1 00:00:00,440 --> 00:00:04,839 Speaker 1: The Adventure of the Abbey Grange. It was on a 2 00:00:04,839 --> 00:00:07,839 bitterly cold and frosty morning towards the end of the 3 00:00:07,879 --> 00:00:10,800 winter of ninety seven that I was awakened by a 4 00:00:10,880 --> 00:00:14,800 tugging at my shoulder. It was Holmes, the candle in 5 00:00:14,839 --> 00:00:18,199 his hand, shone upon his eager, stooping face, and told 6 00:00:18,199 --> 00:00:22,399 me at a glance that something was a miss. Come Watson, Come, 7 00:00:22,719 --> 00:00:26,920 he cried, The game is afoot. Not a word into 8 00:00:26,920 --> 00:00:31,039 your clothes and come. Ten minutes later we were both 9 00:00:31,039 --> 00:00:33,679 in a cab and rattling through the silent streets on 10 00:00:33,759 --> 00:00:37,880 our way to Charing Cross station. The first faint winter's 11 00:00:37,960 --> 00:00:40,759 dawn was beginning to appear, and we could dimly see 12 00:00:40,759 --> 00:00:43,799 the occasional figure of an early workman as he passed us, 13 00:00:44,240 --> 00:00:49,200 blurred and indistinct in the opalescent London reek. Holmes nestled 14 00:00:49,240 --> 00:00:53,719 in silence into his heavy coat, and I was glad 15 00:00:53,759 --> 00:00:56,159 to do the same, for the air was most bitter, 16 00:00:56,640 --> 00:00:59,840 and neither of us had broken our fast. It was 17 00:00:59,840 --> 00:01:02,079 not until we had consumed some hot tea at the 18 00:01:02,119 --> 00:01:05,439 station and taken our places in the Kentish train that 19 00:01:05,519 --> 00:01:09,200 we were sufficiently thawed. He to speak and I to listen. 20 00:01:09,920 --> 00:01:12,480 Holmes drew a note from his pocket and read aloud 21 00:01:13,519 --> 00:01:17,959 Abbe Grange, Marsham, Kent, three thirty a m. My dear 22 00:01:18,040 --> 00:01:20,920 mister Holmes, I should be very glad of your immediate 23 00:01:20,959 --> 00:01:24,200 assistance in what promises to be a most remarkable case. 24 00:01:24,799 --> 00:01:28,280 It is something quite in your line, except for releasing 25 00:01:28,319 --> 00:01:30,799 the lady. I will see that everything is kept exactly 26 00:01:30,879 --> 00:01:33,319 as I have found it. But I beg you not 27 00:01:33,359 --> 00:01:36,359 to lose an instant, as it is difficult to leave. 28 00:01:36,400 --> 00:01:44,040 Sir Eustace here yours faithfully, Stanley Hopkins. Hopkins has called 29 00:01:44,040 --> 00:01:47,159 me in seven times, and on each occasion his summons 30 00:01:47,159 --> 00:01:51,400 has been entirely justified, said Holmes. I fancy that every 31 00:01:51,400 --> 00:01:53,920 one of his cases has found its way into your collection. 32 00:01:54,599 --> 00:01:57,200 And I must admit, Watson, that you have some power 33 00:01:57,200 --> 00:02:00,000 of selection which atones for much of which I deplay 34 00:02:00,239 --> 00:02:03,599 in your narratives. Your fatal habit of looking at everything 35 00:02:03,599 --> 00:02:05,560 from the point of view of a story instead of 36 00:02:05,599 --> 00:02:09,479 as a scientific exercise has ruined what might have been 37 00:02:09,560 --> 00:02:15,599 an instructive and even classical series of demonstrations. You slur 38 00:02:15,800 --> 00:02:19,599 over work of the utmost finesse and delicacy in order 39 00:02:19,639 --> 00:02:23,919 to dwell upon sensational details which may excite but cannot 40 00:02:24,039 --> 00:02:28,560 possibly instruct the reader. Why do you not write them yourself? 41 00:02:28,759 --> 00:02:32,680 I said, with some bitterness. I will, my dear Watson, 42 00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:36,479 I will. At present. I am, as you know, fairly busy, 43 00:02:37,080 --> 00:02:39,759 but I propose to devote my declining years to the 44 00:02:39,800 --> 00:02:42,840 composition of a text book which shall focus the whole 45 00:02:42,960 --> 00:02:47,520 art of detection into one volume. Our present research appears 46 00:02:47,560 --> 00:02:51,520 to be a case of murder. You think this, Sir Eustace, 47 00:02:51,599 --> 00:02:56,479 is dead, then I should say so. Hopkins's writing shows 48 00:02:56,560 --> 00:03:01,159 considerable agitation, and he is not an emotional man. Yes, 49 00:03:01,280 --> 00:03:03,759 I gather there has been some violence, and that the 50 00:03:03,759 --> 00:03:07,280 body is left for our inspection. A mere suicide would 51 00:03:07,319 --> 00:03:09,919 not have caused him to send for me. As to 52 00:03:09,960 --> 00:03:12,520 the release of the lady, it would appear that she 53 00:03:12,599 --> 00:03:15,879 has been locked in her room during the tragedy. We 54 00:03:15,919 --> 00:03:21,080 are moving in high life, Watson, crackling paper E B monogram, 55 00:03:21,240 --> 00:03:25,599 coat of arms, picturesque address. I think that friend Hopkins 56 00:03:25,639 --> 00:03:28,240 will live up to his reputation, and that we shall 57 00:03:28,240 --> 00:03:31,800 have an interesting morning. The crime was committed before twelve 58 00:03:31,919 --> 00:03:36,800 last night. How can you possibly tell by an inspection 59 00:03:36,919 --> 00:03:41,120 of the trains, and by reckoning the time the local 60 00:03:41,120 --> 00:03:43,960 police had to be called in. They had to communicate 61 00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:47,800 with Scotland Yard Hopkins had to go out, and he 62 00:03:47,919 --> 00:03:51,400 in turn had to send for me. All that makes 63 00:03:51,400 --> 00:03:55,120 a fair night's work. Well, here we are at Chiselhurst station, 64 00:03:55,240 --> 00:03:58,479 and we shall soon set our doubts at rest. A 65 00:03:58,560 --> 00:04:01,240 drive of a couple of miles through narrow country lanes 66 00:04:01,520 --> 00:04:04,199 brought us to a park gate, which was opened for 67 00:04:04,280 --> 00:04:07,240 us by an old lodge keeper, whose haggard face bore 68 00:04:07,280 --> 00:04:11,400 the reflection of some great disaster. The avenue ran through 69 00:04:11,400 --> 00:04:15,199 a noble park, between lines of ancient elms, and ended 70 00:04:15,199 --> 00:04:18,839 in a low, widespread house pillared in front after the 71 00:04:18,879 --> 00:04:22,560 fashion of palladio. The central part was evidently of a 72 00:04:22,600 --> 00:04:26,399 great age and shrouded in ivy, but the large windows 73 00:04:26,439 --> 00:04:29,399 showed that modern changes had been carried out, and one 74 00:04:29,439 --> 00:04:32,839 wing of the house appeared to be entirely new. The 75 00:04:32,879 --> 00:04:36,399 youthful figure and alert, eager face of Inspector Stanley Hopkins 76 00:04:36,800 --> 00:04:40,920 confronted us in the open doorway. I'm very glad you've come, 77 00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:44,720 mister Olmes, and you too, doctor Watson. But indeed, if 78 00:04:44,759 --> 00:04:47,240 i'd my time over again, I should not have troubled you, 79 00:04:47,800 --> 00:04:50,560 for since the ladies come to herself, she has given 80 00:04:50,600 --> 00:04:52,639 so clear an account of the affair that there's not 81 00:04:52,720 --> 00:04:55,639 much left for us to do. You remember that Lewisham 82 00:04:55,680 --> 00:05:00,800 gang of burglars. What the three Randalls eggs? Exactly? The 83 00:05:00,879 --> 00:05:04,160 father and two sons. It's their work. I've no doubt 84 00:05:04,160 --> 00:05:06,680 of it. They did a job at Sydenham a fortnight 85 00:05:06,680 --> 00:05:10,360 ago and were seen and described rather cool to do 86 00:05:10,399 --> 00:05:13,839 another so soon and so near. But it is they, 87 00:05:13,959 --> 00:05:17,879 beyond all doubt. It's a hanging matter this time. Sir 88 00:05:17,920 --> 00:05:21,439 Eustace is dead then, yes, his head was knocked in 89 00:05:21,519 --> 00:05:26,600 with his own poker. Sir Eustace Brackenstall, the driver tells 90 00:05:26,639 --> 00:05:31,279 me exactly one of the richest men in Kent. Lady 91 00:05:31,319 --> 00:05:34,920 Brackenstall is in the morning room. Poor lady, she has 92 00:05:34,959 --> 00:05:38,839 had a most dreadful experience. She seemed alf dead when 93 00:05:38,879 --> 00:05:41,319 I first saw her. I think you'd best see her 94 00:05:41,360 --> 00:05:44,560 and hear her account of the facts. Then we'll examine 95 00:05:44,560 --> 00:05:49,240 the dining room together. Lady Brackenstall was no ordinary person. 96 00:05:50,079 --> 00:05:53,680 Seldom have I seen so graceful a figure, so womanly 97 00:05:53,720 --> 00:05:57,959 a presence, and so beautiful a face. She was a blonde, 98 00:05:58,160 --> 00:06:01,160 golden haired, blue eyed, and would no doubt have had 99 00:06:01,160 --> 00:06:04,560 the perfect complexion which goes with such coloring, had not 100 00:06:04,680 --> 00:06:09,639 her recent experience left her drawn and haggard. Her sufferings 101 00:06:09,639 --> 00:06:12,480 were physical as well as mental. For over one eye 102 00:06:12,600 --> 00:06:16,600 rose a hideous plum colored swelling, which her maid, a tall, 103 00:06:16,680 --> 00:06:21,480 austeel woman, was bathing assiduously with vinegar and water. The 104 00:06:21,560 --> 00:06:24,959 lady lay back, exhausted upon her couch, but her quick 105 00:06:25,120 --> 00:06:28,040 observant gaze as we entered the room, and the alert 106 00:06:28,040 --> 00:06:31,879 expression of her beautiful features, showed that neither her wits 107 00:06:31,959 --> 00:06:35,319 nor her courage had been shaken by her terrible experience. 