Speaker 1: The Reigate puzzle. It was some time before the health
of my friend mister Sherlock Holmes recovered from the strain
caused by his immense exertions in the spring of eighty seven.
The whole question of the Netherlands Sumatra Company and of
the colossal schemes of Baron Maupetaus are too recent in
the minds of the public, and are too intimately concerned
with politics and finance to be fitting subjects for this
series of sketches. They led, however, in an indirect fashion,
to a singular and complex problem, which gave my friend
an opportunity of demonstrating the value of a fresh weapon
among the many with which he waged his lifelong battle
against crime. On referring to my notes, I see that
it was upon the fourteenth of April that I received
a telegram from Lyons which informed me that Holmes was
lying ill in the Hotel Dulon. Within twenty four hours
I was in his sick room and was relieved to
find that there was nothing formidable in his symptoms. Even
his iron constitution, however, had broken down under the strain
of an investigation which had extended over two months, during
which period he had never worked less than fifteen hours
a day and had more than once, as he assured me,
kept to his task for five days at a stretch.
Even the triumphant issue of his labors could not save
him from reaction. After so terrible an exertion, and at
a time when Europe was ringing with his name, and
when his room was literally ankled deep with congratulatory telegrams,
I found him a prey to the blackest depression. Even
the knowledge that he had succeeded where the police of
three countries had failed, and that he had outmaneuvered at
every point the most accomplished swindler in Europe was insufficient
to rouse him from his nervous prostration. Three days later
we were back in Baker Street together, but it was
evident that my friend would be more much the better
for a change, and the thought of a week of
springtime in the country was full of attractions to me. Also,
my old friend, Colonel Hayter, who had come under my
professional care in Afghanistan, had now taken a house near
Reigate in Surrey, and had frequently asked me to come
down to him upon a visit. On the last occasion
he had remarked that if my friend would only come
with me, he would be glad to extend his hospitality
to him. Also, a little diplomacy was needed, but when
Holmes understood that the establishment was a bachelor one, and
that he would be allowed the fullest freedom, he fell
in with my plans, and a week after our return
from Lyon, we were under the colonel's roof. Hater was
a fine old soldier who had seen much of the world,
and he soon found, as I had expected, that Holmes
and he had much in common. On the evening of
our arrival, we were sitting in the colonel's gun room
after dinner, homes stretched upon the sofa while and I
looked over his little armory of Eastern weapons. By the way,
said he suddenly, I think I'll take one of these
pistols upstairs with me in case we have an alarm.
An alarm, said I. Yes, we have had a scare
in this part lately. Old Acton, who is one of
our county magnates, had his house broken into last Monday.
No great damage done, but the fellows are still at large.
No clue, asked Holmes, cocking his eye at the colonel.
None as yet, but the affair is a petty one,
one of our little country crimes, which must seem too
small for your attention, mister Holmes, after this great international affair.
Holmes waved away the compliment, though his smile showed that
it had pleased him. Was there any feature of interest?
I fancy not. The thieves ransacked the library and got
very little for their pains. The whole place was turned
upside down, draws burst open, and presses ransacked, with the
result that an odd volume of Pope's homer, two plaited candlesticks,
an ivory letter weight, a small oak barometer, and a
ball of twine are all that have vanished. What an
extraordinary assortment, I exclaimed. Oh, the fellows evidently grabbed hold
of everything they could get. Holmes grunted from the sofa.
The county police ought to make something of that, said he.
Why it is surely obvious that, but I held up
a warning finger. You are here for a rest, my
dear fellow. For Heaven's sake, don't get started on a
new problem when your nerves are all in shreds. Holmes
shrugged his shoulders with a glance of comic resignation. Towards
the Colonel, and the talk drifted away into less dangerous channels.
It was destined, however, that all my professional caution should
be wasted, for next morning. The problem obtruded itself upon
us in such a way that it was in possible
to ignore it, and our country visit took a turn
which neither of us could have anticipated. We were at
breakfast when the colonel's butler rushed in with all his
propriety shaken out of him. Have you heard the news, sir?
