WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.120 --> 00:00:06.480 The Boscombe Valley mystery. We were seated at breakfast one morning, 2 00:00:06.519 --> 00:00:09.640 my wife and I when the maid brought in a telegram. 3 00:00:10.000 --> 00:00:12.320 It was from Sherlock Holmes and ran in this way, 4 00:00:13.320 --> 00:00:15.640 have you a couple of days to spare? Have just 5 00:00:15.679 --> 00:00:18.359 been wired for from the west of England in connection 6 00:00:18.440 --> 00:00:21.600 with Boscombe Valley tragedy. Shall be glad if you will 7 00:00:21.640 --> 00:00:25.120 come with me air in scenery perfect leave Paddington by 8 00:00:25.160 --> 00:00:30.399 the eleven fifteen. What do you say, dear, said my wife, 9 00:00:30.600 --> 00:00:35.320 looking across at me. Will you go? I really don't 10 00:00:35.320 --> 00:00:37.840 know what to say. I have a fairly long list 11 00:00:37.880 --> 00:00:42.399 at present. Oh An Struther would do your work for you. 12 00:00:42.399 --> 00:00:44.840 You have been looking a little pale lately. I think 13 00:00:44.880 --> 00:00:47.439 that the change would do you good. And you are 14 00:00:47.479 --> 00:00:51.960 always so interested in mister Sherlock Holmes's cases. I should 15 00:00:52.000 --> 00:00:54.640 be ungrateful if I were not seeing what I gained 16 00:00:54.640 --> 00:00:57.679 through one of them. I answered, But if I am 17 00:00:57.719 --> 00:00:59.880 to go, I must pack at once, for I have 18 00:01:00.119 --> 00:01:04.040 only half an hour. My experience of camp life in 19 00:01:04.079 --> 00:01:07.280 Afghanistan had at least had the effect of making me 20 00:01:07.400 --> 00:01:11.079 a prompt and ready traveler. My wants were few and simple, 21 00:01:11.760 --> 00:01:14.079 so that in less than the time, stated, I was 22 00:01:14.079 --> 00:01:17.920 in a cab with my valise, rattling away to paddingson station. 23 00:01:18.959 --> 00:01:21.840 Sherlock Holmes was pacing up and down the platform, his tall, 24 00:01:21.879 --> 00:01:25.120 gaunt figure, made even gaunter and taller by his long 25 00:01:25.159 --> 00:01:29.719 gray traveling cloak and close fitting cloth cap. It is 26 00:01:29.879 --> 00:01:32.159 really very good of you to come, Watson said he. 27 00:01:32.599 --> 00:01:35.359 It makes a considerable difference to me having someone with 28 00:01:35.439 --> 00:01:38.959 me on whom I can thoroughly rely. Local aid is 29 00:01:39.040 --> 00:01:42.359 always either worthless or else biased. If you will keep 30 00:01:42.359 --> 00:01:46.239 the two corner seats, I shall get the tickets. We 31 00:01:46.319 --> 00:01:48.840 had the carriage to ourselves, save for an immense litter 32 00:01:48.879 --> 00:01:51.680 of papers, which Holmes had brought with him. Among these 33 00:01:51.680 --> 00:01:54.480 he rummaged and read, with intervals of note taking and 34 00:01:54.519 --> 00:01:58.000 of meditation, until we were past reading. Then he suddenly 35 00:01:58.120 --> 00:02:00.400 rolled them all into a gigantic ball and toss them 36 00:02:00.480 --> 00:02:03.400 up on to the rack. Have you heard anything of 37 00:02:03.439 --> 00:02:06.319 the case, he asked, Not a word. I have not 38 00:02:06.439 --> 00:02:09.800 seen a paper for some days. The London press has 39 00:02:10.240 --> 00:02:13.439 not had very full accounts. I have just been looking 40 00:02:13.479 --> 00:02:16.240 through all the recent papers in order to master the particulars. 41 00:02:16.280 --> 00:02:18.000 It seems from what I gather to be one of 42 00:02:18.000 --> 00:02:22.879 those simple cases which are so extremely difficult that sounds 43 00:02:22.960 --> 00:02:28.240 little paradoxical, but it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost 44 00:02:28.280 --> 00:02:31.919 invariably a clue. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, 45 00:02:31.960 --> 00:02:34.120 the more difficult it is to bring it home. In 46 00:02:34.159 --> 00:02:37.000 this case, however, they have established a very serious case 47 00:02:37.280 --> 00:02:41.879 against the son of the murdered man. It is a murder, then, 48 00:02:42.599 --> 00:02:44.759 well it is conjectured to be so. I shall take 49 00:02:44.840 --> 00:02:47.560 nothing for granted until I have the opportunity of looking 50 00:02:47.560 --> 00:02:50.800 personally into it. I will explain the state of things 51 00:02:50.800 --> 00:02:52.240 to you as far as I have been able to 52 00:02:52.319 --> 00:02:56.479 understand it in a very few words. Boscombe Valley is 53 00:02:56.520 --> 00:02:59.919 a country district not very far from ross and Herefordshire. 