108 00:06:36,360 --> 00:06:39,079 She was enveloped in a loose dressing gown of blue 109 00:06:39,120 --> 00:06:42,720 and silver, but a black sequin covered dinner dress lay 110 00:06:42,800 --> 00:06:46,920 upon the couch beside her. I have told you all 111 00:06:47,000 --> 00:06:51,399 that happened, mister Hopkins, she said, wearily. Could you not 112 00:06:51,600 --> 00:06:55,040 repeat it for me? Well, if you think it necessary, 113 00:06:55,480 --> 00:06:59,040 I will tell these gentlemen what occurred? Have they been 114 00:06:59,120 --> 00:07:02,279 in the dining room yet? Ah? Thought? They are bettery 115 00:07:02,360 --> 00:07:06,240 your Ladyship's story. First, I shall be glad when you 116 00:07:06,279 --> 00:07:09,240 can arrange matters it is horrible to me to think 117 00:07:09,279 --> 00:07:13,800 of him still lying there. She shuddered and buried her 118 00:07:13,800 --> 00:07:16,519 face in her hands. As she did so, the loose 119 00:07:16,600 --> 00:07:21,000 gown fell back from her forearms. Holmes uttered an exclamation, 120 00:07:22,160 --> 00:07:26,959 you have other injuries, madam? What is this? Two vivid 121 00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:30,279 red spots stood out on one of the white round limbs. 122 00:07:30,959 --> 00:07:35,000 She hastily covered it. It is nothing. It has no 123 00:07:35,079 --> 00:07:38,519 connection with this hideous business to night. If you and 124 00:07:38,560 --> 00:07:40,879 your friend will sit down, I will tell you all 125 00:07:40,920 --> 00:07:45,560 I can. I am the wife of Sir Eusta Sprackenstall. 126 00:07:46,079 --> 00:07:48,920 I have been married about a year. I suppose that 127 00:07:48,959 --> 00:07:52,120 it is no use my attempting to conceal that our 128 00:07:52,160 --> 00:07:55,079 marriage has not been a happy one. I fear that 129 00:07:55,120 --> 00:07:57,439 all our neighbors would tell you that even if I 130 00:07:57,480 --> 00:08:00,639 were to attempt to deny it. Perhaps the fault may 131 00:08:00,680 --> 00:08:03,759 be partly mine. I was brought up in the freer, 132 00:08:03,839 --> 00:08:08,199 less conventional atmosphere of South Australia, and this English life, 133 00:08:08,240 --> 00:08:12,079 with its proprieties and its primness, is not congenial to me. 134 00:08:12,920 --> 00:08:15,000 But the main reason lies in the one fact which 135 00:08:15,040 --> 00:08:18,800 is notorious to everyone, and that is that Sir Eustace 136 00:08:19,120 --> 00:08:22,079 was a confirmed drunkard. To be with such a man 137 00:08:22,160 --> 00:08:25,360 for an hour is unpleasant. Can you imagine what it 138 00:08:25,439 --> 00:08:28,040 means for a sensitive and high spirited woman to be 139 00:08:28,120 --> 00:08:31,199 tied to him for day and night. It is a sacrilege, 140 00:08:31,560 --> 00:08:34,720 a crime, a villainy to hold that such a marriage 141 00:08:34,759 --> 00:08:38,440 is binding. I say that these monstrous laws of yours 142 00:08:38,440 --> 00:08:41,039 will bring a curse upon the land. God will not 143 00:08:41,159 --> 00:08:45,240 let such wickedness endure for an instant. She sat up, 144 00:08:45,399 --> 00:08:48,080 her cheeks flushed and her eyes blazing from under the 145 00:08:48,200 --> 00:08:52,200 terrible mark upon her brow. Then she strong soothing hand 146 00:08:52,440 --> 00:08:55,559 of the austere maid, drew her head down onto the cushion, 147 00:08:55,919 --> 00:09:00,000 and the wild anger died away into passionate sobbing. At last, 148 00:09:00,240 --> 00:09:05,000 she continued, I will tell you about last night. You 149 00:09:05,039 --> 00:09:08,759 are aware, perhaps, that in this house all the servants 150 00:09:08,840 --> 00:09:12,000 sleep in the modern wing. This central block is made 151 00:09:12,080 --> 00:09:15,080 up of the dwelling rooms, with the kitchen behind and 152 00:09:15,200 --> 00:09:20,120 our bedroom above. My maid Teresa sleeps above my room. 153 00:09:20,679 --> 00:09:23,360 There is no one else, and no sound could alarm 154 00:09:23,440 --> 00:09:26,039 those who are in the farther wing. This must have 155 00:09:26,080 --> 00:09:28,279 been well known to the robbers, or they would not 156 00:09:28,320 --> 00:09:32,799 have acted as they did. Sir Eustace retired about half 157 00:09:32,879 --> 00:09:36,120 past ten. The servants had already gone to their quarters. 158 00:09:36,799 --> 00:09:39,440 Only my maid was up, and she had remained in 159 00:09:39,480 --> 00:09:41,320 her room at the top of the house until I 160 00:09:41,360 --> 00:09:44,960 needed her services. I sat until after eleven in this room, 161 00:09:45,320 --> 00:09:49,320 absorbed in a book. Then I walked round to see 162 00:09:49,320 --> 00:09:52,519 that all was right before I went upstairs. It was 163 00:09:52,559 --> 00:09:56,120 my custom to do this myself, for, as I have explained, 164 00:09:56,559 --> 00:10:00,200 Sir Eustace was not always to be trusted. I went 165 00:10:00,240 --> 00:10:03,919 into the kitchen, the butler's pantry, the gun room, the 166 00:10:03,960 --> 00:10:07,720 billiard room, the drawing room, and finally the dining room. 167 00:10:08,799 --> 00:10:12,320 As I approached the window, which is covered with thick curtains, 168 00:10:13,000 --> 00:10:16,039 I suddenly felt the wind blow upon my face and 169 00:10:16,159 --> 00:10:19,639 realized that it was open. I flung the curtain side 170 00:10:20,080 --> 00:10:23,399 and found myself face to face with a broad shouldered, 171 00:10:23,480 --> 00:10:27,200 elderly man who had just stepped into the room. The 172 00:10:27,240 --> 00:10:29,720 window is a long French one which really forms a 173 00:10:29,799 --> 00:10:33,639 door leading to the lawn. I held my bedroom candle 174 00:10:33,679 --> 00:10:36,960 lit in my hand, and by its light behind the 175 00:10:37,000 --> 00:10:40,159 first man, I saw two others who were in the 176 00:10:40,200 --> 00:10:44,279 act of entering. I stepped back, but the fellow was 177 00:10:44,360 --> 00:10:47,240 on me in an instant he caught me first by 178 00:10:47,240 --> 00:10:50,600 the wrist and then by the throat. I opened my 179 00:10:50,679 --> 00:10:54,200 mouth to scream, but he struck me a savage blow 180 00:10:54,240 --> 00:10:56,960 with his fist over the eye, and felled me to 181 00:10:57,039 --> 00:11:00,720 the ground. I must have been unconscious for a few minutes, 182 00:11:01,240 --> 00:11:03,679 for when I came to myself, I found that they 183 00:11:03,720 --> 00:11:06,320 had torn down the bell rope and had secured me 184 00:11:06,399 --> 00:11:09,279 tightly to the oaken chair which stands at the head 185 00:11:09,399 --> 00:11:12,879 of the dining room table. I was so firmly bound 186 00:11:13,200 --> 00:11:16,039 that I could not move, and a handkerchief round my 187 00:11:16,120 --> 00:11:19,919 mouth prevented me from uttering a sound. It was at 188 00:11:19,919 --> 00:11:24,440 this instant that my unfortunate husband entered the room. He 189 00:11:24,559 --> 00:11:28,480 had evidently heard some suspicious sounds, and he came prepared 190 00:11:28,519 --> 00:11:31,559 for such a scene as he found. He was dressed 191 00:11:31,559 --> 00:11:35,360 in night shirt and trousers, with his favorite blackthorn cudgel 192 00:11:35,480 --> 00:11:39,480 in his hand. He rushed at the burglars, but another 193 00:11:40,080 --> 00:11:43,360 it was an elderly man, stooped, picked the poker out 194 00:11:43,360 --> 00:11:46,159 of the grate and struck him a horrible blow. As 195 00:11:46,159 --> 00:11:50,039 he passed. He fell with a groan and never moved again. 196 00:11:51,159 --> 00:11:54,200 I fainted once more, but again it could only have 197 00:11:54,200 --> 00:11:57,279 been for a very few minutes, during which I was insensible. 198 00:11:58,120 --> 00:12:00,799 When I opened my eyes, I found that they had 199 00:12:00,799 --> 00:12:03,840 collected the silver from the sideboard, and they had drawn 200 00:12:03,840 --> 00:12:06,840 a bottle of wine, which stood there. Each of them 201 00:12:06,960 --> 00:12:10,120 had a glass in his hand. I have already told you, 202 00:12:10,320 --> 00:12:13,399 have I not? That one was elderly with a beard, 203 00:12:13,799 --> 00:12:17,440 and the others young hairless lads. They might have been 204 00:12:17,440 --> 00:12:21,080 a father with his two sons. They talked together in whispers. 205 00:12:21,879 --> 00:12:23,919 Then they came over and made sure that I was 206 00:12:23,960 --> 00:12:29,320 securely bound. Finally they withdrew, closing the window after them. 207 00:12:29,679 --> 00:12:31,519 It was quite a quarter of an hour before I 208 00:12:31,559 --> 00:12:34,559 got my mouth free. When I did so, my screams 209 00:12:34,600 --> 00:12:37,919 brought the maid to my assistance. The other servants were 210 00:12:37,919 --> 00:12:41,240 soon alarmed, and we sent for the local police, who 211 00:12:41,360 --> 00:12:45,919 instantly communicated with London. That is really all that I 212 00:12:45,960 --> 00:12:48,600 can tell you, gentlemen, and I trust that it will 213 00:12:48,639 --> 00:12:51,399 not be necessary for me to go over so painful 214 00:12:51,480 --> 00:12:58,200 a story again. Any questions, mister Elmes asked Hopkins. I 215 00:12:58,240 --> 00:13:02,039 will not impose any further tax upon Lady Brackenstall's patience 216 00:13:02,120 --> 00:13:06,120 and time, said Holmes. Before I go into the dining room, 217 00:13:06,480 --> 00:13:09,320 I should like to hear your experience. He looked at 218 00:13:09,360 --> 00:13:13,120 the maid. I saw the man before ever they came 219 00:13:13,159 --> 00:13:16,120 into the house, said she. As I sat by my 220 00:13:16,159 --> 00:13:19,360 bedroom window, I saw three men in the moonlight down 221 00:13:19,399 --> 00:13:22,159 by the lodge gate yonder, but I thought nothing of 222 00:13:22,200 --> 00:13:24,679 it at the time. Was more than an hour after 223 00:13:24,720 --> 00:13:27,840 that I heard my mistress scream, and down I ran 224 00:13:28,120 --> 00:13:30,879 to find her, poor lamb, just as she says, and 225 00:13:30,960 --> 00:13:32,919 him on the floor, with his blood and brains over 226 00:13:32,960 --> 00:13:35,399 the room. It was enough to drive a woman out 227 00:13:35,440 --> 00:13:38,840 of her wits tied there a her very dress spotted 228 00:13:38,879 --> 00:13:42,120 with him. She never wanted courage, did Miss Mary Fraser 229 00:13:42,159 --> 00:13:45,960 of Adelaide, and Lady Brackenstall of Abbey Grange hasn't learned 230 00:13:46,000 --> 00:13:50,000 new ways. You've questioned her long enough, you gentlemen. And 231 00:13:50,080 --> 00:13:52,080 now she's coming to her own room, just with her 232 00:13:52,120 --> 00:13:55,919 old Teresa, to get the rest that she badly needs. 