He gasped at the Cunningham, Sir, Burglary, cried the Colonel
with his coffee cup in mid air murder. The Colonel,
whistled by jove, said he who's killed? Then? The j
P or his son, nor either, Sir? It was William,
the coachman shot through the art, Sir, and never spoke again.
Who shot him?
Speaker 2: Then?
Speaker 1: The burglar?
Speaker 2: Sir?
Speaker 1: He was off like a shot and got clean away.
He just broke in at the pantry window when William
came on him and met his end in saving his
master's property. What time it was late last night, sir?
Somewhere about twelve ah. Then we'll step over afterwards, said
the Colonel coolly, settling down to his breakfast again. It's
a barish business, he added, when the butler had gone.
He's our leading man about here is old Cunningham, a
very decent fellow too. He'll be cut up over this,
for the man has been in his service for years
and was a good servant. It's evidently the same villains
who broke into Acton's and stole that very singular collection,
said Holmes, thoughtfully, precisely hum. It may prove the simplest
matter in the world, but all the same, at first glance,
this is just a little curious, is it not. A
gang of burglars acting in the country might be expected
to vary the scene of their operations, and not to
crack two cribs in the same district within a few days.
When you spoke last night of taking precautions, I remember
that it passed through my mind that this was probably
the last parish in England to which the thief or
thiefs would be likely to turn their attention, which shows
that I have still much to learn. I fancy it's
some local practitioner, said the Colonel. In that case, of course,
Acton's and Cunningham's are just the places he would go for,
since they are far the largest about here and richest.
Well they ought to be, but they've had a lawsuit
for some years which has sucked the blood out of
both of them. I fancy old Acton has some claim
on half of Cunningham's estate, and the lawyers have been
at it with both hands. If it's a local villain,
there should not be much difficulty in running him down,
said Holmes with a yawn. All right, Watson, I don't
intend to meddle, Inspector, Forester, Sir, said the butler, throwing
open the door. The official, a smart, keen faced young fellow,
stepped into the room. Good morning, Colonel, said he. I
hope I don't intry rude, but we hear that mister
Holmes of Baker Street is here. The colonel waved his
hand towards my friend, and the inspector bowed. We thought
that perhaps you would care to step across, mister Holmes.
The fates are against you, Watson said, he laughing. We
were chatting about the matter when you came in, Inspector.
Perhaps you can let us have a few details. As
he leaned back in his chair in the familiar attitude.
I knew that the case was hopeless. We had no
clue in the acton affair, but here we have plenty
to go on, and there's no doubt it is the
same party. In each case. The man was seen, Ah, yes, sir,
but he was off like a deer. After the shot
that killed Poul William Kerwin was fired. Mister Cunningham saw
him from the bedroom window, and mister Alec Cunningham saw
him from the back passage. It was quarter to twelve
when the alarm broke out. Mister Cunningham had just got
into bed and mister Alec was smoking a pipe in
his dressing gown. They heard William the coachman, calling for help,
and mister Alec ran down to see what was the matter.
The back door was open, and as he came to
the foot of the stairs he saw two men wrestling
together outside. One of them fired a shot, the other dropped,
and the murderer rushed across the garden and over the hedge.
Mister Cunningham, looking out of his bedroom, saw the fellow
as he gained the road, but lost sight of him
at once. Mister Alick stopped to see if he could
help the dying man, and so the villain got clean away.
Beyond the fact that he was a middle sized man
and dressed in some dark stuff. We have no personal clue,
but we're making energetic inquiries, and if he is a stranger,
we shall soon find him out. What was this William
doing there? Did he say anything before he died? Not
a word. He lives at the lodge with his mother,
and as he was a very faithful fellow, we imagined
that he walked up to the house with the intention
of seeing that all was right there. Of course, this
acton business has put every one on their guard. The
robber must have just burst open the door. The lock
has been forced when William came upon him. Did William
say anything to his mother before going out? She is
very old and deaf, and we can get no information
from her. The shock has made her half witted, but
I understand that she was never very bright. There is
one very important circumstance, however. Look at this. He took
a small piece of torn paper from a note book
and spread it out upon his knee. This was found
between the finger and thumb of the dead man. It
appears to be a fragment torn from a larger sheet.