54 00:03:00.719 --> 00:03:03.479 The largest landed proprietor in that part is a mister 55 00:03:03.599 --> 00:03:07.759 John Turner, who made his money in Australia and returned 56 00:03:07.800 --> 00:03:10.840 some years ago to the old country. One of the 57 00:03:10.879 --> 00:03:13.719 farms which he held, that of Heatherley, was lent to 58 00:03:13.840 --> 00:03:18.439 mister Charles McCarthy, who was also an ex Australian. The 59 00:03:18.520 --> 00:03:20.719 men had known each other in the colony, so that 60 00:03:20.840 --> 00:03:23.719 it was not unnatural that when they came to settle 61 00:03:23.759 --> 00:03:26.039 down that they should do so as near each other 62 00:03:26.039 --> 00:03:29.800 as possible. Turner was apparently the richer man, so McCarthy 63 00:03:29.879 --> 00:03:33.280 became his tenant, but still remained, it seems, upon terms 64 00:03:33.319 --> 00:03:37.719 of perfect equality, as they were frequently together. McCarthy had 65 00:03:37.759 --> 00:03:40.280 one son, a lad of eighteen, and Turner had an 66 00:03:40.280 --> 00:03:42.560 only daughter of the same age, but neither of them 67 00:03:42.560 --> 00:03:46.080 had wives living. They appeared to have avoided the society 68 00:03:46.120 --> 00:03:49.159 of the neighboring English families and to have led retired lives, 69 00:03:49.719 --> 00:03:52.120 though both the McCarthys were fond of sport and were 70 00:03:52.120 --> 00:03:56.080 frequently seen at the race meetings of the neighborhood. McCarthy 71 00:03:56.159 --> 00:03:59.479 kept two servants, a man and girl. Turner had a 72 00:03:59.479 --> 00:04:03.000 considerable household, some half dozen in the least. That is 73 00:04:03.120 --> 00:04:05.039 as much as I have been able to gather about 74 00:04:05.039 --> 00:04:09.400 the families. Now for the facts. On June third, that 75 00:04:09.520 --> 00:04:13.120 is Monday last, McCarthy left his house at Hatherley about 76 00:04:13.159 --> 00:04:16.079 three in the afternoon and walked down to the Boscombe Pool, 77 00:04:16.560 --> 00:04:18.879 which is a small lake formed by the spreading out 78 00:04:18.920 --> 00:04:22.199 of the stream which runs down the Boscombe Valley. He 79 00:04:22.279 --> 00:04:24.240 had been out with his serving man in the morning 80 00:04:24.279 --> 00:04:26.680 at ross and he had told the man that he 81 00:04:26.759 --> 00:04:29.399 must hurry, as he had an appointment of importance to 82 00:04:29.480 --> 00:04:32.920 keep it free from that appointment, he never came back alive. 83 00:04:34.639 --> 00:04:37.399 From Hatherley Farmhouse to the Boscombe Pool as a quarter 84 00:04:37.399 --> 00:04:39.639 of a mile, and two people saw him as he 85 00:04:39.680 --> 00:04:42.959 passed over this ground. One was an old woman whose 86 00:04:43.199 --> 00:04:46.519 name is not mentioned, and the other was William Crowder, 87 00:04:46.600 --> 00:04:50.079 a gamekeeper in the employ of mister Turner. Both these 88 00:04:50.120 --> 00:04:54.279 witnesses deposed that mister McCarthy was walking alone. The gamekeeper 89 00:04:54.319 --> 00:04:56.639 adds that within a few minutes of his seeing mister 90 00:04:56.720 --> 00:05:00.680 McCarthy pass he had seen his son, mister Jane Miss McCarthy, 91 00:05:01.120 --> 00:05:03.920 going the same way with a gun under his arm. 92 00:05:04.079 --> 00:05:06.439 To the best of his belief, the father was actually 93 00:05:06.480 --> 00:05:08.759 in sight at the time and the son was following him. 94 00:05:09.199 --> 00:05:11.160 He thought no more of the matter until he heard 95 00:05:11.199 --> 00:05:15.120 in the evening of the tragedy that had occurred. The 96 00:05:15.120 --> 00:05:17.920 two McCarthys were seen after the time when William Crowder, 97 00:05:17.959 --> 00:05:21.120 the gamekeeper, lost sight of them. The Boscombe Pool is 98 00:05:21.199 --> 00:05:23.959 thickly wooded round, with just a fringe of grass and 99 00:05:24.199 --> 00:05:27.879 reeds round the edge. A girl of fourteen, Patience Moran, 100 00:05:28.199 --> 00:05:29.959 who is the daughter of the lodge keeper of the 101 00:05:29.959 --> 00:05:33.600 Boscombe Valley estate, was in one of the woods picking flowers. 