WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:06.360 The Blue Sequin by R. Austin Freeman. Thorndyke stood looking 2 00:00:06.440 --> 00:00:09.800 up and down the platform with anxiety that increased as 3 00:00:09.800 --> 00:00:11.960 the time drew near for the departure of the train. 4 00:00:13.000 --> 00:00:16.800 This is very unfortunate, he said, reluctantly, stepping into an 5 00:00:16.800 --> 00:00:20.359 empty smoking compartment as the guard executed a flourish with 6 00:00:20.440 --> 00:00:23.879 his green flag. I am afraid we have missed our friend. 7 00:00:24.600 --> 00:00:27.519 He closed the door, and as the train began to move, 8 00:00:27.839 --> 00:00:31.519 thrust his head out of the window. Now, I wonder 9 00:00:31.559 --> 00:00:34.759 if that will be he he continued. If so, he 10 00:00:34.840 --> 00:00:36.960 has caught the train by the skin of his teeth 11 00:00:37.280 --> 00:00:40.679 and is now in one of the rear compartments. The 12 00:00:40.759 --> 00:00:45.439 subject of Thorndyke's speculation was mister Edward Stopford of the 13 00:00:45.479 --> 00:00:49.840 firm of Stopford and Myers of Portugal Street Solicitors, and 14 00:00:49.960 --> 00:00:52.320 his connection with us at present arose out of a 15 00:00:52.399 --> 00:00:55.679 telegram that had reached our chambers on the preceding evening. 16 00:00:56.399 --> 00:01:00.159 It was a reply paid and ran, thus, when you 17 00:01:00.240 --> 00:01:05.239 come here tomorrow to direct defense important case, all costs 18 00:01:05.319 --> 00:01:10.680 undertaken by us Stopford admirers. Thorndike's reply had been in 19 00:01:10.719 --> 00:01:14.680 the affirmative and early on this present morning, a further telegram, 20 00:01:14.879 --> 00:01:19.760 evidently posted overnight, had been delivered. Shall leave for Woolhurst 21 00:01:20.239 --> 00:01:23.319 by eight twenty five from charing Cross. We'll call for 22 00:01:23.359 --> 00:01:28.560 you if possible, Edward Stopford. It had not called, however, 23 00:01:28.959 --> 00:01:31.680 and since he was unknown personally to us both we 24 00:01:31.760 --> 00:01:33.920 could not judge whether or not he had been among 25 00:01:33.959 --> 00:01:38.719 the passengers on the platform. It is most unfortunate, Thorndyke repeated, 26 00:01:39.280 --> 00:01:42.519 for it deprives us of that preliminary consideration of the 27 00:01:42.560 --> 00:01:47.280 case which is so invaluable. He filled his pipe thoughtfully, and, 28 00:01:47.400 --> 00:01:50.719 having made a fruitless inspection of the platform at London Bridge, 29 00:01:51.200 --> 00:01:53.400 took up the paper that he had bought at the bookstall, 30 00:01:53.840 --> 00:01:56.280 and began to turn over the leaves, running his eye 31 00:01:56.319 --> 00:02:00.599 quickly down the columns, unmindful of the journalistic bates paragraph 32 00:02:00.719 --> 00:02:05.079 or article. It is a great disadvantage, he observed, while 33 00:02:05.079 --> 00:02:08.479 still glancing through the paper, to come plump into an 34 00:02:08.479 --> 00:02:12.840 inquiry without preparation, to be confronted with the details before 35 00:02:12.879 --> 00:02:15.879 one has a chance of considering the case in general terms. 36 00:02:16.479 --> 00:02:21.719 For instance, he paused, leaving the sentence unfinished, and as 37 00:02:21.719 --> 00:02:24.479 I looked up inquiringly, I saw that he had turned 38 00:02:24.520 --> 00:02:29.080 over another page and was now reading attentively. This looks 39 00:02:29.120 --> 00:02:32.280 like our case, Jervis, he said, presently handing me the 40 00:02:32.319 --> 00:02:35.479 paper and indicating a paragraph at the top of the page. 41 00:02:36.159 --> 00:02:39.840 It was quite brief and was headed terrible murder in Kent, 42 00:02:40.560 --> 00:02:44.680 the account being as follows, A shocking crime was discovered 43 00:02:44.759 --> 00:02:48.400 yesterday morning at the little town of Wolhurst, which lies 44 00:02:48.439 --> 00:02:52.319 on the Branch line from Howbury Junction. The discovery was 45 00:02:52.360 --> 00:02:55.280 made by a porter who was inspecting the carriages of 46 00:02:55.319 --> 00:02:58.240 the train which had just come in. On opening the 47 00:02:58.280 --> 00:03:01.759 door of a first class compartment, he was horrified to 48 00:03:01.800 --> 00:03:04.680 find the body of a fashionably dressed woman stretched upon 49 00:03:04.719 --> 00:03:08.840 the floor. Medical aid was immediately summoned, and on the 50 00:03:08.960 --> 00:03:12.680 arrival of the Divisional Surgeon, Doctor Morton, it was ascertained 51 00:03:12.719 --> 00:03:14.680 that the woman had not been dead more than a 52 00:03:14.719 --> 00:03:18.280 few minutes. The state of the corpse leaves no doubt 53 00:03:18.280 --> 00:03:21.360 that a murder of a most brutal kind has been perpetuated, 54 00:03:22.199 --> 00:03:24.719 the cause of death being a penetrating wound of the 55 00:03:24.759 --> 00:03:28.680 head inflicted with some pointed implement, which must have been 56 00:03:28.759 --> 00:03:32.319 used with terrible violence, since it has perforated the skull 57 00:03:32.360 --> 00:03:35.800 and entered the brain. That robbery was not the motive 58 00:03:35.840 --> 00:03:38.560 of the crime is made clear by the fact that 59 00:03:38.639 --> 00:03:42.039 an expensively fitting dressing bag was found on the rack, 60 00:03:42.680 --> 00:03:46.719 and that the dead woman's jewelry, including several valuable diamond rings, 61 00:03:46.840 --> 00:03:50.240 was untouched. It is rumored that an arrest has been 62 00:03:50.280 --> 00:03:54.719 made by the local police. A gruesome affair, I remarked 63 00:03:54.919 --> 00:03:58.000 as I handed back the paper. But the report does 64 00:03:58.039 --> 00:04:02.000 not give us much information. It does not. Thorndyke agreed, 65 00:04:02.639 --> 00:04:06.000 and yet it gives us something to consider. Here is 66 00:04:06.039 --> 00:04:09.960 a perforating wound of the skull inflicted with some pointed implement. 67 00:04:10.560 --> 00:04:13.120 That is, assuming that it is not a bullet wound. 68 00:04:13.759 --> 00:04:16.680 Now what kind of implement would be capable of inflicting 69 00:04:16.720 --> 00:04:20.360 such an injury? How would such an implement be used 70 00:04:20.399 --> 00:04:23.199 in the confined space of a railway carriage, and what 71 00:04:23.360 --> 00:04:25.959 sort of person would be in possession of such an implement. 72 00:04:27.480 --> 00:04:30.680 These are preliminary questions that are worth considering, and I 73 00:04:30.720 --> 00:04:33.399 commend them to you, Together with the further problems of 74 00:04:33.439 --> 00:04:37.680 the possible motive, excluding robbery and any circumstances other than 75 00:04:37.759 --> 00:04:41.720 murder which might account for the injury, The choice of 76 00:04:41.720 --> 00:04:45.240 suitable implements is not very great, I observed, it is 77 00:04:45.399 --> 00:04:48.680 very limited, and most of them, such as a plasterer's 78 00:04:48.759 --> 00:04:53.680 pick or a geological hammer, are associated with certain definite occupations. 79 00:04:54.120 --> 00:04:57.759 You have a note book, I had, and, accepting the hint, 80 00:04:57.839 --> 00:05:01.399 I produced it and pursued my further the reflections in silence, 81 00:05:01.720 --> 00:05:05.079 while my companion, with his note book also on his knee, 82 00:05:05.439 --> 00:05:09.160 gazed steadily out of the window, And thus he remained 83 00:05:09.160 --> 00:05:12.000 wrapped in thought, jotting down an entry now and again 84 00:05:12.040 --> 00:05:15.319 in his book until the train slowed down at Halbury Junction, 85 00:05:15.720 --> 00:05:17.879 where we had to change on to a branch line. 86 00:05:19.720 --> 00:05:22.560 As we stepped out, I noticed a well dressed man 87 00:05:22.680 --> 00:05:26.000 hurrying up the platform from the rear and eagerly scanning 88 00:05:26.040 --> 00:05:29.720 the faces of the few passengers who had alighted. Soon 89 00:05:29.720 --> 00:05:33.560 he espied us, and, approaching, quickly asked as he looked 90 00:05:33.560 --> 00:05:37.879 from one of us to the other. Doctor Thorndyke Yes, 91 00:05:37.959 --> 00:05:41.480 replied my colleague, adding, and you, I presume are mister 92 00:05:41.600 --> 00:05:46.839 Edward Stopford. The solicitor bowed. This is a dreadful affair, 93 00:05:46.920 --> 00:05:49.959 he said in an agitated manner. I see you have 94 00:05:50.040 --> 00:05:54.199 the paper. A most shocking affair, I am immensely relieved 95 00:05:54.199 --> 00:05:57.000 to find you here. Nearly missed the train and feared 96 00:05:57.040 --> 00:06:00.399 I should miss you. There appears to have been an arrest. 