeve had slipped up, and
Speaker 1: there was the branded mark of the lodge upon his forearm.
Speaker 1: See here the man whom we had known as Douglas
Speaker 1: turned up his own coat and cuff to show a
Speaker 1: brown triangle within a circle, exactly like that which we
Speaker 1: had seen upon the dead man. It was the sight
Speaker 1: of that which started me on it. I seemed to
Speaker 1: see it all clear at a glance. There were his
Speaker 1: height and hair and figure about the same as my own.
Speaker 1: No one could swear to his face, poor devil. I
Speaker 1: brought down this suit of clothes, and in a quarter
Speaker 1: of an hour Barker and I had put my dressing
Speaker 1: gown on him, and he lay as you found him.
Speaker 1: We tied all his things into a bundle, and I
Speaker 1: waited them with the only weight I could find, and
Speaker 1: put them through the window. The card he had meant
Speaker 1: to lay upon my body was lying beside his own.
Speaker 1: My rings were put on his finger, but when it
Speaker 1: came to the wedding ring, he held out his muscular hand.
Speaker 1: You can see for yourselves that I had struck the limit.
Speaker 1: I have not moved it since the day I was married,
Speaker 1: and it would have taken a file to get it off.
Speaker 1: I don't know anyhow that I should have cared to
Speaker 1: part with it, but if I had wanted to, I couldn't,
Speaker 1: so we just had to leave that detail to take
Speaker 1: care of itself. On the other hand, I brought a
Speaker 1: bit of plaster down and put it where I am
Speaker 1: wearing one myself at this instant. You slipped up there,
Speaker 1: mister Holmes, clever as you are, for if you had
Speaker 1: chanced to take off that plaster, you would have found
Speaker 1: no cut underneath it. Well, that was the situation. I
Speaker 1: could lie low for a while and then get away
Speaker 1: where I could be joined by my widow. We should
Speaker 1: have a chance at last of living in peace for
Speaker 1: the rest of our lives. These devils would give me
Speaker 1: no rest so long as I was above ground. But
Speaker 1: if they saw in the papers that Baldwin had got
Speaker 1: his man, there would be an end of all my troubles.
Speaker 1: I hadn't much time to make it all clear to
Speaker 1: Barker and to my wife, but they understood enough to
Speaker 1: be able to help me. I knew all about this
Speaker 1: hiding place, so did Aims, but it never entered his
Speaker 1: head to connect it with the matter. I retired into
Speaker 1: it and it was up to Barker to do the rest.
Speaker 1: I guess you can fill in for yourselves what he did.
Speaker 1: He opened the window and made the mark on the
Speaker 1: sill to give an idea of how the murderer escaped.
Speaker 1: It was a tall order that, but as the bridge
Speaker 1: was up, there was no other way. Then, when everything
Speaker 1: was fixed, he rang the bell. For all he was worth.
Speaker 1: What happened afterward, you know. And so, gentlemen, you can
Speaker 1: do what you please. But I've told you the truth
Speaker 1: and the whole truth, So help me God. What I
Speaker 1: ask you now is how do I stand by the
Speaker 1: English law? There was a silence which was broken by
Speaker 1: Sherlock Holmes. The English law is, in the main a
Speaker 1: just law. You will get no worse than your deserts
Speaker 1: from that, mister Douglas. But I would ask you how
Speaker 1: did this man know that you lived here? Or how
Speaker 1: to get into your house, or where to hide to
Speaker 1: get you? I know nothing of this. Holmes's face was
Speaker 1: very white and grave. The story is not over yet,
Speaker 1: I fear said he. You may find worse dangers than
Speaker 1: the English law, or even than your enemies from America.
Speaker 1: I see trouble before you, mister Douglas, you'll take my
Speaker 1: advice and still be on your guard. And now, my
Speaker 1: long suffering readers, I will ask you to come away
Speaker 1: with me for a time, far from the Sussex manor
Speaker 1: house of Burlstone, and far also from the year of Grace,
Speaker 1: in which we made our eventful journey, which ended with
Speaker 1: the strange story of the man who had been known
Speaker 1: as John Douglas. I wish you to journey back some
Speaker 1: twenty years in time and westward, some thousands of miles
Speaker 1: in space, that I may lay before you a singular
Speaker 1: and terrible narrative, so singular and so terrible that you
Speaker 1: may find it hard to believe that even as I
Speaker 1: tell it, even so did it occur. Do not think
Speaker 1: that I intrude one story before another is finished. As
Speaker 1: you read on, you will find that this is not so.
Speaker 1: And when you have detailed those distant events, and you
Speaker 1: have solved this mystery of the past, we shall meet
Speaker 1: once more in those rooms on Baker Street, where this,
Speaker 1: like so many other wonderful happenings, will find its end.