102 00:05:34.199 --> 00:05:36.680 She states that while she was there she saw at 103 00:05:36.720 --> 00:05:38.959 the border of the wooden close by the lake, mister 104 00:05:39.040 --> 00:05:41.639 McCarthy and his son, and that they appeared to be 105 00:05:41.720 --> 00:05:45.639 having a violent quarrel. She heard mister McCarthy the elder, 106 00:05:45.839 --> 00:05:49.000 using very strong language to his son, and she saw 107 00:05:49.079 --> 00:05:51.120 the latter raise up his hand as if to strike 108 00:05:51.199 --> 00:05:54.199 his father. She was so frightened by their violence that 109 00:05:54.279 --> 00:05:56.560 she ran away and told her mother when she reached 110 00:05:56.560 --> 00:05:59.319 home that she had left the two McCarthy's quarreling near 111 00:05:59.360 --> 00:06:02.000 Boscomb Pool Pool, and that she was afraid that they 112 00:06:02.040 --> 00:06:05.360 were going to fight. She had hardly said the words 113 00:06:05.360 --> 00:06:07.800 when young mister McCarthy came running up to the lodge 114 00:06:07.839 --> 00:06:09.839 to say that he had found his father dead in 115 00:06:09.879 --> 00:06:11.920 the wood and to ask for the help of the 116 00:06:11.959 --> 00:06:15.319 lodge keeper. He was much excited, without either his gun 117 00:06:15.480 --> 00:06:18.120 or his hat, and his right hand and sleeve were 118 00:06:18.160 --> 00:06:22.079 observed to be stained with fresh blood. On following him, 119 00:06:22.199 --> 00:06:24.439 they found the dead body stretched out upon the grasp 120 00:06:24.600 --> 00:06:27.399 side the pool. The head had been beaten in by 121 00:06:27.439 --> 00:06:30.920 repeated blows of some heavy and blunt weapon. The injuries 122 00:06:30.920 --> 00:06:33.160 were such as might very well have been inflicted by 123 00:06:33.199 --> 00:06:36.000 the butt end of his son's gun, which was found 124 00:06:36.079 --> 00:06:38.680 lying on the grass within a few paces of the body. 125 00:06:39.639 --> 00:06:43.120 Under these circumstances, the young man was instantly arrested, and 126 00:06:43.199 --> 00:06:46.240 a verdict of wilful murder having been returned at the 127 00:06:46.279 --> 00:06:49.360 inquest on Tuesday, he was on Wednesday brought before the 128 00:06:49.360 --> 00:06:52.079 Magistrates at Ross, who have referred the case to the 129 00:06:52.160 --> 00:06:55.879 next assizes. Those are the main facts of the case 130 00:06:56.240 --> 00:06:58.560 as they came out before the coroner and the police court. 131 00:07:00.040 --> 00:07:02.959 I could hardly imagine a more damning case, I remarked. 132 00:07:03.399 --> 00:07:07.000 If ever circumstantial evidence pointed to a criminal, it does 133 00:07:07.040 --> 00:07:13.439 so here. Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing, answered 134 00:07:13.439 --> 00:07:17.519 Holmes thoughtfully. It may seem to point very straight to 135 00:07:17.600 --> 00:07:20.399 one thing, but if you shift your own point of 136 00:07:20.480 --> 00:07:23.160 view a little, you may find it pointing in an 137 00:07:23.199 --> 00:07:29.120 equally uncompromising manner to something entirely different. It must be confess, however, 138 00:07:29.319 --> 00:07:32.600 that the case looks exceedingly grave against the young man. 139 00:07:32.639 --> 00:07:35.319 It is very possible that he is indeed the culbrit 140 00:07:36.160 --> 00:07:39.319 There are several people in the neighborhood, however, and among 141 00:07:39.360 --> 00:07:43.040 them Miss Turner, the daughter of the neighboring landowner, who 142 00:07:43.120 --> 00:07:46.839 believe in his innocence, and who have retained Lestrade, whom 143 00:07:46.839 --> 00:07:49.639 you may recollect in connection with the study in Scarlet, 144 00:07:50.040 --> 00:07:53.720 to work out the case in his interest. Lestrade, being 145 00:07:53.839 --> 00:07:56.920 rather puzzled, has referred the case to me, and hence 146 00:07:56.959 --> 00:07:59.839 it is that two middle aged gentlemen are flying westward 147 00:08:00.160 --> 00:08:03.959 fifty miles an hour instead of quietly digesting their breakfasts 148 00:08:03.959 --> 00:08:08.839 at home. I am afraid, said I, that the facts 149 00:08:08.879 --> 00:08:11.439 are so obvious that you will find little credit to 150 00:08:11.480 --> 00:08:15.279 be gained out of this case. There is nothing more 151 00:08:15.360 --> 00:08:19.639 deceptive than an obvious fact, he answered, laughing. Besides, we 152 00:08:19.680 --> 00:08:23.240 may chance to hit upon some other obvious facts which 153 00:08:23.279 --> 00:08:26.319 may have been by no means obvious to mister Lestrade. 