WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.240 --> 00:00:06.240 The adventure of the Lion's Man. It is a most 2 00:00:06.360 --> 00:00:10.480 singular thing that a problem which was certainly as abstruse 3 00:00:10.519 --> 00:00:13.039 and unusual as any which I have faced in my 4 00:00:13.160 --> 00:00:17.039 long professional career should have come to me after my 5 00:00:17.239 --> 00:00:21.280 retirement and be brought, as it were, to my very door. 6 00:00:22.480 --> 00:00:25.879 It occurred after my withdrawal to my little Sussex home, 7 00:00:27.000 --> 00:00:30.440 when I had given myself up entirely to that soothing 8 00:00:30.600 --> 00:00:34.479 life of nature for which I had so often yearned 9 00:00:34.920 --> 00:00:38.719 during the long years spent amid the gloom of London. 10 00:00:40.399 --> 00:00:44.039 At this period of my life, the good Watson had 11 00:00:44.159 --> 00:00:49.799 passed almost beyond my ken. An occasional week end visit 12 00:00:50.280 --> 00:00:54.240 was the most that I ever saw of him. Thus 13 00:00:54.280 --> 00:00:59.799 I must act as my own chronicler. Ah had he 14 00:01:00.039 --> 00:01:02.960 but been with me, how much she might have made 15 00:01:03.039 --> 00:01:07.359 of so wonderful a happening and of my eventual triumph 16 00:01:07.480 --> 00:01:12.000 against every difficulty. As it is, However, I must needs 17 00:01:12.040 --> 00:01:16.519 tell my tale in my own plain way, showing by 18 00:01:16.519 --> 00:01:20.200 my words each step upon the difficult road which lay 19 00:01:20.239 --> 00:01:23.879 before me as I searched for the mystery of the 20 00:01:24.000 --> 00:01:29.920 Lion's Main. My villa is situated upon the southern slope 21 00:01:29.959 --> 00:01:33.719 of the downs, commanding a great view of the channel. 22 00:01:34.879 --> 00:01:38.799 At this point, the coastline is entirely of chalk cliffs, 23 00:01:39.519 --> 00:01:43.319 which can only be descended by a single, long, tortuous 24 00:01:43.359 --> 00:01:47.879 path which is steep and slippery. At the bottom of 25 00:01:47.920 --> 00:01:51.680 the path lie a hundred yards of pebbles and shingle, 26 00:01:52.519 --> 00:01:56.359 even when the tide is at full. Here and there, however, 27 00:01:57.120 --> 00:02:01.480 there are curves and hollows which makes blended swimming pools 28 00:02:01.640 --> 00:02:06.319 filled afresh with each flow. This admirable beach extends for 29 00:02:06.400 --> 00:02:09.919 some miles in each direction, save only at one point, 30 00:02:10.599 --> 00:02:15.319 where the little cove and village of Fulworth break the line. 31 00:02:15.520 --> 00:02:20.159 My house is lonely. I, my old housekeeper, and my 32 00:02:20.319 --> 00:02:25.759 bees have the estate all to ourselves. Half a mile off, however, 33 00:02:26.520 --> 00:02:31.520 is Harold Stackhurst's well known coaching establishment, the Gables, quite 34 00:02:31.560 --> 00:02:35.800 a large place which contains some score of young fellows 35 00:02:35.879 --> 00:02:40.120 preparing for various professions, with a staff of several masters. 36 00:02:41.439 --> 00:02:45.719 Stackhurst himself was a well known rowing blue in his day, 37 00:02:45.919 --> 00:02:49.439 and an excellent all round scholar. He and I were 38 00:02:49.520 --> 00:02:52.400 always friendly from the day I came to the coast, 39 00:02:53.080 --> 00:02:55.719 and he was the one man who was on such 40 00:02:55.840 --> 00:02:58.039 terms with me that we could drop in on each 41 00:02:58.080 --> 00:03:02.520 other in the evenings without an Towards the end of 42 00:03:02.680 --> 00:03:07.199 July nineteen hundred seven, there was a severe gale, the 43 00:03:07.280 --> 00:03:10.879 wind blowing up the channel, heaping the seas to the 44 00:03:10.879 --> 00:03:14.439 base of the cliffs and leaving a lagoon at the 45 00:03:14.479 --> 00:03:18.159 turn of the tide. On the morning of which I speak, 46 00:03:18.680 --> 00:03:22.719 the wind had abated, and all nature was newly washed 47 00:03:22.840 --> 00:03:27.560 and fresh. It was impossible to work upon so delightful 48 00:03:27.599 --> 00:03:31.319 a day, and I strolled out before breakfast to enjoy 49 00:03:31.319 --> 00:03:36.039 the exquisite air. I walked along the cliff path which 50 00:03:36.159 --> 00:03:40.240 led to the steep descent to the beach. As I walked, 51 00:03:40.319 --> 00:03:44.360 I heard a shout behind me, and there was Harold Stackhurst, 52 00:03:44.680 --> 00:03:49.479 waving his hand in cheery greeting, What a morning, mister Holmes. 