97 00:06:00.439 --> 00:06:05.959 Thorndyke began, Yes, my brother, terrible business. Let us walk 98 00:06:06.040 --> 00:06:08.759 up the platform. Our train won't start for a quarter 99 00:06:08.800 --> 00:06:13.199 of an hour. Yet we deposited our joint Gladstone and 100 00:06:13.319 --> 00:06:17.639 Thorndyke's traveling case in an empty first class compartment, and then, 101 00:06:18.079 --> 00:06:21.639 with a solicitor between us, strolled up to the unfrequented 102 00:06:21.759 --> 00:06:26.560 end of the platform. My brother's position, said, mister Stopford 103 00:06:27.000 --> 00:06:29.600 fills me with dismay. But let me give you the 104 00:06:29.639 --> 00:06:33.000 facts an order, and you shall judge for yourself. This 105 00:06:33.160 --> 00:06:36.120 poor creature who has been murdered so brutally was a 106 00:06:36.160 --> 00:06:40.680 miss Edith Grant. She was formerly an artist's model, and 107 00:06:40.759 --> 00:06:43.519 as such was a good deal employed by my brother, 108 00:06:43.560 --> 00:06:47.959 who is a painter. Harold Stopford. You know Ara now, 109 00:06:48.879 --> 00:06:51.560 I know his work very well, and charming work it is, 110 00:06:52.959 --> 00:06:55.600 I think so too well. In those days he was 111 00:06:55.680 --> 00:06:59.319 quite a youngster, about twenty, and he became very intimately 112 00:06:59.360 --> 00:07:02.759 Miss Grant in quite an innocent way, though not very discreet. 113 00:07:03.360 --> 00:07:05.839 But she was a nice, respectable girl, as most English 114 00:07:05.920 --> 00:07:09.560 models are, and no one thought any harm. However, a 115 00:07:09.560 --> 00:07:12.920 good many letters passed between them, and some little presence, 116 00:07:13.360 --> 00:07:16.839 amongst which was a beaded chain carrying a locket, and 117 00:07:16.879 --> 00:07:18.959 in this he was fool enough to put his portrait 118 00:07:19.240 --> 00:07:24.000 and the inscription Edith from Harold. Later on, Miss Grant, 119 00:07:24.040 --> 00:07:26.759 who had a rather good voice, went on the stage 120 00:07:26.839 --> 00:07:30.519 in the comic opera line, and in consequence her habits 121 00:07:30.519 --> 00:07:35.120 and associates changed somewhat. And as Harold had meanwhile become engaged, 122 00:07:35.480 --> 00:07:38.360 he was naturally anxious to get his letters back, and 123 00:07:38.519 --> 00:07:42.319 especially to exchange the locket for some less compromising gift. 124 00:07:43.319 --> 00:07:47.079 The letters she eventually sent him, but refused absolutely to 125 00:07:47.120 --> 00:07:50.439 part with the locket. Now. For the last month Harold 126 00:07:50.480 --> 00:07:54.240 has been staying at Hawbury, making sketching excursions into the 127 00:07:54.240 --> 00:07:58.240 surrounding country, and yesterday morning he took the train to Shinglehurst, 128 00:07:58.759 --> 00:08:02.000 the third station from here and the one before Wolhurst. 129 00:08:03.399 --> 00:08:05.920 On the platform here he met Miss Grant, who had 130 00:08:05.920 --> 00:08:08.399 come down from London and was going on to Worthy. 131 00:08:09.240 --> 00:08:12.199 They entered the branch train together, having a first class 132 00:08:12.240 --> 00:08:15.519 compartment to themselves. It seems she was wearing his locket 133 00:08:15.519 --> 00:08:18.040 at the time, and he made another appeal to her 134 00:08:18.079 --> 00:08:21.959 to make an exchange, which she refused. As before, the 135 00:08:22.040 --> 00:08:24.959 discussion appears to have become rather heated and angry on 136 00:08:25.040 --> 00:08:28.439 both sides. For the guard and a porter at Munsden 137 00:08:28.759 --> 00:08:31.480 both noticed that they seemed to be quarreling. But the 138 00:08:31.560 --> 00:08:33.960 upshot of the affair was that the lady snapped the 139 00:08:34.039 --> 00:08:37.159 chain and tossed it together with the locket, to my brother, 140 00:08:37.759 --> 00:08:41.399 and they parted quite amiably. At Shinglehurst where Harold got out. 141 00:08:42.279 --> 00:08:45.519 He was then carrying his full sketching kit, including a 142 00:08:45.600 --> 00:08:48.399 large Holland umbrella, the lower joint of which is an 143 00:08:48.440 --> 00:08:51.679 ash staff fitted with a powerful steel spike for driving 144 00:08:51.720 --> 00:08:55.480 into the ground. It was at about half past ten 145 00:08:55.879 --> 00:08:59.279 when he got out at Shinglehurst. By eleven he had 146 00:08:59.320 --> 00:09:01.960 reached his pit and got to work, and he painted 147 00:09:02.000 --> 00:09:05.320 steadily for three hours. Then he packed up his traps 148 00:09:05.320 --> 00:09:07.120 and was just starting on his way back to the 149 00:09:07.159 --> 00:09:10.000 station when he was met by the police and arrested, 150 