WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.480 --> 00:00:05.679 The adventure of the Empty House. It was in the 2 00:00:05.719 --> 00:00:09.480 spring of the year eighteen ninety four that all London 3 00:00:09.640 --> 00:00:14.720 was interested, and the fashionable world dismayed by the murder 4 00:00:14.800 --> 00:00:21.120 of the Honorable Ronald Adare under most unusual and inexplicable circumstances. 5 00:00:22.320 --> 00:00:25.640 The public has already learned those particulars of the crime 6 00:00:26.120 --> 00:00:29.920 which came out in the police investigation, But a good 7 00:00:29.920 --> 00:00:33.159 deal was suppressed upon that occasion, since the case for 8 00:00:33.200 --> 00:00:36.439 the prosecution was so overwhelmingly strong that it was not 9 00:00:36.560 --> 00:00:40.880 necessary to bring forward all the facts. Only now, at 10 00:00:40.880 --> 00:00:43.439 the end of nearly ten years, am I allowed to 11 00:00:43.479 --> 00:00:46.079 supply those missing links which make up the whole of 12 00:00:46.079 --> 00:00:50.560 that remarkable chain. The crime was of interest in itself, 13 00:00:51.640 --> 00:00:54.240 but that interest was as nothing to me compared to 14 00:00:54.280 --> 00:00:58.719 the inconceivable sequel, which afforded me the greatest shock and 15 00:00:58.799 --> 00:01:03.679 surprise of any event in my adventurous life. Even now, 16 00:01:03.759 --> 00:01:06.920 after this long interval, I find myself thrilling as I 17 00:01:06.959 --> 00:01:09.799 think of it, and feeling once more that sudden flood 18 00:01:09.840 --> 00:01:14.560 of joy, amazement, and incredulity which utterly submerged my mind. 19 00:01:16.480 --> 00:01:18.959 Let me say to that public which has shown some 20 00:01:19.120 --> 00:01:22.000 interest in those glimpses which I have occasionally given them 21 00:01:22.000 --> 00:01:24.920 of the thoughts and actions of a very remarkable man. 22 00:01:25.439 --> 00:01:27.480 That they are not to blame me if I have 23 00:01:27.560 --> 00:01:30.319 not shared my knowledge with them, for I should have 24 00:01:30.359 --> 00:01:33.159 considered it my first duty to do so, had I 25 00:01:33.239 --> 00:01:36.640 not been barred by a positive prohibition from his own lips, 26 00:01:37.239 --> 00:01:40.200 which was only withdrawn upon the third of last month. 27 00:01:41.799 --> 00:01:44.719 It can be imagined that my close intimacy with Sherlock 28 00:01:44.760 --> 00:01:49.359 Holmes had interested me deeply in crime, and that after 29 00:01:49.439 --> 00:01:52.359 his disappearance I never failed to read with care the 30 00:01:52.439 --> 00:01:56.239 various problems which came before the public, and I even 31 00:01:56.280 --> 00:02:00.159 attempted more than once, for my own private satisfaction, to 32 00:02:00.200 --> 00:02:05.560 employ his methods in their solution, though with indifferent success. 33 00:02:06.359 --> 00:02:09.000 There was none, however, which appealed to me like this 34 00:02:09.199 --> 00:02:13.240 tragedy of Ronald Adare. As I read the evidence at 35 00:02:13.280 --> 00:02:16.599 the inquest which led up to a verdict of wilful 36 00:02:16.719 --> 00:02:22.080 murder against some person or persons unknown, I realized more 37 00:02:22.120 --> 00:02:25.000 clearly than I had ever done, the loss which the 38 00:02:25.120 --> 00:02:30.479 community had sustained by the death of Sherlock Holmes. There 39 00:02:30.520 --> 00:02:33.599 were points about this strange business which would, I was sure, 40 00:02:34.000 --> 00:02:37.280 have specially appealed to him, and the efforts of the 41 00:02:37.319 --> 00:02:42.159 police would have been supplemented, or more probably anticipated by 42 00:02:42.199 --> 00:02:45.360 the trained observation and the alert mind of the first 43 00:02:45.439 --> 00:02:49.759 criminal agent in Europe. All day, as I drove upon 44 00:02:49.800 --> 00:02:52.520 my round, I turned over the case in my mind 45 00:02:53.240 --> 00:02:56.719 and found no explanation which appeared to me to be adequate. 46 00:02:58.159 --> 00:03:01.120 But the risk of telling are twice told tale, I 47 00:03:01.159 --> 00:03:03.800 will recapitulate the facts as they were known to the 48 00:03:03.800 --> 00:03:09.000 public at the conclusion of the inquest. The Honorable Ronald 49 00:03:09.080 --> 00:03:12.400 Adare was the second son of the Earl of Maynooth, 50 00:03:13.039 --> 00:03:15.919 at that time governor of one of the Australian colonies. 