53 00:03:49.719 --> 00:03:52.479 I thought I should see you out going for a swim. 54 00:03:52.599 --> 00:03:57.120 I see at your old tricks again, he laughed, patting 55 00:03:57.199 --> 00:04:02.159 his bulging pocket. Yes, Macpherson's started early, and I expect 56 00:04:02.199 --> 00:04:07.520 I may find him there. Fitzroy Macpherson was the Science Master, 57 00:04:08.759 --> 00:04:11.960 a fine upstanding young fellow whose life had been crippled 58 00:04:12.280 --> 00:04:18.199 by heart trouble following rheumatic fever. He was a natural athlete, however, 59 00:04:18.279 --> 00:04:21.920 and excelled in every game which did not throw too 60 00:04:21.959 --> 00:04:25.680 great a strain upon him. Summer and winter he went 61 00:04:25.720 --> 00:04:29.279 for his swim, and as I am a swimmer myself, 62 00:04:30.040 --> 00:04:34.360 I have often joined him. At this moment we saw 63 00:04:34.399 --> 00:04:38.240 the man himself. His head showed above the edge of 64 00:04:38.279 --> 00:04:43.040 the cliff where the path ends. Then his whole figure 65 00:04:43.279 --> 00:04:48.360 appeared at the top, staggering like a drunken man. The 66 00:04:48.399 --> 00:04:51.439 next instant he threw up his hands and with a 67 00:04:51.519 --> 00:04:56.360 terrible cry, fell upon his face. Stackhurst and I rushed 68 00:04:56.399 --> 00:05:00.560 forward it may have been fifty yards, and turned him 69 00:05:00.560 --> 00:05:06.879 on his back. He was obviously dying. Those glazed, sunken 70 00:05:06.920 --> 00:05:11.199 eyes and dreadful, livid cheeks could mean nothing else. One 71 00:05:11.399 --> 00:05:14.120 glimmer of life came into his face for an instant, 72 00:05:15.360 --> 00:05:18.040 and he uttered two or three words with an eager 73 00:05:18.120 --> 00:05:23.160 air of warning. They were slurred and indistinct. But to 74 00:05:23.279 --> 00:05:26.879 my ear, the last of them, which burst in a 75 00:05:26.920 --> 00:05:32.560 shriek from his lips, were the lion's mane. It was 76 00:05:32.639 --> 00:05:38.160 utterly irrelevant and unintelligible, and yet I could twist the 77 00:05:38.319 --> 00:05:43.279 sound into no other sense. Then he half raised himself 78 00:05:43.319 --> 00:05:46.879 from the ground, threw his arms into the air and 79 00:05:46.920 --> 00:05:52.480 fell forward on his side. He was dead. My companion 80 00:05:52.639 --> 00:05:56.519 was paralyzed by the sudden horror of it. But I, 81 00:05:57.040 --> 00:06:00.600 as may well be imagined, had every sense on the alert, 82 00:06:00.920 --> 00:06:05.399 and I had need, for it was speedily evident that 83 00:06:05.480 --> 00:06:09.360 we were in the presence of an extraordinary case. The 84 00:06:09.360 --> 00:06:14.279 man was dressed only in his berbery overcoat, his trousers, 85 00:06:14.319 --> 00:06:19.160 and an unlaced pair of canvas shoes. As he fell over, 86 00:06:19.439 --> 00:06:23.319 his berbery, which had been simply thrown round his shoulders, 87 00:06:23.879 --> 00:06:29.600 slipped off, exposing his trunk. We stared at it in amazement. 88 00:06:30.480 --> 00:06:34.600 His back was covered with dark red lines, as though 89 00:06:34.639 --> 00:06:39.079 he had been terribly flogged by a thin wire scourge. 90 00:06:39.839 --> 00:06:43.360 The instrument with which this punishment had been inflicted was 91 00:06:43.439 --> 00:06:48.319 clearly flexible, for the long, angry wheels curved round his 92 00:06:48.439 --> 00:06:52.800 shoulders and ribs. There was blood dripping down his chin, 93 00:06:53.560 --> 00:06:55.879 for he had bitten through his lower lip. In the 94 00:06:55.959 --> 00:07:00.279 paroxysm of his agony, his drawn and distory thought it 95 00:07:00.360 --> 00:07:05.040 face told how terrible that agony had been. I was 96 00:07:05.120 --> 00:07:09.720 kneeling and Stackhurst standing by the body, when a shadow 97 00:07:09.839 --> 00:07:13.560 fell across us, and we found that Ian Murdoch was 98 00:07:13.639 --> 00:07:19.199 by our side. Murdoch was the mathematical coach at the establishment. 