154 00:08:26.959 --> 00:08:28.720 You know me too well to think that I am 155 00:08:28.759 --> 00:08:31.480 boasting when I say that I shall either confirm or 156 00:08:31.519 --> 00:08:35.120 destroy his theory by means which he is quite incapable 157 00:08:35.159 --> 00:08:38.919 of employing, or even of understanding. To take the first 158 00:08:38.919 --> 00:08:42.039 example to hand, I very clearly perceive that in your 159 00:08:42.080 --> 00:08:45.080 bedroom the window is upon the right hand side. And 160 00:08:45.200 --> 00:08:48.000 yet I question whether miss Lestrade would have noticed even 161 00:08:48.039 --> 00:08:52.279 so self evident a thing as that, How on earth, 162 00:08:53.159 --> 00:08:55.399 my dear fellow. I know you well, I know the 163 00:08:55.440 --> 00:09:00.399 military neatness which characterizes you. You shave every morning, and 164 00:09:00.519 --> 00:09:03.279 in this season you shave by the sunlight. But since 165 00:09:03.320 --> 00:09:05.840 your shaving is less and less complete as we get 166 00:09:05.879 --> 00:09:08.200 farther back on the left side, and until it becomes 167 00:09:08.360 --> 00:09:11.600 positively slovenly as we get round the angle of the jaw, 168 00:09:12.320 --> 00:09:15.000 it is surely very clear that that side is less 169 00:09:15.000 --> 00:09:17.960 illuminated than the other. I could not imagine a man 170 00:09:18.000 --> 00:09:20.480 of your habits looking at himself in an equal light 171 00:09:20.519 --> 00:09:23.679 in being satisfied with such a result. I only quote 172 00:09:23.720 --> 00:09:26.879 this as a trivial example of observation and inference. Therein 173 00:09:27.080 --> 00:09:30.440 lies my metier, and it is just possible that it 174 00:09:30.480 --> 00:09:32.960 may be of some service in the investigation which lies 175 00:09:32.960 --> 00:09:35.759 before us. There are one or two minor points which 176 00:09:35.799 --> 00:09:38.559 are brought out in the inquest in which are worth considering. 177 00:09:39.679 --> 00:09:43.600 What are they? It appears that his arrest did not 178 00:09:43.879 --> 00:09:47.240 take place at once, but after the return to Hatherley Farm, 179 00:09:47.559 --> 00:09:50.279 on the Inspector of Constabulary informing him that he was 180 00:09:50.320 --> 00:09:52.519 a prisoner, he remarked that he was not surprised to 181 00:09:52.559 --> 00:09:55.200 hear it, and that it was no more than his deserts. 182 00:09:56.120 --> 00:09:59.159 This observation of his had the natural effect of removing 183 00:09:59.159 --> 00:10:01.799 any traces of doubt which might have remained in the 184 00:10:01.879 --> 00:10:05.720 minds of the coroner's jury. It was a confession I 185 00:10:05.759 --> 00:10:10.399 ejaculated no, for it was followed by a protestation of innocence. 186 00:10:11.480 --> 00:10:14.080 Coming on top of such a damning series of events, 187 00:10:14.080 --> 00:10:18.039 it was at the least a most suspicious remark. On 188 00:10:18.200 --> 00:10:21.360 the contrary, said Holmes, it is the brightest rift which 189 00:10:21.399 --> 00:10:24.440 I can at present see in the clouds. However innocent 190 00:10:24.519 --> 00:10:27.039 he might be, he could not be such an absolute 191 00:10:27.080 --> 00:10:30.360 imbecile as not to see that the circumstances were very 192 00:10:30.399 --> 00:10:33.679 black against him. Had he appeared surprised at his own 193 00:10:33.799 --> 00:10:37.039 arrest or feigned indignation at it, I should have looked 194 00:10:37.120 --> 00:10:40.960 upon it as highly suspicious, because such surprise or anger 195 00:10:41.000 --> 00:10:44.200 would not be natural under the circumstances, and yet might 196 00:10:44.240 --> 00:10:47.080 appear to be the best policy to a scheming man. 197 00:10:47.799 --> 00:10:50.799 His frank acceptance of the situation marks him as either 198 00:10:50.879 --> 00:10:53.759 an innocent man, or else as a man of considerable 199 00:10:53.799 --> 00:10:57.840 self restraint and firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, 