Speaker 1: The problem of thor Bridge. Somewhere in the vaults of
Speaker 1: the Bank of Cox and Co A charing Cross, there
Speaker 1: is a travel worn and battered tin dispatch box with
Speaker 1: my name John H. Watson, MD, late Indian Army painted
Speaker 1: upon the lid. It is crammed with papers, nearly all
Speaker 1: of which are records of cases to illustrate the curious
Speaker 1: problems which mister Sherlock Holmes had at various times to examine. Some,
Speaker 1: and not the least interesting were complete failures, and as
Speaker 1: such will hardly bear narrating, since no final explanation is forthcoming.
Speaker 1: A problem without a solution may interest the student, but
Speaker 1: can hardly fail to annoy the casual reader. Among these
Speaker 1: unfinished tales is that of mister James Fillmore, who, stepping
Speaker 1: back into his own house to get his umbrella, was
Speaker 1: never more seen in this world. No less remarkable is
Speaker 1: that of the cutter Alicia, which sailed one spring morning
Speaker 1: into a small patch of mist, from where she never
Speaker 1: again emerged, nor was anything further ever heard of herself
Speaker 1: and her crew. A third case worthy of note is
Speaker 1: that of Isadora Persano, the well known journalist and dualist,
Speaker 1: who was found stark staring mad, with a match box
Speaker 1: in front of him, which contained a remarkable worm, said
Speaker 1: to be unknown to science. Apart from these unfathomed cases,
Speaker 1: there are some which involved the secrets of private families
Speaker 1: to an extent which would mean consternation in many exalted
Speaker 1: quarters if it were thought possible that they might find
Speaker 1: their way into print. I need not say that such
Speaker 1: a breach of confidence is unthinkable, and that these records
Speaker 1: will be separated and destroyed now that my friend has
Speaker 1: time to turn his energies to the matter. There remain
Speaker 1: a considerable residue of cases of greater or less interest,
Speaker 1: which I might have edited before, had I not feared
Speaker 1: to give the public a surfeit which might react upon
Speaker 1: the reputation of the man whom, above all others I revere.
Speaker 1: In some I was myself concerned and can speak as
Speaker 1: an eyewitness, while in others I was either not present
Speaker 1: or played so small a part that they could only
Speaker 1: be told as by a third person. The following narrative
Speaker 1: is drawn from my own experience. It was a wild
Speaker 1: morning in October, and I observed, as I was dressing,
Speaker 1: how the last remaining leaves were being whirled from the
Speaker 1: solitary plane tree, which graces the yard behind our house.
Speaker 1: I descended to breakfast, prepared to find my companion in
Speaker 1: depressed spirits, for like all great artists, he was easily
Speaker 1: impressed by his surroundings. On the contrary, I found that
Speaker 1: he had nearly finished his meal, and that his mood
Speaker 1: was particularly bright and joyous, with that somewhat sinister cheerfulness
Speaker 1: which was characteristic of his lighter moments. You have a case, Holmes,
Speaker 1: I remarked. The faculty of deduction is certainly contagious. Watson,
Speaker 1: he answered, it has enabled you to probe my secret. Yes,
Speaker 1: I have a case. After a month of trivialitism stagnation,
Speaker 1: the wheels move once more. Might I share it? There
Speaker 1: is little to share, but we may discuss it when
Speaker 1: you have consumed the two hard boiled eggs with which
Speaker 1: our new cook has favored us. Their condition may not
Speaker 1: be unconnected with the copy of the family Herald, which
Speaker 1: I observed yesterday upon the hall table. Even so trivial
Speaker 1: a matter as cooking an egg demands an attention which
Speaker 1: is conscious of the passage of time and incompatible with
Speaker 1: the love romance in that excit periodical. A quarter of
Speaker 1: an hour later, the table had been cleared and we
Speaker 1: were face to face. He had drawn a letter from
Speaker 1: his pocket. You have heard of Neil Gibson, the gold King,
Speaker 1: he said, You mean the American senator. Well, he was
Speaker 1: once a senator for some western state, but is better
Speaker 1: known as the greatest gold mining magnate in the world. Yes,
Speaker 1: I know of him. He has surely lived in England
Speaker 1: for some time. His name is very familiar. Yes, he
Speaker 1: bought a considerable estate in Hampshire some five years ago.
Speaker 1: Possibly you have already heard of the tragic end of
Speaker 1: his wife. Of course I remember it now. That is
Speaker 1: why the name is familiar. But I really know nothing
Speaker 1: of the details. Holmes waved his hand towards some papers
Speaker 1: on a chair. I had no idea that the case
Speaker 1: was coming my way, or I should have had my
Speaker 1: extracts ready, said he. The fact is that the problem,
Speaker 1: though exceedingly sensational, appeared to present no difficulty. The interesting
Speaker 1: personality of the accused does not obscure the clearness of
Speaker 1: the evidence. That was the view taken by the coroner's
Speaker 1: jury and also in the police court proceedings. It is
Speaker 1: now referred to the Assizes at Winchester. I fear it
Speaker 1: is a thankless business. I can discover facts, Watson, but
Speaker 1: I cannot change them unless some entirely new and unexpected
Speaker 1: ones come to light. I do not see what my
Speaker 1: client can hope for your client. Ah, I forgot I'd
Speaker 1: not told you. I'm getting into your involved habit, Watson,
Speaker 1: of telling a story backward, you had best read this first.
Speaker 1: The letter which he handed to me, written in a bold,
Speaker 1: masterful hand ran As follows Clarage's hotel October third, Dear
Speaker 1: mister Sherlock Holmes, I can't see the best woman God
Speaker 1: ever made go to her death without doing all that
Speaker 1: is possible to say. I can't explain things, I can't
Speaker 1: even try to explain them. But I know beyond all
Speaker 1: doubt that missus Dunbar is innocent. You know the facts.
Speaker 1: Who doesn't. It has been the gossip of the country
Speaker 1: and never a voice raised for her. It's the damned
Speaker 1: injustice of it all that makes me crazy. That woman
Speaker 1: has a heart that wouldn't let her kill a fly. Well,
Speaker 1: I'll come at eleven tomorrow and see if you can
Speaker 1: get some ray of light in the dark. Maybe I
Speaker 1: have a clue and don't know it anyhow, all I know,
Speaker 1: and all I have, and all I am for your use,
Speaker 1: if only you can save her. If ever in your
Speaker 1: life you showed your powers, put them now into this case,
Speaker 1: yours faithfully, je Neil Gibson. There you have it, said
Speaker 1: Sherlock Holmes, knocking out the ashes of his after breakfast
Speaker 1: pipe and slowly refilling it. That is the gentleman, I
Speaker 1: weight as to the story. You have hardly time to
Speaker 1: master all these papers, so I must give it to
Speaker 1: you in a nutshell if you are to take an
Speaker 1: intelligent interest in the proceedings. This man is the greatest
Speaker 1: financial power in the world, and a man, as I understand,
Speaker 1: of most violent and formidable character. He married a wife,
Speaker 1: the victim of this tragedy, of whom I know nothing
Speaker 1: save that she was past her prime, which was the
Speaker 1: more unfortunate, as a very attractive governess superintended the education
Speaker 1: of two young children. These are the three people concerned,
Speaker 1: and the scene is a grand old manor house, the
Speaker 1: center of a historical English estate. Then, as to the tragedy,
Speaker 1: the wife was found in the grounds nearly half a
Speaker 1: mile from the house late night, clad in her dinner dress,
Speaker 1: with a shawl over her shoulders and a revolver bullet
Speaker 1: through her brain. No weapon was found near her, and
Speaker 1: there was no local clue as to the murder. No
Speaker 1: weapon near her. Watson marked that the crime seems to
Speaker 1: have been committed late in the evening and the body
Speaker 1: was found by a gamekeeper about eleven o'clock, when it
Speaker 1: was examined by the police and by a doctor before
Speaker 1: being carried up to the house. Is this too condensed
Speaker 1: or can you follow it? Clearly? It is all very clear.