99 00:07:19.879 --> 00:07:24.360 At all, dark, thin man, so taciturn and aloof that 100 00:07:24.480 --> 00:07:27.519 none can be said to have been his friend. He 101 00:07:27.600 --> 00:07:31.600 seemed to live in some high, abstract region of surds 102 00:07:31.720 --> 00:07:37.639 and conic sections, with little to connect him with ordinary life. 103 00:07:37.879 --> 00:07:40.680 He was looked upon as an oddity by the students, 104 00:07:41.519 --> 00:07:46.199 and would have been there. But but there was some strange, 105 00:07:46.360 --> 00:07:50.279 outlandish blood in the man, which showed itself not only 106 00:07:50.319 --> 00:07:54.000 in his cold black eyes and swarthy face, but also 107 00:07:54.079 --> 00:07:58.000 in occasional outbreaks of temper which could only be described 108 00:07:58.040 --> 00:08:03.160 as ferocious. On one occasion, being plagued by a little 109 00:08:03.240 --> 00:08:07.120 dog belonging to mac Pherson, he had caught the creature 110 00:08:07.199 --> 00:08:11.639 up and hurled it through the plate glass window, an 111 00:08:11.680 --> 00:08:15.759 action for which Stackhurst would certainly have given him his dismissal, 112 00:08:16.680 --> 00:08:20.399 had he not been a very valuable teacher. Such was 113 00:08:20.480 --> 00:08:25.160 the strange complex man who now appeared beside us. He 114 00:08:25.240 --> 00:08:29.120 seemed to be honestly shocked at the sight before him, 115 00:08:29.480 --> 00:08:32.720 though the incident of the dog may show that there 116 00:08:32.799 --> 00:08:35.919 was no great sympathy between the dead man and himself. 117 00:08:36.600 --> 00:08:39.720 Poor fellow, Poor fellow, what can I do? How can 118 00:08:39.759 --> 00:08:43.279 I help? Were you with him? Can you tell us 119 00:08:43.279 --> 00:08:46.759 what happened? No, No, I was late this morning. I 120 00:08:46.840 --> 00:08:49.759 was not on the beach at all. I've come straight 121 00:08:49.759 --> 00:08:52.879 from the gables. What can I do? You can hurry 122 00:08:52.919 --> 00:08:56.480 to the police station at Fulworth report the matter at once. 123 00:08:57.360 --> 00:09:00.399 Without a word, he made off at top speed, and 124 00:09:00.480 --> 00:09:04.159 I proceeded to take the matter in hand, while Stackhurst, 125 00:09:04.600 --> 00:09:09.759 dazed at this tragedy, remained by the body. My first task, 126 00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:13.559 naturally was to note who was on the beach. From 127 00:09:13.600 --> 00:09:15.440 the top of the path, I could see the whole 128 00:09:15.559 --> 00:09:20.200 sweep of it, and it was absolutely deserted, save that 129 00:09:20.320 --> 00:09:24.159 two or three dark figures could be seen far away, 130 00:09:24.200 --> 00:09:29.159 moving towards the village of Fulworth. Having satisfied myself upon 131 00:09:29.200 --> 00:09:33.240 this point, I walked slowly down the path. There was 132 00:09:33.320 --> 00:09:38.559 clay or soft mile mixed with the chalk, and every 133 00:09:38.639 --> 00:09:41.960 here and there I saw the same footstep, both ascending 134 00:09:42.200 --> 00:09:45.679 and descending. No one else had gone down to the 135 00:09:45.720 --> 00:09:49.879 beach by this track that morning. At one place I 136 00:09:49.919 --> 00:09:53.519 observed the print of an open hand with the fingers 137 00:09:53.559 --> 00:09:57.759 towards the incline. This could only mean that poor mac 138 00:09:57.759 --> 00:10:02.720 Pherson had fallen as he ascended. There were rounded depressions, too, 139 00:10:02.799 --> 00:10:05.559 which suggested that he had come down upon his knees 140 00:10:05.600 --> 00:10:08.600 more than once. At the bottom of the path was 141 00:10:08.639 --> 00:10:13.600 the considerable lagoon left by the retreating tide. At the 142 00:10:13.600 --> 00:10:17.080 sight of it, mac Pherson had undressed, for there lay 143 00:10:17.080 --> 00:10:20.759 his towel on a rock. It was folded and dry, 144 00:10:21.519 --> 00:10:23.960 so that it would seem that, after all, he had 145 00:10:24.000 --> 00:10:27.679 never entered the water once or twice. As I hunted 146 00:10:27.759 --> 00:10:31.440 round amid the hard shingle, I came on little patches 147 00:10:31.480 --> 00:10:35.720 of sand where the print of his canvas shoe and 148 00:10:35.799 --> 00:10:39.559 also of his naked foot could be seen. The latter 149 00:10:39.639 --> 00:10:42.840 fact proved that he had made all ready to bathe, 150 00:10:43.480 --> 00:10:46.759 though the towel indicated that he had not actually done so. 151 00:10:47.799 --> 00:10:52.399 And here was