200 00:10:57.879 --> 00:11:00.120 It was also not unnatural if you consider that he 201 00:11:00.120 --> 00:11:03.279 stood beside the dead body of his father, and that 202 00:11:03.360 --> 00:11:05.480 there is no doubt that he had that very day 203 00:11:05.559 --> 00:11:08.639 so far forgotten his filial duty as to bandy words 204 00:11:08.639 --> 00:11:11.159 with him, and even according to the little girl, whose 205 00:11:11.159 --> 00:11:14.360 evidence is so important, to raise his hand as if 206 00:11:14.399 --> 00:11:17.799 to strike him the self. Reproach and contrition which are 207 00:11:17.799 --> 00:11:20.240 displayed in his remark appear to me to be the 208 00:11:20.240 --> 00:11:25.039 signs of a healthy mind, rather than of a guilty one. 209 00:11:25.320 --> 00:11:28.960 I shook my head. Many men have been hanged on 210 00:11:29.120 --> 00:11:33.519 far slighter evidence, I remarked. So they have, and many 211 00:11:33.600 --> 00:11:39.120 men have been wrongfully hanged. What is the young man's 212 00:11:39.120 --> 00:11:43.159 own account of the matter? It is, I am afraid, 213 00:11:43.200 --> 00:11:45.799 not very encouraging to his support, as though there are 214 00:11:45.879 --> 00:11:48.639 one or two points in it which are suggestive. You 215 00:11:48.639 --> 00:11:50.840 will find it here and may read it for yourself. 216 00:11:53.039 --> 00:11:54.840 He picked out from his bundle a copy of the 217 00:11:54.840 --> 00:11:58.000 local Herefordshire paper, and, having turned down the sheet, he 218 00:11:58.039 --> 00:12:00.759 pointed out the paragraph in which the un fortunate young 219 00:12:00.799 --> 00:12:03.279 man had given his own statement of what had occurred. 220 00:12:04.000 --> 00:12:06.159 I settled myself down in the corner of the carriage 221 00:12:06.399 --> 00:12:09.320 and read it very carefully. It ran in this way. 222 00:12:10.799 --> 00:12:14.039 Mister James McCarthy, the only son of the deceased, was 223 00:12:14.080 --> 00:12:18.240 then called and gave evidence as follows. I had been 224 00:12:18.279 --> 00:12:20.960 away from home for three days at Bristol, and had 225 00:12:20.960 --> 00:12:23.840 only just returned upon the morning of last Monday the third. 226 00:12:24.240 --> 00:12:26.279 My father was absent from home at the time of 227 00:12:26.320 --> 00:12:28.639 my arrival, and I was informed by the maid that 228 00:12:28.679 --> 00:12:31.679 he had driven over to Ross with John Cobb, the groom. 229 00:12:32.000 --> 00:12:34.240 Shortly after my return, I heard the wheels of his 230 00:12:34.320 --> 00:12:36.759 trap in the yard, and looking out of my window, 231 00:12:37.159 --> 00:12:39.480 I saw him get out and walk rapidly out of 232 00:12:39.519 --> 00:12:42.000 the yard, though I was not aware in which direction 233 00:12:42.120 --> 00:12:45.039 he was going. I then took my gun and strolled 234 00:12:45.039 --> 00:12:47.279 out in the direction of the Boscombe Pool, with the 235 00:12:47.320 --> 00:12:49.840 intention of visiting the rabbit warren, which is upon the 236 00:12:49.879 --> 00:12:54.039 other side. On my way, I saw William Crowder, the gamekeeper, 237 00:12:54.120 --> 00:12:56.679 as he had stated in his evidence, but he is 238 00:12:56.720 --> 00:13:00.320 mistaken in thinking that I was following my father. I 239 00:13:00.440 --> 00:13:02.039 had no idea that he was in front of me. 240 00:13:03.000 --> 00:13:04.840 When about a hundred yards from the pool, I heard 241 00:13:04.840 --> 00:13:08.559 a cry of COUI, which is an unusual signal between 242 00:13:08.600 --> 00:13:12.639 my father and myself. I then hurried forward and found 243 00:13:12.679 --> 00:13:15.840 him standing by the pool. He appeared to be much 244 00:13:15.879 --> 00:13:18.639 surprised at seeing me, and asked me rather roughly what 245 00:13:18.679 --> 00:13:22.399 I was doing there. A conversation ensued which led to 246 00:13:22.480 --> 00:13:24.840 high words and almost blows. For my father was a 247 00:13:24.879 --> 00:13:28.720 man of a very violent temper. Seeing that his passion 248 00:13:28.799 --> 00:13:32.519 was becoming ungovernable, I left him in returned towards Hatherly Farm. 249 00:13:33.320 --> 00:13:35.960 I had not gone more than one hundred fifty yards, however, 250 00:13:36.080 --> 00:13:38.799 when I heard a hideous outcry behind