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Speaker 1: The Adventure of the Illustrious Client by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

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It can't hurt now, was mister Sherlock Holmes's comment when

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for a tenth time in as many years I asked

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his leave to reveal the following narrative. So it was that,

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at last I obtained permission to put on a record

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what was, in some ways the supreme moment of my

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friend's career. Both Holmes and I had a weakness for

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a Turkish bath. It was over a cigarette and the

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pleasant lassitude of a drawing room that I found him

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less reticent and more human than anywhere else. On the

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upper floor of a Northumberland Avenue establishment, there is an

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isolated corner where two couches lie side by side, and

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it was these that we lay upon September for nineteen

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oh two, the day when my narrative begins. I had

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asked him whether anything was stirring, and for answer he

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had shot his long, thin, nervous arm out of the

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sheets which enveloped him, and had drawn an envelope from

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the inside pocket of the coach which hung beside him.

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It's maybe some fussy, self important fool. It may be

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a matter of life or death, said he as he

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handed me the note. I know no more than this

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message tells me. It was from the Carlton Club and

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was dated the evening before. This is what I read.

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Sir James Dammery presents his confidence to mister Sherlock Holmes

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and will call upon him at four thirty tomorrow. Sir

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James begs to say that the matter upon which he

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desires to consult mister Holmes is very delicate and also

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very important. He trusts therefore that mister Holmes will make

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every effort to grant this interview, and that he will

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confirm it over a telephone to the Carlton Club. I

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need not say that I have confirmed it, Watson, said Holmes,

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as I returned in the paper. Do you know anything

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of this man Dammery, only that his name is a

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household word in society. Well, I can tell you a

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little more than that. He has rather a reputation for

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arranging delicate matters which are to be kept out of

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the papers. You may remember his negotiations with Sir George

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Lewis over the Hammerford wielcase. He is a man of

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the world with a natural turn for diplomacy. I am

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bound therefore to hope that it is not a false

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scent that he has some real need for our assistance.

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Our well. If he will be so good, Watson, I

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shall be honored. Then you will have the hour for

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thirty until then we can put the matter out of

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our heads. I was living in my own rooms in

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Queen Anne Street at the time, but I was round

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at Bigger Street before the time named darp to the

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half hour, Colonel Sir James Damery was announced. It is

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hardly necessary to describe him, for many will remember of

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a large, bluff honest personality, that broad, clean shaven face

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above all, that pleasant mellow voice. Frankness shone from his

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gray Irish eyes, and good humor played round his mobile,

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smiling lips, his loosened top hat, his dark frock coat. Indeed,

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every detail from the pearl pin in the black satin

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kravat to the labdous bats over the varnished shoes spoke

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of a meticulous care in dress for which he was famous.

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The big, masterful aristocrat dominated the little room. Of course,

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I was prepared to find doctor Watson, he remarked, with

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a courteous bow. His collaboration may be very necessary, for

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we are dealing on this occasion, mister Horne Holmes, with

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a man to whom violence is familiar and who will

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literally stick at nothing. I should say that there is

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no more dangerous man in Europe. I have had several

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opponents to whom that flattering term has been applied, said Holmes,

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with a smile. Don't you smoke? Then you will excuse

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me if I light my pipe. If your man is

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more dangerous than the late Professor Moriarty or van a

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living Colonel Sebastian Moran, then he is indeed worth meeting.

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May I ask his name? Have you ever heard of

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bearing Grunter? You mean the Austrian murderer Colonel Damery threw

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up his kid gloved hands with a laugh. There is

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no getting past you, mister Holmes. Wonderful, so you have

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already sized him up as a murderer. It is my

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business to follow the details of continental crime. Who could

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possibly have read what happened at Prague and have any

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doubts as to the man's guilt. It was a purely

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technical legal point and the suspicious death of a witness

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that saved him. I am as sure that he killed

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his wife when a so called accident happened in the

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splugan past, as if I had seen him do it.

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I knew also that he had come to England, and

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I had a presentment that sooner or later he would

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find me some work to do. Well, what has Baron

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Grunner been up to? I presume it is not this

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old tragedy which has come again. No, it is more

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serious than that. To revenge crime is important, but to

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prevent it is more so. It is a terrible thing

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in mister Holmes, to see a dreadful event and atrocious

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situation preparing itself before your eyes clearly, to understand whither

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it will lead, and yet to be utterly unable to

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avert it. Can a human being be placed in a

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more trying position? Perhaps not? Then you will sympathize with

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the client on whose interests I am acting. I did

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not understand that you are merely an intermediary. Who is

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the principal, Mister Holmes. I must beg you not to

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press that question. It is important that I should be

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able to assure him that his honored name has been

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in no way dragged into the matter. His motives are

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to the last degree, honorable and chivalrous, but he prefers

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to remain unknown. I need not say that your fees

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will be assured, and that you will be given a

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perfectly free hand. Surely the actual name of your client

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is immaterial. I am sorry, said Holmes. I am accustomed

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to have mystery at one end of my cases, but

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to have it at both ends is too confusing. I fear,

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Sir James, that I must decline to act. Our visitor

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was greatly disturbed his law. A large, sensitive face was

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darkened with emotion and disappointment. You hardly realize the effect

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of your own action, mister Holmes, said he You place

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me in a most serious dilemma. For I am perfectly

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certain that you would be proud to take over the

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case if I could give you the facts, And yet

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a promise forbids me from revealing them all. May I

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at least lay all that I can before you by

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all means, so long as it is understood that I

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commit myself to nothing that is understood in the first place.

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You have no doubt heard of General de Murville Demerval

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of kyber fame. Yes, I have heard of him. He

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has a daughter, Violet Demurville, young rich, beautiful, accomplished, a

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wonderful woman in every way. It is this daughter, this lovely,

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innocent girl, whom we are endeavoring to save from the

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clutches of a fiend. Baron Grunner has some hold over her, then,

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the strongest of all holds where a woman is concerned,

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the hold of love. The fellow is, as he may

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have heard, extraordinarily handsome, with a most fascinating manner, a

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gentle voice, and that air of romance and mystery which

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means so much to a woman. He is said to

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have the whole sex at his mercy, and to have

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multiple ample use of the fact. But how came such

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a man to me, a lady of the standing of

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Miss Violet de Merval. It was on a Mediterranean yachting voyage.

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The company, though select paid their own passages. No doubt,

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the promoters hardly realized the baron's true character until it

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was too late. The villain attached himself to the lady,

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and with such effect that he has completely and absolutely

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won her heart. To say that she loves him hardly

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expresses it. She dotes upon him. She is obsessed by him.

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Outside of him, there is nothing on earth she will

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not hear one word against him. Everything has been done

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to cure her of her madness, but in vain to

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sum up, she proposes to marry him next month. As

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she is of age and has a will of iron,

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it is hard to know how to prevent her. Does

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she know about the Austrian episode? The coming devil has

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told her every unsavory public scandal of his past life,

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but always in such a way as to make himself

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out to be an innocent martyr. She absolutely accepts his

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version and will listen to no other. Dear me, but

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surely you have inadvertently let out the name of your client.

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It is no doubt. General de Murville, our visitor, fidgeted

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in his chair. I could deceive you by saying no

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of mister Holmes, but it would not be true. Demurville

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is a broken man. The strong soldier has been utterly

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demoralized by this incident. He has lost the nerve which

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never failed him on the battlefield, and has become a weak,

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doddering old man, utterly incapable of contending with a brilliant,

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forceful rascal like the Austrian. My client, however, is an

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old friend, one who has known the general intimately for

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many years, and taken a paternal interest in this young

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girl since she wore short frocks. You cannot see this

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tragedy consummated without some attempt to stop it. There is

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nothing in which Scotland Yard can act. It was his

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own suggestion that you should be called in, but it was,

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as I have said, on the express stipulation that he

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should not be personally involved in the matter. I have

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no doubt, mister Holmes, with your great powers, you could

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easily trace my client back through me, but I must

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ask you, as a point of honor, to refrain from

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doing so, and not to break in. Upon his incognito,

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Holmes gave a whimsical smile. I think I may safely

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promise that said he. I may add that your problem

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interests me and that I shall be prepared to look

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into it. How shall I keep in touch with you?

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The Carlton Club will find me, but in case of

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emergency there is a private telephone call xx dot free one.

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Holmes noted it down and sat still smiling, with the

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open memorandum book upon his knee. The Baron's present address

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please Vernon Lodge, near Kingston. It is a large house.

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He has been fortunate in some rather shady speculations, and

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is a rich man, which naturally makes him a more

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dangerous antagonist. Is he home at present? Yes? Apart from

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what you have told me, can you give me any

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further information about the man? He has expensive tastes. He

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is a horse fancier. For a short time he played

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polo at Hurlingham, but then this prog affair got noised

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about and he had to leave. He collects books and pictures.

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He is a man with considerable artistic side to his nature.

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He is I believe, a recognized authority upon Chinese pottery,

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and has written a book upon the subject. A complex mind,

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said Holmes. All great criminals have that. My old friend

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Charlie Peace was a violin virtuoso. Wade Wright was no

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mean artist. I could quote more. Well, Sir James, you

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will inform your client that I am turning my mind

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upon Baron Grunner. I can say no more. I have

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some sources of information of my own, and I dare

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say we may find some means of opening the matter up.

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When our visitor had left us, Holmes sat solong in

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deep thought that it seemed to me that he had

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forgotten my presence. At last, however, he came briskly back

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to earth Well Watson any views, he asked, I should

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think you had better see the young lady herself, my

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dear Watson. If her poor old broken father cannot move her,

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how shall I, a stranger prevail? And yet there is

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something in the suggestion if all else fails. But I

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think we must begin from a different angle. I rather

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fancy that Shinwell Johnson might be a help. I have

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not had occasion to mention Shinwell Johnson in these memoirs

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because I have seldom drawn my cases from the latter

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phases of my friend's career. During the first years of

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the century he became a valuable assistant. Johnson, I grieve

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to say, made his name first as a very dangerous villain,

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and served two terms at Parkhurst. Finally he repented and

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allied himself with Holmes, acting as his agent in the

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huge criminal underworld of London and obtaining information which often

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proved to be of vital importance. Had Johnson been a

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nark of the police, he would soon have been exposed.