51 00:03:17.120 --> 00:03:20.599 Adair's mother had returned from Australia to undergo the operation 52 00:03:20.840 --> 00:03:24.719 for cataract, and she, her son Ronald, and her daughter 53 00:03:24.840 --> 00:03:28.039 Hilda were living together at four hundred and twenty seven 54 00:03:28.120 --> 00:03:33.360 part Lane. The youth moved in the best society had 55 00:03:33.439 --> 00:03:37.080 so far as was known, no enemies and no particular vices. 56 00:03:37.680 --> 00:03:40.680 He had been engaged to Miss Edith Woodley of Carstairs, 57 00:03:41.439 --> 00:03:44.360 but the engagement had been broken off by mutual consent 58 00:03:44.520 --> 00:03:47.800 some months before, and there was no sign that it 59 00:03:47.840 --> 00:03:52.199 had left any very profound feeling behind it. For the 60 00:03:52.240 --> 00:03:56.680 rest the man's life moved in a narrow and conventional circle, 61 00:03:57.560 --> 00:04:03.280 for his habits were quiet and his nature unemotional. Yet 62 00:04:03.319 --> 00:04:06.240 it was upon this easy going young aristocrat that death 63 00:04:06.319 --> 00:04:11.000 came in most strange and unexpected form between the hours 64 00:04:11.000 --> 00:04:14.120 of ten and eleven thirty on the night of March thirtieth, 65 00:04:14.159 --> 00:04:21.319 eighteen ninety four. Ronald Adare was fond of cards, playing continually, 66 00:04:22.279 --> 00:04:25.879 but never for such stakes as would hurt him. He 67 00:04:25.959 --> 00:04:28.240 was a member of the Baldwin, the Cavendish, and the 68 00:04:28.279 --> 00:04:32.240 Bagatelle card clubs. It was shown that after dinner on 69 00:04:32.319 --> 00:04:34.600 the day of his death he had played a rubber 70 00:04:34.639 --> 00:04:38.040 of whist at the latter club. He had also played 71 00:04:38.040 --> 00:04:41.399 there in the afternoon. The evidence of those who had 72 00:04:41.399 --> 00:04:45.519 played with him, Mister Murray, Sir John Hardy and Colonel Moran, 73 00:04:46.319 --> 00:04:49.120 showed that the game was whist, and that there was 74 00:04:49.160 --> 00:04:52.240 a fairly equal fall of the cards. A Dare might 75 00:04:52.240 --> 00:04:56.199 have lost five pounds, but not more. His fortune was 76 00:04:56.240 --> 00:04:59.360 a considerable one, and such a loss could not in 77 00:04:59.399 --> 00:05:03.680 any way effect him. He had played nearly every day 78 00:05:03.720 --> 00:05:06.399 at one club or other, but he was a cautious 79 00:05:06.399 --> 00:05:10.519 player and usually rose a winner. It came out in 80 00:05:10.560 --> 00:05:14.040 evidence that in partnership with Colonel Moran, he had actually 81 00:05:14.040 --> 00:05:16.360 won as much as four hundred and twenty pounds in 82 00:05:16.399 --> 00:05:20.879 a sitting some weeks before from Godfrey Milner and Lord Balmoral. 83 00:05:22.040 --> 00:05:24.439 So much for his recent history, as it came out 84 00:05:24.480 --> 00:05:28.560 of the inquest. On the evening of the crime, he 85 00:05:28.680 --> 00:05:32.160 returned from the club exactly at ten. His mother and 86 00:05:32.199 --> 00:05:35.959 sister were out spending the evening with a relation. The 87 00:05:36.040 --> 00:05:38.759 servant deposed that she heard him enter the front room 88 00:05:38.839 --> 00:05:42.000 on the second floor, generally used as his sitting room. 89 00:05:42.759 --> 00:05:45.399 She had lit a fire there, and as it smoked, 90 00:05:45.600 --> 00:05:49.199 she had opened the window. No sound was heard from 91 00:05:49.279 --> 00:05:52.759 the room until eleven twenty, the hour of the return 92 00:05:52.800 --> 00:05:57.480 of Lady Maynooth and her daughter. Desiring to say good night, 93 00:05:57.560 --> 00:06:00.839 she attempted to enter her son's room. The door was 94 00:06:00.879 --> 00:06:03.800 locked on the inside and no answer could be got 95 00:06:03.839 --> 00:06:07.600 to their cries and knocking, help was obtained and the 96 00:06:07.639 --> 00:06:11.680 door forced. The unfortunate young man was found lying near 97 00:06:11.720 --> 00:06:15.199 the table. His head had been horribly mutilated by an 98 00:06:15.199 --> 00:06:19.000 expanding