You will observe that they, how are mentioned upon it
is the very time at which the poor fellow met
his fate. You see that his murderer might have torn
the rest of the sheet from him, or he might
have taken this fragment from the murderer. It reads almost
as though it were an appointment. Holmes took up the
scrap of paper and facsimile of which is here produced
d at quarter to twelve. Learn what may be presuming
that is an appointment, continued the inspector. It is of
course a conceivable theory that this William Kerwin, though he
had the reputation of being an honest man, may have
been in league with the thief. He may have met
him there, may even have helped him to break in
the door, and then they may have fallen out between themselves.
This writing is of extraordinary interest, said Holmes, who had
been examining it with intense concentration. These are much deeper
waters than I had thought. He sank his head upon
his hands, while the inspector smiled at the effect which
his case had had upon the famous London specialist. Your
last remark, said Holmes, presently, as to the possibility of
there being an understanding between the burglar and the servant,
and this being a note of appointment from one to
the other is an ingenious and not entirely impossible supposition.
But this writing opens up. He sank his head into
his hands again and remained for some minutes in the
deepest thought. When he raised his face again, I was
surprised to see that his cheek was tinged with color,
and his eyes as bright as before his illness. He
sprang to his feet with all his old energy. I'll
tell you what, said he I should like to have
a quiet little glance into the details of this case.
There is something in it which fascinates me extremely. If
you will permit me, Colonel, I will leave my friend
Watson and you and I will step around with the
inspector to test the truth of one or two little
fancies of mine. I will be with you again in
half an hour. An hour and a half had elapsed
before the inspector returned alone. Mister Holmes is walking up
and down in the field outside, said he. He wants
us all four to go up to the house together
to mister Cunningham's Yes, sir, what for the inspector shrugged
his shoulders. I don't quite know, sir, between ourselves, but
I think mister Olmes had not quite got over his
illness yet. He's been behaving very queerly, and he's very
much excited. I don't think you need alarm yourself, said I.
I have usually found that there was method in his madness.
Some folks might say there was madness in his method,
muttered the inspector. But he's all on fire, the start, Colonel,
So we'd best go out, if you're ready. We found
Holmes pacing up and down in the field, his chin
sunk upon his breast and his hands thrust into his
trousers pockets. The matter grows in interest, said he Watson.
Your country trip has been a distinct success. I've had
a charming morning. You've been up to the scene of
the crime, I unders stand, said the colonel. Yes, the
inspector and I have made quite a little reconnaissance together.
Speaker 2: Any success.
Speaker 1: Well, we've seen some very interesting things. I'll tell you
what we did as we walk. First of all, we
saw the body of this unfortunate man. He certainly died
from a revolver wound, as reported. Had you doubted it. Then, oh,
it is as well to test everything. Our inspection was
not wasted. We then had an interview with mister Cunningham
and his son, who were able to point out the
exact spot where the murderer had broken through the garden
hedge in his flight. That was of great interest. Naturally,
then we had a look at this poor fellow's mother.
We could get no information from her, however, as she
is very old and feeble. And what is the result
of your investigations the conviction that the crime is a
very peculiar one. Perhaps our visit now may do something
to make it less obs I think that we are
both agreed, Inspector, that the fragment of paper in the
dead man's hand, bearing as it does in the very
hour of his death written upon it, is of extreme importance.
It should give a clue, mister Olmes. It does give
a clue whoever wrote that note was the man who
brought William Kerwin out of his bed at that hour?
But where is the rest of that sheet of paper?
I examined the ground carefully in the hope of finding it,
said the inspector. It was torn out of the dead
man's hand. Why was some one so anxious to get
possession of it because it incriminated him, and what would
he do with it? Thrust it into his pocket, most
likely never noticing that a corner of it had been
left in the grip of the corpse. If we could
get the rest of that sheet, it is obvious that
we should have gone a long way towards solving the mystery. Yes,
but how can we get at the criminal's pocket before
we catched a criminal? Well, well, it was worth thinking over.