Speaker 1: But why suspect the governess? Well, in the first place,
Speaker 1: there is some very direct evidence. A revolver with one
Speaker 1: discharged chamber and a caliber which corresponded with the bullet,
Speaker 1: was found on the floor of her wardrobe. His eyes
Speaker 1: fixed and he repeated in broken words on the floor
Speaker 1: of her wardrobe. Then he sank into silence, and I
Speaker 1: saw that some train of thought had been set moving,
Speaker 1: which I should be foolish to interrupt. Suddenly, with a start,
Speaker 1: he emerged into brisk life once more. Yes, Watson, it
Speaker 1: was found pretty damning, eh so the two juries thought.
Speaker 1: Then the dead woman had a note upon her making
Speaker 1: an appointment at that very place, and signed by the governess.
Speaker 1: How's that? Finally there is the motive. Senator Gibson is
Speaker 1: an attractive person. If his wife dies, who more likely
Speaker 1: to succeed her than the young lady who had already,
Speaker 1: by all accounts, received pressing attentions from her employer love, fortune, power,
Speaker 1: all depending upon one middle aged life. Ugly Watson, very ugly, yes, indeed, Holmes.
Speaker 1: Nor could she prove an alibi. On the contrary, she
Speaker 1: had to admit that she was down near Thought Bridge
Speaker 1: that was the scene of the tragedy about that hour.
Speaker 1: She couldn't deny it, for some passing villager had seen
Speaker 1: her there. That really seems final. And yet Watson, And
Speaker 1: yet this bridge, a single broad span of stone with
Speaker 1: balustraded sides, carries the drive over the narrowest part of
Speaker 1: a long, deep reed girt sheet of water. For mere
Speaker 1: it is called in the mouth of the bridge lay
Speaker 1: the dead woman. Such are the main facts. But here,
Speaker 1: if I mistake not, is our client considerably before his time.
Speaker 1: Billy had opened the door. But the name which he
Speaker 1: announced was an unexpected one. Mister Marlowe Bates was a
Speaker 1: stranger to both of us. He was a thin, nervous
Speaker 1: wisp of a man with frightened eyes and a twitching,
Speaker 1: hesitating manner, a man whom my own professional eye would
Speaker 1: judge to be on the brink of an absolute nervous breakdown.
Speaker 1: You seem agitated, mister Bates, said Holmes, Pray, sit down,
Speaker 1: I fear I can only give you a short time,
Speaker 1: for I have an appointment at eleven. I know you
Speaker 1: have our visitor, gasped, shooting out short sentences like a
Speaker 1: man who is out of breath. Mister Gibson is coming.
Speaker 1: Mister Gibson is my employer. I am manager of his estate.
Speaker 1: Mister Holmes, he is a villain, an infernal villain. Strong language,
Speaker 1: mister Bates. I have to be emphatic, mister Holmes, for
Speaker 1: the time is so limited. I would not have him
Speaker 1: find me here, for the world. He's almost dumed now.
Speaker 1: But I was so situated that I could not come earlier.
Speaker 1: His secretary, mister Ferguson, only told me this morning of
Speaker 1: his appointment with you, and you are his manager. I
Speaker 1: have given him notice. In a couple of weeks I
Speaker 1: shall have shaken off his accursed slavery. A hard man,
Speaker 1: mister Holmes, hard to all about him. Those public charities
Speaker 1: are a screen to cover his private iniquities. But his
Speaker 1: wife was the chief victim. He was brutal to her, yes, sir, brutal.
Speaker 1: How she came by her death, I do not know,
Speaker 1: but I am sure that he made her life a
Speaker 1: misery to her. She was a creature of the tropics,
Speaker 1: a Brazilian by birth, as no doubt, you know, no,
Speaker 1: it had escaped me. Tropical by birth and tropical by nature,
Speaker 1: a child of the sun and of passion. She had
Speaker 1: loved him as such women can love. But when her
Speaker 1: own physical charms had faded, I'm told they were once great,
Speaker 1: there was nothing to hold him. We all liked her
Speaker 1: and felt for her, and hated him for the way
Speaker 1: that he treated her. But he is plausible and cunning.
Speaker 1: That is all I have to say to you. Don't
Speaker 1: take him at his face value. There is more behind
Speaker 1: Now I'll go, no, no, don't detain me. He's almost due.
Speaker 1: With a frightened look at the clock, our strange visitor
Speaker 1: literally ran to the door and disappeared. Well well, said
Speaker 1: Holmes after an interval of silence. Mister Gibson seems to
Speaker 1: have a nice, loyal household, But the warning is a
Speaker 1: useful one, and now we can only wait till the
Speaker 1: man himself appears sharp. At the hour, we heard a
Speaker 1: heavy step upon the stairs, and the famous millionaire was
Speaker 1: shown into the room. As I looked upon him, I
Speaker 1: understood not only the fears and dislike of his manager,
Speaker 1: but also the execrations which so many business rivals have
Speaker 1: heaped upon his head. If I were a sculptor and
Speaker 1: desired to idealize the successful man of affairs, iron of
Speaker 1: nerve and leathery of conscience, I should choose mister Neil
Speaker 1: Gibson as my model. His tall, gaunt, craggy figure had
Speaker 1: a suggestion of hunger and rapacity, and Abraham Lincoln keyed
Speaker 1: to base uses instead of high wayes, would give some
Speaker 1: idea of the man. His face might have been chiseled
Speaker 1: in granite, hard set, craggy, remorseless, with deep lines upon it,
Speaker 1: the scars of many a crisis. Cold gray eyes, looking
Speaker 1: shrewdly out from under bristling brows, surveyed us each in turn.
Speaker 1: He bowed in perfunctory fashion as Holmes mentioned my name,
Speaker 1: and then, with a masterful air of possession, he drew
Speaker 1: a chair up to my companion and seated himself with
Speaker 1: his bony knees almost touching him. Let me say right here,
Speaker 1: mister Holmes, he began, but money is nothing to me
Speaker 1: in this case. You can burn it if it's any
Speaker 1: use in lighting you to the truth. This woman is innocent.
Speaker 1: This woman has to be cleared, and it's up to
Speaker 1: you to do it. Name your figure. My professional charges
Speaker 1: are upon a fixed scale, said Holmes coldly. I do
Speaker 1: not vary them, save when I I remit them altogether. Well,
Speaker 1: if dollars make no difference to you, think of the reputation.
Speaker 1: If you pull this off, every paper in England and
Speaker 1: America will be booming you. You'll be the talk of
Speaker 1: two continents. Thank you, mister Gibson. I do not think
Speaker 1: that I am in need of booming. It may surprise
Speaker 1: you to know that I prefer to work anonymously, and
Speaker 1: that it is the problem itself which attracts me. But
Speaker 1: we are wasting time. Let us get down to the facts.
