The Return of Sherlock Holmes Part 4 (1/2)

Again he produced a paper The new dance was in this form: GRAPHIC ”Tell me,” said Holmes--and I could see by his eyes that he was much excited--”was this a mere addition to the first or did it appear to be entirely separate?”

”It was on a different panel of the door”

”Excellent! This is far the most important of all for our purpose It fills me with hopes Now, Mr Hilton Cubitt, please continue yourry with ht have caught the skulking rascal She said that she feared that I ht come to harm For an instant it had crossed ht come to harm, for I could not doubt that she kneho this nals But there is a tone in my wife's voice, Mr Holmes, and a look in her eyes which forbid doubt, and I am sure that it was indeed my own safety that was in her mind There's the whole case, and noant your advice as to what I ought to do My own inclination is to put half a dozen of ain to give hi that he will leave us in peace for the future”

”I fear it is too deep a case for such si can you stay in London?”

”I ht for anything She is very nervous, and begged ht But if you could have stopped, I ht possibly have been able to return with you in a day or two Meanwhile you will leave me these papers, and I think that it is very likely that I shall be able to pay you a visit shortly and to throw soht upon your case”

Sherlock Holmes preserved his calh it was easy for me, who knew him so well, to see that he was profoundly excited The h the door my comrade rushed to the table, laid out all the slips of paper containing dancing men in front of him, and threw himself into an intricate and elaborate calculation For two hours I watched hiures and letters, so cootten ress and whistled and sang at his work; so spells with a furrowed brow and a vacant eye Finally he sprang from his chair with a cry of satisfaction, and walked up and down the rooram upon a cable form ”If my answer to this is as I hope, you will have a very pretty case to add to your collection, Watson,” said he ”I expect that we shall be able to go down to Norfolk tomorrow, and to take our friend some very definite news as to the secret of his annoyance”

I confess that I was filled with curiosity, but I are that Holmes liked to make his disclosures at his own time and in his oay, so I waited until it should suit him to take me into his confidence

But there was a delay in that answering telegra which Hol of the bell On the evening of the second there came a letter fro inscription had appeared thatupon the pedestal of the sundial He inclosed a copy of it, which is here reproduced: GRAPHIC Holrotesque frieze for so to his feet with an exclaard with anxiety

”We have let this affair go far enough,” said he ”Is there a train to North Walshaht?”

I turned up the tione

”Then we shall breakfast early and take the very first in the ently needed Ah! here is our expected cablegram One moment, Mrs Hudson, there e makes it evenHilton Cubitt kno erous web in which our siled”

So, indeed, it proved, and as I come to the dark conclusion of a story which had seemed to ain the dismay and horror hich I was filled Would that I had so to communicate to my readers, but these are the chronicles of fact, and I e chain of events which for soh the length and breadth of England

We had hardly alighted at North Walsham, and mentioned the name of our destination, when the station-master hurried towards us ”I suppose that you are the detectives from London?” said he

A look of annoyance passed over Hol?”

”Because Inspector Martin froh But eons She's not dead--or wasn't by last accounts You allows”

Hol to Riding Thorpe Manor,” said he, ”but we have heard nothing of what has passed there”

”It's a terrible business,” said the stationmaster ”They are shot, both Mr Hilton Cubitt and his wife She shot him and then herself--so the servants say He's dead and her life is despaired of Dear, dear, one of the oldest families in the county of Norfolk, and one of the most honoured”

Without a word Hol seven miles' drive he never opened his mouth Seldom have I seen hi all our journey fro papers with anxious attention, but now this sudden realization of his worst fears left hiloomy speculation Yet there was h as singular a countryside as any in England, where a few scattered cottages represented the population of to-day, while on every hand enorreen landscape and told of the glory and prosperity of old East Anglia At last the violet rie of the Norfolk coast, and the driver pointed with his whip to two old brick and tirove of trees ”That's Riding Thorpe Manor,” said he

As we drove up to the porticoed front door, I observed in front of it, beside the tennis lawn, the black tool-house and the pedestalled sundial hich we had such strange associations A dapper little man, with a quick, alert h dog-cart He introduced himself as Inspector Martin, of the Norfolk Constabulary, and he was considerably astonished when he heard the name of my companion

”Why, Mr Hol How could you hear of it in London and get to the spot as soon as I?”