Then there is another obvious point. The note was sent
to William. The man who wrote it could not have
taken it otherwise, of course he might have delivered his
own message by word of mouth. Who brought the note then?
Or did it come through the post? I have my inquiries,
said the inspector. William received a letter by the afternoon
post yesterday. The envelope was destroyed by him. Excellent, cried Holmes,
clapping the inspector on the back. You've seen the postman.
It is a pleasure to work with you. Well, here
is a lodge, and if you will come up, colonel,
I will show you the scene of the crime. We
passed the pretty cottage where the murdered man had lived,
and walked up an oak lined avenue to the fine
old Queen Anne house, which bears the date of Malplaquet
upon the lintel of the door. Holmes and the inspector
led us round it until we came to the gate,
which is separated by a stretch of garden from the
hedge which lines the road. A constable was standing at
the kitchen door. Throw the door open, officer, said Holmes.
Now it was on these stairs that young mister Cunningham
stood and saw the two men struggling just where we are.
Old mister Cunningham was at that window, the second on
the left, and he saw the fellow get away just
to the left of that bush. Then mister Alec ran
out and knelt beside the wounded man. The ground is
very hard, you see, and there are no marks to
guide us. As he spoke, two men came down to
the garden path from round the angle of the house.
The one was an elderly man with a strong, deep lined,
heavy eyed face, the other a dashing young fellow, whose bright,
smiling expression and showy dress were in strange contrast with
the business which had brought us there. Still at it,
then said he to Holmes. I thought you Londoners were
never at fault. You don't seem to disove very quick
after all. Ah, you must give us a little time,
said Holmes. Good humoredly, you'll want it, said young Alec Cunningham.
Why I don't see that we have any clue at all?
There's only one, answered the inspector. We thought that if
we could only find good heavens, mister Holmes, what is
the matter. My poor friend's face had suddenly assumed the
most dreadful expression, His eyes rolled upwards, his features writhed
in agony, and with a suppressed groan, he dropped on
his face upon the ground. Horrified at the suddenness and
severity of the attack. We carried him into the kitchen,
where he lay back in a large chair and breathed
heavily for some minutes. Finally, with a shame faced apology
for his weakness, he rose once more. Watson would tell
you that I have only just recovered from a severe illness,
he explained, I am liable to these sudden nervous attacks.
Shall I send you home in my trap? Asked old Cunningham. Well,
since I am here, there is one point on which
I should like to feel sure we can very easily
verify it. What was it? Well, it seems to me
that it is just possible that the arrival of this
poor fellow William was not before, but after the entrance
of the burglar into the house. You appear to take
it for granted that although the door was forced, the
robber never got in. I fancy that is quite obvious,
said mister Cunningham gravely. Why my son, Alec had not
yet gone to bed, and you would certainly have heard
any one moving about. Where was he sitting? I was
smoking in my dressing room. Which window is that? The
last on the left, next to my father's? Both of
your lamps were lit. Of course, undoubtedly there are some
very singular points here, said Holmes, smiling. Is it not
extraordinary that a burglar, and a burglar who had had
some previous experience, should deliberately break into a house at
a time when he could see from the lights that
two of the family were still afoot He must have
been a cool hand. Well. Of course, if the case
were not an odd one, we should not have been
driven to ask you for an explanation, said young mister Alec.
But as to your ideas that the man has robbed
the house before William tackled him. I think it a
most absurd notion, wouldn't we have found the place disarranged
and missed the things which he had taken. It depends
on what the things were, said Holmes. You must remember
that we are dealing with a burglar who is a
very peculiar fellow, and who appears to work on lines
of his own. Look, for example at the queer lot
of things which he took from Acton's What was it?
A ball of string, a letter? Wait, and I don't
know what other osen ends. Well, we are quite in
your hands, mister Holmes, said old Cunningham. Anything which you
or the inspector may suggest will most certainly be done.