233 00:13:56,679 --> 00:13:59,559 With a motherly tenderness, the gaunt woman put her arm 234 00:13:59,600 --> 00:14:03,519 round her mistress and led her from the room. She's 235 00:14:03,559 --> 00:14:06,480 been with her all her life, said Hopkins. Nursed her 236 00:14:06,480 --> 00:14:08,320 as a baby and came with her to England. When 237 00:14:08,360 --> 00:14:12,279 they first left Australia eighteen months ago. Teresa, write is 238 00:14:12,320 --> 00:14:15,200 her name, and the kinder maid you don't pick up nowadays? 239 00:14:15,840 --> 00:14:19,320 This way, mister Elmes, if you please. The keen interest 240 00:14:19,360 --> 00:14:22,559 had passed out of Holmes's expressive face, and I knew 241 00:14:22,559 --> 00:14:24,559 that with the mystery all the charm of the case 242 00:14:24,639 --> 00:14:28,279 had departed. There still remained an arrest to be effected. 243 00:14:28,679 --> 00:14:31,480 But what were these commonplace rogues that he should soil 244 00:14:31,559 --> 00:14:35,480 his hands with them? An abstruse and learned specialist who 245 00:14:35,480 --> 00:14:37,519 finds that he has been called in for a case 246 00:14:37,559 --> 00:14:41,120 of measles would experience something of the annoyance which I 247 00:14:41,159 --> 00:14:44,240 read in my friend's eyes. Yet the scene in the 248 00:14:44,279 --> 00:14:47,960 dining room of the abbey Grange was sufficiently strange to 249 00:14:48,080 --> 00:14:52,480 arrest his attention and to recall his waning interest. It 250 00:14:52,600 --> 00:14:55,919 was a very large and high chamber, with carved oak ceiling, 251 00:14:56,159 --> 00:14:59,679 oaken paneling, and a fine array of deer's heads and 252 00:14:59,720 --> 00:15:03,399 an weapons around the walls. At the further end from 253 00:15:03,440 --> 00:15:05,919 the door was the high French window of which we 254 00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:09,480 had heard. Three smaller windows on the right hand side 255 00:15:09,840 --> 00:15:13,559 filled the apartment with cold winter sunshine. On the left 256 00:15:13,960 --> 00:15:18,440 was a large, deep fireplace with a massive overhanging oak mantelpiece. 257 00:15:19,200 --> 00:15:22,720 Beside the fireplace was a heavy oaken chair with arms 258 00:15:22,720 --> 00:15:25,879 and cross bars at the bottom. In and out through 259 00:15:25,879 --> 00:15:29,559 the open woodwork was woven of crimson cord, which was 260 00:15:29,600 --> 00:15:33,039 secured at each side to the cross piece below. In 261 00:15:33,120 --> 00:15:36,120 releasing the lady, the cord had been slipped off her, 262 00:15:36,679 --> 00:15:39,519 but the knots with which it had been secured still remained. 263 00:15:40,440 --> 00:15:44,960 These details only struck our attention afterwards, for our thoughts 264 00:15:44,960 --> 00:15:48,759 were entirely absorbed by the terrible object which lay upon 265 00:15:48,799 --> 00:15:51,919 the tiger skin hearth rug in front of the fire. 266 00:15:53,559 --> 00:15:56,159 It was the body of a tall, well made man 267 00:15:56,240 --> 00:15:59,360 about forty years of age. He lay upon his back, 268 00:15:59,639 --> 00:16:02,679 his face face upturned, with his white teeth grinning through 269 00:16:02,679 --> 00:16:06,639 his short black beard. His two clenched hands were raised 270 00:16:06,679 --> 00:16:10,519 above his head, and a heavy blackthorn stick lay across them. 271 00:16:11,440 --> 00:16:16,279 His dark, handsome, aquiline features were convulsed into a spasm 272 00:16:16,320 --> 00:16:19,639 of vindictive hatred, which had set his stad face in 273 00:16:19,720 --> 00:16:24,000 a terribly fiendish expression. He'd evently been in his bed 274 00:16:24,080 --> 00:16:26,559 when the alarm had broken out, for he wore a 275 00:16:26,639 --> 00:16:30,600 foppish embroidered night shirt, and his bare feet projected from 276 00:16:30,600 --> 00:16:34,679 his trousers. His head was horribly injured, and the whole 277 00:16:34,759 --> 00:16:37,399 room bore witness to the savage ferocity of the blow 278 00:16:37,440 --> 00:16:41,320 which had struck him down. Beside him lay the heavy poker, 279 00:16:42,000 --> 00:16:46,639 bent into a curve by the concussion. Holmes examined both 280 00:16:46,679 --> 00:16:51,639 it and the indescribable wreck which it had wrought. He 281 00:16:51,759 --> 00:16:56,600 must be a powerful man, this elder Randall, he remarked, Yes, 282 00:16:56,879 --> 00:17:00,039 said Hopkins. I have some record of the fellow, and 283 00:17:00,120 --> 00:17:03,679 he's a rough customer. You should have no difficulty in 284 00:17:03,720 --> 00:17:07,480 getting him, not the slict. We've been on the lookout 285 00:17:07,480 --> 00:17:09,519 for him, and there was some idea that he got 286 00:17:09,519 --> 00:17:12,440 away to America. Now that we know that the ganger ear, 287 00:17:12,599 --> 00:17:15,200 I don't see how they can escape. We have the 288 00:17:15,279 --> 00:17:18,039 news at every seaport already, and a reward will be 289 00:17:18,039 --> 00:17:21,960 offered before evening. What beats me is how they could 290 00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:24,799 have done so mad a thing. Knowing that the lady 291 00:17:24,799 --> 00:17:27,559 could describe them, and that we could not fail to 292 00:17:27,599 --> 00:17:33,039 recognize a description exactly, one would have expected that they 293 00:17:33,079 --> 00:17:37,400 would silence Lady Brackenstall as well. They may not have 294 00:17:37,440 --> 00:17:42,400 realized I suggested that she'd recover from her faint. That 295 00:17:42,599 --> 00:17:45,599 is likely enough if she seemed to be senseless. They 296 00:17:45,640 --> 00:17:49,599 would not take her life. What about this poor fellow Hopkins. 297 00:17:50,319 --> 00:17:52,599 I seem to have heard some queer stories about him. 298 00:17:53,799 --> 00:17:55,960 He was a good eyed man when he was sober, 299 00:17:56,519 --> 00:17:59,559 but a perfect fiend when he was drunk, or rather 300 00:17:59,599 --> 00:18:01,680 when he was half drunk, for he seldom really went 301 00:18:01,720 --> 00:18:04,160 the old way. The devil seemed to be in him 302 00:18:04,160 --> 00:18:07,160 at such times, and he was capable of anything from 303 00:18:07,160 --> 00:18:09,519 what our ear. In spite of all his wealth and 304 00:18:09,599 --> 00:18:13,200 his title, he very nearly came our way. Once or twice. 305 00:18:13,839 --> 00:18:16,359 There was a scandal about his drenching a dog with 306 00:18:16,440 --> 00:18:20,160 petroleum and setting it on fire, her Ladyship's dog, to 307 00:18:20,200 --> 00:18:22,880 make the mau worse, and that was only ushed up 308 00:18:22,920 --> 00:18:26,720 with difficulty. Then he threw a decanter at the maid, 309 00:18:26,920 --> 00:18:30,559 Teresa Wright. There was trouble about that on the owl, 310 00:18:30,599 --> 00:18:33,160 and between ourselves it would be a brighter house without him. 311 00:18:33,880 --> 00:18:37,119 What are you looking at now? Holmes was down on 312 00:18:37,200 --> 00:18:41,480 his knees, examining with great attention the knots upon the 313 00:18:41,519 --> 00:18:45,240 red cord with which the lady had been secured. Then 314 00:18:45,279 --> 00:18:48,680 he carefully scrutinized the broken and frayed end where it 315 00:18:48,720 --> 00:18:51,319 had snapped off when the burglar had dragged it down. 316 00:18:53,240 --> 00:18:56,000 When this was pulled down, the bell in the kitchen 317 00:18:56,079 --> 00:18:59,920 must have rung loudly, he remarked. No one could hear it. 318 00:19:00,160 --> 00:19:01,960 The kitchen stands right at the back of the house. 319 00:19:03,160 --> 00:19:05,960 How did the burglar know no one would hear it? 320 00:19:06,680 --> 00:19:08,559 How dared he pull at a bell rope in that 321 00:19:08,680 --> 00:19:14,000 reckless fashion? Exactly, mister Elms, Exactly you put the very 322 00:19:14,079 --> 00:19:17,359 question which of ask myself again and again. There can 323 00:19:17,400 --> 00:19:19,559 be no doubt that this fellow must have known the 324 00:19:19,559 --> 00:19:23,319 house and its abbots. He must have perfectly understood that 325 00:19:23,359 --> 00:19:25,880 the servants would all be in bed at that comparative 326 00:19:25,960 --> 00:19:28,960 the early hour, and that no one could possibly hear 327 00:19:28,960 --> 00:19:32,720 abel ring in the kitchen. Therefore, he must have been 328 00:19:32,759 --> 00:19:36,119 in close league with one of the servants. Surely that 329 00:19:36,240 --> 00:19:39,559 is evident. But there are eight servants, and all of 330 00:19:39,559 --> 00:19:45,559 them good character, other things being equal, said Holmes, one 331 00:19:45,640 --> 00:19:48,880 would expect the one at whose head the master threw 332 00:19:48,920 --> 00:19:53,240 a decanter, And yet that would involve treachery towards the mistress, 333 00:19:53,240 --> 00:19:57,680 to whom the woman seems devoted. Well, well, the point 334 00:19:57,720 --> 00:19:59,680 is a minor one. And when you have Randall you 335 00:19:59,680 --> 00:20:04,240 will find no difficulty in securing his accomplice. The ladys 336 00:20:04,279 --> 00:20:08,359 