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But as he dealt with cases which never came directly

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into the courts, his activities were never realized by his companions.

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With the glamour of his two convictions upon him, he

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had the entree of every nightclub, doss house and gambling

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den in the town, and his quick observation and active

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brain made him an ideal agent for gathering information. It

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was to him that Sherlock Holmes now proposed to turn.

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It was not possible for me to follow the immediate

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steps taken by my friend, for I had some pressing

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professional business of my own. But I met him by

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a appointments that evening at Simpson's, where, sitting at a

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small table in the front window, and looking down at

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the rushing stream of life in the strand, he told

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me something of what had passed. Johnson is on the prowl,

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said he he may pick up some garbage in the

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darker recesses of the underworld. For it is down there,

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amid the black roots of crime, that we must hunt

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for this man's secrets. But if the lady will not

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accept what is already known, why should any fresh discovery

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of yours turn her from her purpose? Who knows? Watson

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Woman's heart and mind are insoluble puzzles to the mail

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murder might be condoned or explained, and yet some smaller

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00:15:43,519 --> 00:15:47,879
offense might wrankle. Baron Grunnar remarks to me, He remarks

240
00:15:47,960 --> 00:15:51,200
to you, Oh, to be sure I had not told

241
00:15:51,240 --> 00:15:55,399
you of my plans? Well, Watson, I love to come

242
00:15:55,440 --> 00:15:58,240
to close grips with my man. I like to meet

243
00:15:58,279 --> 00:16:00,879
him eye to eye and read for myself the stuff

244
00:16:00,919 --> 00:16:03,679
that he has made of. When I had given Johnson

245
00:16:03,799 --> 00:16:07,639
his instructions, I took a cab out to Kingston and

246
00:16:07,720 --> 00:16:10,799
found the Baron in a most affable mood. Did he

247
00:16:10,919 --> 00:16:15,120
recognize you? There was no difficulty about that, for I

248
00:16:15,200 --> 00:16:19,480
simply sent in my card. He is an excellent antagonist,

249
00:16:19,799 --> 00:16:23,080
cool as ice, silky voiced and suthing as one of

250
00:16:23,120 --> 00:16:27,919
your fashionable consultants, and poisonous as a cobra. He has

251
00:16:28,080 --> 00:16:31,960
breed in him, a real aristocrat of crime, with a

252
00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:36,000
superficial suggestion of afternoon tea and all the cruelty of

253
00:16:36,039 --> 00:16:39,519
the grave behind it. Yes, I am glad to have

254
00:16:39,600 --> 00:16:43,879
had my attention called to Baron Adambert Grunner. You say

255
00:16:43,960 --> 00:16:47,279
he was affable, a perring cat who thinks he sees

256
00:16:47,360 --> 00:16:52,519
prospective mice. Some people's affability is more deadly than the

257
00:16:52,600 --> 00:16:58,120
violence of coarser souls. His greeting was characteristic. I rather

258
00:16:58,200 --> 00:17:01,080
thought I should see you sooner or later. Mister Holmes

259
00:17:01,120 --> 00:17:04,720
said he. You have been engaged, no doubt by General

260
00:17:04,799 --> 00:17:08,000
Demurville to endeavor to stop my marriage with his daughter Violet.

261
00:17:08,640 --> 00:17:12,839
That is so, is it not? I acquissessed? My dear man,

262
00:17:12,960 --> 00:17:16,640
said he. You will only ruin your own well deserved reputation.

263
00:17:17,160 --> 00:17:19,920
It is not a case in which you can possibly succeed.

264
00:17:20,400 --> 00:17:23,440
You will have barn work, to say nothing of incurring

265
00:17:23,519 --> 00:17:27,519
some danger. Let me very strongly advise you to draw

266
00:17:27,599 --> 00:17:32,480
off at once. It is curious, I answered, but that

267
00:17:32,640 --> 00:17:35,480
was the very advice which I had intended to give you.

268
00:17:36,319 --> 00:17:39,599
I have a respect for your brains, Baron, and the

269
00:17:39,680 --> 00:17:42,359
little which I have seen of your personality has not

270
00:17:42,640 --> 00:17:45,359
lessened it. Let me put it to you as man

271
00:17:45,400 --> 00:17:48,519
to man. No one wants to rake up your past

272
00:17:48,599 --> 00:17:52,480
and make you unduly uncomfortable. It is over and you

273
00:17:52,519 --> 00:17:56,279
are now in smooth waters. But if you persist in

274
00:17:56,359 --> 00:17:59,319
this marriage, you will raise up a swarm of powerful

275
00:17:59,440 --> 00:18:02,160
enemies who will never leave you alone until you have

276
00:18:02,240 --> 00:18:05,079
made England too hot to hold you. It is the

277
00:18:05,160 --> 00:18:07,960
game worth it. Surely you would be wiser if you

278
00:18:08,039 --> 00:18:10,640
let the lady alone. It would not be pleasant for

279
00:18:10,759 --> 00:18:14,279
you if these facts of your past were brought to her. Notice.

280
00:18:14,440 --> 00:18:18,039
The baron has little wax tips of hair under his nose,

281
00:18:18,559 --> 00:18:22,359
like the short antennae of an insect. These quivered with

282
00:18:22,440 --> 00:18:25,839
amusement as he listened, and he finally broke into a

283
00:18:25,880 --> 00:18:30,599
gentle chuckle. Excuse my amusement, mister Holmes, said he, but

284
00:18:30,720 --> 00:18:32,839
it is really funny to see you trying to play

285
00:18:32,880 --> 00:18:35,559
a hand with no cards in it. I don't think

286
00:18:35,720 --> 00:18:38,920
anyone could do it better, but it is rather pathetic

287
00:18:39,079 --> 00:18:42,799
all the same. Not a color card there, mister Holmes,

288
00:18:42,839 --> 00:18:47,720
nothing but the smallest of the small so you think so,

289
00:18:47,880 --> 00:18:51,039
I know. Let me make the thing clear to you,

290
00:18:51,400 --> 00:18:53,680
for my own hand is so strong that I can

291
00:18:53,799 --> 00:18:57,079
afford to show it. I have been fortunate enough to

292
00:18:57,160 --> 00:19:00,839
win the entire affection of this lady. This was given

293
00:19:00,880 --> 00:19:03,039
to me in spite of the fact that I told

294
00:19:03,039 --> 00:19:07,599
her very clearly of certain unhappy incidents in my past life.

295
00:19:07,759 --> 00:19:11,440
I also told her that certain wicked and designing persons

296
00:19:11,920 --> 00:19:15,319
I hope you recognize yourself, would come to her and

297
00:19:15,359 --> 00:19:17,599
tell her of these things. And I warned her how

298
00:19:17,599 --> 00:19:21,279
to treat them. You have heard of post hypnotic suggestion,

299
00:19:21,480 --> 00:19:25,880
mister Holmes, Well you will see how it works, for

300
00:19:25,960 --> 00:19:29,920
a man of personality can use hypnotism without any vulgar

301
00:19:29,960 --> 00:19:33,279
passes or tom foolery. So she is ready for you,

302
00:19:33,640 --> 00:19:37,240
and I have no doubt would give you an appointment,

303
00:19:37,359 --> 00:19:40,519
for she is quite amenable to her father's will, save

304
00:19:40,680 --> 00:19:44,880
only in the one little matter. Well, Watson, there seemed

305
00:19:44,920 --> 00:19:47,440
to be no more to say, so I took my

306
00:19:47,599 --> 00:19:51,160
leave with as much cold dignity as I could summon.

307
00:19:51,640 --> 00:19:53,839
But as I had my hand on the door handle,

308
00:19:53,960 --> 00:19:57,920
he stopped me by the way. Mister Holmes said he

309
00:19:58,440 --> 00:20:03,279
do you know lebron the friend? Yes, said I do

310
00:20:03,440 --> 00:20:06,599
you know what befell him? I heard that he was

311
00:20:06,640 --> 00:20:10,400
beaten by some apaches in the Montmarti district and crippled

312
00:20:10,440 --> 00:20:15,240
for life. Quite true, mister Holmes. By a curious coincidence,

313
00:20:15,680 --> 00:20:18,920
he had been inquiring into my affairs only a week before.

314
00:20:19,519 --> 00:20:22,400
Don't do what, mister Holmes, It is not a lucky

315
00:20:22,440 --> 00:20:25,599
thing to do. Several have found that out. My last

316
00:20:25,640 --> 00:20:27,599
word to you is to go your own way and

317
00:20:27,720 --> 00:20:32,000
let me go mine. Goodbye, So there you are, Watson.

318
00:20:32,480 --> 00:20:36,039
You are up to date. Now the fellow seems dangerous,

319
00:20:36,720 --> 00:20:40,599
mighty dangerous. I disregard the bluster, but this is the

320
00:20:40,640 --> 00:20:43,200
sort of man who says rather less than he means.

321
00:20:44,440 --> 00:20:47,079
Must you interfere? Does it really matter if he marries

322
00:20:47,119 --> 00:20:51,519
the girl? Considering that he undoubtedly murdered his last wife?