In the first place, said Holmes, I should like you
to offer a reward coming from yourself, for the officials
may take a little time before they would agree upon
the sum, and these things cannot be done too promptly.
I have jotted down the form here, if you would
not mind signing it. Fifty pounds is quite enough. I
thought I would willingly give you five hundred.
Speaker 2: Said the j P.
Speaker 1: Taking the slip of paper and the pencil which Holmes
handed to him. This is not quite correct, however, he added,
glancing over the document. I wrote it rather hurriedly.
Speaker 2: You see, you begin where a is at about a
quarter to one on Tuesday morning, and attempt was made,
and so on it was at a quarter to twelve.
Speaker 1: As a matter of fact. I was pained at the mistake,
for I knew how keenly Homes would feel any slip
of the kind. It was his speciality to be accurate
as to fact. But his recent illness had shaken him,
and this one little incident was enough to show me
that he was still far from being himself. He was
obviously embarrassed for an instant while the inspector raised his
eyebrows and Alec Cunningham burst into a laugh. The old
gentleman corrected the mistake, however, and handed the paper back
to Holmes. Get it printed as soon as possible. He said,
I think your idea is an excellent one. Holmes put
the slip of paper carefully away into his pocket book,
and now said he it really would be a good
thing that we should all go over the house together
and make certain that this rather erratic burglar did not,
after all carry anything away with him. Before entering, Holmes
made an examination of the door which had been forced.
It was evident that a chisel or strong knife had
been thrust in and the lock forced back with it.
We could see the marks in the wood where it
had been pushed in. You don't use bars, then, he asked.
Speaker 2: We have never found it necessary.
Speaker 1: You don't keep a dog, yes, but he is chained
on the other side of the house. When do your
servants go to bed about ten? I understand that William
was usually in bed also at that hour. Yes, it
is singular that on this particular night he should have
been up. Now I should be very glad if you
had have the kindness to show us over the house,
mister Cunningham. A stone flagged passage with the kitchens branching
away from it, led by a wooden staircase directly to
the first floor of the house. It came out upon
the landing opposite to a second and more ornamental stare,
which came up from the front hall. Out of this
landing opened the drawing room and several bedrooms, including those
of mister Cunningham and his son. Holmes walked slowly, taking
keen note of the architecture of the house. I could
tell from his expression that he was on a hot scent,
and yet I could not in the least imagine in
what direction his inferences were leading him. My good sir,
said mister Cunningham, with some impatience, This is surely very unnecessary.
That is my room at the end of the stairs,
and my sons is the one beyond it. I leave
it to your judgment whether it was possible for the
thief to have come up here without disturbing us. You
must try round and get on a fresh scent. I fancy,
said the son, with a rather malicious smile. Still, I
must ask you to humor me a little further. I
should like, for example, to see how far the windows
of the bedrooms command the front. This, I understand is
your son's room. He pushed open the door, and that,
my presume, is the dressing room in which he sat
smoking when the alarm was given. Where does the window
of that look out to He stepped across the bedroom,
pushed open the door, and glanced around the other chamber.
I hope that you are satisfied now, said mister Cunningham, tartly.
Thank you. I think I have seen all that I wished. Then,
if it is really necessary, we can go into my room.
If it is not too much trouble. The j P
shrugged his shoulders and led the way into his own chamber,
which was a plainly furnished and commonplace room. As we
moved across it in the direction of the window, Holmes
fell back until he and I were the last of
the group. Near the foot of the bed stood a
dish of oranges and a carafe of water. As we
passed it, Holmes, to my unutterable astonishment, leaned over in
front of me and deliberately knocked the whole thing over.
The glass smashed into a thousand pieces, and the fruit
rolled about into every corner of the room. You've done
it now, Watson said, he coolly, A pretty mess you've
made of the carpet. I stooped in some confusion, and
began to pick up the fruit, understanding for some reason
my companion desired me to take the blame upon myself.
The others did the same and set the table on
its legs again. Hullo, cried the inspector. Where's he's got to?
Holmes had disappeared. Wait here an instant, said young Alec Cunningham,
a fellow is off his head in my opinion. Come
with me, father, and see where he has got to.