revolver bullet, but no weapon of any sort was 99 00:06:19.000 --> 00:06:21.959 to be found in the room. On the table lay 100 00:06:22.000 --> 00:06:25.600 two bank notes for ten pounds each, and seventeen pounds 101 00:06:25.600 --> 00:06:29.160 ten in silver and gold, the money arranged in little 102 00:06:29.199 --> 00:06:33.680 piles of varying amount. There were some figures also upon 103 00:06:33.720 --> 00:06:36.519 a sheet of paper, with the names of some club 104 00:06:36.600 --> 00:06:40.160 friends opposite to them, from which it was conjectured that 105 00:06:40.319 --> 00:06:42.959 before his death he was endeavoring to make out his 106 00:06:43.079 --> 00:06:48.920 losses or winnings at cards. A minute examination of the 107 00:06:48.959 --> 00:06:53.319 circumstances served only to make the case more complex. In 108 00:06:53.360 --> 00:06:55.560 the first place, no reason could be given why the 109 00:06:55.639 --> 00:06:59.040 young man should have fastened the door upon the inside. 110 00:06:59.399 --> 00:07:02.360 There was the possibility that the murderer had done this 111 00:07:02.920 --> 00:07:06.560 and had afterwards escaped by the window. The drop was 112 00:07:06.600 --> 00:07:09.879 at least twenty feet, however, and a bed of crocuses 113 00:07:09.920 --> 00:07:13.600 in full bloom lay beneath. Neither the flowers nor the 114 00:07:13.639 --> 00:07:16.959 earth showed any signs of having been disturbed, nor were 115 00:07:17.000 --> 00:07:19.439 there any marks upon the narrow strip of grass which 116 00:07:19.519 --> 00:07:24.160 separated the house from the road. Apparently, therefore it was 117 00:07:24.240 --> 00:07:28.120 the young man himself who had fastened the door. But 118 00:07:28.199 --> 00:07:31.680 how did he come by his death? No one could 119 00:07:31.720 --> 00:07:36.079 have climbed up to the window without leaving traces. Suppose 120 00:07:36.120 --> 00:07:39.279 a man had fired through the window. He would indeed 121 00:07:39.360 --> 00:07:42.920 be a remarkable shot, who could with a revolver inflict 122 00:07:43.000 --> 00:07:47.600 so deadly a wound. Again, Park Lane is a frequented thoroughfare. 123 00:07:48.480 --> 00:07:50.759 There is a cab stand within a hundred yards of 124 00:07:50.800 --> 00:07:55.000 the house. No one had heard a shot, and yet 125 00:07:55.040 --> 00:07:57.839 there was the dead man. And there the revolver bullet 126 00:07:58.600 --> 00:08:03.160 which had mushroomed out as soft nosed bullets will, and 127 00:08:03.279 --> 00:08:06.839 so inflicted a wound which must have caused instantaneous death. 128 00:08:08.519 --> 00:08:12.360 Such were the circumstances of the Park Lane mystery, which 129 00:08:12.399 --> 00:08:16.720 were further complicated by entire absence of motive, since, as 130 00:08:16.800 --> 00:08:19.680 I have said, young Adare was not known to have 131 00:08:19.759 --> 00:08:23.360 any enemy, and no attempt had been made to remove 132 00:08:23.399 --> 00:08:24.160 the money. 133 00:08:23.959 --> 00:08:25.319 Or valuables in the room. 134 00:08:27.240 --> 00:08:30.079 All day I turned these facts over in my mind, 135 00:08:31.120 --> 00:08:34.600 endeavoring to hit upon some theory which could reconcile them all, 136 00:08:35.360 --> 00:08:38.120 and to find that line of least resistance which my 137 00:08:38.200 --> 00:08:40.679 poor friend had declared to be the starting point of 138 00:08:40.759 --> 00:08:46.159 every investigation. I confess that I made little progress. In 139 00:08:46.200 --> 00:08:49.600 the evening, I strolled across the park and found myself 140 00:08:49.639 --> 00:08:53.759 about six o'clock at the Oxford Street end of Park Lane, 141 00:08:54.200 --> 00:08:57.360 a group of loafers upon the pavements, all staring up 142 00:08:57.399 --> 00:09:00.679 at a particular window. Directed me to the house which 143 00:09:00.720 --> 00:09:04.480 I had come to see. A tall, thin man with 144 00:09:04.559 --> 00:09:07.879 colored glasses, whom I strongly suspected of being a plain 145 00:09:08.000 --> 00:09:11.600 clothes detective, was pointing out some theory of his own, 146 00:09:12.320 --> 00:09:14.919 while the others crowded round to listen to what he said. 147 00:09:16.240 --> 00:09:18.879 I got as near him as I could, but his 148 00:09:19.000 --> 00:09:23.120 observation seemed to me to be absurd, so I withdrew 149 00:09:23.159 --> 00:09:27.360 again in some disgust. As I did so, I struck 150 00:09:27.399 --> 00:09:30.519 against an elderly deformed man who had been behind me, 151 00:09:31.399 --> 00:09:34.000 and I knocked down several books which he was carrying. 