00:09:11.720 --> 00:09:16.320 and now observed the accumulation of circumstantial evidence against him. 151 00:09:16.759 --> 00:09:18.960 He was the last person seen in company with the 152 00:09:19.039 --> 00:09:21.600 murdered woman, for no one seems to have seen her 153 00:09:21.639 --> 00:09:24.960 after they left Munsden. He appeared to be quarreling with 154 00:09:25.000 --> 00:09:27.639 her when she was last seen alive, and he had 155 00:09:27.679 --> 00:09:30.799 a reason for possibly wishing for her death. He was 156 00:09:30.840 --> 00:09:34.879 provided with an implement, a spiked staff capable of inflicting 157 00:09:34.879 --> 00:09:37.559 the injury which caused her death, and when he was 158 00:09:37.600 --> 00:09:40.279 searched there was found in his possession the locket and 159 00:09:40.320 --> 00:09:45.360 broken chain, apparently removed from her person with violence. Against 160 00:09:45.360 --> 00:09:48.399 all of this is of course his known character. He 161 00:09:48.480 --> 00:09:51.440 is the gentlest and most amiable of men, and his 162 00:09:51.519 --> 00:09:54.759 subsequent conduct imbecile to the last degree if he had 163 00:09:54.759 --> 00:09:58.000 been guilty. But as a lawyer, I can't help seeing 164 00:09:58.039 --> 00:10:01.480 that the appearances are almost hopelessly again against him. We 165 00:10:01.559 --> 00:10:04.919 won't say hopelessly, replied Thorndyke, as we took our places 166 00:10:04.919 --> 00:10:07.759 in the carriage, though I expect the police are pretty 167 00:10:07.759 --> 00:10:12.759 cock sure. When does the inquest open to day at four? 168 00:10:13.360 --> 00:10:15.559 I haven't obtained an order from the corner for you 169 00:10:15.639 --> 00:10:18.519 to examine the body and be present at the post mortem? 170 00:10:19.679 --> 00:10:23.279 Do you happen to know the exact position of the wound? Yes, 171 00:10:23.720 --> 00:10:26.080 it is a little above and behind the left ear, 172 00:10:26.519 --> 00:10:29.639 a horrible round hole with a ragged cut or tear 173 00:10:29.759 --> 00:10:32.679 running from it to the side of the forehead. And 174 00:10:32.759 --> 00:10:36.200 how is the body lying right along the floor with 175 00:10:36.320 --> 00:10:39.759 the feet close to the off side door. Was the 176 00:10:39.799 --> 00:10:43.600 wound on the head the only one? No, There was 177 00:10:43.639 --> 00:10:46.399 a long cut or bruise on the right cheek, a 178 00:10:46.480 --> 00:10:49.799 contused wound, the police surgeon called it, which he believes 179 00:10:49.879 --> 00:10:52.840 to have been inflicted with a heavy and rather blunt weapon. 180 00:10:53.600 --> 00:10:56.000 I have not heard of any other wounds or bruises. 181 00:10:57.360 --> 00:11:01.720 Did anyone enter the train yesterday at Shinglehurst, Thorndyke asked. 182 00:11:01.720 --> 00:11:04.440 No one entered the train after it had left Halbury. 183 00:11:06.159 --> 00:11:10.080 Thorndyke considered these statements in silence, and presently fell into 184 00:11:10.080 --> 00:11:12.919 a brown study, from which he roused only as the 185 00:11:12.960 --> 00:11:16.799 train moved out of the Shinglehurst station. It would be 186 00:11:16.840 --> 00:11:19.879 about here that the murder was committed, said mister Stopford, 187 00:11:20.360 --> 00:11:25.639 at least between here and Wolhurst. Thorndyke nodded rather abstractedly, 188 00:11:26.120 --> 00:11:29.039 being engaged at the moment in observing with great attention 189 00:11:29.159 --> 00:11:33.120 the objects that were visible from the windows. I notice, 190 00:11:33.159 --> 00:11:36.519 he said, presently, a number of chips scattered about between 191 00:11:36.519 --> 00:11:39.279 the rails, and some of the chair wedges looked new. 192 00:11:40.159 --> 00:11:43.440 Have there been any plate layers at work lately? Yes, 193 00:11:43.559 --> 00:11:46.360 answered Stopford. They are on the line now, I believe 194 00:11:46.759 --> 00:11:50.159 at least. I saw a game working near Woldhurst yesterday, 195 00:11:51.320 --> 00:11:53.440 and they are said to have set a rick on fire. 196 00:11:53.639 --> 00:11:57.440 I saw it smoking when I came down. Indeed, and 197 00:11:57.519 --> 00:12:00.240 this middle line of rails is I suppose a sort 198 00:12:00.279 --> 00:12:04.320 of sighting. Yes. They shunt the goods train and empty 199 00:12:04.320 --> 00:12:06.960 trucks onto it. There are the remains of the wreck 200 00:12:07.120 --> 00:12:11.879 still smoldering, you see. Thorndyke gazed absently at the blackened 201 00:12:11.919 --> 00:12:14.799 heap until an empty cattle truck in the middle track 202 00:12:14.879 --> 00:12:17.960 hid it from view. This was succeeded by a line 203 00:12:18.000 --> 00:12:21.720 of goods wagons, and these by a passenger coach, one 204 00:12:21.759 --> 00:12:25.399 compartment of which first class was closed up and sealed. 