They rushed out of the room, leaving the inspector, the colonel,
and me staring at each other. Puon my word, I'm
inclined to agree with Master Alick, said the official. It
may be the of his illness, but it seems to
me that his words were cut short by a sudden
scream of help, help, murder. With a thrill, I recognized
the voice of that of my friend. I rushed madly
from the room on to the landing. The cries, which
had sunk down into a hoarse, inarticulate shouting, came from
the room which we had first visited. I dashed in
and on into the dressing room beyond the two Cunninghams
were bending over the prostrate figure of Sherlock Holmes, the
younger clutching his throat with both hands, while the elder
seemed to be twisting one of his wrists. In an instant,
the three of us had torn them away from him,
and Holmes staggered to his feet, very pale and evidently
greatly exhausted. Arrest these men inspector. He gasped, on what charge,
that of murdering their coachman William Kerwin. The inspector stared
about him in bewilderment. Oh, come down to Holmes, said
he at last, Ah, I'm sure you don't really mean
to tut man. Look at their faces, cried Holmes curtly.
Never certainly have I seen a plainer confession of guilt
upon human countenances. The older man seemed numbed and dazed,
with a heavy sullen expression upon his strongly marked face.
The sun, on the other hand, had dropped all that jaunty,
dashing style which had characterized him, and the ferocity of
a dangerous wild beast gleamed in his dark eyes and
distorted his handsome features. The inspector said nothing, but stepping
to the door, he blew his whistle. Two of his
constables came at the call. I've no alternative, mister Cunningham
said he. I trust that this may all prove to
be an absurd mistake, but you can see that. Ah,
would you drop it? He struck out with his hand,
and a revolver, which the younger man was in the
act of cocking, clattered down upon the floor. Keep that,
said Holmes, quietly, putting his foot upon it. You will
find it useful at the trial. But this is what
we really wanted. He held up a little crumpled piece
of paper. The remainder of the sheet, cried the inspector. Precisely,
and where was it? Where I was sure it must be.
I'll make the whole matter clear to you presently. I think, Colonel,
that you and Watson might return now, and I will
be with you again in an hour at the furthest.
The inspector and I must have a word with the prisoners,
but you will certainly see me back at luncheon time.
Sherlock Holmes was as good as his word, for about
one o'clock he rejoined us in the colonel's smoking room.
He was accompanied by a little elderly gentleman who was
introduced to me as the mister Acton, whose house had
been the scene of the original burglary. I wish mister
Acton to be present while I demonstrated this small matter
to you, said Holmes, for it is natural that he
should take a keen interest in the details. I am afraid,
my dear colonel, that you must regret the hour that
you took in such a stormy petrol as I am.
On the contrary, answered the colonel warmly. I consider it
the greatest privilege to have been permitted to study your
methods of working. I confess that they quite surpass my expectations,
and I am utterly unable to account for your result.
I have not yet seen the vestige of a clue.
I am afraid that my explanation may disillusion you, but
it has always been my habit to hide none of
my methods, either from my friend Watson, or from any
one who might take an intelligent interest in them. But first,
as I am rather shaken by the knocking about which
I had in the dressing room, I think that I
shall help myself to a dash of your brandy. Colonel,
my strength had been rather tired of late. I trust
that you are no more of those nervous attacks. Sherlock
Holmes laughed heartily. Ha, we will come to that in
its turn, said he. I will lay an account of
the case before you in its due order, showing you
the various points which guided me in my decision. Pray
interrupt me if there is any inference which is not
perfectly clear to you it is of the highest importance
in the art of detection to be able to recognize
out of a number of facts which are incidental and
which vital. Otherwise your energy and attention must be dissipated
instead of being concentrated. Now, in this case, there was
not the slightest doubt in my mind from the first
that the key of the whole matter must be looked
for in the scrap of paper in the dead man's hand.