152 00:09:35.200 --> 00:09:37.720 I remembered that as I picked them up, I observed 153 00:09:37.720 --> 00:09:41.399 the title of one of them, the Origin of tree Worship, 154 00:09:42.559 --> 00:09:44.600 and it struck me that the fellow must be some 155 00:09:44.759 --> 00:09:48.200 poor bibliophile who, either as a trade or as a hobby, 156 00:09:48.799 --> 00:09:53.519 was a collector of obscure volumes. I endeavored to apologize 157 00:09:53.519 --> 00:09:56.480 for the accident, but it was evident that these books, 158 00:09:56.559 --> 00:10:00.360 which I had so unfortunately maltreated, were very pre vicious 159 00:10:00.360 --> 00:10:03.679 objects in the eyes of their owner. With a snarl 160 00:10:03.720 --> 00:10:07.080 of contempt, he turned upon his heel, and I saw 161 00:10:07.080 --> 00:10:10.799 his curved back and white side whiskers disappear among the throng. 162 00:10:12.799 --> 00:10:15.799 My observations of number four hundred and twenty seven Park 163 00:10:15.879 --> 00:10:18.279 Lane did little to clear up the problem in which 164 00:10:18.320 --> 00:10:22.240 I was interested. The house was separated from the street 165 00:10:22.320 --> 00:10:25.159 by a low wall and railing, the hole not more 166 00:10:25.200 --> 00:10:29.000 than five feet high. It was perfectly easy, therefore, for 167 00:10:29.080 --> 00:10:32.279 anyone to get into the garden, but the window was 168 00:10:32.559 --> 00:10:36.480 entirely inaccessible, since there was no water pipe or anything 169 00:10:36.519 --> 00:10:38.759 which could help the most active man to climb it. 170 00:10:40.039 --> 00:10:43.639 More puzzled than ever, I retraced my steps to Kensington. 171 00:10:45.120 --> 00:10:47.960 I had not been in my study five minutes when 172 00:10:47.960 --> 00:10:50.200 the maid entered to say that a person desired to 173 00:10:50.240 --> 00:10:54.240 see me. To my astonishment, it was none other than 174 00:10:54.240 --> 00:10:58.240 my strange old book collector, his sharp, wizened face peering 175 00:10:58.279 --> 00:11:01.840 out from a frame of white hair, and his precious volumes, 176 00:11:02.080 --> 00:11:05.840 a dozen of them at least wedged under his right arm. 177 00:11:06.399 --> 00:11:09.320 You're surprised to see me, sir, said he in a 178 00:11:09.360 --> 00:11:13.159 strange croaking voice. I acknowledge that I was. 179 00:11:14.559 --> 00:11:14.799 Well. 180 00:11:14.879 --> 00:11:17.799 I've a conscience, sir, and when I chanced to see 181 00:11:17.799 --> 00:11:21.320 you go into this house as I came hobbling after you. 182 00:11:21.519 --> 00:11:23.759 I thought to myself, I'll just step in and see 183 00:11:23.799 --> 00:11:26.960 that kind gentleman and tell him that if I was 184 00:11:27.000 --> 00:11:29.679 a bit gruff in my manner, that there was not 185 00:11:29.799 --> 00:11:33.080 any harm meant, and that I'm much obliged to him 186 00:11:33.159 --> 00:11:36.960 for picking up my books. You make too much of 187 00:11:37.000 --> 00:11:40.360 a trifle, said I. May I ask how you knew 188 00:11:40.399 --> 00:11:43.840 who I was. Well, sir, if it isn't too great 189 00:11:43.879 --> 00:11:46.559 a liberty, I am a neighbor of yours, for you'll 190 00:11:46.600 --> 00:11:49.399 find my little bookshop at the corner of Church Street, 191 00:11:49.480 --> 00:11:50.639 and very happy. 