205 00:12:26.440 --> 00:12:29.440 The train now began to slow down rather suddenly, and 206 00:12:29.519 --> 00:12:32.679 a couple of minutes later we brought up in Woldhurst station. 207 00:12:34.080 --> 00:12:37.279 It was evident that rumors of Thorndyke's advent had preceded us. 208 00:12:37.639 --> 00:12:41.279 For the entire staff. Two porters, an inspector and the 209 00:12:41.320 --> 00:12:45.320 station master were waiting expectantly on the platform, and the 210 00:12:45.399 --> 00:12:48.919 latter came forward, regardless of his dignity, to help us 211 00:12:48.960 --> 00:12:52.200 with the luggage. Do you think I could see the carriage, 212 00:12:52.200 --> 00:12:56.600 Thorndyke asked the solicitor. Not the inside, sir, said the 213 00:12:56.639 --> 00:13:00.600 station master, on being appealed to the police of fielded up. 214 00:13:00.919 --> 00:13:04.720 You would have to ask the inspector. Well, I can 215 00:13:04.759 --> 00:13:07.600 look at the outside, I suppose, said Thorndyke, And to 216 00:13:07.720 --> 00:13:11.159 this the station master readily agreed and offered to accompany us. 217 00:13:12.399 --> 00:13:17.200 What are their first class passengers? Were there? Thorndyke asked, none, sir, 218 00:13:17.600 --> 00:13:20.679 There was only one first class coach and the deceased 219 00:13:20.759 --> 00:13:23.399 was the only person in it. It has given us 220 00:13:23.440 --> 00:13:26.720 all a dreadful turn, this affair has, he continued, as 221 00:13:26.759 --> 00:13:29.240 we set off up the line. I was on the 222 00:13:29.240 --> 00:13:32.200 platform when the train came in. We were watching a 223 00:13:32.279 --> 00:13:34.559 rick that was burning up the line and a rare 224 00:13:34.600 --> 00:13:37.840 blaze it made too and I was just saying that 225 00:13:37.919 --> 00:13:39.919 we should have to move the cattle truck that was 226 00:13:39.960 --> 00:13:43.159 on the mid track, because you see, sir, the smoke 227 00:13:43.200 --> 00:13:45.799 and sparks were blowing across and I thought it would 228 00:13:45.799 --> 00:13:49.360 frighten the poor beasts. And mister Felton, he don't like 229 00:13:49.399 --> 00:13:52.320 his beasts handled roughly. He says it spoils the meat. 230 00:13:53.360 --> 00:13:56.360 No doubt he is right, said Thorndyke. But now tell 231 00:13:56.360 --> 00:13:58.720 me do you think it is possible for any person 232 00:13:58.759 --> 00:14:02.000 to board or leave the train on the off side unobserved? 233 00:14:02.759 --> 00:14:05.399 Could a man, for instance, enter a compartment on the 234 00:14:05.519 --> 00:14:08.480 off side at one station and drop off as the 235 00:14:08.519 --> 00:14:10.879 train was slowing down at the next without being seen? 236 00:14:12.240 --> 00:14:15.960 I doubt it, replied the station master. Still I wouldn't 237 00:14:15.960 --> 00:14:20.240 say it is impossible, thank you. Oh, and there's another question. 238 00:14:20.840 --> 00:14:22.759 You have a gang of men at work on the line, 239 00:14:22.799 --> 00:14:27.120 I see now. Do those men belong to the district? No, sir, 240 00:14:27.399 --> 00:14:30.559 they are strangers everyone, and pretty rough diamonds, some of 241 00:14:30.600 --> 00:14:33.039 them are. But I shouldn't say there was any real 242 00:14:33.039 --> 00:14:35.679 harm in them. If you are suspecting any of them 243 00:14:35.679 --> 00:14:39.240 being mixed up in this, I am not, interrupted Thorndyke 244 00:14:39.320 --> 00:14:42.759 rather shortly. I suspect nobody, but I wish to get 245 00:14:42.799 --> 00:14:46.759 all the facts of the case at the outset. Naturally, sir, 246 00:14:46.840 --> 00:14:50.360 replied the abashed official. And we pursued our way in silence. 