Before going to this, I would draw your attention to
the fact that if Alec Cunningham's narrative was correct, and
if the assailant, after shooting William Kerwin had instantly fled,
then it obviously could not be he who tore the
paper the dead man's hand. But if it was not he,
it must have been Alec Cunningham himself, for by the
time that the old man had descended, several servants were
upon the scene. The point is a simple one, but
the inspector had overlooked it because he had started with
the supposition that these County magnates had had nothing to
do with the matter. Now I make a point of
never having any prejudices, and of following docile wherever fact
may lead me. And so in the very first stage
of the investigation, I found myself looking a little askance
at the part which had been played by mister Alec Cunningham.
And now I made a very careful examination of the
corner of paper which the inspector had submitted to us.
It was at once clear to me that it formed
part of a very remarkable document. Here it is. Do
you not now observe something very suggestive about it? It
has a very irregular look, said the colonel. My dear Sir,
cried Holmes. There cannot be the least doubt in the
world that it has been written by two persons doing
alternate words. When I draw your attention to the strong
tease of at and two and ask you to compare
them with the weak ones of quarter and twelve, you
will instantly recognize the fact a very brief analysis of
these four words would enable you to say with the
utmost confidence that the learn and the maybe are written
in the stronger hand, and that the what in the weaker.
By jove, it is as clear as day, cried the colonel.
Why on earth should two men write a letter in
such a fashion. Obviously the business was a bad one,
and one of the men who distrusted the other was
determined that whatever was done, each should have an equal
hand in it. Now, of the two men, it is
clear that the one who wrote the AT and two
was the ringleader. Do you get at that we might
deduce it from the mere character of the one hand
as compared with the other, But we have more assured
reasons than that for supposing it. If you examine this
scrap with attention, you will come to the conclusion that
the man with the stronger hand wrote all his words first,
leaving blanks for the other to fill up. These blanks
were not always sufficient, and you can see that the
second man had a squeeze to fit his quarter in
between the AT and the two, showing that the latter
was already written. The man who wrote all his words
first is undoubtedly the man who planned the affair. Excellent,
cried mister Acton, But very superficial, said Holmes. We come now, however,
to a point which is of importance. You may not
be aware that the deduction of a man's age from
his writing is one which has been brought to considerable
accuracy by experts. In normal cases, one can place a
man in his true decade. With toleran confidence. I say
normal cases, because ill health and physical weakness reproduce the
signs of old age, even when the invalid is a youth.
In this case, looking at the bold, strong hand of
the one and the rather broken back to appearance of
the other, which still retains its legibility, although the teas
have begun to lose their crossing, we can say that
the one was a young man and the other was
advanced in years, without being positively decrepit. Excellent, cried mister Acton. Again.
There is a further point, however, which is subtler and
of greater interest. There is something in common between these hands.
They belong to men who are blood relatives. It may
be most obvious to you in the Greek ease, but
to me there are many small points which indicate the
same thing. I have no doubt at all that a
family mannerism can be traced in these two specimens of writing.
I am only, of course, giving you the leading results
now of my examination of the paper. There were twenty
three other deductions which would be of more interest to
experts than to you. They all tend to deepen the
impression upon my mind that the Cunninghams father and son
had written this letter. Having got so far, my next
step was, of course, to examine into the details of
the crime, and to see how far they would help us.
I went up to the house with the inspector and
saw all that was to be seen. The wound upon
the dead man was, as I was able to determine
with absolute confidence, fired from a revolver at the distance
of something over four yards. There was no powder blackening
on the clothes. Evidently, therefore Alec Cunningham had lied when
he said that the two men were struggling when the
shot was fired. Again, both father and son agreed as
to the place where the man escaped into the road.
At that point, however, as it happens, there is a
broadish ditch moist at the bottom. As there were no
indications of boot marks about this ditch, I was absolutely
sure not only that the Cunninghams had again lied, but
that there had never been any unknown man upon the
scene at all. And now I have to consider the
motive of this singular crime. To get at this, I endeavored,
first of all to solve the reason of the original
burglary at mister Acton's I understood from something which the
Colonel told us, that a law suit had been going
on between you, mister Acton, and the Cunninghams. Of course,
it instantly occurred to me that they had broken into
your library with the intention of getting at some document
which might be of importance in the case. Precisely so,
said mister Acton. There can be no possible doubt as
to their intentions. I have the clearest claim upon half
of their present estate, and if they could have found
a single paper, which fortunately was in the strong box
of my solicitors, they would undoubtedly have crippled our case.