323
00:20:51,799 --> 00:20:57,039
I should say it mattered very much. Besides the clients, Well, well,

324
00:20:57,240 --> 00:21:00,599
we need not discuss that. When you have finished coffee,

325
00:21:00,640 --> 00:21:03,880
you had best come home with me, for obliged Shinwell

326
00:21:03,960 --> 00:21:07,720
will be there with his report. We found him, sure enough,

327
00:21:08,000 --> 00:21:13,279
a huge, coarse, red faced, scorbotic man, with a pair

328
00:21:13,279 --> 00:21:16,240
of vivid black eyes, which were the only external sign

329
00:21:16,440 --> 00:21:19,640
of the very cunning mind within. It seemed that he

330
00:21:19,680 --> 00:21:25,039
had dived down into what was peculiarly his kingdom. And

331
00:21:25,079 --> 00:21:27,559
beside him on the settee was a brand which he

332
00:21:27,640 --> 00:21:30,640
had brought up in shape of a slim, flamelike young

333
00:21:30,680 --> 00:21:34,640
woman with a pale, intense face, youthful and yet so

334
00:21:34,880 --> 00:21:37,599
warm with sin and sorrow that one read the terrible

335
00:21:37,680 --> 00:21:41,400
years which had left their leprous mark upon her. This

336
00:21:41,480 --> 00:21:45,680
is miss Kitty Winter, said Shinwell Johnson, waving his fat

337
00:21:45,759 --> 00:21:50,480
hand as an introduction. What she don't know, Well there

338
00:21:50,720 --> 00:21:53,759
she'll speak for herself. Put my right hand on her,

339
00:21:53,920 --> 00:21:58,000
mister Holmes. Within an hour of your message, I'm easy

340
00:21:58,039 --> 00:22:01,039
to find, said the young woman us London gets me

341
00:22:01,240 --> 00:22:06,640
every time Sam address for Porky Shinwell we're old mates, Porky,

342
00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:10,480
you and I. What by cripes, there's another who ought

343
00:22:10,519 --> 00:22:13,000
to be down in a lower hell than we if

344
00:22:13,039 --> 00:22:16,240
there was any justice in the world. That is the

345
00:22:16,240 --> 00:22:21,319
man your after, mister Holmes. Holmes smiled, I gather we

346
00:22:21,440 --> 00:22:24,880
have your good wishes, Miss Winter. If I can help

347
00:22:24,920 --> 00:22:28,480
you put him where he belongs, I'm yours to the rattle,

348
00:22:28,599 --> 00:22:32,480
said our visitor, with fierce energy. There was an intensity

349
00:22:32,519 --> 00:22:35,880
of hatred in her white set face and her blazing eyes,

350
00:22:35,960 --> 00:22:39,960
such as woman seldom and man never can attain. You

351
00:22:40,079 --> 00:22:43,880
needn't go into my past, mister Holmes. That's neither here

352
00:22:43,920 --> 00:22:47,680
nor there. But what I am, Adelbert Grunner made me

353
00:22:48,200 --> 00:22:51,400
if I could pull him down, She clutched frantically with

354
00:22:51,480 --> 00:22:54,359
her hands into the air. Oh, if I could only

355
00:22:54,400 --> 00:22:56,680
pull him into a pit where he has pushed so

356
00:22:56,839 --> 00:23:01,079
many You know how the matter stands. Poor shinwell, hasn't

357
00:23:01,119 --> 00:23:05,160
telling me he's actor from over poor fool, and wants

358
00:23:05,200 --> 00:23:08,160
to marry her this time. You want to stop it, Well,

359
00:23:08,599 --> 00:23:11,720
you surely know enough about this devil to prevent any

360
00:23:11,799 --> 00:23:14,519
decent girl in her senses wanting to be in the

361
00:23:14,559 --> 00:23:17,559
same parish with him. She is not in her senses.

362
00:23:17,839 --> 00:23:20,920
She is madly in love. She hasn't told all about him,

363
00:23:21,079 --> 00:23:25,920
She cares nothing told about the murder. Yes, my lord,

364
00:23:26,039 --> 00:23:29,240
she must have a nerve. She puts them all down

365
00:23:29,279 --> 00:23:34,400
as slanders. Couldn't you lay proofs before her silly eyes? Well?

366
00:23:34,680 --> 00:23:38,079
Can you help us do so? Ain't I a proof myself?

367
00:23:38,559 --> 00:23:40,880
If I stood before her and told her how he

368
00:23:40,960 --> 00:23:46,160
used me? Would you do this? Would I? Would? I? Not? Well,

369
00:23:46,440 --> 00:23:49,279
it might be worth trying. But he has told her

370
00:23:49,319 --> 00:23:52,119
most of his sins and had pardon from her, and

371
00:23:52,200 --> 00:23:56,240
I understand she will not reopen the question al lay.

372
00:23:56,279 --> 00:23:59,640
He didn't tell her all, said, Miss Winter. I call

373
00:23:59,680 --> 00:24:01,960
it a glo glimpse of one or two murders besides

374
00:24:02,000 --> 00:24:04,920
the one that made such a fuss. He would speak

375
00:24:04,960 --> 00:24:07,599
of someone in his velvet way, and then look at

376
00:24:07,599 --> 00:24:10,799
me with a steady eye and say he died within

377
00:24:10,839 --> 00:24:14,240
a month. It wasn't hot air either, but I took

378
00:24:14,359 --> 00:24:18,119
little notice. You see, I loved him myself at that time.

379
00:24:18,759 --> 00:24:21,519
Whatever he did went with me, same as with this

380
00:24:21,640 --> 00:24:26,279
poor fool. There was just one thing that shook me. Yes,

381
00:24:26,440 --> 00:24:29,519
by cripes, if it had not been for his poisonous

382
00:24:29,680 --> 00:24:33,400
lying tongue, that explains ensues I'd had left him that

383
00:24:33,640 --> 00:24:36,880
very night. It's a book. He has a brown liver

384
00:24:36,960 --> 00:24:39,480
book with a lock and his arms in gold on

385
00:24:39,559 --> 00:24:42,880
the outside. I think he was a bit drunk that night,

386
00:24:43,039 --> 00:24:45,559
or he would not have shown it to me. What

387
00:24:45,880 --> 00:24:50,319
was it? Then? I tell you, mister Holmes, this man

388
00:24:50,359 --> 00:24:54,119
collects women and takes a pride in his collection, as

389
00:24:54,160 --> 00:24:58,000
some men collect moths or butterflies. He has it all

390
00:24:58,039 --> 00:25:03,359
in that book, snapshots, photographs, names, details, everything about them.

391
00:25:03,759 --> 00:25:07,119
It was a beastly book. A book no man, even

392
00:25:07,119 --> 00:25:09,640
if he had come from the Gunner, could have put

393
00:25:09,680 --> 00:25:13,000
the gun. But it was Albert Gunner's book all the

394
00:25:13,079 --> 00:25:17,160
same souls I have ruined. He could have put that

395
00:25:17,319 --> 00:25:20,279
on the outside if he have been so minded. However,

396
00:25:20,519 --> 00:25:23,240
that's neither here nor there. For the book would not

397
00:25:23,400 --> 00:25:26,319
serve you, and if it would, you can't get it.

398
00:25:27,000 --> 00:25:29,400
Where is it? How can I tell you where it

399
00:25:29,480 --> 00:25:32,599
is now? It's more than a year since I left him.

400
00:25:33,039 --> 00:25:35,559
I know where he kept it. Then he's a precise,

401
00:25:35,720 --> 00:25:38,240
tidy cat of a man in many of his ways.

402
00:25:38,599 --> 00:25:41,160
So maybe it is still on the pigeonhole of the

403
00:25:41,240 --> 00:25:44,759
old bureau in the inner study. Do you know his house?

404
00:25:45,720 --> 00:25:48,640
I have been in the study, said Holmes, Have you though?

405
00:25:49,240 --> 00:25:51,359
You haven't been slow in the job? If you only

406
00:25:51,400 --> 00:25:55,440
started this morning, Maybe dear Albert has met his match

407
00:25:55,519 --> 00:25:58,319
this time. The outer study is the one with the

408
00:25:58,400 --> 00:26:02,240
Chinese crockery in it, big glass cupboard between the windows.

409
00:26:02,640 --> 00:26:05,279
Then behind his desk is the door that leads to

410
00:26:05,319 --> 00:26:08,279
the inner study, a small room where he keeps papers

411
00:26:08,279 --> 00:26:13,319
in things? Is he not afraid of burglars? Adlbert is

412
00:26:13,400 --> 00:26:16,680
no coward. His worst enemy couldn't say that of him.

413
00:26:16,960 --> 00:26:21,759
He can look after himself. There's a burglar alarm at night. Besides,

414
00:26:22,039 --> 00:26:25,039
what is there for burglar unless they got away with

415
00:26:25,119 --> 00:26:29,400
all this fancy crockery. No good, said Shimwal Johnson, with

416
00:26:29,480 --> 00:26:33,000
the decided voice of the expert. No fence wants stuff

417
00:26:33,000 --> 00:26:35,559
of that sort that you can neither melt nor sell.

418
00:26:36,079 --> 00:26:39,759
Quite so, said Holmes. Well, now, miss Winter, if you

419
00:26:39,799 --> 00:26:43,839
would call here tomorrow evening at five, I would consider

420
00:26:44,039 --> 00:26:47,279
in the meanwhile whether your suggestion of seeing this lady

421
00:26:47,640 --> 00:26:52,240
personally may not be arranged. I am exceedingly obliged to

422
00:26:52,400 --> 00:26:55,559
you for your cooperation. I need not say that my

423
00:26:55,640 --> 00:26:59,400
clients will consider liberally. None of that, mister Holmes, cried

424
00:26:59,400 --> 00:27:02,559
the young woman. I am not out for money. Let

425
00:27:02,599 --> 00:27:04,960
me see this man in the mud, and I've got

426
00:27:05,000 --> 00:27:07,720
all I've worked for in the mud of my foot

427
00:27:07,759 --> 00:27:11,839
on his cursed face. That's my price. I'm with you

428
00:27:11,880 --> 00:27:14,279
tomorrow or any other day, so long as you are

429
00:27:14,359 --> 00:27:17,839
on his track. Porky here can tell you always where

430
00:27:17,880 --> 00:27:21,640
to find me. I did not see Holmes again until

431
00:27:21,680 --> 00:27:25,119
the following evening, when we dined once more at our

432
00:27:25,160 --> 00:27:29,880
Strand restaurant. He shrugged his shoulders when I asked him

433
00:27:29,880 --> 00:27:33,160
what luck he had in his interview. Then he told

434
00:27:33,160 --> 00:27:36,640
the story, which I would repeat in this way. His hard,

435
00:27:37,039 --> 00:27:40,359
dry savement needs some little editing to soften it into

436
00:27:40,480 --> 00:27:44,039
the terms of real life. There was no difficulty at

437
00:27:44,079 --> 00:27:47,960
all about the appointment, said Holmes, for a girl Glory's,

438
00:27:48,039 --> 00:27:53,000
and showing abject filial obedience and all secondary things in

439
00:27:53,039 --> 00:27:55,680
an attempt to atone for her flagrant breach of it

440
00:27:55,960 --> 00:27:59,680
in her engagement. The general phone that all was ready,

441
00:28:00,119 --> 00:28:03,160
and the firey miss w turned up according to schedule,

442
00:28:03,400 --> 00:28:06,440
so that at half past five a cab deposited us

443
00:28:06,480 --> 00:28:10,920
outside one of four Berkeley Square, where the old Soldier resides,

444
00:28:11,759 --> 00:28:14,720
one of those awful gray London castles which would make

445
00:28:14,759 --> 00:28:18,759
a church seem frivolous. A footman showed us into a

446
00:28:18,799 --> 00:28:22,319
great yellow curtain drawing room, and there was the lady

447
00:28:22,359 --> 00:28:28,000
awaiting us, de mirror pale, self contained, as inflexible and

448
00:28:28,079 --> 00:28:31,480
remote as a snow image on the mountain. I don't

449
00:28:31,519 --> 00:28:34,279
quite know how to make her clear to you, Watson.