Speaker 1: I think that you will find all the main ones
Speaker 1: in the press reports. I don't know that I can
Speaker 1: add anything which will help you, But if there is
Speaker 1: anything you would wish more light upon, well I'm here
Speaker 1: to give it. Well, there is just one point. What
Speaker 1: is it? What were the exact relations between you and
Speaker 1: miss Dunbar. The gold king gave a violent start and
Speaker 1: half rose from his chair. Then his massive calm came
Speaker 1: back to him. I suppose you are within your rights
Speaker 1: and may be doing your duty in asking such a question,
Speaker 1: mister Holmes. We will agree to suppose, so, said Holmes.
Speaker 1: Then I can assure you that our relations were entirely
Speaker 1: and always those of an employer towards a young lady
Speaker 1: whom he never conversed with or ever saw, save when
Speaker 1: she was in the company of his children. Holmes rose
Speaker 1: from his chair. I am a rather busy man, mister Gibson,
Speaker 1: said he and I have no time or taste for
Speaker 1: aimless conversations. I wish you good morning. Our visitor had
Speaker 1: risen also, and his great loose figure towered above Holmes.
Speaker 1: There was an angry gleam from under those bristling brows,
Speaker 1: and a tinge of color in the sallow cheeks. What
Speaker 1: the devil do you mean by this, mister Holmes? Do
Speaker 1: you dismiss my case? Well, mister Gibson, at least I
Speaker 1: dismiss you. I should have thought my words were plain,
Speaker 1: plain enough. But what's at the back of it raising
Speaker 1: the price on me? Or afraid to tackle it? Or
Speaker 1: what I've a right to a plain answer? Well, perhaps
Speaker 1: you have said, Holmes, I'll give you one. This case
Speaker 1: is quite sufficiently complicated to start with, without the further
Speaker 1: difficulty of false information, meaning that I lie well. I
Speaker 1: was trying to express it as delicately as I could.
Speaker 1: But if you insist upon the word, I will not
Speaker 1: contradict you. I sprang to my feet, for the expression
Speaker 1: upon the millionaire's face was fiendish in its intensity, and
Speaker 1: he had raised his great knotted fist. Holmes smiled languidly
Speaker 1: and reached his hand out for his pipe. Don't be noisy,
Speaker 1: mister Gibson. I find that after breakfast, even the smallest
Speaker 1: argument is unsettling. I suggest that a stroll in the
Speaker 1: morning air and a little quiet thought will be greatly
Speaker 1: to your advantage. With an effort, the gold king mastered
Speaker 1: his fury. I could not but admire him, for by
Speaker 1: a supreme self command, he had turned in a minute
Speaker 1: from a hot flame of anger to a frigid and
Speaker 1: contemptuous indifference. Well, it's your choice, I guess you know.
Speaker 1: How to run your own business. I can't make you
Speaker 1: touch the case against your will. You've done yourself no
Speaker 1: good this morning, mister Holmes, For I have broken stronger
Speaker 1: men than you. No man ever crossed me and was
Speaker 1: the better for it, so many have said, And yet
Speaker 1: here I am, said Holmes, smiling, Well, good morning, mister Gibson.
Speaker 1: You have a good deal yet to learn. Our visitor
Speaker 1: made a noisy exit, but Holmes smoked in imperturbable silence,
Speaker 1: with dreamy eyes fixed upon the ceiling. Any views, Watson,
Speaker 1: he asked at last, Well, Holmes, I must confess that
Speaker 1: when I consider that this is a man who would
Speaker 1: certainly brush any obstacle from his path, and when I
Speaker 1: remember that his wife may have been an obstacle and
Speaker 1: an object of dislike, as that man Bates plainly told us,
Speaker 1: it seems to me exactly, and to me also, But
Speaker 1: what were his relations with the governess and how did
Speaker 1: you discover them? Bluff, Watson, bluff. When I considered the passionate, unconventional,
Speaker 1: unbusinesslike tone of his letter and contrasted it with his
Speaker 1: self contained manner and appearance, it was pretty clear that
Speaker 1: there was some deep emotion which centered upon the accused
Speaker 1: woman rather than upon the victim. We've got to understand
Speaker 1: the exact relations of those three people if we are
Speaker 1: to reach the truth. You saw the frontal attack which
Speaker 1: I made upon him, and how imperturbably he received it.
Speaker 1: Then I bluffed him by giving the impression that I
Speaker 1: was absolutely certain, when in reality I was only extremely suspicious.
Speaker 1: Perhaps he will come back. He is sure to come back.
Speaker 1: He must come back. You can't leave it where it is.
Speaker 1: Ha Isn't that a ring? Yes? There is his footstep. Well,
Speaker 1: mister Gibson, I was just saying to doctor Watson that
Speaker 1: you were somewhat overdue. The gold King had re entered
Speaker 1: the room in a more chastened mood than he had
Speaker 1: left it. His wounded pride still showed in his resentful eyes,
Speaker 1: but his common sense had shown him that he must
Speaker 1: yield if he would attain his end. I've been thinking
Speaker 1: it over, mister Holmes, and I feel that I have
Speaker 1: been hasty in taking your remarks, Amiss. You're justified in
Speaker 1: getting down to the facts, whatever they may be, and
Speaker 1: I think the more of you for it. I can
Speaker 1: assure you, however, that the relations between miss Dunbar and me,
Speaker 1: don't really touch this case. That is for meat. Decide,
Speaker 1: is it not? Yes? I guess that is so. You're
Speaker 1: like a surgeon who wants every symptom before he can
Speaker 1: give his diagnosis exactly. That expresses it. And it is
Speaker 1: only a patient who has an object in deceiving his surgeon,
Speaker 1: who would conceal the facts of his case. That may
Speaker 1: be so. But you will admit, mister Holmes, that most
Speaker 1: men would shy off a bit when they are asked
Speaker 1: point blank while they are relations where the woman may
Speaker 1: be if there is really some serious feeling in the case.
Speaker 1: I guess most men have a little private reserve of
Speaker 1: their own in some corner of their souls. They don't
Speaker 1: welcome ins, and you burst suddenly into it. But the
Speaker 1: object excuses you, since it was to try and safer. Well,
Speaker 1: the stakes are down and the reserve open, and you
Speaker 1: can explore where you will. What is it? You want?
Speaker 1: The truth? The gold King paused for a moment, as
Speaker 1: one who marshals his thoughts. His grim, deep lined face
Speaker 1: had become even sadder and more grave. I can give
Speaker 1: it to you in a very few words, mister Holmes,
Speaker 1: He said, at last, there are some things that are
Speaker 1: painful as well as difficult to say, so I won't
Speaker 1: go deeper than is needful. I met my wife when
Speaker 1: I was gold hunting in Brazil. Maria Pintot was the
Speaker 1: daughter of a government official at Manaos, and she was
Speaker 1: very beautiful. I was young and ardent in those days,
Speaker 1: but even now, as I look back with colder blood
Speaker 1: and more critical eye, I can see that she was
Speaker 1: rare and wonderful in her beauty. It was a deep,
Speaker 1: rich nature, too passionate, wholehearted, tropical, ill balanced, very different
Speaker 1: from the American women whom I had known well. To
Speaker 1: make a long story short, I loved her and I
Speaker 1: married her. It was only when the romance had passed,
Speaker 1: and it lingered for years, that I realized that we
Speaker 1: had nothing, absolutely nothing in common. My love faded. If
Speaker 1: hers it faded also, it might have been easier, But
Speaker 1: you know the wonderful way of women do what I might.