saory certainly seems to be corroborated if it needed cooperation, 337 00:20:09,000 --> 00:20:12,680 by every detail which we see before us. He walked 338 00:20:12,680 --> 00:20:15,799 to the French window and threw it open. There are 339 00:20:15,799 --> 00:20:19,079 no signs here, but the ground is iron hard, and 340 00:20:19,119 --> 00:20:22,599 one would not expect them. I see that these candles 341 00:20:22,640 --> 00:20:26,279 in the mantelpiece have been lighted. Yes, it was by 342 00:20:26,359 --> 00:20:28,799 their light and that of the lady's bedroom candle that 343 00:20:28,839 --> 00:20:34,480 the burglars saw their way about. And what did they take? Well, 344 00:20:34,759 --> 00:20:37,720 they didn't take much, only half a dozen articles of 345 00:20:37,839 --> 00:20:41,920 plate off the sideboard. Lady Brackstall thinks that they were 346 00:20:41,960 --> 00:20:44,920 themselves so disturbed by the death of Sir Eustace that 347 00:20:44,960 --> 00:20:48,720 they didn't ransack the house as they would otherwise have done. 348 00:20:49,480 --> 00:20:52,680 No doubt that is true. And yet they drank some wine. 349 00:20:52,680 --> 00:20:58,839 I understand, who steady their nerves? Exactly? These three glasses 350 00:20:58,920 --> 00:21:03,160 upon the sideboard untouched, I suppose, yes, And the bottle 351 00:21:03,200 --> 00:21:09,680 stands as I left it. Let us look at it? Hello, Hello, 352 00:21:10,319 --> 00:21:14,880 what is this? The three glasses were grouped together, all 353 00:21:14,920 --> 00:21:17,400 of them tinged with wine, and one of them containing 354 00:21:17,440 --> 00:21:21,319 some dregs of bee swing. The bottle stood near them, 355 00:21:21,440 --> 00:21:25,200 two thirds full, and beside it lay a long, deeply 356 00:21:25,240 --> 00:21:29,200 stained cork. Its appearance and the dust upon the bottle 357 00:21:29,839 --> 00:21:32,720 showed that it was no common vintage which the murderers 358 00:21:32,720 --> 00:21:37,119 had enjoyed. A change had come over Holmes's manner. He 359 00:21:37,160 --> 00:21:41,039 had lost his listless expression, and again I saw an 360 00:21:41,039 --> 00:21:44,240 alert light of interest in his keen, deep set eyes. 361 00:21:45,240 --> 00:21:49,880 He raised the cork and examined it minutely. How did 362 00:21:49,920 --> 00:21:53,960 they draw it? He asked? Hopkins pointed to a half 363 00:21:54,039 --> 00:21:57,240 opened drawer. In it lay some table linen and a 364 00:21:57,359 --> 00:22:02,480 large corkscrew. Did Lady Brackenstall say that screw was used? 365 00:22:03,599 --> 00:22:06,000 Now you remember that she was senseless at the moment 366 00:22:06,039 --> 00:22:10,480 when the bottle was opened. Quite so, as a matter 367 00:22:10,519 --> 00:22:14,480 of fact, that screw was not used. This bottle was 368 00:22:14,519 --> 00:22:18,279 opened by a pocket screw, probably contained in a knife, 369 00:22:18,279 --> 00:22:20,680 and not more than an inch and a half long. 370 00:22:21,640 --> 00:22:23,920 If you will examine the top of the cork, you 371 00:22:23,960 --> 00:22:26,720 will observe that the screw was driven in three times 372 00:22:26,759 --> 00:22:30,400 before the cork was extracted. It has never been transfixed. 373 00:22:31,319 --> 00:22:35,000 This long screw would have transfixed it and drawn it 374 00:22:35,079 --> 00:22:38,359 up with a single pull. When you catch this fellow, 375 00:22:38,960 --> 00:22:41,319 you will find that he has one of these MULTIPLEX 376 00:22:41,400 --> 00:22:47,920 knives in his possession. Excellent, said Hopkins. But these glasses 377 00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:52,799 do puzzle me. I confess. Lady Brackenstall actually saw the 378 00:22:52,880 --> 00:22:56,240 three men drinking, did she not? Yes, she was clear 379 00:22:56,240 --> 00:22:59,799 about that. Then there is an end of it. What 380 00:23:00,240 --> 00:23:04,240 is to be said? And yet you must admit that 381 00:23:04,279 --> 00:23:08,880 the three glasses are very remarkable, Hopkins. What you see 382 00:23:08,920 --> 00:23:14,000 nothing remarkable? Well, well let it pass. Perhaps when a 383 00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:17,000 man has special knowledge and special powers like my own, 384 00:23:17,559 --> 00:23:21,039 it rather encourages him to seek a complex explanation when 385 00:23:21,079 --> 00:23:24,200 a simpler one is at hand. Of course, it must 386 00:23:24,240 --> 00:23:28,039 be a mere chance about the glasses. Well, good morning, Hopkins. 387 00:23:28,559 --> 00:23:30,240 I don't see that I can be of any use 388 00:23:30,319 --> 00:23:32,920 to you, and you appear to have your case very clear. 389 00:23:33,799 --> 00:23:36,240 You'll let me know when Randal is arrested and any 390 00:23:36,240 --> 00:23:39,559 further developments which may occur. I trust that I shall 391 00:23:39,559 --> 00:23:44,680 soon have to congratulate you upon a successful conclusion. Come, Watson, 392 00:23:45,160 --> 00:23:48,400 I fancy that we may employ ourselves more profitably at home. 393 00:23:50,200 --> 00:23:53,440 During our return journey, I could see by Holmes's face 394 00:23:54,000 --> 00:23:57,079 that he was much puzzled by something. Which he had observed. 395 00:23:58,039 --> 00:24:00,920 Every now and then, by an faffort, he would throw 396 00:24:00,920 --> 00:24:03,440 off the impression and talk as if the matter were clear. 397 00:24:04,279 --> 00:24:07,000 But then his doubts would settle down upon him again, 398 00:24:07,279 --> 00:24:10,680 and his knitted brows and abstracted eyes would show that 399 00:24:10,759 --> 00:24:13,359 his thoughts had gone back once more to the great 400 00:24:13,559 --> 00:24:17,000 dining room of the abbey Grange, in which this midnight 401 00:24:17,079 --> 00:24:21,599 tragedy had been enacted at last, by a sudden impulse, 402 00:24:22,359 --> 00:24:25,279 just as our train was crawling out of a suburban station, 403 00:24:26,039 --> 00:24:29,119 he sprang onto the platform and pulled me out after him. 404 00:24:30,319 --> 00:24:32,960 Excuse me, my dear fellow, said he, as we watched 405 00:24:33,000 --> 00:24:35,839 the rear carriages of our train disappearing round a curve. 406 00:24:36,799 --> 00:24:38,720 I am sorry to make you the victim of what 407 00:24:38,880 --> 00:24:42,559 may seem a mere whim, But on my life, Watson, 408 00:24:42,640 --> 00:24:46,319 I simply can't leave that case in this condition. Every 409 00:24:46,480 --> 00:24:50,720 instinct that I possess cries out against it. It's wrong, 410 00:24:51,480 --> 00:24:55,279 It's all wrong. I'll swear that it's wrong. And yet 411 00:24:55,319 --> 00:24:59,279 the lady's story was complete, the maid's corroboration was sufficient 412 00:24:59,720 --> 00:25:02,799 that he detail was fairly exact. What have I to 413 00:25:02,880 --> 00:25:08,400 put up against that three wineglasses? That is all. But 414 00:25:08,480 --> 00:25:11,319 if I had not taken things for granted, if I 415 00:25:11,319 --> 00:25:13,839 had examined everything with the case with which I should 416 00:25:13,839 --> 00:25:16,920 have shown, had we approached the case de novo and 417 00:25:17,039 --> 00:25:19,839 had no cut and dried story to warp my mind, 418 00:25:20,720 --> 00:25:23,759 should I not then have found something more definite to 419 00:25:23,799 --> 00:25:28,319 go upon. Of course I should sit down on miss 420 00:25:28,319 --> 00:25:32,400 bench Watson until a train for Chidlehurst arrives, and allow 421 00:25:32,480 --> 00:25:35,680 me to lay the evidence before you, imploring you, in 422 00:25:35,720 --> 00:25:39,440 the first instance, to dismiss from your mind the idea 423 00:25:39,480 --> 00:25:42,119 that anything which the maid or her mistress may have 424 00:25:42,160 --> 00:25:48,240 said must necessarily be true. The lady's charming personality must 425 00:25:48,319 --> 00:25:53,359 not be permitted to warp our judgment. Surely there are 426 00:25:53,400 --> 00:25:56,319 details in her story which, if we looked at in 427 00:25:56,440 --> 00:26:00,720 cold blood, would excite our suspicion. These burglars made a 428 00:26:00,720 --> 00:26:05,200 considerable haul at Sydenham a fortnight ago. Some account of 429 00:26:05,240 --> 00:26:07,759 them and of their appearance was in the papers, and 430 00:26:07,799 --> 00:26:10,279 would naturally occur to any one who wished to invent 431 00:26:10,319 --> 00:26:13,799 a story in which imaginary robbers should play a part. 432 00:26:14,960 --> 00:26:17,400 As a matter of fact, burglars who have done a 433 00:26:17,400 --> 00:26:20,720 good stroke of business are, as a rule, only too 434 00:26:20,720 --> 00:26:24,400 glad to enjoy the proceeds in peace and quiet without 435 00:26:24,440 --> 00:26:29,799 embarking on another perilous undertaking. Again, it is unusual for 436 00:26:29,839 --> 00:26:32,839 burglars to operate at so early an hour. It is 437 00:26:32,920 --> 00:26:35,960 unusual for burglars to strike a lady to prevent her screaming, 438 00:26:36,559 --> 00:26:38,839 since one would imagine that was the sure way to 439 00:26:38,880 --> 00:26:42,680 make her scream. It is unusual for them to commit 440 00:26:42,799 --> 00:26:46,440 murder when their numbers are sufficient to overpower one man. 441 00:26:46,759 --> 00:26:49,039 It is unusual for them to be content with a 442 00:26:49,039 --> 00:26:51,839 limited plunder when there was much more within their reach. 443 00:26:52,599 --> 00:26:56,680 And finally, I should say that it was very unusual 444 00:26:56,799 --> 00:27:00,480 for such men to leave a bottle half empty. How 445 00:27:00,480 --> 00:27:05,480 do all these unusuals strike you, Watson? The accumulative effect 446 00:27:05,640 --> 00:27:08,200 is certainly considerable, and yet each of them is quite 447 00:27:08,200 --> 00:27:11,440 possible in itself. The most unusual thing of all is, 448 00:27:11,480 --> 00:27:13,079 it seems to me, is that the lady should be 449 00:27:13,119 --> 00:27:17,319 tied to the chair. Well, I am not so clear 450 00:27:17,359 --> 00:27:20,000 about that, Watson, for it is evident that they must 451 00:27:20,000 --> 00:27:22,599 either kill her or else secure her in such a 452 00:27:22,640 --> 00:27:25,920 way that she could not give immediate notice of their escape. 453 00:27:26,920 --> 00:27:29,079 But at any rate, I have shown, have I not? 454 00:27:29,759 --> 00:27:32,599 That there is a certain element of improbability about the 455 00:27:32,680 --> 00:27:36,799 lady's story. And now on the top of this comes 456 00:27:36,839 --> 00:27:41,599 the incident of the wineglasses. What about the wine glasses? 457 00:27:42,720 --> 00:27:46,119 Can you see them in your mind's eye? I see 458 00:27:46,160 --> 00:27:50,559 them clearly. We are told that three men drank from them. 459 00:27:51,359 --> 00:27:55,200 Does that strike you as likely? Why not? There was 460 00:27:55,279 --> 00:28:00,680 wine in each glass exactly, but there was best only 461 00:28:00,720 --> 00:28:04,640 in one glass. You must have noticed that fact. What 462 00:28:04,759 --> 00:28:09,079 does that suggest to your mind? The last glass filled 463 00:28:09,079 --> 00:28:13,119 will be most likely to contain beeswing, not at all. 464 00:28:13,960 --> 00:28:17,079 The bottle was full of it, and it is inconceivable 465 00:28:17,160 --> 00:28:20,000 that the first two glasses were clear and the third 466 00:28:20,119 --> 00:28:24,759 heavily charged with it. There are two possible explanations, and 467 00:28:25,039 --> 00:28:29,680 only two. One is that after the second glass was filled, 468 00:28:30,039 --> 00:28:33,799 the bottle was violently agitated, and so the third glass 469 00:28:33,799 --> 00:28:38,240 received the beeswing. That does not appear probable. No, No, 470 00:28:38,440 --> 00:28:41,200 I am sure that I'm right. What, then, do you 471 00:28:41,200 --> 00:28:46,079 suppose that only two glasses were used, and that the 472 00:28:46,160 --> 00:28:49,599 dregs of both were poured into a third glass, so 473 00:28:49,720 --> 00:28:52,799 as to give the false impression that three people had 474 00:28:52,839 --> 00:28:55,960 been here. In that way, all the beeswing would be 475 00:28:56,000 --> 00:28:59,559 in the last glass, would it not. Yes, I am 476 00:28:59,599 --> 00:29:02,279 convinced that this is so. But if I have hit 477 00:29:02,359 --> 00:29:06,359 upon the true explanation of this one small phenomenon, then 478 00:29:06,559 --> 00:29:10,119 in an instant the case rises from the commonplace to 479 00:29:10,200 --> 00:29:13,720 the exceedingly remarkable. For it can only mean that Lady 480 00:29:13,720 --> 00:29:17,480 Brackenstall and her maid have deliberately lied to us, that 481 00:29:17,599 --> 00:29:20,200 not one word of their stories to be believed, that 482 00:29:20,279 --> 00:29:24,000 they have some very strong reason for covering the real criminal, 483 00:29:24,559 --> 00:29:27,480 and that we must construct our case for ourselves without 484 00:29:27,519 --> 00:29:31,079 any help from them. That is the mission which now 485 00:29:31,160 --> 00:29:35,559 lies before us. And here Watson is the Sydenham train. 486 00:29:37,039 --> 00:29:39,960 The household at the abbey Grange were much surprised at 487 00:29:39,960 --> 00:29:44,440 our return. But Sherlock Holmes, finding that Stanley Hopkins had 488 00:29:44,440 --> 00:29:47,440 gone off to report to headquarters, took possession of the 489 00:29:47,480 --> 00:29:50,960 dining room, locked the door upon the inside, and devoted 490 00:29:51,039 --> 00:29:54,440 himself for two hours to one of those minute and 491 00:29:54,559 --> 00:29:58,720 laborious investigations which formed the solid basis on which his 492 00:29:58,880 --> 00:30:03,759 brilliant edifices of deduction were reared. Seated in a corner, 493 00:30:03,799 --> 00:30:07,720 like an interested student who observed the demonstration of his professor, 494 00:30:08,480 --> 00:30:12,720 I followed every step of that remarkable research. The window, 495 00:30:13,119 --> 00:30:17,480 the curtains, the carpet, the chair, the rope, Each in 496 00:30:17,559 --> 00:30:22,319 turn was minutely examined and duly pondered. The body of 497 00:30:22,319 --> 00:30:26,319 the unfortunate baronet had been removed, and all else remained 498 00:30:26,359 --> 00:30:29,640 as we had seen it in the morning. Finally, to 499 00:30:29,720 --> 00:30:33,880 my astonishment, Homes climbed up on to the massive mantel piece. 500 00:30:34,720 --> 00:30:38,000 Far above his head hung the few inches of red cord, 501 00:30:38,079 --> 00:30:41,519 which was still attached to the wire. For a long 502 00:30:41,640 --> 00:30:44,839 time he gazed upward at it, and then, in an 503 00:30:44,880 --> 00:30:47,519 attempt to get nearer to it, he rested his knee 504 00:30:47,599 --> 00:30:51,720 upon a wooden bracket on the wall. This brought his 505 00:30:51,839 --> 00:30:54,039 hand within a few inches of the broken end of 506 00:30:54,079 --> 00:30:56,759 the rope. But it was not this so much as 507 00:30:56,799 --> 00:31:01,039 the bracket itself which seemed to engage his attention. Finally 508 00:31:01,519 --> 00:31:06,640 he sprang down with an ejaculation of satisfaction. It's all right, 509 00:31:06,720 --> 00:31:10,839 Watson said he. We have got our case, one of 510 00:31:10,839 --> 00:31:14,640 the most remarkable in our collection. But dear me, how 511 00:31:14,720 --> 00:31:17,680 slow witted I have been, and how nearly I have 512 00:31:17,759 --> 00:31:21,599 committed the blunder of my lifetime. Now I think that, 513 00:31:21,839 --> 00:31:26,279 with a few missing links, my chain is almost complete. 514 00:31:26,880 --> 00:31:33,440 You've got your men, man, Watson, man only one, but 515 00:31:33,559 --> 00:31:38,000 a very formidable person, strong as a lion, witnessed the 516 00:31:38,039 --> 00:31:41,319 blow that bent that poker, six foot three in height, 517 00:31:41,759 --> 00:31:46,400 active as a squirrel, dexterous with his fingers, finally remarkably 518 00:31:46,480 --> 00:31:51,880 quick witted. For this whole ingenious story is of his concoction. Yes, Watson, 519 00:31:52,480 --> 00:31:55,920 we have come upon the handiwork of a very remarkable individual. 520 00:31:56,640 --> 00:31:59,799 And yet in that bell rope he has given us 521 00:31:59,839 --> 00:32:02,440 a clue which should not have left us a doubt. 522 00:32:03,440 --> 00:32:06,640 Where was the clue? Well, if you were to pull 523 00:32:06,680 --> 00:32:09,920 down a bell rope, Watson, where would you expect it 524 00:32:10,039 --> 00:32:13,400 to break? Surely at the spot where it is attached 525 00:32:13,440 --> 00:32:16,839 to the wire. Why should it break three inches from 526 00:32:16,880 --> 00:32:21,319 the top, as this one has done, Because it's frayed. 527 00:32:21,359 --> 00:32:27,640 There exactly, this end, which we can examine, is frayed. 528 00:32:28,400 --> 00:32:30,680 He was cunning enough to do that with his knife. 529 00:32:31,559 --> 00:32:34,640 But the other end is not frayed. You could not 530 00:32:34,759 --> 00:32:38,160 observe that from here. But if you were on the mantelpiece, 531 00:32:38,200 --> 00:32:40,640 you would see that it is cut clean off without 532 00:32:40,720 --> 00:32:45,440 any mark of fraying. Whatever you can reconstruct what occurred. 533 00:32:46,279 --> 00:32:48,920 The man needed the rope, He would not tear it 534 00:32:49,000 --> 00:32:51,599 down for fear of giving me alarm by ringing the bell. 535 00:32:52,599 --> 00:32:55,920 What did he do? He sprang up on the mantelpiece, 536 00:32:56,400 --> 00:32:59,440 could not quite reach it, but his knee on the bracket. 537 00:33:00,039 --> 00:33:02,599 You will see the impression in the dust, and so 538 00:33:02,759 --> 00:33:06,000 got his knife to bear upon the cord. I could 539 00:33:06,000 --> 00:33:08,880 not reach the place by at least three inches, from 540 00:33:08,880 --> 00:33:10,960 which I infer that he is at least three inches 541 00:33:10,960 --> 00:33:14,039 a bigger man than I. Look at that mark upon 542 00:33:14,039 --> 00:33:18,079 the seat of the oaken chair. What is it? Blood? 543 00:33:19,160 --> 00:33:23,359 Undoubtedly it is blood. This alone puts the lady's story 544 00:33:23,519 --> 00:33:26,839 out of court. If she were seated on the chair 545 00:33:26,920 --> 00:33:31,519 when the crime was done, how come the mark? No? No, 546 00:33:32,240 --> 00:33:34,839 she was placed in the chair after the death of 547 00:33:34,880 --> 00:33:38,640 her husband. Our wager that the black dress shows a 548 00:33:38,680 --> 00:33:43,519 corresponding mark to this. We have not yet met our Waterloo, Watson. 549 00:33:43,599 --> 00:33:47,039 But this is our marango, for it begins in defeat 550 00:33:47,519 --> 00:33:51,319 and ends in victory. I should like now to have 551 00:33:51,359 --> 00:33:54,480 a few words with the nurse Teresa. We must be 552 00:33:54,519 --> 00:33:56,519 wary for a while if we are to get the 553 00:33:56,519 --> 00:34:01,039 information which we want. She was an interesting person, this 554 00:34:01,200 --> 00:34:06,960 stern Australian nurse taciturn suspicious, ungracious. It took some time before. 