247 00:14:51.519 --> 00:14:54.360 Do you remember, by the way, said Thorndyke, as we 248 00:14:54.440 --> 00:14:57.639 approached the empty coach whether the off side door of 249 00:14:57.679 --> 00:15:00.600 the compartment was closed and locked when the body was discovered, 250 00:15:01.799 --> 00:15:04.960 It was closed, sir, but not locked. Why, sir, did 251 00:15:04.960 --> 00:15:08.759 you think nothing? Nothing? The sealed compartment is the one, 252 00:15:08.799 --> 00:15:13.080 of course. Without waiting for a reply, he commenced his 253 00:15:13.159 --> 00:15:16.080 survey of the coach, while I gently restrained our two 254 00:15:16.159 --> 00:15:19.039 companions from shadowing him, as they were disposed to do. 255 00:15:20.240 --> 00:15:24.039 The off side footboard occupied his attention specially, and when 256 00:15:24.039 --> 00:15:27.440 he had scrutinized minutely the part opposite the fatal compartment, 257 00:15:28.080 --> 00:15:30.840 he walked slowly from end to end, with his eyes 258 00:15:30.840 --> 00:15:33.279 but a few inches from its surface, as though he 259 00:15:33.360 --> 00:15:37.120 was searching for something Near what had been the rear end. 260 00:15:37.159 --> 00:15:40.679 He stopped and drew from his pocket a piece of paper. Then, 261 00:15:41.080 --> 00:15:44.200 with a moistened fingertip, he picked up from the footboard 262 00:15:44.279 --> 00:15:48.320 some evidently minute object, which he carefully transferred to the paper, 263 00:15:48.840 --> 00:15:51.480 folding the ladder and placing it in his pocket book. 264 00:15:52.679 --> 00:15:55.639 He next mounted the footboard, and, having peered in through 265 00:15:55.679 --> 00:15:59.279 the window of the sealed compartment, produced from his pocket 266 00:15:59.519 --> 00:16:03.360 a small in suff later or powder blower, with which 267 00:16:03.399 --> 00:16:06.799 he blew a stream of impalpable smoke like powder onto 268 00:16:06.799 --> 00:16:10.000 the edges of the middle window, bestowing the closest attention 269 00:16:10.480 --> 00:16:13.639 on the irregular dusty patches in which it settled, and 270 00:16:13.759 --> 00:16:15.919 even measuring one on the jam of the window with 271 00:16:15.960 --> 00:16:19.759 a pocket rule. At length, he stepped down, and, having 272 00:16:19.799 --> 00:16:23.120 carefully looked over the near side footboard, announced that he 273 00:16:23.159 --> 00:16:26.879 had finished for the present. As we were returning down 274 00:16:26.879 --> 00:16:29.799 the line, we passed a working man who seemed to 275 00:16:29.799 --> 00:16:33.559 be viewing the chairs and sleepers with more than casual interest. 276 00:16:34.240 --> 00:16:36.840 That I suppose is one of the plate layers, Thorndike 277 00:16:36.879 --> 00:16:40.840 suggested to the station master. Yes, the foreman of the gang. 278 00:16:41.240 --> 00:16:44.080 Was the reply, I'll just step back and have a 279 00:16:44.080 --> 00:16:47.039 word with him, if you will walk on slowly, and 280 00:16:47.120 --> 00:16:50.159 my companion turned back briskly and overtook the man, with 281 00:16:50.240 --> 00:16:54.279 whom he remained in conversation for some minutes. I think 282 00:16:54.320 --> 00:16:57.360 I see the police inspector on the platform, remarked Thorndyke 283 00:16:57.720 --> 00:17:01.039 as we approached the station. Yes, there he is, said 284 00:17:01.039 --> 00:17:03.639 our guide. Come down to see what you are after, sir, 285 00:17:03.720 --> 00:17:07.559 I expect, which was doubtless the case, although the officer 286 00:17:07.599 --> 00:17:11.000 professed to be there by the merest chance, you would 287 00:17:11.039 --> 00:17:13.720 like to see the weapon, sir, I suppose, he remarked, 288 00:17:13.720 --> 00:17:18.640 when he had introduced himself the umbrella spike. Thorndyke corrected, yes, 289 00:17:18.720 --> 00:17:21.039 if I may. We are going to the mortuary now, 290 00:17:21.920 --> 00:17:24.160 then you'll pass the station on the way, so if 291 00:17:24.160 --> 00:17:26.480 you care to look in, I will walk up with you. 292 00:17:27.759 --> 00:17:31.079 This proposition being agreed to, we all proceeded to the 293 00:17:31.119 --> 00:17:34.079 police station, including the station master, who is on the 294 00:17:34.200 --> 00:17:38.839 very tiptoe of curiosity. There you are, sir, said the inspector, 295 00:17:39.319 --> 00:17:42.839 unlocking his office and ushering us in. Don't say we 296 00:17:42.880 --> 00:17:46.240 haven't given every facility to the defense. There are all 297 00:17:46.279 --> 00:17:49.319 the effects of the accused, including the very weapon the 298 00:17:49.400 --> 00:17:53.759 deed was done with. Come, come, protested Thorndyke. We mustn't 299 00:17:53.759 --> 00:17:58.359 be premature. He took the stout ash staff from the officer, and, 300 00:17:58.400 --> 00:18:01.960 having examined the