Speaker 1: Nothing could turn her from me. If I have been
Speaker 1: harsh to her, even brutal, as some have said, it
Speaker 1: has been because I knew that if I could kill
Speaker 1: her love, or if it turned to hate, it would
Speaker 1: be easier for both of us. But nothing changed her.
Speaker 1: She adored me in those English woods, as she had
Speaker 1: adored me twenty years ago on the banks of the Amazon,
Speaker 1: do what I might. She was as devoted as ever.
Speaker 1: Then came miss Grace Dunbar. She answered our advertisement and
Speaker 1: became governess to our two children. Perhaps you have seen
Speaker 1: her portrait in the papers. The whole world has proclaimed
Speaker 1: that she is also a very beautiful woman. Now, I
Speaker 1: make no pretense to be more moral than my neighbors,
Speaker 1: and I will admit to you that I could not
Speaker 1: live under the same roof with such a woman, and
Speaker 1: in daily contact with her, without feeling a passionate regard
Speaker 1: for her. Do you blame me, mister Holmes. I do
Speaker 1: not blame you for feeling it. I should blame you
Speaker 1: if you expressed it, since this young lady, in a
Speaker 1: sense under your protection. Well maybe, so said the millionaire,
Speaker 1: though for a moment the reproof had brought the old
Speaker 1: angry gleam into his eyes. I'm not pretending to be
Speaker 1: any better than I am. I guess all my life
Speaker 1: I've been a man that reached out his hand for
Speaker 1: what he wanted, and I never wanted anything more than
Speaker 1: the love and possession of that woman. I told her. So,
Speaker 1: oh you did, did you? Holmes could look very formidable
Speaker 1: when he was moved. I said to her that if
Speaker 1: I could marry her, I would, but that it was
Speaker 1: out of my power. I said that money was no object,
Speaker 1: and that all I could do to make her happy
Speaker 1: and comfortable would be done very generous, I'm sure, said
Speaker 1: Holmes with a sneer. See here, mister Holmes, I came
Speaker 1: to you on a question of evidence, not on a
Speaker 1: question of morals. I'm not asking for your criticism. It
Speaker 1: is only for the young lady's sake that I touched
Speaker 1: your case at all, said Holmes sternly. I don't know
Speaker 1: that anything she is accused of is really worse than
Speaker 1: what you have yourself admitted that you have tried to
Speaker 1: ruin a defenseless girl who was under your roof. Some
Speaker 1: of you rich men have to be taught that all
Speaker 1: the world cannot be bribed into condoning your offenses. To
Speaker 1: my surprise, the gold King took the reproof with equanimity.
Speaker 1: That's how I feel myself about it now. I thank
Speaker 1: god that my plans did not work out as I intended.
Speaker 1: She would have none of it, and she wanted to
Speaker 1: leave the house instantly. Why did she not while in
Speaker 1: the first place others were dependent upon her, and it
Speaker 1: was no light matter for her to let them all
Speaker 1: down by sacrificing her living. When I had sworn, as
Speaker 1: I did, that she should never be molested again, she
Speaker 1: consented to remain. But there was another reason. She knew
Speaker 1: the influence she had over me, and that it was
Speaker 1: stronger than any other influence in the world. She wanted
Speaker 1: to use it for good. How well she knew something
Speaker 1: of my affairs. They are large, mister Holmes, large beyond
Speaker 1: the belief of an ordinary man. I can make or break,
Speaker 1: and it is usually break. It wasn't the individuals only,
Speaker 1: it was communities, cities, even nations. Business is a hard game,
Speaker 1: and the week go to the wall. I played the
Speaker 1: game for all it was worth. I never squealed myself,
Speaker 1: and I never cared if the other fellow squealed. But
Speaker 1: she saw it different. I guess she was right. She
Speaker 1: believed Dan said that a fortune for one man that
Speaker 1: was more than he needed should not be built on
Speaker 1: ten thousand ruined men who were left without the means
Speaker 1: of life. That was how she saw it, and I
Speaker 1: guess she could see past the dollars to something that
Speaker 1: was more or less. She found that I listened to
Speaker 1: what she said, and she believed she was serving the
Speaker 1: world by influencing my actions. So she stayed. And then
Speaker 1: this came along. Can you throw any light upon that?
Speaker 1: The gold King paused for a minute or more, his
Speaker 1: head sunk in his hands, lost in deep thought. It's
Speaker 1: very black against her. I can't deny that. And women
Speaker 1: leading inward life may do things beyond the judgment of
Speaker 1: a man. At first, I was so rattled and taken
Speaker 1: aback that I was ready to think she had been
Speaker 1: led away in some extraordinary fashion that was clean against
Speaker 1: her usual nature. One explanation came into my head. I
Speaker 1: give it to you, mister Holmes, for what it is worth.
Speaker 1: There is no doubt that my wife was bitterly jealous.
Speaker 1: There is a soul jealous lacy that can be as
Speaker 1: frantic as any body jealousy. And though my wife had
Speaker 1: no cause, and I think she understood this for the latter,
Speaker 1: she was aware that this English girl exerted an influence
Speaker 1: upon my mind and my acts that she herself never had.
Speaker 1: It was an influence for good, But that did not
Speaker 1: mend the matter. She was crazy with hatred, and the
Speaker 1: heat of the amazon was always in her blood. She
Speaker 1: might have planned to murder Miss Dunbar, or, we will say,
Speaker 1: to threaten her with a gun and so frighten her
Speaker 1: into leaving us. Then there might have been a scuffle
Speaker 1: and the gun gone off and shot the woman who
Speaker 1: held it. That possibility had already occurred to me, said Holmes. Indeed,
Speaker 1: it is the only obvious alternative to deliberate murder. But
Speaker 1: she utterly denies it. Well, that is not final, is it.
Speaker 1: One can understand that a woman placed in so awful
Speaker 1: a position might hurry home, still in her bewilderment, holding
Speaker 1: the revolver. She might even throw it down among her clothes,
Speaker 1: hardly knowing what she was doing, and when it was found,
Speaker 1: she might try to lie her way out by a
Speaker 1: total denial, since all explanation was impossible. What is against
Speaker 1: such a supposition, miss Dunbar herself? Well, perhaps Holmes looked
Speaker 1: at his watch. I have no doubt we can get
Speaker 1: the necessary permits this morning and reach Winchester by the
Speaker 1: evening train. When I have seen this young lady, it
Speaker 1: is very possible that I may be of more use
Speaker 1: to you in the matter, though I cannot promise that
Speaker 1: my conclusions will necessarily be such as you desire. There
Speaker 1: was some delay in the official pass, and instead of
Speaker 1: reaching Winchester that day, we went down to Thor Place,
Speaker 1: the Hampshire estate of mister Neil Gibson. He did not
Speaker 1: accompany us himself, but we had the address of Sergeant
Speaker 1: Coventry of the local police, who had first examined into
Speaker 1: the affair. He was a tall, thin, cadaverous man with
Speaker 1: a secretive and mysterious manner which conveyed the idea that
Speaker 1: he knew or suspected a very great deal more than
Speaker 1: he dared say. He had a trick too, of suddenly
Speaker 1: sinking his voice to a whisper, as if he had
Speaker 1: come upon something of vital importance, though the information was
Speaker 1: usually commonplace enough. Behind these tricks of manner, he soon
Speaker 1: showed himself to be a decent, honest fellow who was
Speaker 1: not too proud to admit that he was out of
Speaker 1: his depth, and would welcome any help anyhow, I'd rather
Speaker 1: revue than Scotland Yard, Mister Elmes said he if the
Speaker 1: yard gets called into a case, then the local loses
Speaker 1: all credit. For success and may be blamed for failure.