the problem clearly defined as strange a 152 00:10:52.480 --> 00:10:56.159 one as had ever confronted me. The man had not 153 00:10:56.279 --> 00:10:58.200 been on the beach more than a quarter of an 154 00:10:58.200 --> 00:11:02.879 hour at the most. Stackhurst had followed him from the gables, 155 00:11:02.919 --> 00:11:05.879 so there could be no doubt about that he had 156 00:11:05.879 --> 00:11:10.039 gone to bathe and had stripped. As the naked footsteps showed, 157 00:11:10.919 --> 00:11:14.159 then he had suddenly huddled on his clothes again. They 158 00:11:14.159 --> 00:11:18.600 were all disheveled and unfastened, and he had returned without bathing, 159 00:11:19.360 --> 00:11:23.320 or at any rate without drying himself. And the reason 160 00:11:23.480 --> 00:11:25.919 for his change of purpose had been that he had 161 00:11:25.960 --> 00:11:31.720 been scourged in some savage in human fashion, tortured until 162 00:11:31.759 --> 00:11:35.559 he bit his lip through in his agony, and was 163 00:11:35.639 --> 00:11:39.399 left with only strength enough to crawl away and to die. 164 00:11:40.399 --> 00:11:45.399 Who had done this barbarous deed? There were, it is true, 165 00:11:45.679 --> 00:11:48.960 small grottoes and caves in the base of the cliffs, 166 00:11:49.639 --> 00:11:52.960 but the low sun shone directly into them, and there 167 00:11:53.039 --> 00:11:57.000 was no place for concealment. Then again, there were those 168 00:11:57.080 --> 00:12:00.960 distant figures on the beach they see too far away 169 00:12:01.039 --> 00:12:04.399 to have been connected with the crime, and the broad 170 00:12:04.559 --> 00:12:08.639 lagoon in which Macpherson had intended to bathe who lay 171 00:12:08.639 --> 00:12:12.960 between him and them, lapping up to the rocks on 172 00:12:13.080 --> 00:12:15.440 the sea. Two or three fishing boats were at no 173 00:12:15.519 --> 00:12:20.039 great distance. Their occupants might be examined at our leisure. 174 00:12:21.120 --> 00:12:25.039 There were several roads for inquiry, but none which led 175 00:12:25.080 --> 00:12:29.360 to any very obvious goal. When I at last returned 176 00:12:29.360 --> 00:12:31.840 to the body, I found that a little group of 177 00:12:31.919 --> 00:12:36.600 wandering folk had gathered round it. Stackhurst was of course 178 00:12:36.759 --> 00:12:41.279 still there, and Ian Murdock had just arrived with Anderson. 179 00:12:41.480 --> 00:12:45.559 The village constable, a big, ginger mustached man of the slow, 180 00:12:45.759 --> 00:12:50.679 solid Sussex breed, a breed which covers much good sense 181 00:12:51.360 --> 00:12:56.600 under a heavy, silent exterior. He listened to everything, took 182 00:12:56.679 --> 00:13:00.440 note of all we said, and finally drew me aside. 183 00:13:01.000 --> 00:13:04.639 I'll be glad of your advice, mister Holmes. This is 184 00:13:04.679 --> 00:13:08.159 a big thing for me to handle, and I'll hear 185 00:13:08.279 --> 00:13:11.960 of it from Lewis if I go wrong. I advised 186 00:13:12.000 --> 00:13:15.759 him to send for his immediate superior and for a doctor. 187 00:13:16.519 --> 00:13:19.559 Also to allow nothing to be moved, and as few 188 00:13:19.639 --> 00:13:22.840 fresh footmarks as possible to be made until they came. 189 00:13:24.000 --> 00:13:27.480 In the meantime, I searched the dead man's pockets. There 190 00:13:27.519 --> 00:13:30.799 were his handkerchief, a large knife, and a small folding 191 00:13:30.960 --> 00:13:34.799 card case. From this projected a slip of paper, which 192 00:13:34.840 --> 00:13:39.080 I unfolded and handed to the constable. There was written 193 00:13:39.120 --> 00:13:42.919 on it in a scrawling feminine hand, I will be there, 194 00:13:43.120 --> 00:13:47.279 you may be sure, Mardi. It read like a love 195 00:13:47.320 --> 00:13:52.840 affair an assignation, though when and where were a blank. 