formidable spike through a lens, drew from 301 00:18:01.960 --> 00:18:05.279 his pocket a steel caliper gage, with which he carefully 302 00:18:05.279 --> 00:18:08.039 measured the diameter of the spike and the staff to 303 00:18:08.079 --> 00:18:11.599 which it was fixed. And now, he said, when he 304 00:18:11.640 --> 00:18:13.599 had made a note of the measurements in his book, 305 00:18:14.039 --> 00:18:17.119 we will look at the color box and the sketch. Hah, 306 00:18:17.400 --> 00:18:21.200 a very orderly man, your brother, mister Stopford, tubes in 307 00:18:21.279 --> 00:18:25.160 all their places. Pallet knives wiped clean, pallet cleaned off 308 00:18:25.160 --> 00:18:28.599 and rubbed. Bright brushes wiped. They ought to be washed 309 00:18:28.640 --> 00:18:33.440 before they stiffened. All this is very significant. He unstrapped 310 00:18:33.440 --> 00:18:36.319 the sketch from the blank canvas to which it was pinned, and, 311 00:18:36.400 --> 00:18:38.960 standing on a chair in a good light, stepped back 312 00:18:39.000 --> 00:18:41.839 to look at it. And you tell me that is 313 00:18:41.880 --> 00:18:44.680 only three hours work, he exclaimed, looking at the lawyer. 314 00:18:45.440 --> 00:18:49.079 It is really a marvelous achievement. My brother is a 315 00:18:49.160 --> 00:18:53.680 very rapid worker, replied Stopford dejectedly. Yes, but this is 316 00:18:53.720 --> 00:18:57.839 not only amazingly rapid, it is in his very happiest vein, 317 00:18:58.319 --> 00:19:01.200 full of spirit and feeling. But we mustn't stay to 318 00:19:01.240 --> 00:19:05.559 look at it longer. He replaced the canvas on its pins, and, 319 00:19:05.640 --> 00:19:08.400 having glanced at the locket and some other articles that 320 00:19:08.480 --> 00:19:11.480 lay in a drawer, thanked the inspector for his courtesy, 321 00:19:11.559 --> 00:19:15.279 and withdrew. That sketch and the color box appear very 322 00:19:15.279 --> 00:19:18.160 suggestive to me, he remarked. As we walked up the 323 00:19:18.160 --> 00:19:22.039 street to me, also said Stopford gloomily, for they are 324 00:19:22.119 --> 00:19:24.759 under lock and key like their owner, poor old fellow. 325 00:19:25.720 --> 00:19:29.839 He sighed heavily, and we walked on in silence. The 326 00:19:29.880 --> 00:19:33.000 mortuary keeper had evidently heard of our arrival, for he 327 00:19:33.079 --> 00:19:35.799 was waiting at the door with the key in his hand, and, 328 00:19:35.839 --> 00:19:38.920 on being shown the coroner's order, unlocked the door and 329 00:19:39.000 --> 00:19:42.319 we entered together. But after a momentary glance at the 330 00:19:42.400 --> 00:19:46.799 ghostly shrouded figure lying upon the slate table, Stopford turned 331 00:19:46.839 --> 00:19:49.480 pale and retreated, saying that he would wait for us 332 00:19:49.519 --> 00:19:53.640 outside with the mortuary keeper. As soon as the door 333 00:19:53.720 --> 00:19:57.599 was closed and locked. On the inside, Thorndyke glanced curiously 334 00:19:57.720 --> 00:20:02.039 round the bare, whitewashed building. A stream of sunlight poured 335 00:20:02.079 --> 00:20:05.039 in through the skylight and fell upon the silent form 336 00:20:05.440 --> 00:20:08.799 that lay so still under its covering sheet, and one 337 00:20:08.839 --> 00:20:11.960 stray beam glanced into a corner by the door, where 338 00:20:11.960 --> 00:20:14.400 on the row of pegs and a deal table, the 339 00:20:14.440 --> 00:20:19.599 dead woman's clothing was displayed. There is something unspeakily sad 340 00:20:19.640 --> 00:20:23.119 in these poor relics, Jervis, said Thorndyke, as we stood 341 00:20:23.160 --> 00:20:27.279 before them. To me, they are more tragic, more full 342 00:20:27.319 --> 00:20:31.359 of pathetic suggestion than the corpse itself. See the smart 343 00:20:31.440 --> 00:20:35.039 jaunty hat, and the costly skirts hanging there so desolate 344 00:20:35.079 --> 00:20:39.480 and forlorn, the dainty lingerie on the table, neatly folded 345 00:20:39.799 --> 00:20:43.200 by the mortuary man's wife. I hope the little French 346 00:20:43.240 --> 00:20:47.880 shoes and open worked silk stockings, how pathetically eloquent they are, 347 00:20:47.920 --> 00:20:52.000 of harmless womanly vanity, and the gay, careless life snapped 348 00:20:52.039 --> 00:20:54.599 short at the twinkling of an eye. But we must 349 00:20:54.640 --> 00:20:57.720 not give way to sentiment. There is another life threatened, 350 00:20:57.880 --> 00:21:01.359 and