192 00:11:50.360 --> 00:11:50.759 To see you. 193 00:11:50.799 --> 00:11:55.200 I am sure maybe you collect yourself, sir. Here's British 194 00:11:55.200 --> 00:11:59.759 Birds and Catullus and the Holy War A bargain, every 195 00:11:59.759 --> 00:12:03.759 one of them with five volumes. You could just fill 196 00:12:03.840 --> 00:12:07.159 that gap on that second shelf. It looks untidy as 197 00:12:07.200 --> 00:12:10.320 it not. So I moved my head to look at 198 00:12:10.360 --> 00:12:15.559 the cabinet behind me. When I turned again, Sherlock Holmes, 199 00:12:15.639 --> 00:12:20.399 whilst standing smiling at me across my studied table. I 200 00:12:20.519 --> 00:12:24.799 rose to my feet, stared at him for some seconds 201 00:12:24.840 --> 00:12:28.799 in utter amazement. And then it appears that I must 202 00:12:28.840 --> 00:12:31.799 have fainted for the first and the last time in 203 00:12:31.879 --> 00:12:36.799 my life certainly. A gray mist swirled before my eyes, 204 00:12:37.759 --> 00:12:41.120 and when it cleared, I found my collar ends undone 205 00:12:41.799 --> 00:12:45.559 and the tingling after taste of brandy upon my lips. 206 00:12:46.279 --> 00:12:49.559 Holmes was bending over my chair, his flask in his hand. 207 00:12:50.600 --> 00:12:53.919 My dear Watson, said the well remembered voice, I owe 208 00:12:53.960 --> 00:12:56.919 you a thousand apologies. I had no idea that you 209 00:12:56.960 --> 00:12:58.000 would be so affected. 210 00:12:59.279 --> 00:13:00.559 I gripped him by the arms. 211 00:13:01.120 --> 00:13:04.559 Holmes, I cried, is it really you? Can it indeed 212 00:13:04.600 --> 00:13:07.720 be that you are alive? Is it possible that you've 213 00:13:07.759 --> 00:13:11.759 succeeded in climbing out of that awful abyss? Wait a moment, 214 00:13:11.840 --> 00:13:14.320 said he Are you sure that you are really fit 215 00:13:14.440 --> 00:13:17.720 to discuss things? I have given you a serious shock 216 00:13:17.879 --> 00:13:23.440 by my unnecessarily dramatic reappearance. I'm all right, But indeed, Holmes, 217 00:13:23.480 --> 00:13:26.799 I can hardly believe my eyes. Good Heavens to think 218 00:13:26.799 --> 00:13:29.639 that you, you, of all men, should be standing in 219 00:13:29.720 --> 00:13:33.399 my study again. I gripped him by the sleeve and 220 00:13:33.519 --> 00:13:37.320 felt the thin, sinewy arm beneath it. Well, you're not 221 00:13:37.399 --> 00:13:41.519 a spirit, anyhow, said I, my dear chap. I'm overjoyed 222 00:13:41.519 --> 00:13:45.519 to see you sit down and tell me how you 223 00:13:45.600 --> 00:13:46.600 came alive. 224 00:13:46.360 --> 00:13:48.720 Out of that dreadful chasm. 225 00:13:49.440 --> 00:13:51.799 He sat opposite to me and lit a cigarette in 226 00:13:51.879 --> 00:13:56.080 his old, nonchalant manner. He was dressed in the seedy 227 00:13:56.120 --> 00:13:59.440 frock coat of the book merchant, but the rest of 228 00:13:59.480 --> 00:14:02.200 that individ jewell lay in a pile of white hair 229 00:14:02.279 --> 00:14:06.759 and old books upon the table. Holmes looked even thinner 230 00:14:06.799 --> 00:14:10.120 and keener than of old. But there was a dead 231 00:14:10.159 --> 00:14:14.120 white tinge in his aquiline face which told me that 232 00:14:14.240 --> 00:14:18.759 his life recently had not been a healthy one. I 233 00:14:18.799 --> 00:14:23.120 am glad to stretch myself, Watson said he. It is 234 00:14:23.159 --> 00:14:25.559 no joke when a tall man has to take a 235 00:14:25.600 --> 00:14:29.759 foot off his stature for several hours on end. Now, 236 00:14:29.840 --> 00:14:32.840 my dear fellow, in the matter of these explanations we have, 237 00:14:33.000 --> 00:14:35.960 if I may ask for your co operation a hard 238 00:14:36.080 --> 00:14:39.399 and dangerous night's work in front of us, Perhaps it 239 00:14:39.440 --> 00:14:41.879 would be better if I gave you an account of 240 00:14:41.919 --> 00:14:45.519 the whole situation when that work is finished. I am 241 00:14:45.559 --> 00:14:48.759 full of curiosity. I should much prefer to hear it. 242 00:14:48.840 --> 00:14:49.120 Now. 243 00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:52.879 You'll come with me to night when you like, and 244 00:14:53.039 --> 00:14:56.720 where you like. This is indeed like the old days. 245 00:14:57.360 --> 00:14:59.600 We shall have time for a mouthful of dinner before 246 00:14:59.600 --> 00:15:05.519 we need well then about that chasm, I had no 247 00:15:05.639 --> 00:15:09.080 serious difficulty in getting out fit for the very simple 248 00:15:09.120 --> 00:15:12.159 reason that I was never in it. You will never 249 00:15:12.240 --> 00:15:16.360 in it, no, Watson, I never was in it. My 250 00:15:16.480 --> 00:15:19.879 note to you was absolutely genuine. I had little doubt 251 00:15:19.960 --> 00:15:21.639 that I had come to the end of my career 252 00:15:22.200 --> 00:15:25.320 when I perceived the somewhat sinister figure of the late 253 00:15:25.399 --> 00:15:29.360 Professor Moriarti standing upon the narrow pathway which led to safety. 