me, which caused 251 00:13:38.840 --> 00:13:41.600 me to run back again. I found my father expiring 252 00:13:41.679 --> 00:13:45.360 upon the ground, with his head terribly injured. I dropped 253 00:13:45.360 --> 00:13:47.720 my gun and held him in my arms, but he 254 00:13:47.759 --> 00:13:51.879 almost instantly expired. I knelt beside him for some minutes, 255 00:13:51.919 --> 00:13:54.399 and then made my way to mister Turner's lodge keeper 256 00:13:54.480 --> 00:13:57.600 his house, being the nearest to ask for assistance. I 257 00:13:57.600 --> 00:13:59.639 saw no one near my father when I returned, and 258 00:13:59.679 --> 00:14:02.039 I have no idea how he came by his injuries. 259 00:14:02.559 --> 00:14:05.799 He was not a popular man, being somewhat cold and 260 00:14:05.840 --> 00:14:08.559 forbidding in his manners, but he had, as far as 261 00:14:08.600 --> 00:14:11.960 I know, no active enemies. I know nothing further of 262 00:14:12.039 --> 00:14:16.559 the matter. The coroner did your father make any statement 263 00:14:16.600 --> 00:14:20.600 to you before he died, Witness. He mumbled a few words, 264 00:14:20.639 --> 00:14:23.039 but I could only catch some allusion to a rat. 265 00:14:23.840 --> 00:14:28.480 The coroner. What did you understand by that? Witness? It 266 00:14:28.519 --> 00:14:31.919 conveyed no meaning to me. I thought that he was delirious, 267 00:14:32.440 --> 00:14:35.360 the Coroner. What was the point upon which in your 268 00:14:35.399 --> 00:14:40.000 father had this final quarrel? Witness, I should prefer not 269 00:14:40.120 --> 00:14:43.799 to answer the Coroner. I am afraid that I must 270 00:14:43.799 --> 00:14:47.960 press it. Witness, it is really impossible for me to 271 00:14:48.000 --> 00:14:50.279 tell you. I can assure you that it has nothing 272 00:14:50.279 --> 00:14:53.480 to do with the sad tragedy which followed. The Coroner. 273 00:14:53.960 --> 00:14:56.320 That is for the court to decide. I need not 274 00:14:56.480 --> 00:14:58.919 point out to you that your refusal to answer will 275 00:14:58.919 --> 00:15:04.360 prejudice your case considerably in any future proceedings which may arise. Witness. 276 00:15:05.080 --> 00:15:09.600 I still must refuse the Coroner. I understand that the 277 00:15:09.600 --> 00:15:12.960 cry of coui was a common signal between you and 278 00:15:13.039 --> 00:15:18.039 your father, Witness, it was the coroner. How was it 279 00:15:18.080 --> 00:15:20.039 then that he uttered it before he saw you, and 280 00:15:20.120 --> 00:15:24.320 before he even knew that you would return from Bristol, Witness, 281 00:15:24.559 --> 00:15:30.200 with considerable confusion, I do not know, a juryman, did 282 00:15:30.200 --> 00:15:33.000 you see nothing which aroused your suspicions when you returned 283 00:15:33.039 --> 00:15:36.480 on hearing the cry and found your father fatally injured. Witness, 284 00:15:37.200 --> 00:15:43.039 nothing definite, the coroner, What do you mean, Witness. I 285 00:15:43.159 --> 00:15:45.480 was so disturbed and excited as I rushed out into 286 00:15:45.519 --> 00:15:47.799 the open that I could think of nothing except my father. 287 00:15:48.720 --> 00:15:51.919 Yet I have a vague impression that as I ran forward, 288 00:15:52.360 --> 00:15:54.679 something lay upon the ground to the left of me. 289 00:15:54.960 --> 00:15:57.519 It seemed to be something gray in color, a coat 290 00:15:57.559 --> 00:16:00.639 of some sort, or a plaid. Perhaps. When I rose 291 00:16:00.679 --> 00:16:02.679 from my father, I looked round for it, but it 292 00:16:02.720 --> 00:16:06.600 was gone. Do you mean that it had disappeared before 293 00:16:06.600 --> 00:16:09.720 you went to help? Yes, it was gone. You cannot 294 00:16:09.759 --> 00:16:13.000 say what it was. No, I had a feeling something 295 00:16:13.080 --> 00:16:16.679 was there. How far from the body a dozen yards 296 00:16:16.799 --> 00:16:18.960 or so, and how far from the edge of the 297 00:16:19.000 --> 00:16:23.159 wood about the same. Then, if it was removed, it 298 00:16:23.200 --> 00:16:26.080 was while you were within a dozen yards of it, Yes, 299 00:16:26.480 --> 00:16:30.720 but with my back towards it. This concluded the examination 300 00:16:30.840 --> 00:16:35.240 of the witness. I see, said I as I glanced 301 00:16:35.279 --> 00:16:38.559 down the