196 00:13:54.279 --> 00:13:57.360 The constable replaced it in the card case and returned 197 00:13:57.360 --> 00:14:02.159 it with the other things to the pockets of the berbery. Then, 198 00:14:02.480 --> 00:14:05.600 as nothing more suggested itself, I walked back to my 199 00:14:05.720 --> 00:14:09.320 house for breakfast, having first arranged that the base of 200 00:14:09.360 --> 00:14:13.720 the cliffs should be thoroughly searched. Stackhurst was round in 201 00:14:13.799 --> 00:14:16.639 an hour or two to tell me that the body 202 00:14:16.679 --> 00:14:19.960 had been removed to the gables, where the inquest would 203 00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:24.480 be held. He brought with him some serious and definite news. 204 00:14:25.480 --> 00:14:28.600 As I expected, nothing had been found in the small 205 00:14:28.679 --> 00:14:32.360 caves below the cliff, but he had examined the papers 206 00:14:32.399 --> 00:14:36.480 in McPherson's desk, and there were several which showed an 207 00:14:36.559 --> 00:14:41.320 intimate correspondence with a certain Miss Maude Bellamy of Fulworth. 208 00:14:42.360 --> 00:14:45.720 We had then established the identity of the writer of 209 00:14:45.759 --> 00:14:50.759 the note. The police have the letters, he explained, I 210 00:14:50.840 --> 00:14:53.799 could not bring them, but there is no doubt that 211 00:14:53.960 --> 00:14:58.039 it was a serious love affair. I see no reason, however, 212 00:14:58.159 --> 00:15:03.039 to connect it with that horrible happening, save indeed, that 213 00:15:03.200 --> 00:15:07.039 the lady had made an appointment with him, but hardly 214 00:15:07.279 --> 00:15:09.759 at a bathing pool, which all of you were in 215 00:15:09.799 --> 00:15:13.720 the habit of using. I remarked, it is mere chance, 216 00:15:14.000 --> 00:15:17.879 said he, that several of the students were not with McPherson. 217 00:15:18.720 --> 00:15:22.879 Was it mere chance? Stackhurst knit his brows in thought 218 00:15:23.799 --> 00:15:28.240 I and Murdoch held them back, said he he would 219 00:15:28.279 --> 00:15:34.679 insist upon some algebraic demonstration before breakfast. Poor chap he 220 00:15:34.759 --> 00:15:37.960 is dreadfully cut up about it all. And yet I 221 00:15:38.039 --> 00:15:41.960 gather that they were not friends at one time They 222 00:15:41.960 --> 00:15:45.720 were not, But for a year or more Murdoch has 223 00:15:45.799 --> 00:15:49.039 been as near to McPherson as he could ever be 224 00:15:49.159 --> 00:15:53.360 to anyone. He is not of a very sympathetic disposition 225 00:15:53.639 --> 00:15:57.879 by nature. So I understand. I seem to remember your 226 00:15:57.919 --> 00:16:02.200 telling me once about a quarrel over the ill usage 227 00:16:02.240 --> 00:16:06.399 of a dog that blew over all right, but left 228 00:16:06.480 --> 00:16:10.559 some vindictive feeling. Perhaps No, No, I am sure they 229 00:16:10.600 --> 00:16:14.279 were real friends. Well, then we must explore the matter 230 00:16:14.320 --> 00:16:17.399 of the girl. Do you know her? Everyone knows her? 231 00:16:18.399 --> 00:16:21.679 She is the beauty of the neighborhood, a real beauty 232 00:16:21.799 --> 00:16:26.720 Holmes who would draw attention everywhere. I knew that McPherson 233 00:16:26.799 --> 00:16:30.399 was attracted by her, but I had no notion that 234 00:16:30.440 --> 00:16:33.080 it had gone so far as these letters would seem 235 00:16:33.080 --> 00:16:37.279 to indicate. But who is she? She is the daughter 236 00:16:37.440 --> 00:16:41.200 of old Tom Bellamy, who owns all the boats and 237 00:16:41.399 --> 00:16:45.440 bathing cats at Fulworth. He was a fisherman to start with, 238 00:16:45.600 --> 00:16:48.559 but is now a man of some substance. He and 239 00:16:48.600 --> 00:16:52.159 his son William run the business. Shall we walk into 240 00:16:52.200 --> 00:16:55.759 Fulworth and see them? On what pretext? Oh, we can 241 00:16:55.799 --> 00:16:59.480 easily find a pretext. After all, this poor man did 242 00:16:59.480 --> 00:17:04.160 not use himself in this outrageous way. Some human hand 243 00:17:04.319 --> 00:17:07.519 was on the handle of that scourge. If indeed it 244 00:17:07.680 --> 00:17:12.160 was a scourge which inflicted the injuries, His circle of 245 00:17:12.160 --> 00:17:16.799 acquaintances in this lonely place was surely limited. Let us 246 00:17:16.839 --> 00:17:20.279 follow it up in every direction, and we can hardly 247 00:17:20.319 --> 00:17:23.559 fail to come upon the motive, which, in turn should 248 00:17:23.640 --> 00:17:27.400 lead us to the criminal. It would have been a 249 00:17:27.400 --> 00:17:32.160 pleasant walk across the time scented downs, had our minds 250 00:17:32.279 --> 00:17:36.319 not been poisoned by the tragedy we had witnessed. The 251 00:17:36.400 --> 00:17:40.119 village of Fulworth