A Study In Scarlet Part 3 (1/2)
OUR ADVERTIse's exertions had been too much for my weak health, and I was tired out in the afternoon After Holmes' departure for the concert, I lay down upon the sofa and endeavoured to get a couple of hours' sleep It was a useless attempt My mind had been too est fancies and surmises crowded into it Every time that I closed my eyes I saw before me the distorted baboon-like countenance of the murdered man So sinister was the impression which that face had produced upon ratitude for him who had removed its owner from the world If ever hunant type, they were certainly those of Enoch J Drebber, of Cleveland Still I recognized that justice must be done, and that the depravity of the victim was no condonht of it the more extraordinary did my companion's hypothesis, that the man had been poisoned, appear I remembered how he had sniffed his lips, and had no doubt that he had detected soain, if not poison, what had caused the ulation? But, on the other hand, whose blood was that which lay so thickly upon the floor? There were no signs of a struggle, nor had the victionist As long as all these questions were unsolved, I felt that sleep would be no easy matter, either for Holmes or myself His quiet self-confident manner convinced me that he had already forh what it was I could not for an instant conjecture
He was very late in returning -- so late, that I knew that the concert could not have detained him all the time Dinner was on the table before he appeared
”It was nificent,” he said, as he took his seat ”Do you remember what Darwin says aboutit existed a before the power of speech was arrived at Perhaps that is e are so subtly influenced by it There are vague memories in our souls of those misty centuries when the world was in its childhood”
”That's rather a broad idea,” I remarked
”One's ideas must be as broad as Nature if they are to interpret Nature,” he answered ”What's thequite yourself This Brixton Road affair has upset you”
”To tell the truth, it has,” I said ”I ought to be han experiences I sawmy nerve”
”I can understand There is a ination; where there is no i paper?”
”No”
”It gives a fairly good account of the affair It does not mention the fact that when thefell upon the floor It is just as well it does not”
”Why?”
”Look at this advertisement,” he answered ”I had one sent to every paper thisimmediately after the affair”
He threw the paper across to lanced at the place indicated It was the first announce,” it ran, ”a plain gold wedding ring, found in the roadway between the `White Hart' Tavern and Holland Grove Apply Dr Watson, 221B, Baker Street, between eight and nine this evening”
”Excuseyour name,” he said ”If I used nize it, and want to ht,” I answered ”But supposing anyone applies, I have no ring”
”Oh yes, you have,” said he, handing me one ”This will do very well It is almost a facsimile”
”And who do you expect will answer this advertisement”
”Why, the man in the brown coat -- our florid friend with the square toes If he does not come himself he will send an accoerous?”
”Not at all If my view of the case is correct, and I have every reason to believe that it is, thistoover Drebber's body, and did notthe house he discovered his loss and hurried back, but found the police already in possession, owing to his own folly in leaving the candle burning He had to pretend to be drunk in order to allay the suspicions which ate Now put yourself in thatthe matter over, it must have occurred to hi in the road after leaving the house What would he do, then? He would eagerly look out for the evening papers in the hope of seeing it aht upon this He would be overjoyed Why should he fear a trap? There would be no reason in his eyes why the finding of the ring should be connected with the murder He would come He will come You shall see him within an hour?”
”And then?” I asked
”Oh, you can leave me to deal with him then Have you any ares”
”You had better clean it and load it He will be a desperate h I shall take hi”
I went to my bedroom and followed his advice When I returned with the pistol the table had been cleared, and Hol upon his violin
”The plot thickens,” he said, as I entered; ”I have just had an answer to ram My view of the case is the correct one”
”And that is?” I asked eagerly
”My fiddle would be the better for new strings,” he remarked ”Put your pistol in your pocket When the fellow comes speak to hihten hiht o'clock now,” I said, glancing at my watch
”Yes He will probably be here in a few htly That will do Now put the key on the inside Thank you! This is a queer old book I picked up at a stall yesterday -- `De Jure inter Gentes' -- published in Latin at Liege in the Lowlands, in 1642 Charles' head was still firm on his shoulders when this little brown-backed volume was struck off”
”Who is the printer?”
”Philippe de Croy, whoever he may have been On the fly-leaf, in very faded ink, is written `Ex libris Guliol has a legal twist about it Here comes ourat the bell Sherlock Holmes rose softly and moved his chair in the direction of the door We heard the servant pass along the hall, and the sharp click of the latch as she opened it
”Does Dr Watson live here?” asked a clear but rather harsh voice We could not hear the servant's reply, but the door closed, and soan to ascend the stairs The footfall was an uncertain and shuffling one A look of surprise passed over the face ofthe passage, and there was a feeble tap at the door
”Come in,” I cried
At my summons, instead of the man of violence e expected, a very old and wrinkled woman hobbled into the apartht, and after dropping a curtsey, she stood blinking at us with her bleared eyes and fulanced at my companion, and his face had assumed such a disconsolate expression that it was all I could do to keeppaper, and pointed at our advertiseentle in the Brixton Road It belongs to irl Sally, as was married only this time twelvemonth, which her husband is steward aboard a Union boat, and what he'd say if he co is h at the best o' times, but more especially when he has the drink If it please you, she went to the circus last night along with ----”
”Is that her ring?” I asked
”The Lord be thanked!” cried the old wo”
”And whatup a pencil
”13, Duncan Street, Houndsditch A weary way from here”
”The Brixton Road does not lie between any circus and Houndsditch,” said Sherlock Holmes sharply
The old woman faced round and looked keenly at hientleings at 3, Mayfield Place, Peckham”
”And your name is ----?”
”My name is Sawyer -- her's is Dennis, which To as he's at sea, and no steward in the coht of; but when on shore, ith the wo, Mrs Sawyer,” I interrupted, in obedience to a sign frohter, and I ahtful owner”
With ratitude the old crone packed it away in her pocket, and shuffled off down the stairs Sherlock Holone and rushed into his room He returned in a few seconds enveloped in an ulster and a cravat ”I'll follow her,” he said, hurriedly; ”she must be an accomplice, and will lead me to him Wait up for me” The hall door had hardly slammed behind our visitor before Holh theI could see her walking feebly along the other side, while her pursuer dogged her some little distance behind ”Either his whole theory is incorrect,” I thought to myself, ”or else he will be led now to the heart of the mystery” There was no need for him to ask me to wait up for him, for I felt that sleep was impossible until I heard the result of his adventure
It was close upon nine when he set out I had no idea how long heover the pages of Henri Murger's ”Vie de Boheme” {12} Ten o'clock passed, and I heard the footsteps of the maid as they pattered off to bed Eleven, and the more stately tread of the landlady passed my door, bound for the same destination It was close upon twelve before I heard the sharp sound of his latch-key The instant he entered I saw by his face that he had not been successful A for the mastery, until the forh