450
00:28:34,960 --> 00:28:37,519
Perhaps you may meet her before we are through, and

451
00:28:37,599 --> 00:28:41,119
you can use your own gift of words. She is beautiful,

452
00:28:41,240 --> 00:28:44,759
but with the infernal, overworld beauty of some fanatic whose

453
00:28:44,839 --> 00:28:48,200
thoughts are set on high. I have seen such faces

454
00:28:48,240 --> 00:28:50,759
in the pictures of old masters of the Middle Ages.

455
00:28:51,240 --> 00:28:53,720
How a beast man could have laid his vile pause

456
00:28:53,839 --> 00:28:57,119
upon such a being of the beyond, I cannot imagine.

457
00:28:57,400 --> 00:29:00,000
You may have noticed how extreme call to each other,

458
00:29:00,880 --> 00:29:04,200
the spiritual to the animal, the caveman to the angel.

459
00:29:04,720 --> 00:29:07,720
She knew what we had come for. Of course, that

460
00:29:07,799 --> 00:29:10,720
villain had lost no time in poisoning her mind against me.

461
00:29:11,319 --> 00:29:15,240
Miss Winter's advant rather amazed her, I think, But she

462
00:29:15,400 --> 00:29:19,759
waved us into our respective chairs, like a reverend abbess

463
00:29:19,799 --> 00:29:24,640
receiving two rather leprous mendicants. If your head is inclined

464
00:29:24,759 --> 00:29:28,119
to swell, my dear Watson, take a course of Miss

465
00:29:28,279 --> 00:29:33,680
Violet de Merville. Well, sir, said she, in a voice

466
00:29:33,759 --> 00:29:37,200
like the wind from an iceberg. Your name is familiar

467
00:29:37,240 --> 00:29:40,960
to me. You have called, as I understand, to Milan

468
00:29:41,119 --> 00:29:45,000
my fiance, Baron Grunner. It is only by my father's

469
00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:47,880
request that I see you at all, And I warned

470
00:29:47,880 --> 00:29:50,599
you in advance that anything you can say could not

471
00:29:50,799 --> 00:29:54,359
possibly have the slightest effect on my mind. I was

472
00:29:54,400 --> 00:29:57,160
sorry for her, Watson. I thought of her for the

473
00:29:57,240 --> 00:29:59,160
moment as I would have thought of a daughter of

474
00:29:59,200 --> 00:30:02,640
my own. I am not oft an eloquence. I use

475
00:30:02,720 --> 00:30:05,640
my head, not my heart. But I really did plead

476
00:30:05,680 --> 00:30:07,799
with her with all the warmth and words I could

477
00:30:07,799 --> 00:30:10,039
find in my nature. I pictured to her of the

478
00:30:10,119 --> 00:30:12,519
awful position of the woman who only wakes to a

479
00:30:12,559 --> 00:30:16,000
man's character after she is his wife, a woman who

480
00:30:16,079 --> 00:30:18,799
has to submit to be caressed by buddy hands and

481
00:30:18,880 --> 00:30:23,880
lectrous lips. I spared her nothing, the shame, the fear,

482
00:30:24,200 --> 00:30:27,799
the agony, the hopelessness of it all. All my hot

483
00:30:27,839 --> 00:30:32,160
words couldnot bring one tinge of color to those ivory cheeks,

484
00:30:32,559 --> 00:30:36,480
nor one gleam of emotion to those abstracted eyes. I

485
00:30:36,599 --> 00:30:40,000
thought of what the rascal I said about a postigmatic influence.

486
00:30:41,240 --> 00:30:43,799
One could really believe that she was living above the

487
00:30:43,880 --> 00:30:48,240
earth in some mestatic dream. Yet there was nothing indefinite

488
00:30:48,240 --> 00:30:52,279
in her applies. I've listened to you with patience, mister Holmes,

489
00:30:52,319 --> 00:30:56,160
said she. The effect upon my mind is exactly as predicted.

490
00:30:56,680 --> 00:31:00,440
I am aware that, Adalbert, that my fiance has had

491
00:31:00,440 --> 00:31:03,519
a stormy life in which he has incurred bitter hatreds

492
00:31:03,720 --> 00:31:08,079
and most unjust aspirations. You are only the last of

493
00:31:08,119 --> 00:31:12,200
the series who have brought their slanders before me. Possibly

494
00:31:12,319 --> 00:31:15,079
you mean well, though I learned that you are a

495
00:31:15,119 --> 00:31:18,160
paid agent who would have been equally willing to act

496
00:31:18,599 --> 00:31:21,759
for the Baron as against him. But in any case,

497
00:31:21,960 --> 00:31:24,680
I wish you to understand once and for all that

498
00:31:24,759 --> 00:31:27,000
I love him, that he loves me, and that the

499
00:31:27,039 --> 00:31:29,319
opinion of all the world is no more to me

500
00:31:29,480 --> 00:31:32,880
than twitter of those birds outside the window. If his

501
00:31:33,000 --> 00:31:37,039
noble nature has ever for an instant fallen, it may

502
00:31:37,079 --> 00:31:39,640
be that I have been specially sent to raise it

503
00:31:39,640 --> 00:31:43,559
to its true and lofty level. I am not clear here.

504
00:31:43,720 --> 00:31:46,839
She turned her eyes upon my companion. Who this young

505
00:31:46,920 --> 00:31:50,119
lady may be? I was about to answer, when the

506
00:31:50,160 --> 00:31:53,480
girl broke in like a whirlwind. If ever he saw

507
00:31:53,640 --> 00:31:57,000
flam and ice face the face, it was those two women.

508
00:31:57,599 --> 00:32:00,599
I'll tell you who I am, she cried, springing out

509
00:32:00,680 --> 00:32:04,279
her chair, her mouth all twisted with passion. I am

510
00:32:04,359 --> 00:32:07,519
his last mistress. I am one of a hundred that

511
00:32:07,599 --> 00:32:10,519
he has tempted and used, and ruined and thrown into

512
00:32:10,519 --> 00:32:13,880
the refuse heap as he will you. Also, your refuse

513
00:32:13,960 --> 00:32:16,400
heap is more likely to be a grave. And maybe

514
00:32:16,440 --> 00:32:19,759
that's the best. I tell you, you, foolish women, if

515
00:32:19,799 --> 00:32:21,880
you marry this man, he'll be the death of you.

516
00:32:22,480 --> 00:32:24,839
It may be a broken heart, or it may be

517
00:32:24,960 --> 00:32:28,279
a broken neck, but he'll have you one way or

518
00:32:28,359 --> 00:32:31,200
the other. It's not out of love for you. I'm speaking.

519
00:32:31,519 --> 00:32:34,240
I don't care a tiger's curse. Whenever you live or die,

520
00:32:34,640 --> 00:32:37,200
it's out of hate for him and despite him, and

521
00:32:37,279 --> 00:32:39,240
to get back at him for what he did to me.

522
00:32:39,640 --> 00:32:41,960
But it's all the same. And you needn't look at

523
00:32:42,000 --> 00:32:44,559
me like that, my fine lady, for you may be

524
00:32:44,720 --> 00:32:46,920
lower than I am before you are free with it.

525
00:32:47,640 --> 00:32:50,720
I should prefer not to discuss such matters, said mister

526
00:32:50,799 --> 00:32:53,920
Murville coldly. Let me say once and for all that

527
00:32:53,960 --> 00:32:57,200
I am aware of free passages in my fiance's life

528
00:32:57,359 --> 00:33:00,759
in which he became entangled with designing women, and that

529
00:33:00,920 --> 00:33:03,920
I am assured of his hearty repentance for any evil

530
00:33:03,960 --> 00:33:08,119
that he may have done three passages, screamed my companion.

531
00:33:08,519 --> 00:33:13,880
You fool, you unutterable fool, mister Holmes. I beg that

532
00:33:13,960 --> 00:33:16,160
you will bring us interview to an end, said the

533
00:33:16,359 --> 00:33:19,960
icy voice. I have obeyed my father's wish in seeing you,

534
00:33:20,640 --> 00:33:23,160
but I am not compelled to listen to the ravings

535
00:33:23,200 --> 00:33:26,720
of this person with an oath. Miss Winter darted forward,

536
00:33:26,960 --> 00:33:29,039
and if I had not caught her wrists, she would

537
00:33:29,079 --> 00:33:32,359
have clutched this maddening woman by the hair. I dragged

538
00:33:32,359 --> 00:33:34,519
her toward the door and was lucky to get her

539
00:33:34,599 --> 00:33:38,200
back into the cab without a public scene, for she

540
00:33:38,359 --> 00:33:41,680
was beside herself with rage in a cold way. I

541
00:33:41,759 --> 00:33:45,759
felt pretty furious myself, Watson, for if there was something

542
00:33:45,920 --> 00:33:50,880
indescribably annoying in the calm aloofness and supreme self complaisance

543
00:33:51,079 --> 00:33:54,279
of the woman whom we are trying to save. So

544
00:33:54,440 --> 00:33:58,079
now once again you know exactly how we stand, and

545
00:33:58,160 --> 00:34:01,279
it is clear that I must plan some fresh opening

546
00:34:01,319 --> 00:34:05,680
move for this gambit won't work. I'll keep in touch

547
00:34:05,720 --> 00:34:08,599
with you, Watson, for it it is more than likely

548
00:34:08,719 --> 00:34:11,239
that you will have your part of the play. Though

549
00:34:11,280 --> 00:34:13,960
it is just possible that the next move may lie

550
00:34:13,960 --> 00:34:18,400
with them rather than with us. And it did their

551
00:34:18,440 --> 00:34:22,079
blow fell or his blow rapper, For never could I

552
00:34:22,119 --> 00:34:25,199
believe that the lady was privy to it. I think

553
00:34:25,239 --> 00:34:27,599
I could show you the very paving stone upon which

554
00:34:27,599 --> 00:34:30,639
I stood with my eyes fell upon a placard, and

555
00:34:30,719 --> 00:34:34,320
a pang of horror passed through my very soul. It

556
00:34:34,480 --> 00:34:38,480
was between the Grand Hotel and Charing Cross Station, where

557
00:34:38,480 --> 00:34:43,159
a one leged newsvendor displayed his evening papers. The date

558
00:34:43,320 --> 00:34:48,400
was just two days after the last conversation. There, black

559
00:34:48,480 --> 00:34:54,719
upon yellow was the terrible news sheet murderous attack upon

560
00:34:54,880 --> 00:34:59,880
Sherlock Holmes. I think I stood stunned for some moments.