254 00:15:30.600 --> 00:15:35.039 I read an inexorable purpose in his gray eyes. I 255 00:15:35.080 --> 00:15:39.080 exchanged some remarks with him therefore, and obtained his courteous 256 00:15:39.120 --> 00:15:42.399 permission to write the short note, which you afterwards received. 257 00:15:43.480 --> 00:15:45.879 I left it with my cigarette box and my stick, 258 00:15:46.559 --> 00:15:51.080 and I walked along the pathway Moriarti still at my heels. 259 00:15:51.519 --> 00:15:55.080 When I reached the end, I stood at bay. He 260 00:15:55.240 --> 00:15:57.919 drew no weapon, but he rushed at me and threw 261 00:15:57.960 --> 00:16:01.159 his long arms around me. He knew that his own 262 00:16:01.159 --> 00:16:04.240 game was up, and was only anxious to revenge himself 263 00:16:04.320 --> 00:16:08.480 upon me. We tottered together upon the brink of the fall. 264 00:16:10.120 --> 00:16:14.159 I have some knowledge, however, of bartsu, or the Japanese 265 00:16:14.200 --> 00:16:17.440 system of wrestling, which has more than once been very 266 00:16:17.519 --> 00:16:20.679 useful to me. I slipped through his grip, and he, 267 00:16:20.799 --> 00:16:23.679 with a horrible scream, kicked madly for a few seconds 268 00:16:23.720 --> 00:16:27.519 and clawed the air with both his hands. But for 269 00:16:27.600 --> 00:16:29.919 all his efforts he could not get his balance, and 270 00:16:30.120 --> 00:16:33.279 over he went, with my face over the brink. I 271 00:16:33.320 --> 00:16:37.039 saw him fall for a long way. Then he struck 272 00:16:37.039 --> 00:16:42.360 a rock, bounded off, and splashed into the water. I 273 00:16:42.480 --> 00:16:46.679 listened with amazement to this explanation, which Holmes delivered between 274 00:16:46.679 --> 00:16:50.240 the puffs of his cigarette. But the tracks, I cried, 275 00:16:50.279 --> 00:16:53.679 I saw with my own eyes the two went down 276 00:16:53.720 --> 00:16:57.720 the path, and none returned. It came about in this 277 00:16:57.840 --> 00:17:02.279 way the instant that the pfessor had disappeared. It struck 278 00:17:02.360 --> 00:17:06.240 me what a really extraordinarily lucky chance fate had placed 279 00:17:06.279 --> 00:17:09.599 in my way. I knew that Moriarty was not the 280 00:17:09.640 --> 00:17:12.960 only man who had sworn my death. There were at 281 00:17:13.079 --> 00:17:16.400 least three others whose desire for vengeance upon me would 282 00:17:16.400 --> 00:17:19.759 only be increased by the death of their leader. They 283 00:17:19.759 --> 00:17:24.079 were all most dangerous men. One or other would certainly 284 00:17:24.119 --> 00:17:27.519 get me. On the other hand, if all the world 285 00:17:27.640 --> 00:17:30.119 was convinced that I was dead, they would take liberties. 286 00:17:30.559 --> 00:17:33.960 These men, they would soon lay themselves open, and sooner 287 00:17:34.039 --> 00:17:37.480 or later I could destroy them. Then it would be 288 00:17:37.559 --> 00:17:39.319 time for me to announce that I was still in 289 00:17:39.319 --> 00:17:42.160 the land of the living. So rapidly does the brain 290 00:17:42.240 --> 00:17:44.319 act that I believe I had thought this all out 291 00:17:44.440 --> 00:17:47.960 before Professor Moriarty had reached the bottom of the reichenbarqu fall. 292 00:17:49.279 --> 00:17:52.640 I stood up and examined the rocky wall behind me. 293 00:17:53.640 --> 00:17:56.440 In your picturesque account of the matter, which I read 294 00:17:56.480 --> 00:18:00.160 with great interest some months later, you assert that the 295 00:18:00.200 --> 00:18:05.359 wall was sheer. That was not literally true. A few 296 00:18:05.440 --> 00:18:09.200 small footholds presented themselves, and there was some indication of 297 00:18:09.240 --> 00:18:12.880 a ledge. The cliff is so high that to climb 298 00:18:12.880 --> 00:18:17.279 it all was an obvious impossibility, and it was equally 299 00:18:17.279 --> 00:18:19.920 impossible to make my way along the wet path without 300 00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:23.839 leaving some tracks. I might, it is true, have reversed 301 00:18:23.880 --> 00:18:28.039 my boots, as I have done on similar occasions, but 302 00:18:28.119 --> 00:18:30.480 the sight of three sets of tracks in one direction 303 00:18:31.039 --> 00:18:34.960 would certainly have suggested a deception on the whole. Then 304 00:18:35.319 --> 00:18:38.920 it was best that I should risk the climb. It 305 00:18:39.000 --> 00:18:42.839 was not a pleasant business, Watson, the fall roared beneath me. 306 00:18:43.519 --> 00:18:45.880 I'm not a fanciful person, but I give you my 307 00:18:46.000 --> 00:18:49.359 word that I seemed to hear Mariarty's voice screaming at 308 00:18:49.400 --> 00:18:53.440 me out of the abyss. A mistake would have been fatal. 309 00:18:54.640 --> 00:18:57.119 More than once, as tufts of grass came out in 310 00:18:57.160 --> 00:18:59.559 my hand or my foot slipped in the wet notches 311 00:18:59.599 --> 00:19:02.920 of the rock, I thought that I was gone, but 312 00:19:03.039 --> 00:19:06.480 I struggled upward, and at last I reached a ledge 313 00:19:06.519 --> 00:19:10.240 several feet deep and covered with soft green mass, where 314 00:19:10.279 --> 00:19:14.599 I could lie unseen in the most perfect comfort. There 315 00:19:14.640 --> 00:19:17.559 I was stretched when you, my dear Watson, and all 316 00:19:17.599 --> 00:19:22.319 your following were investigating in the most sympathetic and inefficient manner, 317 00:19:22.960 --> 00:19:27.200 the circumstances of my death. At last, when you had 318 00:19:27.200 --> 00:19:31.559 all formed your inevitable and totally erroneous conclusions, you departed 319 00:19:31.599 --> 00:19:35.119 for the hotel, and I was left alone. I had 320 00:19:35.119 --> 00:19:37.799 imagined that I had reached the end of my adventures, 321 00:19:38.519 --> 00:19:41.599 but a very unexpected occurrence showed me that there were 322 00:19:41.680 --> 00:19:45.920 surprises still in store for me. A huge rock falling 323 00:19:46.000 --> 00:19:49.799 from above, boomed past me, struck the path, and bounded 324 00:19:49.839 --> 00:19:53.680 over into the chasm. For an instant I thought that 325 00:19:53.880 --> 00:19:57.039 it was an accident, but a moment later, looking up, 326 00:19:57.279 --> 00:20:00.960 I saw a man's head against the darkening sky, and 327 00:20:01.079 --> 00:20:04.079 another stone struck the very ledge upon which I was stretched, 328 00:20:04.559 --> 00:20:08.079 within a foot of my head. Of course, the meaning 329 00:20:08.079 --> 00:20:12.960 of this was obvious. Moriarty had not been alone a confederate, 330 00:20:13.519 --> 00:20:16.240 and even that one glance had told me how dangerous 331 00:20:16.279 --> 00:20:19.680 a man that confederate was. Had kept guard while the 332 00:20:19.759 --> 00:20:23.440 Professor had attacked me from a distance unseen by me. 333 00:20:23.599 --> 00:20:25.759 He had been a witness of his friend's death and 334 00:20:25.839 --> 00:20:29.440 of my escape. He had waited, and then, making his 335 00:20:29.519 --> 00:20:31.680 way round to the top of the cliff, he had 336 00:20:31.799 --> 00:20:36.200 endeavored to succeed where his comrade had failed. I did 337 00:20:36.279 --> 00:20:37.440 not take long to think about it. 338 00:20:37.480 --> 00:20:38.680 Watson again. 339 00:20:38.759 --> 00:20:41.200 I saw that grim face look over the cliff, and 340 00:20:41.279 --> 00:20:44.720 I knew that it was the precursor of another stone. 341 00:20:44.880 --> 00:20:48.000 I scrambled down on to the path. I don't think 342 00:20:48.039 --> 00:20:50.599 I could have done it in cold blood. It was 343 00:20:50.640 --> 00:20:54.039 a hundred times more difficult than getting up. But I 344 00:20:54.079 --> 00:20:56.319 had no time to think of the danger, for another 345 00:20:56.359 --> 00:20:59.000 stone sang past me as I hung by my hands 346 00:20:59.079 --> 00:21:02.119 from the edge of the ledge. Half way down, I slipped, 347 00:21:02.160 --> 00:21:05.240 but by the blessing of God, I landed, torn and 348 00:21:05.359 --> 00:21:09.480 bleeding upon the path. I took to my heels, did 349 00:21:09.559 --> 00:21:12.640 ten miles over the mountains in the darkness, and a 350 00:21:12.680 --> 00:21:16.319 week later I found myself in Florence, with a certainty 351 00:21:16.400 --> 00:21:18.839 that no one in the world knew what had become 352 00:21:18.880 --> 00:21:24.240 of me. I had only one confident, my brother, my Craft. 