555 00:34:07,000 --> 00:34:10,000 Holmes's pleasant manner and frank acceptance of all that she 556 00:34:10,079 --> 00:34:14,599 said thawed her into a corresponding amiability. She did not 557 00:34:14,679 --> 00:34:19,159 attempt to conceal her hatred for her late employer. Yes, sir, 558 00:34:19,400 --> 00:34:21,719 it is true that he threw the decanter at me. 559 00:34:22,559 --> 00:34:24,840 I heard him call my mistress a name, and I 560 00:34:24,960 --> 00:34:26,760 told him that he should not dare speak to her 561 00:34:26,760 --> 00:34:29,119 as if her brother had been there. Then it was 562 00:34:29,159 --> 00:34:31,239 that he threw it at me. He might have thrown 563 00:34:31,280 --> 00:34:33,519 a dozen if he but left my bonny bird alone. 564 00:34:34,039 --> 00:34:36,880 He was forever ill treating her, and she too proud 565 00:34:36,880 --> 00:34:39,639 to complain. She will not even tell me all that 566 00:34:39,679 --> 00:34:41,800 he's done to her. She never told me of those 567 00:34:41,840 --> 00:34:44,159 marks on her arm that you saw this morning, But 568 00:34:44,239 --> 00:34:46,119 I know very well what they came from. A stab 569 00:34:46,159 --> 00:34:49,960 with a hatin a sly devil. God forgive me that 570 00:34:50,039 --> 00:34:52,440 I should speak of him so now that he's dead. 571 00:34:53,000 --> 00:34:55,719 But a devil he was, if ever one walked the earth. 572 00:34:56,079 --> 00:34:58,280 He was all honey when we first met him, only 573 00:34:58,320 --> 00:35:00,840 eighteen months ago. We both feel as if it were 574 00:35:00,880 --> 00:35:04,400 eighteen years. She'd only just arrived in London. Yes, it 575 00:35:04,440 --> 00:35:07,199 was her first voyage. She'd never been from home before 576 00:35:07,719 --> 00:35:09,599 he won up with his title and his money and 577 00:35:09,719 --> 00:35:13,320 his false London ways. If she made a mistake, she's 578 00:35:13,360 --> 00:35:16,480 paid for it. If ever a woman did. What months 579 00:35:16,480 --> 00:35:18,760 did we meet him? Well, I tell you it was 580 00:35:18,800 --> 00:35:21,480 just after we arrived. We arrived in June, and it 581 00:35:21,519 --> 00:35:25,440 was July. We were married in January last year. Yes, 582 00:35:25,519 --> 00:35:27,360 she's down in the morning room again, and I have 583 00:35:27,480 --> 00:35:30,159 no doubt she'll see you. But you must not ask 584 00:35:30,199 --> 00:35:32,320 too much of her, for she's gone through all that 585 00:35:32,400 --> 00:35:37,079 flesh and blood will stand. Lady Brackenstall was reclining on 586 00:35:37,119 --> 00:35:40,920 the same couch, but looked brighter than before. The maid 587 00:35:40,960 --> 00:35:43,840 had entered with us, and began once more to ferment 588 00:35:43,960 --> 00:35:48,639 the bruise upon her mistress's brow. I hope, said the lady, 589 00:35:49,159 --> 00:35:52,920 that you have not come to cross examine me again. No, 590 00:35:53,400 --> 00:35:56,760 Holmes answered in his gentlest voice. I will not cause 591 00:35:56,800 --> 00:36:00,599 you any unnecessary trouble, Lady Brackenstall, and my all desire 592 00:36:00,679 --> 00:36:03,440 is to make things easy for you, for I am 593 00:36:03,519 --> 00:36:06,480 convinced that you are a much tried woman. If you 594 00:36:06,480 --> 00:36:09,280 will treat me as a friend and trust me, you 595 00:36:09,360 --> 00:36:13,119 may find that I will justify your trust. What do 596 00:36:13,159 --> 00:36:16,199 you want me to do to tell me the truth, 597 00:36:17,320 --> 00:36:22,239 mister Holmes. No, no, Lady Brackenstall, it is no use. 598 00:36:22,599 --> 00:36:25,400 You may have heard of any little reputation which I possess. 599 00:36:26,039 --> 00:36:28,320 I will stake it all on the fact that your 600 00:36:28,400 --> 00:36:33,239 story is an absolute fabrication. Mistress and maid were both 601 00:36:33,280 --> 00:36:37,440 staring at homes with pale faces and frightened eyes. You 602 00:36:37,519 --> 00:36:40,519 are an impudent fellow, cried Teresa. Do you mean to 603 00:36:40,519 --> 00:36:44,239 say that my mistress has told a lie? Holmes rose 604 00:36:44,239 --> 00:36:48,920 from his chair. Have you nothing to tell me? I 605 00:36:48,960 --> 00:36:54,400 have told you everything. Think once more, Lady Brackenstall, would 606 00:36:54,400 --> 00:36:58,199 it not be better to be frank? For an instant 607 00:36:58,400 --> 00:37:02,599 there was hesitation in her beautiful face. Then some new 608 00:37:02,719 --> 00:37:06,800 strong thought caused it to set like a mask. I 609 00:37:06,840 --> 00:37:11,039 have told you all I know. Holmes took his hat 610 00:37:11,079 --> 00:37:14,960 and shrugged his shoulders. I am very sorry, he said, 611 00:37:15,360 --> 00:37:17,920 and without another word, we left the room and the house. 612 00:37:18,719 --> 00:37:20,920 There was a pond in the park, and to this 613 00:37:21,079 --> 00:37:24,440 my friend led the way. It was frozen over, but 614 00:37:24,559 --> 00:37:27,000 a single hole was left for the convenience of a 615 00:37:27,039 --> 00:37:31,639 solitary swan. Holmes gazed at it, and then passed on 616 00:37:31,679 --> 00:37:35,480 to the lodge. Gate. There he scribbled a short note 617 00:37:35,480 --> 00:37:38,599 for Stanley Hopkins and left it with the lodge keeper. 618 00:37:40,199 --> 00:37:42,760 It may be a hit or it may be a miss, 619 00:37:43,639 --> 00:37:46,280 but we are bound to do something for friend Hopkins, 620 00:37:46,800 --> 00:37:50,440 just to justify this second visit, said he. I will 621 00:37:50,440 --> 00:37:53,719 not quite take him into my confidence yet. I think 622 00:37:53,760 --> 00:37:56,719 our next scene of operations must be the shipping office 623 00:37:56,960 --> 00:38:00,360 of the Adelaide Southampton line, which stands at the end 624 00:38:00,400 --> 00:38:03,960 of Pall Mall. If I remember right, there is a 625 00:38:04,000 --> 00:38:07,519 second line of steamers which connect South Australia with England. 626 00:38:07,639 --> 00:38:12,360 But we will draw the larger cover first. Holmes's card 627 00:38:12,480 --> 00:38:15,880 sent into the manager ensured instant attention, and he was 628 00:38:15,920 --> 00:38:19,639 not long in acquiring all the information he needed. In 629 00:38:19,760 --> 00:38:22,440 June of ninety five, only one of their line had 630 00:38:22,480 --> 00:38:25,639 reached a home port. It was the Rock of Gibraltar, 631 00:38:26,119 --> 00:38:30,000 their largest and best boat. A reference to the passenger 632 00:38:30,039 --> 00:38:33,599 list showed that Miss Fraser of Adelaide with her maid, 633 00:38:33,679 --> 00:38:36,719 had made the voyage in her The boat was now 634 00:38:36,760 --> 00:38:39,679 somewhere south of the Sewers Canal on her way to Australia. 635 00:38:40,519 --> 00:38:43,199 Her officers were the same as in ninety five, with 636 00:38:43,320 --> 00:38:48,079 one exception. The first officer mister Jack Crocker had been 637 00:38:48,079 --> 00:38:50,559 made a captain and was to take charge of their 638 00:38:50,599 --> 00:38:53,880 new ship, the bass Rock, sailing in two days time 639 00:38:53,960 --> 00:38:58,079 from Southampton. He lived at Sydenham, but he was likely 640 00:38:58,159 --> 00:39:00,559 to be in that morning for instructions if we cared 641 00:39:00,559 --> 00:39:03,920 to wait for him. No, mister Holmes had no desire 642 00:39:03,960 --> 00:39:06,159 to see him, but would be glad to know more 643 00:39:06,199 --> 00:39:11,199 about his record and character. His record was magnificent. There 644 00:39:11,280 --> 00:39:13,639 was not an officer in the fleet to touch him 645 00:39:14,000 --> 00:39:17,239 as to his character. He was reliable on duty, but 646 00:39:17,320 --> 00:39:20,280 a wild, desperate fellow off the deck of his ship. 647 00:39:20,480 --> 00:39:25,800 Hot headed, excitable, but loyal, honest and kind hearted. That 648 00:39:26,079 --> 00:39:28,480 was the pith of the information with which Holmes left 649 00:39:28,519 --> 00:39:33,239 the office of the Adelaide Southampton Company. Thence he drove 650 00:39:33,280 --> 00:39:36,840 to Scotland Yard, but instead of entering, he sat in 651 00:39:36,920 --> 00:39:41,440 his cab with his brows drawn down, lost in profound thought. 652 00:39:42,480 --> 00:39:46,079 Finally he drove round to the charing Cross Telegraph Office, 653 00:39:46,480 --> 00:39:49,199 sent off a message, and then at last we made 654 00:39:49,199 --> 00:39:53,000 for Baker Street once more. No I couldn't do it, 655 00:39:53,079 --> 00:39:56,480 Watson said he as we re entered our room. Once 656 00:39:56,559 --> 00:39:59,679 that warrant was made out, nothing on earth would save 657 00:39:59,760 --> 00:40:03,159 him once or twice in my career. I feel that 658 00:40:03,239 --> 00:40:05,559 I have done more real harm by my discovery of 659 00:40:05,559 --> 00:40:08,079 the criminal than ever he had done by his crime. 660 00:40:08,960 --> 00:40:11,840 I have learned caution now, and I had rather play 661 00:40:11,880 --> 00:40:14,719 tricks with the law of England than with my own conscience. 662 00:40:15,480 --> 00:40:19,519 Let us know a little more before we act. Before evening, 663 00:40:19,760 --> 00:40:23,280 we had a visit from Inspector Stanley Hopkins. Things were 664 00:40:23,320 --> 00:40:26,719 not going very well with him. I believe you are 665 00:40:26,760 --> 00:40:30,239 a wizard, mister Olmes. I really do sometimes think that 666 00:40:30,280 --> 00:40:33,320 you have powers that are not human. Now, how on 667 00:40:33,360 --> 00:40:35,800 earth could you know that the stolen silver was at 668 00:40:35,840 --> 00:40:40,000 the bomb of that pond? I didn't know, but you 669 00:40:40,119 --> 00:40:43,920 told me to examine it. You got it, then, yere, 670 00:40:43,960 --> 00:40:46,400 I got it. I am very glad if I have 671 00:40:46,480 --> 00:40:49,920 helped you, But you haven't helped me. You've made the 672 00:40:49,960 --> 00:40:53,119 affair more difficult. What sort of burglars are they who 673 00:40:53,199 --> 00:40:57,199 steel silver and then throw in the nearest pond. It 674 00:40:57,360 --> 00:41:01,000 was certainly rather eccentric behavior. I was merely going on 675 00:41:01,039 --> 00:41:03,320 the idea that if the silver had been taken by 676 00:41:03,400 --> 00:41:06,760 persons who did not want it, who merely took it 677 00:41:06,800 --> 00:41:09,239 for a blind as it were, and then they would 678 00:41:09,320 --> 00:41:12,440 naturally be anxious to get rid of it. But why 679 00:41:12,480 --> 00:41:16,199 should such an idea cross your mind? Well, I thought 680 00:41:16,239 --> 00:41:19,039 it was possible. When they came out through the French window. 