561
00:35:00,440 --> 00:35:03,320
Then I have a confused recollection of snatching out a

562
00:35:03,320 --> 00:35:06,639
paper of the remonstrance of a man whom I had

563
00:35:06,679 --> 00:35:10,400
not paid, and finally of standing in the doorway of

564
00:35:10,440 --> 00:35:13,920
a chemist's shop while I turned up the fateful paragraph.

565
00:35:14,760 --> 00:35:18,559
This is how it ran. We learned with regret that

566
00:35:18,639 --> 00:35:22,760
mister Sherlock Holmes, the well known private detective, was the

567
00:35:22,840 --> 00:35:26,239
victim this morning of a murderous assault which has left

568
00:35:26,320 --> 00:35:30,360
him in a precarious position. There are no exact details

569
00:35:30,360 --> 00:35:33,400
to hand, but the event seems to have occurred about

570
00:35:33,400 --> 00:35:37,760
twelve o'clock in Regent Street, outside the Cafe Royal. The

571
00:35:37,880 --> 00:35:40,880
attack was made by two men armed with sticks, and

572
00:35:40,880 --> 00:35:44,400
mister Holmes was beaten above the head and body, receiving

573
00:35:44,440 --> 00:35:48,559
injuries which the doctors described as most serious. He was

574
00:35:48,639 --> 00:35:53,199
carried to Charing Cross Hospital and afterward insisted upon being

575
00:35:53,239 --> 00:35:56,760
taken to his rooms in Baker Street. The miscreant who

576
00:35:56,800 --> 00:36:00,480
attacked him appeared to have been respectfully dressed men who

577
00:36:00,599 --> 00:36:04,320
escaped from the biastaders by passing through the Kafa Rael

578
00:36:04,480 --> 00:36:07,960
and out into a glasshouse street behind it. No doubt

579
00:36:08,039 --> 00:36:11,760
they belonged to that criminal fraternity, which has so often

580
00:36:11,840 --> 00:36:15,360
had occasion to bewail the activity and ingenuity of the

581
00:36:15,400 --> 00:36:18,679
injured man. I need not say that my eyes had

582
00:36:18,719 --> 00:36:22,280
hardly glanced over the paragraph before I sprung into a

583
00:36:22,360 --> 00:36:25,599
hansom and was on my way to Baker Street. I

584
00:36:25,679 --> 00:36:29,639
found Sir Leslie Oakshat, the famous surgeon, in his hall,

585
00:36:29,719 --> 00:36:33,599
and the brougham waiting at the curb. No immediate danger

586
00:36:33,800 --> 00:36:39,239
was his report. Two lacerated scalp wounds and some considerable bruises.

587
00:36:39,719 --> 00:36:44,280
Several stitches have been necessary, morphine has been injected, and

588
00:36:44,360 --> 00:36:47,639
quiet is essential, but an interview of a few minutes

589
00:36:47,679 --> 00:36:51,679
would not be absolutely forbidden. With this permission, I stole

590
00:36:51,719 --> 00:36:55,599
into the darkened room. The sufferer was wide awake, and

591
00:36:55,639 --> 00:37:00,719
I heard my name in a horse whisper was three

592
00:37:00,800 --> 00:37:04,559
quarters down. But one ray of sunlight slanted through and

593
00:37:04,639 --> 00:37:08,039
struck the bandage head of the injured man. A crimson

594
00:37:08,079 --> 00:37:12,000
patch had soaked through the white linen compress. I sat

595
00:37:12,079 --> 00:37:16,159
beside him and bent my head. All right, Watson, don't

596
00:37:16,159 --> 00:37:18,920
look so scared, he muttered, in a very weak voice.

597
00:37:19,360 --> 00:37:22,639
It's not nearly as bad as it seems, Thank God

598
00:37:22,719 --> 00:37:25,840
for that. I'm a bit of a single stick expert.

599
00:37:26,039 --> 00:37:28,920
As you know, I took most of them on my guard.

600
00:37:29,400 --> 00:37:31,639
It was the second man that was too much for me.

601
00:37:32,079 --> 00:37:35,039
What can I do? Holmes? Of course it was that

602
00:37:35,239 --> 00:37:38,360
damned fellow who set them on. I'll go and thrash

603
00:37:38,480 --> 00:37:41,679
the hide off him if you give the word, good

604
00:37:41,719 --> 00:37:45,039
old Watson, No, we can do nothing there unless the

605
00:37:45,079 --> 00:37:48,320
police laid their hands on the men. But their getaway

606
00:37:48,559 --> 00:37:51,679
had been well prepared. We may be sure of that.

607
00:37:52,159 --> 00:37:55,320
Wait a little. I have my plans. The first thing

608
00:37:55,559 --> 00:37:59,280
is to exaggerate my injuries. They'll come to you for news.

609
00:37:59,800 --> 00:38:02,960
Put it on thick Watson. Luckily if I live the

610
00:38:03,000 --> 00:38:07,719
week out concussion, delirium, what you like. You can't overdo it.

611
00:38:08,559 --> 00:38:12,320
But sir Leslie Oakshot, Oh he's all right. He shall

612
00:38:12,360 --> 00:38:14,360
see the worst side of me. I'll look after that.

613
00:38:15,360 --> 00:38:19,920
Anything else, Yes, tell Shamwell Johnson to get that girl

614
00:38:20,000 --> 00:38:22,880
out of the way. Those beauties will be after her now.

615
00:38:23,280 --> 00:38:26,039
They know, of course, that she was with me in

616
00:38:26,079 --> 00:38:29,079
the case if they dare to do me, and it

617
00:38:29,199 --> 00:38:32,280
is not likely they will neglect her, that is urgent.

618
00:38:32,760 --> 00:38:37,760
Do it tonight. I'll go now anything more. Put my

619
00:38:37,840 --> 00:38:41,800
pipe on the table and the tobacco slipper right, come

620
00:38:41,840 --> 00:38:45,280
in each morning and we'll plan our campaign. I arranged

621
00:38:45,280 --> 00:38:47,599
with Johnson that evening to take Miss Winter to a

622
00:38:47,679 --> 00:38:50,800
quiet suburb and see that she lay low until the

623
00:38:50,880 --> 00:38:54,760
danger was pasted. For six days, the public was under

624
00:38:54,760 --> 00:38:57,280
the impression that Holmes was at the door of death.

625
00:38:58,119 --> 00:39:01,880
The bulletins were very grave, and there were sinister paragraphs

626
00:39:01,920 --> 00:39:05,360
in the papers. My continual visits assured me that it

627
00:39:05,480 --> 00:39:09,280
was not so bad, as that his wiry constitution and

628
00:39:09,360 --> 00:39:14,039
his turned will were working wonders. He was recovering fast,

629
00:39:14,719 --> 00:39:17,480
and I had suspected at times that he was really

630
00:39:17,519 --> 00:39:20,840
finding himself rather faster than he pretended, even to me.

631
00:39:21,559 --> 00:39:24,320
There was a curious, secretive streak in the man which

632
00:39:24,400 --> 00:39:28,400
led to many dramatic effects, but left even his closest

633
00:39:28,480 --> 00:39:31,719
friend guessing as to what his exact plans might be.

634
00:39:32,199 --> 00:39:34,920
He pushed to an extreme the accident that the only

635
00:39:35,000 --> 00:39:39,400
safe plotter was he who plotted alone. I was nearer

636
00:39:39,480 --> 00:39:43,360
him than anyone else, and yet I was always conscious

637
00:39:43,480 --> 00:39:46,800
of the gap between us. On the seventh day, the

638
00:39:46,880 --> 00:39:50,199
stitches were taken out, in spite of which there was

639
00:39:50,239 --> 00:39:54,440
a report of erstapillas in the evening papers. The same

640
00:39:54,519 --> 00:39:58,480
evening papers had an announcement which I was bound, sick

641
00:39:58,559 --> 00:40:01,760
or well to carry to my friend. It was simply

642
00:40:01,800 --> 00:40:06,679
that among the passengers on the counter boat Rubitania, starting

643
00:40:06,719 --> 00:40:11,360
from Liverpool on Friday, was the Baron Albert Grunner, who

644
00:40:11,400 --> 00:40:14,360
had some important financial business to settle in the States

645
00:40:14,400 --> 00:40:18,199
before his impending wedding to Miss Violet de Murville, only

646
00:40:18,280 --> 00:40:21,880
daughter of etc. Etc. Holmes listened to the news of

647
00:40:21,920 --> 00:40:25,920
a cold, concentrated look upon his pale face, which told

648
00:40:25,920 --> 00:40:30,079
me that it hit him hard. Friday. He cried only

649
00:40:30,199 --> 00:40:33,960
three clear days. I believe the rascal wants to put

650
00:40:34,039 --> 00:40:38,159
himself out of danger's way, but he won't, Watson, by

651
00:40:38,199 --> 00:40:42,280
the Lord Harry, he won't. Now, Watson, I want you

652
00:40:42,360 --> 00:40:45,639
to do something for me. I am here to be used.