Speaker 1: Now you play straight, So I've heard I need not
Speaker 1: appear in the matter at all, said Holmes, to the
Speaker 1: evident relief of our melancholy acquaintance. If I can clear
Speaker 1: it up, I don't ask to have my name mentioned. Well,
Speaker 1: it's very handsome of you, I'm sure, and your friend
Speaker 1: doctor Watson can be trusted. I know now, mister Holmes.
Speaker 1: As we walk down to the place, there is one
Speaker 1: question I should like to ask you. I'd breathe it
Speaker 1: to no soul but you. He looked round as though
Speaker 1: he hardly dare utter the words. Don't you think there
Speaker 1: might be a case against mister Neil Gibson himself. I've
Speaker 1: been considering that you've not seen miss Dunbar. She's a wonderful,
Speaker 1: fine woman in every way. He may well have wished
Speaker 1: his wife out of the road. And these Americans are
Speaker 1: readier with pistols than our folk are. It was his pistol,
Speaker 1: you know, was that clearly made out? Yes, sir, it
Speaker 1: was one of a pair that he had. One of
Speaker 1: a pair. Where is the other? Well, the gentleman has
Speaker 1: a lot of firearms of one sort and another. We
Speaker 1: never quite matched that particular pistol, but the box was
Speaker 1: made for two. If it was one of a pair,
Speaker 1: you should surely be able to match it. Well. We
Speaker 1: have them all laid out at the house if you
Speaker 1: would care to look them over later. Perhaps I think
Speaker 1: we will walk down together and have a look at
Speaker 1: the scene of the tragedy. This conversation had taken place
Speaker 1: in the little front room of Sergeant Coventry's humble cottage,
Speaker 1: which served as the local police station. A walk of
Speaker 1: half a mile or so across a wind swept heath,
Speaker 1: all gold and bronze with the fading ferns, brought us
Speaker 1: to a side gate opening into the grounds of the
Speaker 1: thaw Place estate. A path led us through the pheasant preserves,
Speaker 1: and then from a clearing we saw the widespread half
Speaker 1: timbered house, half Tudor and half Georgian upon the crest
Speaker 1: of the hill. Beside us there was a long, reedy
Speaker 1: pool constricted in the center where the main carriage drive
Speaker 1: passed over a stone bridge, but swelling into small lakes
Speaker 1: on either side. Our guide paused at the mouth of
Speaker 1: this bridge and pointed to the ground that was where
Speaker 1: Missus Gibson's body lay. I marked it by that stone.
Speaker 1: I understand that you were there before it was moved. Yes,
Speaker 1: they sent for me at once. Who did mister Gibson
Speaker 1: himself the moment the alarm was given and he had
Speaker 1: rushed down with others from the house, He insisted that
Speaker 1: nothing should be moved until the police should arrive. That
Speaker 1: was sensible. I gathered from the newspaper report that the
Speaker 1: shot was fired from close quarters, Yes, sir, very close
Speaker 1: near the right temple, just behind it, sir. How did
Speaker 1: the body lie on the back, sir? No trace of
Speaker 1: a struggle, no marks, no weapon. The short note from
Speaker 1: miss Dunbar was clutched in her left hand. Clutched, you say, yes, sir.
Speaker 1: We could hardly open the finger. That is of great importance.
Speaker 1: It excludes the idea that anyone could have placed the
Speaker 1: note there after death in order to furnish a false clue.
Speaker 1: Dear me. The note, as I remember, was quite short.
Speaker 1: I will be at Thorbridge at nine o'clock, g Dunbar.
Speaker 1: Was that not so? Yes, sir? Did Miss Dunbar admit
Speaker 1: writing it? Yes, sir? What was her explanation? Her defense
Speaker 1: was reserved for the assizes. She would say nothing. The
Speaker 1: problem is certainly a very interesting one. The point of
Speaker 1: the letter is very obscure, is it not, well, sir,
Speaker 1: said the guide. It seemed, if I may be so
Speaker 1: bold as to say so, the only really clear point
Speaker 1: in the whole case. Holmes shook his head, granting that
Speaker 1: the letter is genuine and was really written. It was
Speaker 1: certainly received some time before, say, one hour or two.
Speaker 1: Why then, was this lady still clasping it in her
Speaker 1: left hand? Why should she carry it so carefully? She
Speaker 1: did not need to refer to it in the interview.
Speaker 1: Does it not seem remarkable? While, sir, as you put it,
Speaker 1: perhaps it does. I think I should like to sit
Speaker 1: quietly for a few minutes and think it out. He
Speaker 1: seated himself upon the stone ledge of the bridge, and
Speaker 1: I could see his quick gray eyes darting their questioning
Speaker 1: glances in every direction. Suddenly he sprang up again and
Speaker 1: ran across to the opposite Parapet whipped his lens from
Speaker 1: his pocket and began to examine the stone work. This
Speaker 1: is curious, said he, yes, sir, we saw the chip
Speaker 1: on the ledge. I expect it's been done by some
Speaker 1: passer by. The stone work was gray, but at this
Speaker 1: one point it showed white for a space not larger
Speaker 1: than a sixpence. When examined closely, one could see that
Speaker 1: the surface was chipped, as by a sharp blow. It
Speaker 1: took some violence to do that, said Holmes, thoughtfully. With
Speaker 1: his cane, he struck the ledge several times without leaving
Speaker 1: a mark. Yes, it was a hard knock in a
Speaker 1: curious place too. It was not from above but from below.
Speaker 1: For you see that it is on the lower edge
Speaker 1: of the parapet. But it is at least fifteen feet
Speaker 1: from the body. Yes, it is fifteen feet from the body.
Speaker 1: It may have nothing to do with the matter, but
Speaker 1: it is a point worth noting. I do not think
Speaker 1: that we have anything more to learn here. There were
Speaker 1: no footsteps, you say the ground was iron hard, sir,
Speaker 1: there were no traces at all. Then we can go.
Speaker 1: We will go up to the house first and look
Speaker 1: over these weapons of which you speak. Then we shall
Speaker 1: get on to Winchester, or I should desire to see
Speaker 1: Miss Dunbar before we go farther. Mister Neil Gibson had
Speaker 1: not returned from town. But we saw in the house
Speaker 1: the neurotic mister Bates, who had called upon us in
Speaker 1: the morning, he showed us, with a sinister relish, the
Speaker 1: formidable array of firearms of various shapes and sizes, which
Speaker 1: his employer had accumulated in the course of an adventurous life.
Speaker 1: Mister Gibson has his enemies, as any one would expect
Speaker 1: to knew him and his methods. Said he he sleeps
Speaker 1: with a loaded revolver in the drawer beside his bed.