”I anticipated it I ca it”

”Then you norant, for they were said to be a most united couple”

”I have only the evidence of the dancing men,” said Holmes ”I will explain the matter to you later Meanwhile, since it is too late to prevent this tragedy, I ae which I possess in order to insure that justice be done Will you associate ation, or will you prefer that I should act independently?”

”I should be proud to feel that ere acting together, Mr Holmes,” said the inspector, earnestly

”In that case I should be glad to hear the evidence and to examine the premises without an instant of unnecessary delay”

Inspector Martin had the good sense to allow s in his own fashi+on, and contented hieon, an old, white-haired man, had just come down from Mrs Hilton Cubitt's room, and he reported that her injuries were serious, but not necessarily fatal The bullet had passed through the front of her brain, and it would probably be soain consciousness On the question of whether she had been shot or had shot herself, he would not venture to express any decided opinion Certainly the bullet had been discharged at very close quarters There was only the one pistol found in the room, two barrels of which had been eh the heart It was equally conceivable that he had shot her and then himself, or that she had been the criminal, for the revolver lay upon the floor midway between them

”Has he beenexcept the lady We could not leave her lying wounded upon the floor”

”How long have you been here, Doctor?”

”Since four o'clock”

”Anyone else?”

”Yes, the constable here”

”And you have touched nothing?”

”Nothing”

”You have acted with great discretion Who sent for you?”

”The houseave the alar, the cook”

”Where are they now?”

”In the kitchen, I believe”

”Then I think we had better hear their story at once”

The old hall, oak-panelled and high-ed, had been turned into a court of investigation Holreat, old-fashi+oned chair, his inexorable eyes gleaard face I could read in them a set purpose to devote his life to this quest until the client whoed The triray-headed country doctor, e policee coh They had been aroused from their sleep by the sound of an explosion, which had been followed arooether they had descended the stairs The door of the study was open, and a candle was burning upon the table Their master lay upon his face in the centre of the roo, her head leaning against the wall She was horribly wounded, and the side of her face was red with blood She breathed heavily, but was incapable of saying anything The passage, as well as the room, was full of smoke and the smell of powder The as certainly shut and fastened upon the inside Both women were positive upon the point They had at once sent for the doctor and for the constable Then, with the aid of the groom and the stable-boy, they had conveyed their injured mistress to her room Both she and her husband had occupied the bed She was clad in her dress-- he in his dressing-gown, over his night-clothes Nothing had been moved in the study So far as they knew, there had never been any quarrel between husband and wife They had always looked upon them as a very united couple

These were the main points of the servants' evidence In answer to Inspector Martin, they were clear that every door was fastened upon the inside, and that no one could have escaped from the house In answer to Holmes, they both remembered that they were conscious of the smell of powder from the moment that they ran out of their rooms upon the top floor ”I commend that fact very carefully to your attention,” said Holue ”And now I think that we are in a position to undertake a thorough examination of the room”

The study proved to be a small cha-table facing an ordinary hich looked out upon the garden Our first attention was given to the body of the unfortunate squire, whose huge frame lay stretched across the room His disordered dress showed that he had been hastily aroused from sleep The bullet had been fired at him fro the heart His death had certainly been instantaneous and painless There was no powder-own or on his hands According to the country surgeon, the lady had stains upon her face, but none upon her hand

”The absence of the latter ,” said Hole happens to spurt backward, one est that Mr Cubitt's body may now be removed I suppose, Doctor, you have not recovered the bullet which wounded the lady?”

”A serious operation will be necessary before that can be done But there are still four cartridges in the revolver Two have been fired and tounds inflicted, so that each bullet can be accounted for”