653
00:40:45,719 --> 00:40:50,039
Holmes well then spend the next twenty four hours in

654
00:40:50,119 --> 00:40:55,559
an intensive study of Chinese pottery. He gave no explanations,

655
00:40:55,639 --> 00:40:58,960
and I asked for none. By long experience, I had

656
00:40:59,039 --> 00:41:02,519
learned the wisdom of obedience. But when I left his room,

657
00:41:02,599 --> 00:41:05,800
I walked down Baker Street, revolving in my head how

658
00:41:05,840 --> 00:41:08,559
on earth I was to carry out so strange an

659
00:41:08,639 --> 00:41:13,159
order Finally I drove to the London Librrian Saint James Square,

660
00:41:13,719 --> 00:41:18,159
put the matter to my friend Lomax, the sub librarian,

661
00:41:18,559 --> 00:41:21,480
and departed to my rooms with a goodly volume under

662
00:41:21,480 --> 00:41:24,360
my arm. It is said that the barrister who cramps

663
00:41:24,440 --> 00:41:27,239
up a case with such care that he can't examine

664
00:41:27,239 --> 00:41:30,880
an expert witness upon the Monday, has forgotten all his

665
00:41:31,000 --> 00:41:34,679
fourth knowledge before the Saturday. Certainly I should not like

666
00:41:34,800 --> 00:41:39,079
now to pose as an authority upon ceramics. And yet all

667
00:41:39,119 --> 00:41:42,159
the evening and all that night, with short interval for rest,

668
00:41:42,360 --> 00:41:45,400
and all next morning I was stucking in knowledge and

669
00:41:45,480 --> 00:41:49,239
committing names to memory. There I learned of the hallmarks

670
00:41:49,280 --> 00:41:54,000
of the great artist decorators, of the mystery of psychical dates,

671
00:41:54,800 --> 00:41:57,039
the marks of the Hungwo, and the beauties of the

672
00:41:57,079 --> 00:42:00,599
young Low, the writings of a ting Ying, and the

673
00:42:00,639 --> 00:42:03,199
glories of the primitive period of the song and the

674
00:42:03,239 --> 00:42:06,599
Wand I was charged with all this information. When I

675
00:42:06,639 --> 00:42:10,679
called upon Holmes next evening, he was out of bed now,

676
00:42:11,159 --> 00:42:13,840
though you would not have guessed it from the published reports,

677
00:42:14,360 --> 00:42:17,280
and he sat with his much bandaged head resting upon

678
00:42:17,320 --> 00:42:21,480
his hand in the death of his favorite armchair. Why Holmes,

679
00:42:21,519 --> 00:42:24,719
I said, if one believes the papers you are dying,

680
00:42:25,559 --> 00:42:29,119
that said, he is the very impression which I intended

681
00:42:29,119 --> 00:42:33,280
to convey. And now, Watson, have you learned your lesson?

682
00:42:33,719 --> 00:42:38,159
At least I have tried to good. You could keep

683
00:42:38,159 --> 00:42:41,880
an intelligent conversation on the subject. I believe I could.

684
00:42:42,679 --> 00:42:46,440
Then hand me that little box from the mantelpiece. He

685
00:42:46,519 --> 00:42:49,679
opened the lid and took out a small object, most

686
00:42:49,760 --> 00:42:54,559
carefully wrapped in some fine Eastern silk. This he unfolded

687
00:42:54,639 --> 00:42:57,760
and disclosed as a delicate little saucer of the most

688
00:42:57,800 --> 00:43:02,760
beautiful deep blue color. He needs careful handling, Watson, this

689
00:43:02,920 --> 00:43:06,760
is the real actual pottery of the Ming dynasty. No

690
00:43:06,920 --> 00:43:11,159
finer piece ever passed through Christie's. A complete set of

691
00:43:11,199 --> 00:43:14,880
this would be worth a king's ransom. In fact, it

692
00:43:15,000 --> 00:43:17,559
is doubtful if there is a complete set outside of

693
00:43:17,599 --> 00:43:20,960
the Imperial Palace of Pekin. The sight of this wild

694
00:43:21,000 --> 00:43:24,559
drive a real connoisseur wild. What am I to do

695
00:43:24,639 --> 00:43:27,760
with it? Holmes handed me a card upon which was

696
00:43:27,760 --> 00:43:32,719
printed doctor Hill Barton three sixty nine Half Moon Street.

697
00:43:33,440 --> 00:43:36,559
That is your name for the evening, Watson, you will

698
00:43:36,599 --> 00:43:40,519
call upon Baron Grunner. I know something of his habits,

699
00:43:40,920 --> 00:43:44,119
and at half past eight he would probably be disengaged.

700
00:43:45,280 --> 00:43:47,400
A note will tell him in advance that you are

701
00:43:47,480 --> 00:43:50,280
about to call, and you will see that you are

702
00:43:50,360 --> 00:43:53,920
bringing him assessment of an absolutely unique set of ming China.

703
00:43:54,800 --> 00:43:57,239
You may as well be a medical man, since that

704
00:43:57,480 --> 00:44:00,320
is a part which you can play without duplicity. You

705
00:44:00,400 --> 00:44:03,559
are a collector. This set has come your way. You

706
00:44:03,639 --> 00:44:06,199
have heard of the Baron's interest in the subject, and

707
00:44:06,400 --> 00:44:08,960
you are not averse to selling it at a price.

708
00:44:09,800 --> 00:44:14,880
What price, well, asked Watson. You would certainly fall down

709
00:44:15,000 --> 00:44:17,239
badly if you do not know the value of your

710
00:44:17,280 --> 00:44:22,360
own wares. This saucer was got for me by Sir James,

711
00:44:22,679 --> 00:44:26,960
and comes I understand from the collection of his clients.

712
00:44:27,519 --> 00:44:30,039
You will not exaggerate if you say that it could

713
00:44:30,079 --> 00:44:33,960
hardly be matched in the world. I could perhaps suggest

714
00:44:34,079 --> 00:44:37,960
that the set should be valued by an expert. Excellent Watson,

715
00:44:38,320 --> 00:44:43,239
you should tillate today, suggests Christy or Sophie. Your delicacy

716
00:44:43,320 --> 00:44:46,559
prevents you putting a price for yourself. But if he

717
00:44:46,639 --> 00:44:49,440
won't see me, oh yes, he will see you. He

718
00:44:49,519 --> 00:44:52,679
has the collection mania in its most acute form, and

719
00:44:52,840 --> 00:44:57,079
especially on this subject on which he is an acknowledged authority.

720
00:44:57,559 --> 00:45:01,320
Sit down, Watson, and I will dictate the letter. No

721
00:45:01,400 --> 00:45:04,519
answer needed, you will merely say that you are coming

722
00:45:04,679 --> 00:45:09,559
and why. It was an admirable document, short, courteous, and

723
00:45:09,679 --> 00:45:14,239
stimulating to the curiosity of the connoisseur. A district messenger

724
00:45:14,480 --> 00:45:18,199
was duly dispatched with it on the same evening. With

725
00:45:18,320 --> 00:45:20,840
the precious saucer in my hand and the card of

726
00:45:20,920 --> 00:45:24,000
doctor hill Barton in my pocket, I set off on

727
00:45:24,079 --> 00:45:27,960
my own adventure. The beautiful house and grounds indicated that

728
00:45:28,000 --> 00:45:31,480
Baron Grunner was, as Sir James had said, a man

729
00:45:31,559 --> 00:45:35,639
of considerable wealth. A long winding drive with banks of

730
00:45:35,800 --> 00:45:39,280
rare shrubs on either side, opened out into a great

731
00:45:39,440 --> 00:45:43,559
graveled square adorned with statues. The place had been built

732
00:45:43,599 --> 00:45:46,280
by a South African gold king in the days of

733
00:45:46,320 --> 00:45:49,519
the Great Boom, and a long low house with the

734
00:45:49,559 --> 00:45:54,079
turrets at the corners, though an architectural nightmare, was imposing

735
00:45:54,199 --> 00:45:57,559
in its size and solidity. A butler who would have

736
00:45:57,599 --> 00:46:00,760
adorn a bench of bishops showed me in and handed

737
00:46:00,760 --> 00:46:03,800
me over to a plush clad footman, who ushered me

738
00:46:03,920 --> 00:46:07,679
into the baron's presence. He was standing at the open

739
00:46:07,760 --> 00:46:11,039
front of a great case which stood between the windows,

740
00:46:11,079 --> 00:46:15,000
and which contained part of his Chinese collection. As I entered,

741
00:46:15,039 --> 00:46:18,519
he turned with a small vase in his hand. Praise

742
00:46:18,599 --> 00:46:21,760
it down, Doctor said he. I was looking over my

743
00:46:21,880 --> 00:46:25,000
own treasures and wondering whether I could really afford to

744
00:46:25,079 --> 00:46:28,760
add to them. This little tanking specimen, which dates from

745
00:46:28,760 --> 00:46:32,639
the seventh century, would probably interest you. I am sure

746
00:46:32,639 --> 00:46:36,280
you never saw a final workmanship or richer glaze. Have

747
00:46:36,440 --> 00:46:38,800
you the meaning saucer of which you spoke with you?

748
00:46:39,519 --> 00:46:43,079
I carefully unpacked it and handed it to him. He

749
00:46:43,119 --> 00:46:46,760
seated himself at his desk, pulled over the lamp, for

750
00:46:46,960 --> 00:46:50,320
it was growing dark, and set himself to examine it.

751
00:46:51,440 --> 00:46:54,159
As he did so, the yellow light beat upon his

752
00:46:54,239 --> 00:46:56,599
own features, and I was able to study them at

753
00:46:56,599 --> 00:47:00,760
my ease. He was certainly a remarkably handsome man. His

754
00:47:00,840 --> 00:47:05,039
European reputation for beauty was fully deserved. In figure, he

755
00:47:05,159 --> 00:47:08,239
was not more than a middle size, but was built

756
00:47:08,320 --> 00:47:13,480
upon graceful and active lines. His face was swarthy, almost oriental,

757
00:47:14,400 --> 00:47:18,199
with large, dark, lingorious eyes which might easily hold an

758
00:47:18,320 --> 00:47:22,880
irresistible fascination for women. His hair and mustache were raven black.