column that the coroner, in his concluding remarks, 302 00:16:38.759 --> 00:16:42.200 was rather severe upon young McCarthy. He calls attention and 303 00:16:42.360 --> 00:16:45.360 with reason to the discrepancy about his father having signaled 304 00:16:45.399 --> 00:16:48.159 to him before seeing him, and also to his refusal 305 00:16:48.200 --> 00:16:50.879 to give details of his conversation with his father, and 306 00:16:51.039 --> 00:16:54.000 his singular account of his father's dying words. They are all, 307 00:16:54.320 --> 00:16:58.960 as he remarks, very much against the son. Holmes laughed 308 00:16:59.000 --> 00:17:02.399 softly to himself and stretched himself out upon the cushioned seat. 309 00:17:03.559 --> 00:17:06.039 Both you and the Corrodor have been at some Paines, 310 00:17:06.359 --> 00:17:09.160 said he to single out the very strongest points in 311 00:17:09.200 --> 00:17:12.519 the young man's favor. Don't you see that you alternately 312 00:17:12.559 --> 00:17:15.480 give him credit for having too much imagination and too little? 313 00:17:16.039 --> 00:17:18.279 Too little if he could not invent a cause of 314 00:17:18.359 --> 00:17:20.920 quarrel which would give him the sympathy of the jury, 315 00:17:21.359 --> 00:17:24.480 too much, if he evolved from his own inner consciousness, 316 00:17:24.640 --> 00:17:27.839 anything so outree as a dying reference to a rat 317 00:17:28.359 --> 00:17:31.839 and the incident of the vanishing cloth. No, Sir, I 318 00:17:31.920 --> 00:17:34.319 shall approach this case from the point of view that 319 00:17:34.359 --> 00:17:36.839 what this young man says is true, and we shall 320 00:17:36.839 --> 00:17:40.839 see whither that hypothesis will lead us. And now here 321 00:17:40.920 --> 00:17:43.519 is my pocket, Petrarch, And not another word shall I 322 00:17:43.599 --> 00:17:45.680 say of this case until we are on the scene 323 00:17:45.680 --> 00:17:48.920 of action. We lunch at Swindon, and I see that 324 00:17:49.000 --> 00:17:53.160 we shall be there in twenty minutes. It was nearly 325 00:17:53.200 --> 00:17:56.319 four o'clock when we, at last, after passing through the 326 00:17:56.319 --> 00:18:00.519 beautiful Stroud Valley and over the broad gleaming Severn, found 327 00:18:00.559 --> 00:18:03.799 ourselves at the pretty little country town of Ross. A 328 00:18:03.880 --> 00:18:07.039 lean ferret like man, furtive and sly looking, was waiting 329 00:18:07.079 --> 00:18:09.680 for us upon the platform. In spite of the light 330 00:18:09.720 --> 00:18:12.680 brown dustcoat and leather leggings which he wore in deference 331 00:18:12.720 --> 00:18:16.359 to his rustic surroundings, I had no difficulty in recognizing 332 00:18:16.400 --> 00:18:19.640 Lestrade of Scotland. Yard. With him, we drove to the 333 00:18:19.640 --> 00:18:23.480 Hereford Arms, where room had already been engaged for us. 334 00:18:24.240 --> 00:18:26.920 I have ordered a carriage, said Lestrade, as we sat 335 00:18:26.960 --> 00:18:29.920 over a cup of tea. I knew your energetic nature 336 00:18:29.960 --> 00:18:31.680 and that you would not be happy until you had 337 00:18:31.720 --> 00:18:34.720 been on the scene of the crime. It was very 338 00:18:34.799 --> 00:18:38.799 nice and complimentary of you, Holmes answered, it is entirely 339 00:18:38.839 --> 00:18:43.519 a question of barometric pressure. Lestrade looked startled. I do 340 00:18:43.680 --> 00:18:47.880 not quite follow, he said, how is the glass twenty nine? 341 00:18:47.880 --> 00:18:50.720 I see no wind and not a cloud in the sky. 342 00:18:51.480 --> 00:18:54.039 I have a case full of cigarettes here which needs smoking, 343 00:18:54.079 --> 00:18:56.640 and the sofa is very much superior to the usual 344 00:18:56.680 --> 00:18:59.839 country hotel abomination. I do not think that it is 345 00:19:00.000 --> 00:19:04.079 probable that I shall use the carriage to night, Lustrade 346 00:19:04.160 --> 00:19:08.759 laughed indulgently. You have no doubt already formed your conclusions 347 00:19:08.759 --> 00:19:12.319 from the newspapers, he said. The case is as plain 348 00:19:12.359 --> 00:19:14.839 as a pikestaff, and the more one goes into it, 349 00:19:14.880 --> 00:19:18.000 the plainer it becomes. Still. Of course, one can't refuse 350 00:19:18.000 --> 00:19:20.759 a lady in such a very positive