Speaker 1: He is a man of violence, sir, and there are
Speaker 1: times when all of us are afraid of him. I
Speaker 1: am sure that the poor lady who was past was
Speaker 1: often terrified. Did you ever witness physical violence towards her? No,
Speaker 1: I cannot say that that I have heard words which
Speaker 1: were nearly as bad, words of cold cutting contempt even
Speaker 1: before the servants. Our millionaire does not seem to shine
Speaker 1: in private life, remarked Holmes, as we made our way
Speaker 1: to the station. Well, Watson, we have come on a
Speaker 1: good many facts, some of them new ones. And yet
Speaker 1: I seem some way from my conclusion. In spite of
Speaker 1: the very evident dislike which mister Bates has to his employer,
Speaker 1: I gather from him that when the alarm came, he
Speaker 1: was undoubtedly in his library dinner was over at age thirty,
Speaker 1: and all was normal up to then. It is true
Speaker 1: that the alarm was somewhat late in the evening, but
Speaker 1: the tragedy certainly occurred about the hour named in the note.
Speaker 1: There is no evidence at all that mister Gibson had
Speaker 1: been out of doors since his return from town at
Speaker 1: five o'clock. On the other hand, Miss Dunbar, as I
Speaker 1: understand it, admits that she had made an appointment to
Speaker 1: meet missus Gibson at the bridge. Beyond this, she would
Speaker 1: say nothing, as her lawyer had advised her to reserve
Speaker 1: her defense. We have several very vital questions to ask
Speaker 1: that young lady, and my mind will not be easy
Speaker 1: until we have seen her. I must confess that the
Speaker 1: case would seem to me to be very black against
Speaker 1: her if it were not for one thing. And what
Speaker 1: is that, Holmes, The finding of the pistol in her wardrobe.
Speaker 1: Dear me, Holmes, I cried, that seemed to me to
Speaker 1: be the most damning incident of all. Not so, Watson.
Speaker 1: It had struck me, even at my first perfunctory reading,
Speaker 1: as very strange, And now that I am in closer
Speaker 1: touch with the case, it is my only firm ground
Speaker 1: for hope. We must look for consistency where there is
Speaker 1: a want of it. We must suspect deception. I hardly
Speaker 1: follow you well. Now, Watson, suppose for a moment that
Speaker 1: we visualize you in the character of a woman who,
Speaker 1: in a cold premeditated fashion, is about to get rid
Speaker 1: of a rival. You have planned it, a note has
Speaker 1: been written, the victim has come, you have your weapon.
Speaker 1: The crime is done. It has been workmen like and complete.
Speaker 1: Do you tell me that after carrying out so crafty
Speaker 1: a crime, you would now ruin your reputation as a
Speaker 1: criminal by forgetting to fling your weapon into those adjacent
Speaker 1: reed beds, which would forever cover it. But you must
Speaker 1: needs carry it carefully home and put it in your
Speaker 1: own wardrobe, the very first place that would be searched.
Speaker 1: Your best friends would hardly call you a schemer, Watson,
Speaker 1: And yet I could not picture you doing anything so
Speaker 1: crude as that in the excitement of the moment. No, no, Watson,
Speaker 1: I will not admit that it is possible. Where a
Speaker 1: crime is coolly premeditated, then the means of covering it
Speaker 1: are coolly premeditated. Also. I hope therefore, that we are
Speaker 1: in the presence of a serious misconception. But there is
Speaker 1: so much to explain. Well, we shall set about explaining it.
Speaker 1: When once your point of view is changed, the very
Speaker 1: thing which was soda becomes a clue to the truth.
Speaker 1: For example, there is this revolver. Miss Dunbar disclaims all
Speaker 1: knowledge of it. On our new theory, she is speaking
Speaker 1: truth when she says so. Therefore it was placed in
Speaker 1: her wardrobe. Who placed it there? Someone who wished to
Speaker 1: incriminate her? Was not that person the actual criminal. You
Speaker 1: see how we come at once upon a most fruitful
Speaker 1: line of inquiry. We were compelled to spend the night
Speaker 1: at Winchester, as the formalities had not yet been completed.
Speaker 1: But next morning, in the company of mister Joyce Cummings,
Speaker 1: a rising barrister who was entrusted with the defense, we
Speaker 1: were allowed to see the young lady in her cell.
Speaker 1: I had expected, from all that we have heard, to
Speaker 1: see a beautiful woman, but I can never forget the
Speaker 1: effect which Miss Dunbar produced upon me. It was no
Speaker 1: wonder that even the masterful Million had found in her
Speaker 1: something more powerful than himself, something which could control and
Speaker 1: guide him. One felt, too, as one looked at the strong,
Speaker 1: clear cut and yet sensitive face that even should she
Speaker 1: be capable of some impetuous deed, nonetheless there was an
Speaker 1: innate nobility of character which would make her influence always
Speaker 1: for the good. She was a brunette, tall, with a
Speaker 1: noble figure and commanding presence, but her dark eyes had
Speaker 1: in them the appealing, helpless expression of the hunted creature
Speaker 1: who feels the nets around it, but can see no
Speaker 1: way out from the toils. Now, as she realized the
Speaker 1: presence and the help of my famous friend, there came
Speaker 1: a touch of color in her wan cheeks, and a
Speaker 1: light of hope began to glimmer in the glance which
Speaker 1: she turned upon us. Perhaps mister Neil Gibson has told
Speaker 1: you something of what occurred between us, she asked in
Speaker 1: a low, ataated voice. Yes, Holmes answered, you need not
Speaker 1: pain yourself by entering into that part of the story.
Speaker 1: After seeing you, I am prepared to accept mister Gibson's statement,
Speaker 1: both as to the influence which you had over him
Speaker 1: and as to the innocence of your relations with him.
Speaker 1: But why was the whole situation not brought out in court?
Speaker 1: It seemed to me incredible that such a charge could
Speaker 1: be sustained. I thought that if we waited, the whole
Speaker 1: thing must clear itself up without our being compelled to
Speaker 1: enter into painful details of the inner life of the family.
Speaker 1: But I understand that far from clearing it has become
Speaker 1: even more serious. My dear young lady, cried Holmes earnestly.
Speaker 1: I beg you to have no illusions upon the point.
Speaker 1: Mister Cummings here would assure you that all the cards
Speaker 1: are at present against us, and that we must do
Speaker 1: everything that is possible if we are to win. Clear
Speaker 1: it would be a cruel deception to pretend that you
Speaker 1: you are not in very great danger. Give me all
Speaker 1: the help you can then to get at the truth.
Speaker 1: I will conceal nothing. Tell us then, of your true
Speaker 1: relations with mister Gibson's wife. She hated me, mister Holmes.
Speaker 1: She hated me with all the fervor of her tropical nature.
Speaker 1: She was a woman who would do nothing by halves,
Speaker 1: and the measure of her love for her husband was
Speaker 1: the measure also of her hatred for me. It is
Speaker 1: probable that she misunderstood our relations. I would not wish
Speaker 1: to wrong her, but she loved so vividly in a
Speaker 1: physical sense, that she could hardly understand the mental and
Speaker 1: even spiritual tie which held her husband to me, or
Speaker 1: imagined that it was only my desire to influence his
Speaker 1: power to good ends which kept me under his roof.
Speaker 1: I can see now that I was wrong. Nothing could
Speaker 1: justify me in remaining where I was a cause of unhappiness.
Speaker 1: And yet it is certain that the unhappiness would have
Speaker 1: remained even if I left the house. Now, Miss Dunbar
Speaker 1: said Holmes, I beg you to tell us exactly what
Speaker 1: occurred that evening. I can tell you the truth so
Speaker 1: far as I know it, Mister Holmes, that I am
Speaker 1: in a position to prove nothing. And there are points,
Speaker 1: the most vital points, which I can neither explain, nor
Speaker 1: can I imagine any explanation. If you will find the facts,
Speaker 1: perhaps others may find the explanation. With regard then to
Speaker 1: my presence at Thorbridge that night, I received a note
Speaker 1: from missus Gibson. In the morning. It lay on the
Speaker 1: table of the schoolroom, and it may have been left
Speaker 1: there by her own hand. It implored me to see
Speaker 1: her there after dinner, said she had something important to
Speaker 1: say to me, and asked me to leave an answer
Speaker 1: on the sun dial in the garden, as she desired
Speaker 1: no one to be in our confidence. I saw no
Speaker 1: reason for such secrecy, but I did as she asked,
Speaker 1: accepting the appointment. She asked me to destroy her note,
Speaker 1: and I burned it in the schoolroom. Great. She was
Speaker 1: very much afraid of her husband, who treated her with
Speaker 1: a harshness for which I frequently reproached him. And I
Speaker 1: could only imagine that she acted in this way because
Speaker 1: she did not wish him to know of our interview.
Speaker 1: Yet she kept your reply very carefully. Yes, I was
Speaker 1: surprised to hear that she had it in her hand
Speaker 1: when she died. Well, what happened? Then? I went down
Speaker 1: as I had promised. When I reached the bridge, she
Speaker 1: was waiting for me. Never did I realize till that
Speaker 1: moment how this poor creature hated me. She was like
Speaker 1: a mad woman. Indeed, I think she was a mad woman,
Speaker 1: subtly mad, the deep power of deception which insane people
Speaker 1: may have. How else could she have met me with
Speaker 1: unconcern every day and yet had so raging a hatred
Speaker 1: of me in her heart. I will not say what
Speaker 1: she said. She poured her whole wild fury out in
Speaker 1: burning and horrible words. I did not even answer. I
Speaker 1: could not. It was dreadful to see her. I put
Speaker 1: my hands to my ears and rushed away. When I
Speaker 1: left her, she was standing still, shrieking out her curses
Speaker 1: at me in the mouth of the bridge, where she
Speaker 1: was afterwards found within a few yards from the spot.
Speaker 1: And yet, presuming that she met her death shortly after
Speaker 1: you left her, you heard no shot. No, I heard nothing.
Speaker 1: But indeed, mister Holmes, I was so agitated and horrified
Speaker 1: by this terrible outbreak that I rushed to get back
Speaker 1: to the peace of my own room, and I was
Speaker 1: incapable of noticing anything which happened. You say that you
Speaker 1: returned to your room. Did you leave it again before
Speaker 1: next morning? Yes, When the alarm came that the poor
Speaker 1: creature had met her death, I ran out with the others.
Speaker 1: Did you see mister Gibson. Yes, he had just returned
Speaker 1: from the bridge when I saw him. He had sent
Speaker 1: for the doctor and the police. Did he seem to
Speaker 1: you much perturbed? Mister Gibson is a very strong, self
Speaker 1: contained man. I do not think that he would ever
Speaker 1: show his emotions on the surface, But I, who knew
Speaker 1: him so well, could see that he was deeply concerned.
Speaker 1: Then we come to the all important point. This pistol
Speaker 1: that was found in your room. Had you ever seen
Speaker 1: it before? Never, I swear it. When was it found
Speaker 1: next morning when the police made their search among your clothes. Yes,
Speaker 1: on the floor of my wardrobe under my dresses. You
Speaker 1: could not guess how long it had been there. It
Speaker 1: had not been there the morning before. How do you know?
Speaker 1: Because I tied it out the wardrobe. That is final.
Speaker 1: Then someone came into your room and placed the pistol
Speaker 1: there in order to inculpate you. It must have been so,
Speaker 1: and when it could only have been at meal time
Speaker 1: or else at the hours when I would be in
Speaker 1: the schoolroom with the children as you were when you
Speaker 1: got the note. Yes, from that time onward for the
Speaker 1: whole morning. Thank you, Miss Dunbar. Is there any other
Speaker 1: point which could help me in the investigation. I can
Speaker 1: think of none. There was some sign of violence on
Speaker 1: the stone work of the bridge, a perfectly fresh chip
Speaker 1: just opposite the body. Could you suggest any possible explanation
Speaker 1: of that? Surely it must be a mere coincidence. Curious
Speaker 1: Miss Dunbar very curious. Why should it appear at the
Speaker 1: very time of the tragedy, and why at the very
Speaker 1: place that what could have caused it? Only great violence
Speaker 1: could have such an effect. Holmes did not answer. His pale,
Speaker 1: eager face had suddenly assumed that tense, far away expression
Speaker 1: which I had learned to associate with the supreme manifestations
Speaker 1: of his genius. So evident was the crisis in his
Speaker 1: mind that none of us dared to speak. And we sat,
Speaker 1: Barrister Prisoner and myself watching him in a concentrated and
Speaker 1: absorbed silence. Suddenly he sprang from his chair, vibrating with
Speaker 1: nervous energy and the pressing need for action. Come, Watson, Come,
Speaker 1: he cried, What is it, mister Holmes. Never mind, my
Speaker 1: dear lady, you will hear from me, mister Cummings. With
Speaker 1: the help of the God of Justice. I will give
Speaker 1: you a case which will make England ring. You will
Speaker 1: get news by to morrow, Miss Dunbar. And meanwhile, take
Speaker 1: my assurance that the clouds are lifting, and that I
Speaker 1: have every hope that the light of truth is breaking through.
Speaker 1: It was not a long journey from Winchester to Thorp Place,
Speaker 1: but it was long to me in my impatience, while
Speaker 1: for Holmes it was evident that it seemed endless, for
Speaker 1: in his nervous restlessness, he could not sit still, but
Speaker 1: paced the carriage or drummed with his long sensitive fingers
Speaker 1: upon the cushions besise side him. Suddenly, however, as we
Speaker 1: neared our destination, he seated himself opposite to me. We
Speaker 1: had a first class carriage to ourselves, and laying a
Speaker 1: hand upon each of my knees, he looked into my
Speaker 1: eyes with the peculiarly mischievous gaze which was characteristic of
Speaker 1: his more imp like moods. Watson said he I have
Speaker 1: some recollection that you go armed upon these excursions of ours.
Speaker 1: It was as well for him that I did so,
Speaker 1: for he took little care for his own safety when
Speaker 1: his mind was once absorbed by a problem. So that
Speaker 1: more than once, my revolver has been a good friend
Speaker 1: in need. I reminded him of the fact. Yes, yes,
Speaker 1: I am a little absent minded in such matters, But
Speaker 1: have you your revolver on you? I produced it from
Speaker 1: my hip pocket, a short, handy but very serviceable little weapon.