759
00:47:23,280 --> 00:47:27,599
The latter short pointed and carefully waxed. His features were

760
00:47:27,639 --> 00:47:32,679
regular and pleasing, save only his straight, finlet mouth. If

761
00:47:32,719 --> 00:47:36,239
ever I saw a murderer's mouth, it was there, a cruel,

762
00:47:36,519 --> 00:47:41,760
hard gas in his face, compressed, inexorable and terrible. He

763
00:47:41,920 --> 00:47:44,599
was ill advised to train his mustache away from it,

764
00:47:45,400 --> 00:47:48,400
for it was nature's danger signal, set as a warning

765
00:47:48,519 --> 00:47:52,119
to his victims. His voice was engaging, and his manner

766
00:47:52,239 --> 00:47:54,760
is perfect in age. I should have put him at

767
00:47:54,800 --> 00:47:58,199
little over thirty, though his record afterwards showed that he

768
00:47:58,320 --> 00:48:02,920
was forty two. Already fine, very fine, indeed, he said,

769
00:48:02,920 --> 00:48:05,400
at last, And you say you have a set of

770
00:48:05,440 --> 00:48:09,199
six to correspond. What puzzles me is that I should

771
00:48:09,239 --> 00:48:12,639
not have heard of such magnificent specimens. I only know

772
00:48:12,760 --> 00:48:15,639
of one in England to match this, and it is

773
00:48:15,679 --> 00:48:18,519
certainly not likely to be in the market. Would it

774
00:48:18,559 --> 00:48:21,719
be indiscreet if I were to ask you, doctor hill Barton,

775
00:48:22,119 --> 00:48:26,079
how you obtained this? Does it really matter? I asked,

776
00:48:26,119 --> 00:48:28,760
with as careless an air as I can muster. You

777
00:48:28,840 --> 00:48:31,880
can see that the piece is genuine, and as to

778
00:48:31,960 --> 00:48:34,960
the value, I am content to take an experts valuation.

779
00:48:35,840 --> 00:48:40,440
Very mysterious, said he with a quick, dark, suspicious flash

780
00:48:40,480 --> 00:48:43,840
of his dark eyes. In dealing with objects of such value,

781
00:48:43,920 --> 00:48:47,440
one naturally wishes to know all about the transaction. That

782
00:48:47,559 --> 00:48:50,199
the piece is genuine is certain. I have no doubts

783
00:48:50,199 --> 00:48:53,400
at all about that. But suppose I am bound to

784
00:48:53,400 --> 00:48:57,760
take every possibility into account that it should prove afterward

785
00:48:57,880 --> 00:49:01,360
that you had no right to sell, I would guarantee

786
00:49:01,360 --> 00:49:04,920
you against my claim of the sort. That, of course,

787
00:49:05,119 --> 00:49:07,719
would open up the question as to what your guarantee

788
00:49:07,760 --> 00:49:12,119
was worth. My bankers would answer that quite so. And

789
00:49:12,199 --> 00:49:15,840
yet the whole transaction strikes me as rather unusual. You

790
00:49:15,880 --> 00:49:18,920
can do business or not, said I with indifference. I

791
00:49:18,960 --> 00:49:21,480
have given you the first offer, as I understood that

792
00:49:21,480 --> 00:49:24,599
you were a connoisseewer. But I shall have no difficulty

793
00:49:24,639 --> 00:49:27,280
in other quarters who told you I was a connoisseeer.

794
00:49:27,800 --> 00:49:29,480
I was aware that you have written a book on

795
00:49:29,519 --> 00:49:33,639
the subject. Have you read the book? No? Dear me,

796
00:49:33,920 --> 00:49:36,760
this becomes more and more difficult for me to understand.

797
00:49:37,320 --> 00:49:40,320
You are a connoisseur and collector with a very valuable

798
00:49:40,320 --> 00:49:43,400
piece in your collection, and yet you have never troubled

799
00:49:43,400 --> 00:49:45,719
to consult the one book which would have told you

800
00:49:45,800 --> 00:49:48,599
the real meaning and value of what you held? How

801
00:49:48,639 --> 00:49:51,679
do you explain that I am a very busy man?

802
00:49:51,840 --> 00:49:55,039
I am a doctor in practice. That is no answer.

803
00:49:55,199 --> 00:49:57,440
If a man has a hobby, he follows it up,

804
00:49:57,719 --> 00:50:00,760
whatever his other pursuits may be. You said in your

805
00:50:00,840 --> 00:50:04,400
note that you were a connoisseur, so I am. Might

806
00:50:04,440 --> 00:50:07,239
I ask you a few questions to test you. I

807
00:50:07,280 --> 00:50:10,039
am obliged to tell you, doctor, if you are indeed

808
00:50:10,079 --> 00:50:13,440
a doctor, that the instant becomes more and more suspicious.

809
00:50:13,960 --> 00:50:16,079
I would ask you, what do you know of the

810
00:50:16,079 --> 00:50:19,239
emperor Shomu and how do you associate him with a

811
00:50:19,320 --> 00:50:23,199
soci show in nar Nara? Dear me, does that puzzle?

812
00:50:23,280 --> 00:50:25,760
You tell me a little about the Northern Way dynasty

813
00:50:26,199 --> 00:50:29,159
and it placed in the history of ceramics. I spray

814
00:50:29,239 --> 00:50:33,000
from my chair and stimulated anger. This is a tolerable sir,

815
00:50:33,159 --> 00:50:35,559
said I. I came here to do you a favor,

816
00:50:35,960 --> 00:50:38,400
and not to be examined as if I were a schoolboy.

817
00:50:38,960 --> 00:50:41,440
My knowledge on the subjects may be second only to

818
00:50:41,559 --> 00:50:45,159
your own. But I certainly shall not answer questions which

819
00:50:45,199 --> 00:50:48,159
have been put in so offensive a way. He looked

820
00:50:48,159 --> 00:50:51,599
at me steadily. The languor had gone from his eyes.

821
00:50:52,000 --> 00:50:55,199
They suddenly glared. There was a gleam of teeth from

822
00:50:55,239 --> 00:50:59,159
between those cruel lips. What is the game? You are

823
00:50:59,199 --> 00:51:02,000
here as a spot. You are an emissary of Holmes.

824
00:51:02,159 --> 00:51:04,480
This is a trick you are playing upon me. The

825
00:51:04,559 --> 00:51:07,559
fellow is dying, I hear, so he sends his tools

826
00:51:07,559 --> 00:51:10,239
to keep watch upon me. You've made your way in

827
00:51:10,360 --> 00:51:13,920
here without leave, and by God, you may find it

828
00:51:14,000 --> 00:51:17,519
harder to get out than to get in. He had

829
00:51:17,559 --> 00:51:20,800
sprung to his feet, and I stepped back, bracing myself

830
00:51:20,800 --> 00:51:24,360
for an attack, for the man was beside himself with rage.

831
00:51:24,880 --> 00:51:28,199
He may have suspected me from the first, but certainly

832
00:51:28,320 --> 00:51:31,679
this cross examination had shown him the truth. But it

833
00:51:31,760 --> 00:51:33,960
was clear that I could not hope to see them.

834
00:51:34,159 --> 00:51:37,440
He dived his hand into a side drawer and rummaged furiously.

835
00:51:37,719 --> 00:51:42,480
Then something struck upon his ear, for he stood listening intently. Ah.

836
00:51:42,519 --> 00:51:45,679
He cried, ah, and dashed into the room behind him.

837
00:51:46,280 --> 00:51:49,639
Two steps took me to the open door, and my

838
00:51:49,760 --> 00:51:52,760
mind will ever carry a clear picture of the scene

839
00:51:52,800 --> 00:51:56,719
within the window leading out to a garden was wide

840
00:51:56,760 --> 00:52:01,119
open beside it, looking like some terrible goold, his head

841
00:52:01,159 --> 00:52:04,960
girt with bloody bandages, his face drawn in white, stood

842
00:52:05,079 --> 00:52:08,840
Sherlock Holmes. The next instant he was through the gap,

843
00:52:09,199 --> 00:52:11,519
and I heard the crash of his body among the

844
00:52:11,559 --> 00:52:15,639
laurel bushes outside. With a howl of rage. The master

845
00:52:15,719 --> 00:52:18,280
of the house rushed after him to the open window.

846
00:52:18,800 --> 00:52:21,559
And then it was done in an instant, and yet

847
00:52:21,760 --> 00:52:25,239
I clearly saw it. An arm, a young woman's arm,

848
00:52:25,400 --> 00:52:28,920
shot out from among the leaves. At the same instant,

849
00:52:28,960 --> 00:52:32,199
the baron uttered a horrible cry, a yell which will

850
00:52:32,199 --> 00:52:34,880
always ring in my memory. He clapped his two hands

851
00:52:34,960 --> 00:52:38,239
to his face and rushed round the room, beating his

852
00:52:38,320 --> 00:52:42,480
head horribly against the walls. Then he fell upon the carpet,

853
00:52:42,880 --> 00:52:48,519
rolling and writhing, while screaming. After scream resounded through the house. Water,

854
00:52:48,679 --> 00:52:52,239
for God's sake, water was his cry. I seized a

855
00:52:52,280 --> 00:52:55,039
carafe from a side table and rushed to his aid.

856
00:52:55,360 --> 00:52:58,320
At the same moment, the butler and several footmen ran

857
00:52:58,400 --> 00:53:01,000
in from the hall. I remember that one of them

858
00:53:01,039 --> 00:53:03,639
fainted as I knelt by the injured man and turned

859
00:53:03,639 --> 00:53:06,039
that horrible face to the light of the lamp. The

860
00:53:06,159 --> 00:53:09,159
vitrol was eating into it everywhere and dripping from the

861
00:53:09,239 --> 00:53:12,840
ears to the chin. One eye was already white and glazed.

862
00:53:13,000 --> 00:53:16,119
The other was red and inflamed. The features which I

863
00:53:16,199 --> 00:53:18,599
had admired a few minutes before were now like some

864
00:53:18,679 --> 00:53:21,519
beautiful painting over which the artists had passed a wet,

865
00:53:21,760 --> 00:53:27,000
foul sponge. It was blurred, discolored, and human terrible. In

866
00:53:27,039 --> 00:53:29,559
a few words, I explained exactly what had occurred so

867
00:53:29,639 --> 00:53:33,320
far as the vitual attack was concerned. Some had climbed

868
00:53:33,320 --> 00:53:36,360
through the window, while others had rushed out onto the lawn.