lies in a hollow curving in a 252 00:17:40.160 --> 00:17:45.680 semicircle round the bay. Behind the old fashioned hamlet. Several 253 00:17:45.720 --> 00:17:50.240 modern houses have been built upon the rising ground. It 254 00:17:50.440 --> 00:17:54.119 was to one of these that Stackhurst guided me that 255 00:17:54.400 --> 00:17:58.160 the haven, as Bellamy called it, the one with the 256 00:17:58.240 --> 00:18:02.039 corner tower and slate roof, not bad for a man 257 00:18:02.079 --> 00:18:05.200 who started with nothing, But by Jove, look at that 258 00:18:06.480 --> 00:18:09.759 the garden gate of the Haven had opened and a 259 00:18:09.839 --> 00:18:14.599 man had emerged. There was no mistaking that tall, angular, 260 00:18:14.759 --> 00:18:21.480 straggling figure. It was Ian Murdoch, the mathematician. A moment 261 00:18:21.559 --> 00:18:26.480 later we confronted him upon the road. Hello, said Stackhurst. 262 00:18:27.119 --> 00:18:30.480 The man nodded, gave us a sideways glance from his 263 00:18:30.640 --> 00:18:34.799 curious dark eyes, and would have passed us, but his 264 00:18:34.920 --> 00:18:39.240 principle pulled him up. What were you doing there, he asked. 265 00:18:40.440 --> 00:18:45.119 Murdoch's face flushed with anger. I am your subordinate, sir, 266 00:18:45.400 --> 00:18:48.279 under your roof, I am not aware that I owe 267 00:18:48.359 --> 00:18:53.039 you any account of my private actions. Stackhurst's nerves were 268 00:18:53.119 --> 00:18:56.960 near the surface, after all that he had endured. Otherwise, 269 00:18:57.000 --> 00:19:00.559 perhaps he would have waited now. He lost his temper 270 00:19:00.599 --> 00:19:05.799 completely in the circumstances. Your answer is pure impertinence, mister Murdoch. 271 00:19:06.440 --> 00:19:09.200 Your own question might perhaps come under the same heading. 272 00:19:09.839 --> 00:19:11.640 This is not the first time that I have had 273 00:19:11.640 --> 00:19:15.480 to overlook your insubordinate ways. It will certainly be the last. 274 00:19:15.720 --> 00:19:18.640 You will kindly make fresh arrangements for your future as 275 00:19:18.720 --> 00:19:22.039 speedily as you can. I had intended to do so. 276 00:19:22.960 --> 00:19:25.119 I have lost today the only person who made the 277 00:19:25.160 --> 00:19:30.319 gables habitable. He strode off upon his way, while Stackhurst, 278 00:19:30.440 --> 00:19:34.440 with angry eyes, stood glaring after him. Is he not 279 00:19:34.559 --> 00:19:39.839 an impossible intolerable man? He cried. The one thing that 280 00:19:39.960 --> 00:19:44.400 impressed itself forcibly upon my mind was that mister Ian 281 00:19:44.519 --> 00:19:48.200 Murdock was taking the first chance to open a path 282 00:19:48.200 --> 00:19:53.440 of escape from the scene of the crime. Suspicion vague, 283 00:19:53.480 --> 00:19:57.440 and nebulus was now beginning to take outline in my mind. 284 00:19:58.440 --> 00:20:01.160 Perhaps the visit to the BELLEMI might throw some further 285 00:20:01.240 --> 00:20:05.240 light upon the matter. Stackhurst pulled himself together and we 286 00:20:05.319 --> 00:20:09.400 went forward to the house. Mister Bellamy proved to be 287 00:20:09.440 --> 00:20:13.440 a middle aged man with a flaming red beard. He 288 00:20:13.519 --> 00:20:16.759 seemed to be in a very angry mood, and his 289 00:20:16.880 --> 00:20:20.440 face was soon as florid as his hair. No, Sir, 290 00:20:20.480 --> 00:20:24.359 I do not desire any particulars my son here indicating 291 00:20:24.359 --> 00:20:27.480 a powerful young man with a heavy sullen face in 292 00:20:27.559 --> 00:20:30.200 the corner of the sitting room. As of one mind 293 00:20:30.240 --> 00:20:34.920 with me that mister Macpherson's attentions to Maude were insulting, Yes, sir, 294 00:20:35.319 --> 00:20:38.759 the word marriage was never mentioned, and yet there were 295 00:20:38.839 --> 00:20:41.799 letters and meetings and a great deal more of which 296 00:20:41.920 --> 00:20:45.759 neither of us could approve. She has no mother, and 297 00:20:45.880 --> 00:20:50.279 we are her only guardians. We are determined. But the 298 00:20:50.319 --> 00:20:54.160 words were taken from his mouth by the appearance of 299 00:20:54.240 --> 00:20:58.559 the lady herself. There was no gain saying that she 300 00:20:58.599 --> 00:21:02.400 would have graced any assembly in the world. Who could 301 00:21:02.440 --> 00:21:06.640 have imagined that so rare a flower would grow from 302 00:21:06.759 --> 00:21:11.720 such a root and in such an atmosphere. Women have 303 00:21:11.920 --> 00:21:16.119 seldom been an attraction to me, for my brain has 304 00:21:16.160 --> 00:21:20.799 always governed my heart. But I could not look upon 305 00:21:20.839 --> 00:21:25.720 her perfect, clear cut face, with all the soft freshness 306 00:21:25.799 --> 00:21:30.839 of the downlands in her delicate coloring, without realizing that 307 00:21:30.920 --> 00:21:36.559 no young man would cross her path unscathed. Such was 308 00:21:36.599 --> 00:21:39.319 the girl who had pushed open the door and stood 309 00:21:39.359 --> 00:21:44.480 now open eyed and intense in front of Harold Stackhurst. 310 00:21:45.279 --> 00:21:50.359 I know already that Fitzroy is dead, she said, Do 311 00:21:50.440 --> 00:21:53.599 not be afraid to tell me the particulars this other 312 00:21:53.680 --> 00:21:57.039 gentleman of yours. Let us know the news, explained the father. 313 00:21:57.599 --> 00:21:59.759 There is no reason why my sister should be brought 314 00:21:59.759 --> 00:22:04.440 into the matter, growled the younger man. The sister turned 315 00:22:04.480 --> 00:22:08.039 a sharp, fierce look upon him. This is my business. William, 316 00:22:08.880 --> 00:22:11.319 kindly leave me to manage it in my own way. 317 00:22:12.440 --> 00:22:15.880 By all accounts, there has been a crime committed. If 318 00:22:15.920 --> 00:22:18.599 I can help to show who did it, it is 319 00:22:18.640 --> 00:22:21.680 the least I can do for him who is gone. 320 00:22:22.119 --> 00:22:25.519 She listened to a short account from my companion with 321 00:22:25.599 --> 00:22:30.279 a composed concentration, which showed me that she possessed strong 322 00:22:30.480 --> 00:22:36.160 character as well as great beauty. Maude Bellamy will always 323 00:22:36.240 --> 00:22:40.839 remain in my memory as a most complete and remarkable woman. 324 00:22:42.960 --> 00:22:46.759 It seems that she already knew me by sight, for 325 00:22:46.880 --> 00:22:49.759 she turned to me at the end. Bring them to justice, 326 00:22:49.759 --> 00:22:54.359 mister Holmes, you have my sympathy and my help, whoever 327 00:22:54.440 --> 00:22:57.720 they may be. It seemed to me that she glanced 328 00:22:57.799 --> 00:23:02.160 defiantly at her father and brother as she spoke. Thank you, 329 00:23:02.440 --> 00:23:07.240 said I I value a woman's instinct in such matters. 330 00:23:07.799 --> 00:23:12.000 You use the word they, you think that more than 331 00:23:12.039 --> 00:23:15.759 one was concerned. I knew mister Macpherson well enough to 332 00:23:15.759 --> 00:23:18.799 be aware that he was a brave and a strong man. 333 00:23:19.599 --> 00:23:23.240 No single person could ever have inflicted such an outrage 334 00:23:23.319 --> 00:23:26.599 upon him. Might I have one word with you alone? 335 00:23:27.160 --> 00:23:29.640 I tell you, Maude, not to mix yourself up in 336 00:23:29.680 --> 00:23:34.640 the matter, cried her father angrily. She looked at me helplessly. 337 00:23:35.359 --> 00:23:38.559 What can I do? The whole world will know the 338 00:23:38.599 --> 00:23:42.079 facts presently, so there can be no harm if I 339 00:23:42.119 --> 00:23:47.039 discussed them here, said I. I should have preferred privacy, 340 00:23:47.720 --> 00:23:50.279 but if your father will not allow it, he must 341 00:23:50.319 --> 00:23:55.200 share the deliberations. Then I spoke of the note which 342 00:23:55.200 --> 00:23:58.000 had been found in the dead man's pocket. It is 343 00:23:58.039 --> 00:24:01.440 sure to be produced at the inquest. May I ask 344 00:24:01.519 --> 00:24:03.839 you to throw any light upon it that you can. 345 00:24:04.519 --> 00:24:08.759 I see no reason for mystery, she answered. We were 346 00:24:08.799 --> 00:24:12.359 engaged to be married, and we only kept its secret 347 00:24:12.400 --> 00:24:15.680 because Fitzroy's uncle, who was very old and said to 348 00:24:15.680 --> 00:24:19.680 be dying, might have disinherited him if he had married 349 00:24:19.680 --> 00:24:23.440 against his wish. There was no other reason you could 350 00:24:23.440 --> 00:24:27.200 have told us, growled mister Bellamy. So I would father, 351 00:24:27.279 --> 00:24:29.960 if you had ever shown