681 00:41:19,599 --> 00:41:22,000 There was the pond with one tempting little hole in 682 00:41:22,039 --> 00:41:25,280 the ice, right in front of their noses. Could there 683 00:41:25,320 --> 00:41:29,199 be a better hiding place? Ah, I hide in place 684 00:41:29,599 --> 00:41:33,400 that's better, cried Stomney Hopkins. Yeah, yeah, I see it 685 00:41:33,480 --> 00:41:36,880 all now. It was early, there were folk upon the roads. 686 00:41:37,159 --> 00:41:39,280 They were afraid of being seen with the silver, so 687 00:41:39,320 --> 00:41:42,320 they sank it in the pond, intending to return for 688 00:41:42,400 --> 00:41:46,280 it when the coast was clear. Excellent, mister Elmes. That's 689 00:41:46,320 --> 00:41:50,400 better than your idea of a blind quite so you 690 00:41:50,480 --> 00:41:53,559 have got an admirable theory. I have no doubt that 691 00:41:53,639 --> 00:41:56,760 my own ideas were quite wild, but you must admit 692 00:41:56,920 --> 00:42:00,760 that they have ended in discovering the silver. Yes, sir, yes, 693 00:42:01,280 --> 00:42:04,159 it was all you're doing. But I've had a bad setback, 694 00:42:05,079 --> 00:42:09,159 a set back, yes, mister Elams. The Randal Gang were 695 00:42:09,199 --> 00:42:13,880 arrested in New York this morning. Dear me, Hopkins, that 696 00:42:14,039 --> 00:42:16,840 is certainly rather against your theory that they committed a 697 00:42:16,960 --> 00:42:21,079 murder in Kent last night. It is fatal, mister Elmes, 698 00:42:21,480 --> 00:42:25,320 absolutely fatal. Still there are other gangs of three besides 699 00:42:25,400 --> 00:42:27,840 the Randals, or it may be some new gang of 700 00:42:27,880 --> 00:42:31,599 which the police have never heard. Quite so it is 701 00:42:31,719 --> 00:42:36,840 perfectly possible. What are you off, Yes, mister Elmes, there's 702 00:42:36,840 --> 00:42:38,559 no rest for me until I've got to the bottom 703 00:42:38,599 --> 00:42:41,280 of the business. I suppose you have no hint to 704 00:42:41,280 --> 00:42:48,199 give me. I have given you one, which well, I suggested, 705 00:42:48,239 --> 00:42:53,480 a blind But why, mister Elms, Why Ah, that's the question, 706 00:42:53,639 --> 00:42:56,800 of course. But I commend the idea to your mind. 707 00:42:57,440 --> 00:42:59,880 You might possibly find that there was something in it. 708 00:43:00,639 --> 00:43:03,920 You won't stop for dinner? Well, good bye, and let 709 00:43:03,960 --> 00:43:07,599 us know how you get on. Dinner was over and 710 00:43:07,679 --> 00:43:10,639 the table cleared before Holmes alluded to the matter again. 711 00:43:11,519 --> 00:43:14,199 He had lit his pipe and held his slippered feet 712 00:43:14,320 --> 00:43:18,280 to the cheerful blaze of the fire. Suddenly he looked 713 00:43:18,280 --> 00:43:25,639 at his watch. I expect developments, Watson, when now within 714 00:43:25,679 --> 00:43:28,800 a few minutes, I dare say you thought I acted 715 00:43:28,880 --> 00:43:33,599 rather badly to Stanley Hopkins just now I trust your judgment. 716 00:43:34,559 --> 00:43:37,920 A very sensible reply, Watson. You must look at it 717 00:43:37,960 --> 00:43:41,480 this way. What I know is unofficial. What he knows 718 00:43:41,840 --> 00:43:45,840 is official. I have the right to private judgment, but 719 00:43:45,960 --> 00:43:49,239 he has none. He must disclose all or he is 720 00:43:49,280 --> 00:43:52,639 a traitor to his service. In a doubtful case, I 721 00:43:52,639 --> 00:43:55,079 would not put him in so painful a position, and 722 00:43:55,159 --> 00:43:57,880 so I reserve my information until my own mind is 723 00:43:57,920 --> 00:44:02,199 clear upon the matter. But when will that be? The 724 00:44:02,280 --> 00:44:05,159 time has come. You will now be present at the 725 00:44:05,199 --> 00:44:09,679 last scene of a remarkable little drama. There was a 726 00:44:09,760 --> 00:44:12,280 sound upon the stairs, and our door was opened to 727 00:44:12,320 --> 00:44:15,079 admit as fine a specimen of manhood as ever passed 728 00:44:15,119 --> 00:44:19,199 through it. He was a very tall young man, golden mustached, 729 00:44:19,519 --> 00:44:22,119 blue eyed, with a skin which had been burned by 730 00:44:22,199 --> 00:44:25,400 tropical suns, and a springy step which showed that the 731 00:44:25,519 --> 00:44:29,199 huge frame was as active as it was strong. He 732 00:44:29,280 --> 00:44:31,880 closed the door behind him, and then he stood with 733 00:44:31,960 --> 00:44:36,480 clenched hands and heaving breast, choking down some overmastering emotion. 734 00:44:37,960 --> 00:44:42,159 Sit down, Captain Crocker, you got my telegram. I've got 735 00:44:42,199 --> 00:44:44,960 your telegram, and ar came at the air You said, 736 00:44:45,760 --> 00:44:48,280 I heard Ye've been down to the office. There has 737 00:44:48,360 --> 00:44:51,280 now gotten away from you. Let's hear the worst. What 738 00:44:51,320 --> 00:44:54,920 are you going to do with me? Arrest me? Speak out? Men, 739 00:44:55,159 --> 00:44:57,079 you can't sit there and ply with me like a 740 00:44:57,159 --> 00:45:01,119 cat with a mouse. Give him a sig a, said Holmes. 741 00:45:01,719 --> 00:45:05,280 Bite on that, Captain Crocker, and don't let your nerves 742 00:45:05,320 --> 00:45:08,400 run away with you. I should not sit here smoking 743 00:45:08,480 --> 00:45:10,880 with you if I thought that you were a common criminal. 744 00:45:11,159 --> 00:45:13,920 You may be sure of that. Be frank with me, 745 00:45:14,039 --> 00:45:16,719 and we may do some good play tricks with me, 746 00:45:16,800 --> 00:45:19,400 and I'll crush you. What do you wish me to 747 00:45:19,440 --> 00:45:22,360 do to give me a true account of all that 748 00:45:22,440 --> 00:45:25,840 happened at the abbe Grange last night? A true account, 749 00:45:25,920 --> 00:45:29,639 mind you, with nothing added and nothing taken off. I 750 00:45:29,719 --> 00:45:31,960 know so much already that if you go one inch 751 00:45:32,000 --> 00:45:35,079 off the strait, I'll blow this police whistle from my window, 752 00:45:35,519 --> 00:45:39,679 and the affair goes out of my hands forever. The 753 00:45:39,760 --> 00:45:42,519 sailor thought for a little. Then he struck his leg 754 00:45:42,639 --> 00:45:47,119 with his great sunburned hand. I'll chance it, he cried. 755 00:45:47,639 --> 00:45:50,320 I'll believe you are a manner, your word, and a white man, 756 00:45:50,679 --> 00:45:53,119 and I'll tell you the owl story. But one thing 757 00:45:53,119 --> 00:45:56,079 I will say first, As far as I'm concerned, I 758 00:45:56,159 --> 00:45:59,280 regret nothing, and I'll fear nothing, and I'll do it 759 00:45:59,320 --> 00:46:02,440 all again and proud of the job. Damn the beast. 760 00:46:02,599 --> 00:46:04,719 If he had as many lives as a cat, he'd 761 00:46:04,760 --> 00:46:07,760 owe them all to me. But it's the lady Mary 762 00:46:07,960 --> 00:46:10,880 Mary Fraser. For never will I call her by that 763 00:46:10,960 --> 00:46:14,760 accursed name when I think of getting her into trouble. Ah, 764 00:46:14,840 --> 00:46:16,880 he would give my life just to bring one must 765 00:46:16,920 --> 00:46:20,199 smile to her dear face. It's that it turns my 766 00:46:20,320 --> 00:46:24,440 soul into water. And yet, and yet, what less could 767 00:46:24,440 --> 00:46:28,039 I do? I'll tell you my story, gentlemen, and then 768 00:46:28,079 --> 00:46:30,280 I'll ask you, as man to man, what less could 769 00:46:30,280 --> 00:46:34,360 I do? I must go back a bit. You seem 770 00:46:34,400 --> 00:46:36,480 to know everything, so I expect that you know that 771 00:46:36,559 --> 00:46:38,679 I met her when she was a passenger, and I 772 00:46:38,760 --> 00:46:42,519 was first officer of the rocket Gibraltler. From the first 773 00:46:42,599 --> 00:46:44,880 day I met her, she was the only woman to me. 774 00:46:45,599 --> 00:46:48,440 Every day of that voyage, I loved her more, And 775 00:46:48,559 --> 00:46:50,840 many a time since have I keeled down in the 776 00:46:50,920 --> 00:46:53,119 darkness of the night watch and kissed the deck of 777 00:46:53,159 --> 00:46:55,639 that ship because I knew her dear feet had trod 778 00:46:55,639 --> 00:46:59,639 on it. She was never engaged to me. She treated 779 00:46:59,639 --> 00:47:02,360 me as fairly has ever a woman treated her man. 780 00:47:02,599 --> 00:47:05,199 I have no complaint to make, and was all love 781 00:47:05,280 --> 00:47:08,039 on my side. And all good comradeship and the friendship 782 00:47:08,079 --> 00:47:11,440 on hers. When we parted, she was a free woman. 783 00:47:11,920 --> 00:47:15,199 I could never again be a free man. Next time 784 00:47:15,280 --> 00:47:18,440 I came back from sea, I heard of her marriage. Well, 785 00:47:18,440 --> 00:47:21,760 why shouldn't she marry him? She liked title and money? 