869
00:53:36,679 --> 00:53:39,039
But it was dark, and it had begun to rain.

870
00:53:39,639 --> 00:53:43,559
Between his screams, the victim raised and raved against the avenger.

871
00:53:44,000 --> 00:53:46,840
It was a hellcat, kittie winter. He cried, Oh the

872
00:53:46,880 --> 00:53:50,039
she devil. She shall pay for it, She shall pay,

873
00:53:50,400 --> 00:53:52,920
Oh God in heaven, this paint is more than I

874
00:53:53,000 --> 00:53:56,559
can bear. I baved his face in oil, put cotton

875
00:53:56,599 --> 00:54:00,639
waddings on the raw surfaces, and administered a hypodermic morphia.

876
00:54:01,320 --> 00:54:04,280
All suspicion of me had passed from his mind in

877
00:54:04,360 --> 00:54:07,639
the presence of this shock, and he clung to my

878
00:54:07,719 --> 00:54:10,280
hands as if I might have the power even yet

879
00:54:10,320 --> 00:54:13,599
to clear his deathish eyes, which gazed upon me. I

880
00:54:13,639 --> 00:54:16,440
could have wept over the ruin, had I not remembered

881
00:54:16,559 --> 00:54:19,159
very clearly the vile life which had led up to

882
00:54:19,199 --> 00:54:22,199
so hideous a change. It was loasted in the field

883
00:54:22,199 --> 00:54:25,039
the pawing of his burning hands, and I was relieved

884
00:54:25,039 --> 00:54:28,880
when his family surgeon, closely followed by a specialist, came

885
00:54:28,960 --> 00:54:32,519
to relieve me of my charge. An inspector of police

886
00:54:32,599 --> 00:54:35,840
had also arrived, and to him I handed my real card.

887
00:54:36,199 --> 00:54:38,440
It would have been useless, as well as foolish to

888
00:54:38,480 --> 00:54:41,599
do otherwise, for I was nearly as well by sight

889
00:54:41,719 --> 00:54:45,079
at the yard as Holmes himself. Then I left that

890
00:54:45,199 --> 00:54:48,079
house of gloom and terror. Within an hour I was

891
00:54:48,119 --> 00:54:51,800
at Baker Street. Holmes was seated in his familiar chair,

892
00:54:52,400 --> 00:54:57,119
looking very pale and exhausted. Apart from his injuries, even

893
00:54:57,159 --> 00:54:59,599
his iron nerves had been shocked by the events of

894
00:54:59,639 --> 00:55:02,480
the e and he listened with horror to my account

895
00:55:02,480 --> 00:55:06,360
of the Baron's transformation. The wages of sin, Watson, the

896
00:55:06,440 --> 00:55:10,079
wages of sin, said he. Sooner or later it will

897
00:55:10,119 --> 00:55:13,920
always come. God knows. There was sin enough, he added,

898
00:55:14,239 --> 00:55:17,360
taking up a brown volume from the table. Here is

899
00:55:17,440 --> 00:55:20,239
the book the woman talked of. If this will not

900
00:55:20,360 --> 00:55:24,079
break off the marriage, nothing ever could, but it will, Watson,

901
00:55:24,400 --> 00:55:28,440
It must no self respecting woman could stand it. Is

902
00:55:28,480 --> 00:55:31,440
it his love diary or is less diary? Call it

903
00:55:31,480 --> 00:55:34,039
what you will. The moment the woman told us of it,

904
00:55:34,079 --> 00:55:37,199
I realized what a tremendous weapon was there, if we

905
00:55:37,239 --> 00:55:39,960
could but lay our hands on it. I said nothing

906
00:55:40,000 --> 00:55:42,840
of the time to indicate my thoughts, for this woman

907
00:55:42,960 --> 00:55:45,679
might have given it away, but I brooded over it.

908
00:55:46,199 --> 00:55:48,639
Then this is soul upon me. Gave me the chance

909
00:55:48,639 --> 00:55:51,280
of letting the baron think that no precautions may be

910
00:55:51,400 --> 00:55:54,599
taken against me. That was all to the good. I

911
00:55:54,639 --> 00:55:56,960
would have waited a little longer, but his visit to

912
00:55:57,000 --> 00:56:00,199
America forced my hand. He would never have left so

913
00:56:00,400 --> 00:56:03,880
compromising a document behind him. Therefore we had to act

914
00:56:03,920 --> 00:56:09,480
at once. Burglary at night is impossible. He takes precautions,

915
00:56:09,760 --> 00:56:12,360
but there was a chance in the evening if I

916
00:56:12,400 --> 00:56:15,599
could only be sure that his attention was engaged. That

917
00:56:15,760 --> 00:56:18,639
was where you and your blue saucer came in. But

918
00:56:18,719 --> 00:56:21,239
I had to be sure of the position of the book,

919
00:56:21,440 --> 00:56:23,360
and I knew I only had a few minutes in

920
00:56:23,400 --> 00:56:26,360
which to act, for my time was limited by your

921
00:56:26,400 --> 00:56:29,880
knowledge of Chinese pottery. Therefore I gathered the girl up

922
00:56:29,920 --> 00:56:32,320
at the last moment. How could I guess what the

923
00:56:32,320 --> 00:56:35,440
little packet was that she carried so carefully under her cloak.

924
00:56:35,960 --> 00:56:38,760
I thought she had come altogether on my business, but

925
00:56:38,920 --> 00:56:41,119
seems she had some of her own. He guessed that

926
00:56:41,239 --> 00:56:44,559
came from you. I feared he would, but you held

927
00:56:44,639 --> 00:56:46,719
him in play just long enough for me to get

928
00:56:46,719 --> 00:56:50,719
the book, though not long enough for an unobserved escape. Ah,

929
00:56:50,920 --> 00:56:54,320
Sir James, I am very glad you have come. Our

930
00:56:54,400 --> 00:56:57,639
courtly friend had appeared in answer to a previous summons.

931
00:56:58,159 --> 00:57:00,960
He listened with the deepest attention to Holmes account of

932
00:57:01,000 --> 00:57:05,199
what had occurred. You have done wonders. Wonders, he cried

933
00:57:05,519 --> 00:57:08,239
when he had heard the narrative. But if these injuries

934
00:57:08,280 --> 00:57:11,800
are as terrible as doctor Watson describes, then truly our

935
00:57:11,800 --> 00:57:15,039
purpose of affording the marriage is sufficiently gained without the

936
00:57:15,159 --> 00:57:18,880
use of this horrible book. Holmes shook his head. Women

937
00:57:19,039 --> 00:57:21,760
of the Murville type do not act like that. She

938
00:57:21,800 --> 00:57:24,840
would love him for more as a disfigured martyr. No, No,

939
00:57:25,280 --> 00:57:28,360
it was his moral side, not his physical, which we

940
00:57:28,480 --> 00:57:31,800
have to destroy. That book will bring her back to earth,

941
00:57:32,280 --> 00:57:36,159
and I know nothing else that could. It is his

942
00:57:36,239 --> 00:57:40,079
own writing. She cannot get past that Sir James carried

943
00:57:40,119 --> 00:57:43,320
away both it and the precious saucer. As I was

944
00:57:43,400 --> 00:57:46,920
myself overdue, I went down with him into the street.

945
00:57:47,199 --> 00:57:50,360
O'broham was waiting for him. He sprang in, gave a

946
00:57:50,400 --> 00:57:54,159
hurried order to the cockaded coachman, and drove swiftly away.

947
00:57:55,039 --> 00:57:58,400
He flung his overcoat half out of the window to

948
00:57:58,519 --> 00:58:01,880
cover the armorial bearing upon the panel. But I had

949
00:58:01,920 --> 00:58:05,119
seen them in the glare of our fanlight. Nonetheless, I

950
00:58:05,199 --> 00:58:08,880
gasped with surprise. Then I turned back and ascended the

951
00:58:08,920 --> 00:58:12,360
stairs to Holmes room. I have found who our client is,

952
00:58:12,440 --> 00:58:16,199
I cried, bursting with my great news. Why Holmes it is.

953
00:58:17,000 --> 00:58:20,480
It is a loyal friend and a chivalrous gentleman, said Holmes,

954
00:58:20,840 --> 00:58:24,880
holding up a restraining hand let that now and forever

955
00:58:25,000 --> 00:58:28,000
be enough for us. I do not know how the

956
00:58:28,039 --> 00:58:31,920
incriminating book was used. Sir James may have managed it,

957
00:58:32,599 --> 00:58:35,400
or it is more probable that so delicate a task

958
00:58:35,760 --> 00:58:39,039
was entrusted to the young lady's father. The effect, at

959
00:58:39,079 --> 00:58:42,760
any rate, was all that could be desired. Three days

960
00:58:42,840 --> 00:58:46,400
later appeared a paragraph in the Morning Post to say

961
00:58:46,440 --> 00:58:49,760
that the marriage between Baron Albert Grunner and Miss Violet

962
00:58:49,800 --> 00:58:53,360
de Murville would not take place the same paper had

963
00:58:53,400 --> 00:58:57,199
the first police court hearing of the proceedings against Miss

964
00:58:57,320 --> 00:59:00,280
Kitty Winter on the great charge of vitriol for growing

965
00:59:01,079 --> 00:59:04,119
such extenuating circumstances came out in the trial of at

966
00:59:04,119 --> 00:59:07,559
the sentence, as will be remembered, was the lowest that

967
00:59:07,719 --> 00:59:11,519
was possible for such an offense. Straw Holmes was threatened

968
00:59:11,519 --> 00:59:14,519
with a prosecution for burglary. But when an object is

969
00:59:14,519 --> 00:59:18,760
good and a client sufficiently illustrious, even the rigid British

970
00:59:18,840 --> 00:59:23,039
law becomes human and elastic. My friend has not yet

971
00:59:23,079 --> 00:59:27,280
stood in the dock. End of the Adventure of the

972
00:59:27,400 --> 00:59:30,880
Illustrious Client by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle