The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Part 12 (1/2)
”You are very kind, Mr Holmes, but I cannot do that I shall be true to Hosmer He shall find me ready when he comes back”
For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous face, there was so noble in the simple faith of our visitor which compelled our respect She laid her little bundle of papers upon the table and went her ith a proht be summoned
Sherlock Holertips still pressed together, his legs stretched out in front of hi Then he took down from the rack the old and oily clay pipe, which was to hi lit it, he leaned back in his chair, with the thick blue cloud-wreaths spinning up frouor in his face
”Quite an interesting study, thatthan her little problem, which, by the way, is rather a trite one You will find parallel cases, if you consultof the sort at The Hague last year Old as is the idea, however, there were one or two details which were new to me But the maiden herself was ood deal upon her which was quite invisible to me,” I remarked
”Not invisible but unnoticed, Watson You did not knohere to look, and so youyou to realise the iestiveness of thu froather from that woman's appearance? Describe it”
”Well, she had a slate-coloured, broad-brimmed straw hat, with a feather of a brickish red Her jacket was black, with black beads sewn upon it, and a fringe of little black jet ornaments Her dress was brown, rather darker than coffee colour, with a little purple plush at the neck and sleeves Her gloves were greyish and orn through at the right forefinger Her boots I didn't observe She had s fairly well-to-do in a vulgar, co way”
Sherlock Holether and chuckled
”'Ponwonderfully You have really done very well indeed It is true that you haveof importance, but you have hit upon the eneral impressions, lance is always at a woman's sleeve In a man it is perhaps better first to take the knee of the trouser As you observe, this woman had plush upon her sleeves, which is atraces The double line a little above the wrist, where the typewritist presses against the table, was beautifully defined The sewing-machine, of the hand type, leaves a similar mark, but only on the left arm, and on the side of it farthest froht across the broadest part, as this was I then glanced at her face, and, observing the dint of a pince-nez at either side of her nose, I ventured a re, which seemed to surprise her”
”It surprised me”
”But, surely, it was obvious I was thendown to observe that, though the boots which she earing were not unlike each other, they were really odd ones; the one having a slightly decorated toe-cap, and the other a plain one One was buttoned only in the ter buttons out of five, and the other at the first, third, and fifth Nohen you see that a young lady, otherwise neatly dressed, has coreat deduction to say that she came away in a hurry”
”And what else?” I asked, keenly interested, as I alas, by , that she had written a note before leaving hoht glove was torn at the forefinger, but you did not apparently see that both glove and finger were stained with violet ink She had written in a hurry and dipped her pen too deep It , or the er
All this is ao back to business, Watson Would you el?”
I held the little printed slip to the light
”Missing,” it said, ”on the el About five ft seven in in height; strongly built, sallow complexion, black hair, a little bald in the centre, bushy, black side-whiskers and ht infirmity of speech Was dressed, when last seen, in black frock-coat faced with silk, black waistcoat, gold Albert chain, and grey Harris tweed trousers, with brown gaiters over elastic-sided boots Known to have been e--”
”That will do,” said Hol over them, ”they are very coel, save that he quotes Balzac once There is one remarkable point, however, which will no doubt strike you”
”They are typewritten,” I renature is typewritten Look at the neat little 'Hosel' at the bottom There is a date, you see, but no superscription except Leadenhall Street, which is rather vague The point about the signature is very suggestive--in fact, we may call it conclusive”
”Of what?”
”My dear fellow, is it possible you do not see how strongly it bears upon the case?”
”I cannot say that I do unless it were that he wished to be able to deny his signature if an action for breach of promise were instituted”
”No, that was not the point However, I shall write two letters, which should settle the matter One is to a fir lady's stepfather, Mr Windibank, asking him whether he couldIt is just as well that we should do business with theuntil the answers to those letters come, so we may put our little problem upon the shelf for the interim”
I had had so many reasons to believe in y in action that I felt that he rounds for the assured and easy deular mystery which he had been called upon to fatho of Boheraph; but when I looked back to the weird business of the Sign of Four, and the extraordinary circumstances connected with the Study in Scarlet, I felt that it would be a strange tangle indeed which he could not unravel
I left hi at his black clay pipe, with the conviction that when I ca I would find that he held in his hands all the clues which would lead up to the identity of the disappearing bridegrooreat gravity was engaging my own attention at the time, and the whole of next day I was busy at the bedside of the sufferer It was not until close upon six o'clock that I foundinto a hansoht be too late to assist at the denouement of the little mystery I found Sherlock Hol, thin form curled up in the recesses of his armchair A forent cleanly smell of hydrochloric acid, told me that he had spent his day in the chemical hich was so dear to him