786 00:47:22,039 --> 00:47:25,639 Who could carry them better than she? She was born 787 00:47:25,719 --> 00:47:28,760 for all that is beautiful and dainty. I didn't grieve 788 00:47:28,840 --> 00:47:31,599 over her marriage. I was not such a selfish out 789 00:47:31,599 --> 00:47:34,719 as that. I just rejoiced that good luck had come 790 00:47:34,760 --> 00:47:37,000 her way, and that she'd had not thrown herself away 791 00:47:37,039 --> 00:47:41,679 on a penniless sailor. That's how I loved Mary Fraser well. 792 00:47:41,719 --> 00:47:44,840 I never thought to see her again. The last voyage 793 00:47:44,920 --> 00:47:47,840 I was promoted, the new boat was yet launched, so 794 00:47:47,880 --> 00:47:49,760 I had to wait for a couple of months with 795 00:47:49,920 --> 00:47:53,760 my people at Sydenham. One day, out in a country lane, 796 00:47:53,800 --> 00:47:57,440 I met Theresa Wright, her old maid. She told me 797 00:47:57,480 --> 00:48:01,000 all about her, all about him, about everything. I tell you, gentlemen. 798 00:48:01,079 --> 00:48:04,760 It nearly drove me mad, this drunken hound that he 799 00:48:04,800 --> 00:48:07,800 should dare to raise his hand to her, whose boots 800 00:48:07,800 --> 00:48:11,440 he was not worthy to lick. I met Teresa again, 801 00:48:12,239 --> 00:48:16,239 Then I met Mary himself, and met her again. Then 802 00:48:16,280 --> 00:48:18,360 she would meet me no more. But the other day 803 00:48:18,440 --> 00:48:20,199 I hadn't noticed that I was to start in my 804 00:48:20,360 --> 00:48:22,920 voyage within a week, and I determined that I would 805 00:48:22,960 --> 00:48:27,000 see her once before I left. Teresa was always my friend, 806 00:48:27,719 --> 00:48:30,480 for she loved Mary and ated this villain almost as 807 00:48:30,559 --> 00:48:33,519 much as I did. From her, I learned the ways 808 00:48:33,519 --> 00:48:36,159 of the house. Mary used to sit up reading in 809 00:48:36,199 --> 00:48:39,760 her own little room downstairs. I crept round there last 810 00:48:39,840 --> 00:48:43,599 night and scratched at the window. At first she would 811 00:48:43,679 --> 00:48:46,440 not open to me, But in her heart I know 812 00:48:46,559 --> 00:48:49,159 that now she loves me, and she could not leave me. 813 00:48:49,199 --> 00:48:52,400 In the frosty night, she whispered to me to come 814 00:48:52,480 --> 00:48:54,599 round to the big front window, and I found it 815 00:48:54,639 --> 00:48:57,280 open before me, so as to let me into the 816 00:48:57,320 --> 00:49:00,960 dining room. Again I heard from her own lips things 817 00:49:01,000 --> 00:49:04,079 that made my blood boil, And again I cursed this 818 00:49:04,320 --> 00:49:08,920 brute who mishandled the woman I loved. Old gentlemen, I 819 00:49:09,039 --> 00:49:12,400 was standing with her just inside the window, in all innocence, 820 00:49:12,440 --> 00:49:15,159 as God is my judge, when he rushed like a 821 00:49:15,199 --> 00:49:18,480 madman into the room, called her the vilest name that 822 00:49:18,559 --> 00:49:21,079 a man could use to a woman, and welted her 823 00:49:21,079 --> 00:49:23,159 across the face with a stick he had in his hand. 824 00:49:24,000 --> 00:49:26,840 I had sprung for the poker, and it was a 825 00:49:26,880 --> 00:49:30,280 fair fight between us. See here on my arm where 826 00:49:30,280 --> 00:49:33,559 his first blow fell. Then it was my turn, and 827 00:49:33,639 --> 00:49:35,920 I went through him as if he'd been a rotten pumpkin. 828 00:49:36,599 --> 00:49:39,800 Do you think I was sorry? Not I. It was 829 00:49:39,800 --> 00:49:43,119 his life or mine. But far more than that, it 830 00:49:43,159 --> 00:49:45,920 was his life or hers. For how could I leave 831 00:49:45,960 --> 00:49:48,840 her in the power of this madman? That was how 832 00:49:48,880 --> 00:49:52,880 I killed him. Was I wrong? Well, then what would 833 00:49:52,920 --> 00:49:55,039 either of you, gentlemen have done if you had been 834 00:49:55,079 --> 00:49:58,920 in my position? She had screamed when he struck her, 835 00:49:58,920 --> 00:50:00,800 and that broad old tree, he said down from the 836 00:50:00,880 --> 00:50:04,159 room above. There was a bottle of wine on the sideboard, 837 00:50:04,199 --> 00:50:06,800 and I opened it and poured a little between Mary's lips, 838 00:50:06,840 --> 00:50:09,880 for she was half dead with shock. Then I took 839 00:50:09,880 --> 00:50:13,400 a drop myself. Teresa was as cool as ice, and 840 00:50:13,440 --> 00:50:16,400 it was her plot as much as mine. We must 841 00:50:16,400 --> 00:50:19,480 make it appear that burglars had done the thing. Teresa 842 00:50:19,559 --> 00:50:22,000 kept on repeating our story to her mistress, while I 843 00:50:22,079 --> 00:50:25,079 swarmed up and cut the rope of the bell, and 844 00:50:25,159 --> 00:50:27,320 I lushed her in her chair and frayed out the 845 00:50:27,360 --> 00:50:29,599 end of the rope to make it look natural, else 846 00:50:29,639 --> 00:50:32,199 they would wonder how in the world a burglar could 847 00:50:32,199 --> 00:50:35,199 have got there to cut it. And I gathered up 848 00:50:35,199 --> 00:50:37,840 a few plates and pots of silver to carry out 849 00:50:37,880 --> 00:50:40,639 the idea of the robbery, and there I left them 850 00:50:41,119 --> 00:50:42,760 with orders to give the alarm. When I had a 851 00:50:42,840 --> 00:50:46,199 quarter of an hour's start, I dropped the silver into 852 00:50:46,199 --> 00:50:49,000 the pond and made off for Sydenham, feeling that for 853 00:50:49,039 --> 00:50:51,559 once in my life I had done a real good 854 00:50:51,639 --> 00:50:54,920 night's work. And that's the truth and the old truth, 855 00:50:55,000 --> 00:50:59,079 mister Olmes, if it cost me my neck, homes smoked 856 00:50:59,079 --> 00:51:01,760 for some time inside silence, and he crossed the room 857 00:51:01,800 --> 00:51:05,840 and shook our visitor by the hand. That's what I think, 858 00:51:06,119 --> 00:51:09,480 said he. I know that every word is true, for 859 00:51:09,639 --> 00:51:11,840 you have hardly said a word which I did not know. 860 00:51:12,800 --> 00:51:15,119 No one but an acrobat or a sailor could have 861 00:51:15,159 --> 00:51:18,000 got up to that bell rope from the bracket, and 862 00:51:18,079 --> 00:51:20,360 no one but a sailor could have made the knots 863 00:51:20,400 --> 00:51:23,960 with which the cord was fastened to the chair. Only 864 00:51:24,000 --> 00:51:26,760 once had this lady been brought into contact with sailors, 865 00:51:27,239 --> 00:51:29,920 and that was on her voyage, And it was some 866 00:51:29,960 --> 00:51:32,039 one of her own class of life, since she was 867 00:51:32,039 --> 00:51:34,599 trying hard to shield him, and so showing that she 868 00:51:34,679 --> 00:51:37,480 loved him. You see how easy it was for me 869 00:51:37,519 --> 00:51:39,400 to lay my hands upon you, when once I had 870 00:51:39,440 --> 00:51:43,239 started upon the right trail. Ah thought the police never 871 00:51:43,280 --> 00:51:47,599 could have seen through our dodge, and the police haven't 872 00:51:48,280 --> 00:51:51,480 nor will they, to the best of my belief. Now 873 00:51:51,559 --> 00:51:55,239 look here, Captain Crocker, this is a very serious matter. 874 00:51:55,679 --> 00:51:58,239 Though I am willing to admit that you acted under 875 00:51:58,280 --> 00:52:02,239 the most extreme provocation to which any man could be subjected, 876 00:52:03,239 --> 00:52:05,639 I am not sure that in defense of your own life, 877 00:52:05,760 --> 00:52:10,480 your action will not be pronounced legitimate. However, that is 878 00:52:10,519 --> 00:52:14,000 for a British jury to decide. Meanwhile, I have so 879 00:52:14,119 --> 00:52:17,239 much sympathy for you that if you choose to disappear 880 00:52:17,280 --> 00:52:20,760 in the next twenty four hours, I will promise you 881 00:52:20,840 --> 00:52:23,800 that no one will hinder you, and then it will 882 00:52:23,840 --> 00:52:28,119 all come out. Certainly it will come out the sailor 883 00:52:28,159 --> 00:52:31,360 flushed with anger. What sort of proposal is that to 884 00:52:31,400 --> 00:52:34,440 make a man? I know enough of Lord to understand 885 00:52:34,480 --> 00:52:37,400 that Mary would be held as accomplice. Do you think 886 00:52:37,440 --> 00:52:39,719 I would leave her alone to face the music while 887 00:52:39,719 --> 00:52:43,559 I slunk away? No, sir, let them do their worst 888 00:52:43,639 --> 00:52:46,639 upon me. But for Heaven's sake, mister Holmes, find some 889 00:52:46,679 --> 00:52:48,960 way to keep my poor Mary out of the courts. 890 00:52:50,480 --> 00:52:53,000 Holmes for a second time held out his hand to 891 00:52:53,039 --> 00:53:04,800 the sailor. I was only testing you, and you ring 892 00:53:04,920 --> 00:53:08,840 true every time. Well, it is a great responsibility that 893 00:53:08,920 --> 00:53:12,199 I take upon myself. But I have given Hopkins an 894 00:53:12,199 --> 00:53:15,400 excellent hint, and if he can't avail himself of it, 895 00:53:15,519 --> 00:53:19,800 I can do no more. See here, Captain Crocker, we'll 896 00:53:19,840 --> 00:53:24,199 do this in due form of law. You are the prisoner, Watson. 897 00:53:24,599 --> 00:53:27,400 You are a British jury, and I never met a 898 00:53:27,440 --> 00:53:31,400 man who was more eminently fitted to represent one. I 899 00:53:31,440 --> 00:53:34,920 am the judge. Now, gentlemen of the jury, you have 900 00:53:35,000 --> 00:53:38,440 heard the evidence. Do you find the prisoner guilty or 901 00:53:38,559 --> 00:53:44,519 not guilty? Not guilty, my lord, said I vox popularly 902 00:53:44,960 --> 00:53:50,079 vox day. You are acquitted, Captain Crocker. So long as 903 00:53:50,119 --> 00:53:52,559 the law does not find some other victim, you are 904 00:53:52,639 --> 00:53:56,280 safe from me. Come back to this lady in a year, 905 00:53:56,920 --> 00:54:00,559 and may her future and yours justify it. In the 906 00:54:00,639 --> 00:54:04,760 judgment which we have pronounced this night, and of the 907 00:54:04,840 --> 00:54:07,119 adventure of the Abbey Grange