There you are, said Holmes, smiling. It was a dangerous,
reckless attempt in which I seemed to trace the influence
of young Alick. Having found nothing, they tried to divert
suspicion by making it appear to be an ordinary burglary,
to which end they carried off whatever they could lay
their hands upon. That is all clear enough, But there
was much that was still obscure. What I wanted, above
all was to get the missing part of that note.
I was certain that Alec had torn it out of
the dead man's hand, and almost certain that he must
have thrust it into the pocket of his dressing gown.
Where else could he have put it? The only question
was whether it was still there. It was worth an
effort to find out, and for that object we all
went up to the house. The Cunninghams joined us, as
you doubtless remember, outside the kitchen door. It was, of course,
of the very first import shaughtance that they should not
be reminded of the existence of this paper, otherwise they
would naturally destroy it without delay. The Inspector was about
to tell them the importance which we attached to it,
when by the luckiest chance in the world, I tumbled
down in a sort of fit, and so changed the conversation.
Good Heavens, cried the colonel, laughing, do you mean to
say all our sympathy was wasted and you'll fit an
imposture speaking professionally. It was admirably done, cried I, looking
in amazement at this man who was forever confounding me
with some new phase of his astuteness. It is an
art which is often useful, said he. When I recovered
I managed, by a device which had perhaps some little
merit of ingenuity, to get old Cunningham to write the
word twelve, so that I might compare it with the
twelve upon the paper. Oh what an ass I have been,
I exclaimed. I could see that you were commiserating me
over my weakness, said Holmes, laughing, I was sorry to
cause you the sympathetic pain which I know that you felt.
We then went upstairs together, and having entered the room
and seen the dressing gown hanging up behind the door,
I contrived by upsetting a table to engage their attention
for the moment, and slipped back to examine the pockets.
I had hardly got the paper, however, which was as
I had expected in one of them, when the two
Cunninghams were on me, and would I verily believe have
murdered me then and there but for your prompt and
friendly aid. As it is, I feel that young man's
grip on my throat now, and the father has twisted
my wrist round in the effort to get the paper
out of my hand. They saw that I must know
all about it, you see, and the sudden change from
absolute security to complete despair made them perfectly desperate. I
had a little talk with old Cunningham afterwards as to
the motive of the crime, he was tractable enough, though
his son was a perfect demon, ready to blow out
his own or anybody else's brains if he could have
got to his revolver. When Cunningham saw that the case
against him was so strong, he lost all heart and
made a clean breast of everything. It seems that William
had secretly followed his two masters on the night when
they made their raid upon mister Acton's, and having thus
got them into his power, proceeded under threats of exposure
to levy blackmail upon them. Mister Alick, however, was a
dangerous man to play games of that sort with. It
was a stroke of positive genius on his part to
see in the burglary scare which was convulsing the countryside,
an opportunity of plausibly getting rid of the man whom
he feared. William was decoyed up and shot. And had
they only got the whole of the note and paid
a little more attention to detail in the accessories, it
is very possible that suspicion might never have been aroused.
And a note I asked Sherlock Holmes placed the subjoined
paper before us, if you will only come around to
the east gate it will very much surprise you and
be of the greatest service to you and also to
Annie Morrison. But say nothing to anyone upon the matter.
It is very much the sort of thing that I expected,
said he. Of course, we do not yet know what
the relations may have been between Alec Cunningham, William Kerwin
and Annie Morrison. The result shows that the trap was
skillfully baited. I am sure that you cannot fail to
be delighted with the traces of heredity shown in the
peas and in the Tales of the Ges. The absence
of the ie dots in the old Man's writing is
also more characteristic Watson. I think our quiet rest in
the country has been a distinct success, and I shall
certainly return much invigorated to Baker Street to morrow. End
of the reigate. It's puzzle