The Return of Sherlock Holmes Part 11 (2/2)
”Can I speak confidentially?”
”No, certainly not”
”Why should I tell you?”
”If you have no answer, itman winced
”Well, I will tell you,” he said ”Why should I not? And yet I hate to think of this old scandal gaining a new lease of life Did you ever hear of Dawson and Neligan?”
I could see, from Hopkins's face, that he never had, but Holmes was keenly interested
”You mean the West Country bankers,” said he ”They failed for a million, ruined half the county faan disappeared”
”Exactly Neligan waspositive, and yet it see banker and Captain Peter Carey pinned against the ith one of his own harpoons We all listened intently to the young man's words
”It was my father as really concerned Dawson had retired I was only ten years of age at the tih to feel the shame and horror of it all It has always been said that my father stole all the securities and fled It is not true It was his belief that if he were given time in which to realize them, all would be well and every creditor paid in full He started in his little yacht for Norway just before the warrant was issued for his arrest I can reht when he bade farewell to , and he swore that he would come back with his honour cleared, and that none who had trusted hiain Both the yacht and he vanished utterly We believed, my mother and I, that he and it, with the securities that he had taken with him, were at the bottom of the sea We had a faithful friend, however, who is a business o that some of the securities which my father had with hiine our a to trace thes and difficulties, I discovered that the original seller had been Captain Peter Carey, the owner of this hut
”Naturally, I made some inquiries about the man I found that he had been in command of a whaler which was due to return fro to Norway The autu succession of southerly gales My father's yacht may well have been blown to the north, and there met by Captain Peter Carey's shi+p If that were so, what had become of my father? In any case, if I could prove from Peter Carey's evidence how these securities came on the market it would be a proof that my father had not sold them, and that he had no view to personal profit when he took the the captain, but it was at this moment that his terrible death occurred I read at the inquest a description of his cabin, in which it stated that the old logbooks of his vessel were preserved in it It struck ust, 1883, on board the SEA UNICORN, I ht to get at these logbooks, but was unable to open the door To-night I tried again and succeeded, but I find that the pages which deal with that month have been torn from the book It was at that moment I found myself a prisoner in your hands”
”Is that all?” asked Hopkins
”Yes, that is all” His eyes shi+fted as he said it
”You have nothing else to tell us?”
He hesitated
”No, there is nothing”
”You have not been here before last night?”
”No
”Then how do you account for THAT?” cried Hopkins, as he held up the da notebook, with the initials of our prisoner on the first leaf and the blood-stain on the cover
The wretched man collapsed He sank his face in his hands, and treroaned ”I did not know I thought I had lost it at the hotel”
”That is enough,” said Hopkins, sternly ”Whatever else you have to say, you must say in court You alk doith me now to the police-station Well, Mr Holed to you and to your friend for co down to help me As it turns out your presence was unnecessary, and I would have brought the case to this successful issue without you, but, none the less, I arateful Rooms have been reserved for you at the Braether”
”Well, Watson, what do you think of it?” asked Hol
”I can see that you are not satisfied”
”Oh, yes, my dear Watson, I am perfectly satisfied At the same time, Stanley Hopkins's methods do not commend themselves to me I am disappointed in Stanley Hopkins I had hoped for better things from him One should always look for a possible alternative, and provide against it It is the first rule of criation”
”What, then, is the alternative?”
”The line of investigation which I haveI cannot tell But at least I shall follow it to the end”
Several letters aiting for Holmes at Baker Street He snatched one of them up, opened it, and burst out into a triuhter
”Excellent, Watson! The alternative develops Have you telegraph fores for hway Send three --Basil' That's my name in those parts The other is: `Inspector Stanley Hopkins, 46 Lord Street, Brixton Come breakfast to-morrow at nine-thirty Important Wire if unable to come--Sherlock Holmes' There, Watson, this infernal case has haunted me for ten days I hereby banish it completely from my presence To-morrow, I trust that we shall hear the last of it forever”
Sharp at the hour naether to the excellent breakfast which Mrs Hudson had prepared The young detective was in high spirits at his success
”You really think that your solution ine a more complete case”
”It did not seem to me conclusive”
”You astonish me, Mr Holmes What more could one ask for?”
”Does your explanation cover every point?”
”Undoubtedly I find that young Neligan arrived at the Brambletye Hotel on the very day of the criolf His rooet out when he liked That very night he went down to Woodman's Lee, saw Peter Carey at the hut, quarrelled with him, and killed him with the harpoon Then, horrified by what he had done, he fled out of the hut, dropping the notebook which he had brought with him in order to question Peter Carey about these different securities You may have observed that soreat majority--were not Those which are ticked have been traced on the London market, but the others, presuan, according to his own account, was anxious to recover the by his father's creditors After his flight he did not dare to approach the hut again for some time, but at last he forced himself to do so in order to obtain the information which he needed Surely that is all simple and obvious?”
Holmes smiled and shook his head ”It seems to me to have only one drawback, Hopkins, and that is that it is intrinsically ih a body? No? Tut, tut my dear sir, you must really pay attention to these details My friend Watson could tell you that I spent a wholein that exercise It is no easyand practised arm But this bloas delivered with such violence that the head of the weapon sank deep into the wall Do you ihtful an assault? Is he the man who hobnobbed in ruht? Was it his profile that was seen on the blind two nights before? No, no, Hopkins, it is another and more formidable person for e er and longer during Hol about hile
”You can't deny that Neligan was present that night, Mr Holmes The book will prove that I fancy that I have evidence enough to satisfy a jury, even if you are able to pick a hole in it Besides, Mr Holmes, I have laid my hand upon MY man As to this terrible person of yours, where is he?”
”I rather fancy that he is on the stair,” said Holmes, serenely ”I think, Watson, that you would do well to put that revolver where you can reach it” He rose and laid a written paper upon a side-table ”Noe are ready,” said he
There had been soruff voices outside, and now Mrs Hudson opened the door to say that there were threefor Captain Basil
”Show them in one by one,” said Holmes
”The first who entered was a little Ribston pippin of a man, with ruddy cheeks and fluffy white side-whiskers Holmes had drawn a letter from his pocket
”What name?” he asked
”James Lancaster”
”I am sorry, Lancaster, but the berth is full Here is half a sovereign for your trouble Just step into this room and wait there for a few , dried-up creature, with lank hair and sallow cheeks His nah Pattins He also received his disn, and the order to wait
The third applicant was aface was fralea eyebrows He saluted and stood sailor-fashi+on, turning his cap round in his hands