one. Too. She 351 00:19:20.799 --> 00:19:23.279 has heard of you and would have your opinion, though 352 00:19:23.319 --> 00:19:25.960 I repeatedly told her that there was nothing which you 353 00:19:26.000 --> 00:19:28.559 could do which I had not already done. Why, bless 354 00:19:28.640 --> 00:19:31.640 my soul, here is her carriage at the door. He 355 00:19:31.680 --> 00:19:34.119 had hardly spoken before there rushed into the room one 356 00:19:34.119 --> 00:19:36.079 of the most lovely young women that I have ever 357 00:19:36.079 --> 00:19:39.480 seen in my life, her violet eyes shining, her lips parted, 358 00:19:39.480 --> 00:19:41.920 a pink flush upon her cheeks. All thought of her 359 00:19:42.000 --> 00:19:47.160 natural reserve lost in her overpowering excitement and concern. Oh, 360 00:19:47.160 --> 00:19:51.000 mister Sherlock Holmes, she cried, glancing from one to the 361 00:19:51.000 --> 00:19:53.599 other of us, and finally, with a woman's quick intuition 362 00:19:53.720 --> 00:19:57.079 fastening upon my companion, I am so glad that you 363 00:19:57.119 --> 00:19:59.119 have come. I have driven down to tell you. So 364 00:19:59.480 --> 00:20:02.400 I know, oh, that James didn't do it. I know it, 365 00:20:02.559 --> 00:20:04.599 and I want you to start upon your work knowing 366 00:20:04.640 --> 00:20:07.799 it too. Never let yourself doubt upon that point. We 367 00:20:07.880 --> 00:20:10.039 have known each other since we were little children, and 368 00:20:10.119 --> 00:20:12.599 I know his faults as no one else does. But 369 00:20:12.680 --> 00:20:15.680 he is too tender hearted to hurt a fly. Such 370 00:20:15.680 --> 00:20:18.759 a charge is absurd to anyone who really knows him. 371 00:20:19.400 --> 00:20:22.440 I hope we may clear him, Miss Turner, said, Sherlock Holmes. 372 00:20:22.799 --> 00:20:25.119 You may rely upon my doing all that I can. 373 00:20:26.039 --> 00:20:29.400 But you have read the evidence. You have formed some conclusion. 374 00:20:30.119 --> 00:20:33.079 Do you not see some loophole, some flaw? Do you 375 00:20:33.200 --> 00:20:36.880 not yourself think that he is innocent? I think that 376 00:20:36.960 --> 00:20:41.160 it is very probable. There now, she cried, throwing back 377 00:20:41.200 --> 00:20:44.279 her head and looking defiantly at Lestrade. You hear he 378 00:20:44.400 --> 00:20:49.359 gives me hopes. Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. I am afraid 379 00:20:49.400 --> 00:20:52.119 that my colleague has been a little quick in forming 380 00:20:52.200 --> 00:20:57.160 his conclusions, he said, But he is right. Oh, I 381 00:20:57.240 --> 00:20:59.640 know that he is right. James never did it. And 382 00:20:59.680 --> 00:21:01.920 about his quarrel with his father, I am sure that 383 00:21:02.000 --> 00:21:04.039 the reason why he would not speak about it to 384 00:21:04.119 --> 00:21:07.599 the coroner is because I was concerned in it in 385 00:21:07.680 --> 00:21:11.000 what way? Asked Holmes. It is no time for me 386 00:21:11.079 --> 00:21:14.559 to hide anything. James and his father had many disagreements 387 00:21:14.559 --> 00:21:17.680 about me. Mister MacCarthy was very anxious that there should 388 00:21:17.680 --> 00:21:20.759 be a marriage between us. James and I have always 389 00:21:20.799 --> 00:21:23.559 loved each other as brother and sister. But of course 390 00:21:23.559 --> 00:21:25.920 he is young and has seen very little of life yet, 391 00:21:26.039 --> 00:21:29.920 and and well, naturally he did not wish to do 392 00:21:29.920 --> 00:21:32.640 anything like that yet. So there were quarrels, and this, 393 00:21:32.759 --> 00:21:36.000 I am sure was one of them. And your father, 394 00:21:36.480 --> 00:21:40.240 asked Holmes, was he in favor of such a union? No, 395 00:21:41.000 --> 00:21:43.400 he was averse to it. Also, No one but mister 396 00:21:43.480 --> 00:21:46.759 McCarthy was in favor of it. A quick blush passed 397 00:21:46.759 --> 00:21:48.680 over her fresh young face as Holmes shot one of 398 00:21:48.720 --> 00:21:52.920 his keen questioning glances at her. Thank you for this information, 399 00:21:53.240 --> 00:21:55.759 said he. May I see your father if I call 400 00:21:55.839 --> 00:21:59.720 to morrow. I am afraid the doctor won't allow it. 401 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:04.920