it is in our keeping. He lifted the hat 351 00:21:01.359 --> 00:21:03.759 from its peg and turned it over in his hand. 352 00:21:04.680 --> 00:21:07.720 It was, I think, what is called a picture hat, 353 00:21:08.079 --> 00:21:11.480 a huge, flat, shapeless mass of gauze and ribbon and feather, 354 00:21:12.039 --> 00:21:15.920 spangled over freely with dark blue sequins. In one part 355 00:21:15.920 --> 00:21:18.200 of the brim was a ragged hole, and from this 356 00:21:18.400 --> 00:21:21.119 the glittering sequence dropped off in little showers. When the 357 00:21:21.160 --> 00:21:24.880 hat was moved. This will have been worn tilted over 358 00:21:24.920 --> 00:21:27.920 on the left side, said Thorndyke, judging by the general 359 00:21:28.000 --> 00:21:31.319 shape and the position of the hole. Yes, I agreed, 360 00:21:31.880 --> 00:21:36.160 like that of the Duchess of Devonshire in Gainsborough's portrait exactly. 361 00:21:37.480 --> 00:21:39.400 He shook a few of the sequins into the palm 362 00:21:39.440 --> 00:21:42.200 of his hand, and replacing the hat on its peg, 363 00:21:42.559 --> 00:21:44.960 dropped the little disks into an envelope on which he 364 00:21:45.000 --> 00:21:49.599 wrote from the hat and slipped it into his pocket. Then, 365 00:21:49.640 --> 00:21:52.559 stepping over to the table, he drew back the sheet 366 00:21:52.720 --> 00:21:56.359 reverently and even tenderly from the dead woman's face, and 367 00:21:56.440 --> 00:21:59.519 looked down at it with grave pity. It was a 368 00:21:59.559 --> 00:22:03.960 comely face, white as marble, serene and peaceful in expression, 369 00:22:04.079 --> 00:22:07.160 with half closed eyes, and framed with a mass of 370 00:22:07.200 --> 00:22:10.880 brassy yellow hair. But its beauty was marred by a long, 371 00:22:10.960 --> 00:22:15.160 linear wound, half cut, half bruise, running down the right 372 00:22:15.240 --> 00:22:19.000 cheek from the eye to the chin. A handsome girl, 373 00:22:19.079 --> 00:22:22.960 Thorndyke commented, a dark haired blonde, What a sin to 374 00:22:23.000 --> 00:22:27.640 have disfigured herself so with that horrible peroxide. He smoothed 375 00:22:27.640 --> 00:22:30.759 the hair back from her forehead, and added, she seems 376 00:22:30.799 --> 00:22:33.240 to have applied the stuff last about ten days ago. 377 00:22:33.920 --> 00:22:35.680 There is about a quarter of an inch of dark 378 00:22:35.720 --> 00:22:38.039 hair at the roots. What do you make of that 379 00:22:38.119 --> 00:22:41.640 wound on the cheek. It looks as if she had 380 00:22:41.680 --> 00:22:44.960 struck some sharp angle in falling, though as the seats 381 00:22:44.960 --> 00:22:47.880 are padded in first class carriages. I don't see what 382 00:22:48.039 --> 00:22:52.000 she could have struck. No, and now let us look 383 00:22:52.000 --> 00:22:54.759 at the other wound. Will you note down the description? 384 00:22:55.559 --> 00:22:58.200 He handed me his notebook, and I wrote down as 385 00:22:58.200 --> 00:23:02.720 he dictated. A clean punched circular hole and skull an 386 00:23:02.720 --> 00:23:06.839 inch behind and above margin of left ear diameter an 387 00:23:06.880 --> 00:23:12.079 inch in seven sixteenth starred fracture of parietal bone, membranes 388 00:23:12.119 --> 00:23:17.519 perforated and brain entered. Deeply ragged scalp wound extending forward 389 00:23:17.559 --> 00:23:21.000 to margin of left orbit. Fragments of gauze and sequins 390 00:23:21.000 --> 00:23:23.920 and edges of wound. That will do for the present. 391 00:23:24.640 --> 00:23:27.200 Doctor Morton will give us further details if we want them. 392 00:23:28.519 --> 00:23:31.880 He pocketed his calipers and rule drew from the bruised 393 00:23:31.880 --> 00:23:34.640 scalp one or two loose hairs, which he placed in 394 00:23:34.640 --> 00:23:37.519 the envelope with a sequence, and, having looked over the 395 00:23:37.519 --> 00:23:40.640 body for other wounds or bruises, of which there were none, 396 00:23:41.240 --> 00:23:45.680 replaced a sheet and prepared to depart. As we walked 397 00:23:45.680 --> 00:23:49.680 away from the mortuary, Thorndyke was silent and deeply thoughtful, 398 00:23:50.079 --> 00:23:52.440 and I gathered that he was piecing together the facts 399 00:23:52.480 --> 00:23:56.240 that he had acquired at length. Mister Stopford, who had 400 00:23:56.240 --> 00:23:59.839 several times looked at him curiously, said, the post morte 401 00:23:59.839 --> 00:24:02.599