Speaker 1: He undid the catch, shook out the cartridges and exact,
Speaker 1: and it with care. It's heavy, remarkably heavy, said he. Yes,
Speaker 1: it's a solid bit of work. He mused over it
Speaker 1: for a minute. Do you know, Watson said he. I
Speaker 1: believe your revolver is going to have a very intimate
Speaker 1: connection with the mystery which we are investigating. My dear Holmes,
Speaker 1: you are joking, no, Watson, I am very serious. There
Speaker 1: is a test before us. If the test comes off,
Speaker 1: all will be clear, and the test will depend upon
Speaker 1: the conduct of this little weapon. One cartridge out now
Speaker 1: we will replace the other five and put on the
Speaker 1: safety catch, so that increases the weight and makes it
Speaker 1: a better reproduction. I had no glimmer of what was
Speaker 1: in his mind, nor did he enlighten me, but sat
Speaker 1: lost in thought until we pulled up in the little
Speaker 1: Hampshire station. We secured a ramshackle trap, and in a
Speaker 1: quarter of an hour were at the house of our
Speaker 1: confidential friend. The sergeant. A clue, mister Olmes, what is it?
Speaker 1: It all depends upon the behavior of doctor Watson's revolver,
Speaker 1: said my friend here it is now, officer, can you
Speaker 1: give me ten yards of string? The village shop provided
Speaker 1: a ball of stout twine, I think that this is
Speaker 1: all we will need, said Holmes. Now, if you please,
Speaker 1: we will get off on what I hope is the
Speaker 1: last stage of our journey. The sun was setting and
Speaker 1: turning the rolling Hampshire moor into a wonderful autumnal panorama.
Speaker 1: The sergeant, with many critical and incredulous glances which showed
Speaker 1: his deep doubts of the sanity of my companion, lurched
Speaker 1: along beside us. I could see that my friend, under
Speaker 1: all his habitual coolness, was in truth deeply agitated. Yes,
Speaker 1: he said, in answer to my remark, you have seen
Speaker 1: me miss my mark before, Watson. I have an instinct
Speaker 1: for such things, and yet it has sometimes played me false.
Speaker 1: It seemed a certainty when first it flashed across my
Speaker 1: mind in the cell at Winchester. But one drawback of
Speaker 1: an active mind is that one can always conceive alternative
Speaker 1: explanations which would make our scent a false one. And yet,
Speaker 1: and yet, well, Watson, we can but try. As he walked,
Speaker 1: he had firmly tied one end of the string to
Speaker 1: the handle of the revolver. We had now reached the
Speaker 1: scene of the tragedy. With great care, he marked out
Speaker 1: under the guidance of the policeman the exact spot where
Speaker 1: the body had been stretched. He then hunted among the
Speaker 1: heather and the ferns until he found a considerable stone.
Speaker 1: This he secured to the other end of his line
Speaker 1: of string, and he hung it over the parapet of
Speaker 1: the bridge, so that it swung clear above the water.
Speaker 1: Then stood on the fatal spot, some distance from the
Speaker 1: edge of the bridge, with my revolver in his hand,
Speaker 1: the string being taught between the weapon and the heavy
Speaker 1: stone on the farther side. Now for it, he cried
Speaker 1: at the words, He raised the pistol to his head
Speaker 1: and then let go his grip. In an instant it
Speaker 1: had been whisked away by the weight of the stone,
Speaker 1: had struck with a sharp crack against the parapet, and
Speaker 1: had vanished over the side into the water. It had
Speaker 1: hardly gone before Holmes was kneeling beside the stone work,
Speaker 1: and a joyous cry showed that he had found what
Speaker 1: he expected. Was there ever a more exact demonstration? He cried, See, Watson,
Speaker 1: your revolver has solved the problem. As he spoke, he
Speaker 1: pointed to a second chip of the exact size and
Speaker 1: shape of the first which had appeared on the under
Speaker 1: edge of the stone balustrade. We'll stay at the Inn
Speaker 1: to night, he continued as he rose and faced the
Speaker 1: astonished sergeant. You will, of course get a grappling hook,
Speaker 1: and you will easily restore my friend's revolver. You will
Speaker 1: also find beside it the revolver string and weight with
Speaker 1: which this vindictive woman attempted to disguise her own crime
Speaker 1: and to fasten a charge of murder upon an innocent victim.
Speaker 1: You can let mister Gibson know that I will see
Speaker 1: him in the morning, when steps can be taken for
Speaker 1: miss Dunbar's vindication. Late that evening, as we sat together
Speaker 1: smoking our pipes in the village Inn, Holmes gave me
Speaker 1: a brief review of what had passed. I fear Watson,
Speaker 1: said he that you will not improve any reputation which
Speaker 1: I may have acquired by adding the case of the
Speaker 1: Thawbridge mystery to your annals. I have been sluggish in
Speaker 1: mind and wanting in that mixture of imagination and reality
Speaker 1: which is the basis of my art. I confess that
Speaker 1: the chip in the stone work was a sufficient clue
Speaker 1: to suggest the true solution, and that I blame myself
Speaker 1: for not having attained it sooner. It must be admitted
Speaker 1: that the workings of this unhappy woman's mind were deep
Speaker 1: and subtle, so that it was no very simple matter
Speaker 1: to unravel her plot. I do not think that in
Speaker 1: our adventures we have ever come across a stranger example
Speaker 1: of what perverted love can bring about. Whether Miss Dunbar
Speaker 1: was her rival in a physical or in a merely
Speaker 1: mental sense, seems to have been equally unforgivable in her eyes.
Speaker 1: No doubt she blamed this innocent lady for all those
Speaker 1: harsh dealings and unkind words with which her her husband
Speaker 1: tried to repel her too demonstrative affection. Her first resolution
Speaker 1: was to end her own life. Her second was to
Speaker 1: do it in such a way as to involve her
Speaker 1: victim in a fate which was worse far than any
Speaker 1: sudden death could be. We can follow the various steps
Speaker 1: quite clearly, and they show a remarkable subtlety of mind.
Speaker 1: A note was extracted very cleverly from Miss Dunbar, which
Speaker 1: would make it appear that she had chosen the scene
Speaker 1: of the crime. In her anxiety that it should be discovered,
Speaker 1: She somewhat overdid it by holding it in her hand
Speaker 1: to the last, For this alone should have excited my
Speaker 1: suspicions earlier than it did. Then she took one of
Speaker 1: her husband's revolvers there was, as you saw, an arsenal
Speaker 1: in the house, and kept it for her own use.
Speaker 1: A similar one she concealed that morning in Miss d
Speaker 1: Dunbar's wardrobe. After discharging one barrel, which she could easily
Speaker 1: do in the woods without attracting attention, she then went
Speaker 1: down to the bridge where she had contrived this exceedingly
Speaker 1: ingenious method for getting rid of her weapon. When Miss
Speaker 1: Dunbar appeared, she used her last breath in pouring out
Speaker 1: her hatred, and then, when she was out of hearing,
Speaker 1: carried out her terrible purpose. Every link is now in
Speaker 1: its place, and the chain is complete. The papers may
Speaker 1: ask why the mirror was not dragged in the first instance,
Speaker 1: but it is easy to be wise after the event,
Speaker 1: and in any case, the expanse of a read filled
Speaker 1: lake is no easy matter to drag unless you have
Speaker 1: a clear perception of what you are looking for and where. Well, Watson,
Speaker 1: we have helped a remarkable woman and also a formidable man.
Speaker 1: Should they in the future joined their forces, as seems
Speaker 1: not unlikely, the financial world may find that mister Neil
Speaker 1: Gibson has learned something in that school room of sorrow
Speaker 1: where our earthly lessons are taught. That is the end
Speaker 1: of the problem at thor Bridge, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle,
Speaker 1: read by Greg Wagland for Magpie Audio twenty nineteen.