sympathy. I object to my 352 00:24:30.079 --> 00:24:33.119 girl picking up with men outside her own station. It 353 00:24:33.240 --> 00:24:35.880 was your prejudice against him which prevented us from telling 354 00:24:35.960 --> 00:24:40.240 you as to this appointment. She fumbled in her dress 355 00:24:40.279 --> 00:24:43.680 and produced a crumpled note. It was in answer to this, 356 00:24:45.160 --> 00:24:49.599 dearest ran the message the old place on the beach 357 00:24:49.680 --> 00:24:53.240 just after sunset aunt Tuesday. It is the only time 358 00:24:53.240 --> 00:24:57.200 I can get away f m. Tuesday was to day, 359 00:24:58.359 --> 00:25:01.279 and I had meant to meet him to night. I 360 00:25:01.400 --> 00:25:06.279 turned over the paper. This never came by post. How 361 00:25:06.279 --> 00:25:09.559 did you get it? I would rather not answer that question. 362 00:25:10.400 --> 00:25:12.400 It has really nothing to do with the matter which 363 00:25:12.400 --> 00:25:16.559 you were investigating. But anything which bears upon that I 364 00:25:16.599 --> 00:25:20.440 will most freely answer. She was as good as her word, 365 00:25:21.200 --> 00:25:24.200 but there was nothing which was helpful in our investigation. 366 00:25:25.359 --> 00:25:27.839 She had no reason to think that her fiance had 367 00:25:27.880 --> 00:25:31.839 any hidden enemy, but she admitted that she had had 368 00:25:31.920 --> 00:25:36.839 several warm admirers. May I ask if mister Ian Murdock 369 00:25:37.279 --> 00:25:41.880 was one of them. She blushed and seemed confused. There 370 00:25:41.960 --> 00:25:44.799 was a time when I thought he was, but that 371 00:25:44.960 --> 00:25:48.960 was all changed when he understood the relations between Fitzroy 372 00:25:49.000 --> 00:25:54.079 and myself. Again, the shadow round this strange man seemed 373 00:25:54.079 --> 00:25:57.920 to me to be taking more definite shape. His record 374 00:25:58.039 --> 00:26:03.039 must be examined, his room must be privately searched. Stackhurst 375 00:26:03.240 --> 00:26:08.119 was a willing collaborator, for in his mind also suspicions 376 00:26:08.160 --> 00:26:12.079 were forming. We returned from our visit to the Haven 377 00:26:12.880 --> 00:26:16.160 with the hope that one free end of this tangled 378 00:26:16.279 --> 00:26:23.759 skein was already in our hands. A week passed, the 379 00:26:23.839 --> 00:26:26.839 inquest had thrown no light upon the matter, and had 380 00:26:26.839 --> 00:26:32.440 been adjourned for further evidence. Stackhurst had made discreet inquiry 381 00:26:32.759 --> 00:26:36.759 about his subordinate, and there had been a superficial search 382 00:26:36.839 --> 00:26:41.680 of his room, but without result. Personally, I had gone 383 00:26:41.720 --> 00:26:45.880 over the whole ground again, both physically and mentally, but 384 00:26:46.079 --> 00:26:50.640 with no new conclusions. In all my chronicles, the reader 385 00:26:50.640 --> 00:26:54.079 will find no case which brought me so completely to 386 00:26:54.160 --> 00:26:58.920 the limit of my powers. Even my imagination could conceive 387 00:26:59.079 --> 00:27:02.759 no solution to the mystery. And then there came the 388 00:27:02.920 --> 00:27:07.279 incident of the dog. It was my old housekeeper who 389 00:27:07.319 --> 00:27:11.119 heard of it first, by that strange wireless by which 390 00:27:11.160 --> 00:27:15.920 such people collect the news of the countryside. Sad story this, sir, 391 00:27:16.079 --> 00:27:21.160 about mister McPherson's dog, said she one evening. I do 392 00:27:21.240 --> 00:27:25.880 not encourage such conversations, but the words arrested my attention. 393 00:27:26.519 --> 00:27:31.279 What of mister Macpherson's dog dead, sir, died of grief 394 00:27:31.599 --> 00:27:35.640 for its master? Who told you this? Why sir, everyone 395 00:27:35.759 --> 00:27:39.119 is talking of it? It took unterrible and has eaten 396 00:27:39.160 --> 00:27:42.079 nothing for a week. Then to day two of the 397 00:27:42.160 --> 00:27:46.119 young gentlemen from the gables found it dead. Then on 398 00:27:46.160 --> 00:27:49.359 the beach, sir, at the very place where its master 399 00:27:49.720 --> 00:27:55.000 met his end, At the very place. The words stood 400 00:27:55.039 --> 00:27:59.319 out clear in my memory. Some dim perception that the 401 00:27:59.359 --> 00:28:03.400