353 00:21:25.839 --> 00:21:28.640 I owe you many apologies, my dear Watson, but it 354 00:21:28.720 --> 00:21:31.359 was all important that it should be thought I was dead, 355 00:21:32.480 --> 00:21:34.640 And it is quite certain that you would not have 356 00:21:34.640 --> 00:21:37.759 written so convincing an account of my unhappy end had 357 00:21:37.759 --> 00:21:41.920 you not yourself thought that it was true. Several times 358 00:21:42.000 --> 00:21:44.000 during the last three years I have taken up my 359 00:21:44.079 --> 00:21:46.799 pen to write to you, but always I feared lest 360 00:21:46.839 --> 00:21:49.319 your affectionate regard for me should tempt you to some 361 00:21:49.400 --> 00:21:54.119 indiscretion which would betray my secret. For that reason, I 362 00:21:54.200 --> 00:21:56.839 turned away from you this evening when you upset my books, 363 00:21:57.440 --> 00:21:59.720 for I was in danger at the time, and any 364 00:21:59.759 --> 00:22:02.720 show of surprise and emotion upon your part might have 365 00:22:02.799 --> 00:22:05.519 drawn attention to my identity and led to the most 366 00:22:05.519 --> 00:22:10.519 deplorable and irreparable results. As to my Craft, I had 367 00:22:10.519 --> 00:22:12.759 to confide in him in order to obtain the money 368 00:22:12.759 --> 00:22:16.319 which I needed. The course of events in London did 369 00:22:16.359 --> 00:22:18.839 not run so well as I had hoped for the 370 00:22:18.880 --> 00:22:21.599 trial of the Moriati gang, left two of its most 371 00:22:21.720 --> 00:22:27.920 dangerous members my own most vindictive enemies at liberty. I 372 00:22:27.960 --> 00:22:31.880 traveled for two years in Tibet therefore, and amused myself 373 00:22:31.920 --> 00:22:36.279 by visiting Lasar and spending some days with the head Lama. 374 00:22:37.079 --> 00:22:40.400 You may have read the remarkable explorations of a Norwegian 375 00:22:40.480 --> 00:22:44.039 named Sigosum, but I am sure that it never occurred 376 00:22:44.039 --> 00:22:46.240 to you that you were receiving news of your friend. 377 00:22:47.279 --> 00:22:50.519 I then passed through Persia, looked in at Mecca, and 378 00:22:50.599 --> 00:22:55.000 paid a short but interesting visit to the calipher at Khartoumb, 379 00:22:56.160 --> 00:22:59.319 the results of which I have communicated to the Foreign Office. 380 00:23:00.640 --> 00:23:03.559 Returning to France, I spent some months in a research 381 00:23:03.640 --> 00:23:07.160 into the cold tar derivatives, which I conducted in a 382 00:23:07.240 --> 00:23:11.799 laboratory at Montpellier in the south of France. Having concluded 383 00:23:11.799 --> 00:23:14.960 this to my satisfaction, and learning that only one of 384 00:23:14.960 --> 00:23:17.640 my enemies was now left in London, I was about 385 00:23:17.640 --> 00:23:20.920 to return when my movements were hastened by the news 386 00:23:20.960 --> 00:23:25.279 of this very remarkable Park Lane mystery, which not only 387 00:23:25.319 --> 00:23:28.279 appealed to me by its own merits, but which seemed 388 00:23:28.279 --> 00:23:32.920 to offer some most peculiar personal opportunities. I came over 389 00:23:33.000 --> 00:23:36.079 at once to London, called in my own person at 390 00:23:36.079 --> 00:23:40.160 Baker Street, through Missus Hudson, into violent hysterics, and found 391 00:23:40.160 --> 00:23:43.559 that my craft had preserved my rooms and my papers 392 00:23:43.599 --> 00:23:46.880 exactly as they had always been. So it was my 393 00:23:46.960 --> 00:23:49.200 dear Watson, that at two o'clock the day, I found 394 00:23:49.200 --> 00:23:52.680 myself in my old arm chair in my old room, 395 00:23:52.960 --> 00:23:55.279 and only wishing that I could have seen my old 396 00:23:55.319 --> 00:23:59.400 friend Watson in the other chair which here so often adorned. 397 00:24:02.039 --> 00:24:05.039 Such was the remarkable narrative to which I listened on 398 00:24:05.119 --> 00:24:08.839 that April evening, the narrative which would have been utterly 399 00:24:08.839 --> 00:24:11.680 incredible to me had it not been confirmed by the 400 00:24:11.720 --> 00:24:14.799 actual sight of the tall, spare figure and the keen, 401 00:24:14.880 --> 00:24:18.000