The Return of Sherlock Holmes Part 15 (1/2)
”Exactly”
”I have your letter here You said, `I desire to possess a copy of Devine's Napoleon, and am prepared to pay you ten pounds for the one which is in your possession' Is that right?”
”Certainly”
”I was very ine how you knew that I owned such a thing”
”Of course you must have been surprised, but the explanation is very si Brothers, said that they had sold you their last copy, and he gave me your address”
”Oh, that was it, was it? Did he tell you what I paid for it?”
”No, he did not”
”Well, I aave fifteen shi+llings for the bust, and I think you ought to know that before I take ten pounds from you
”I am sure the scruple does you honour, Mr Sandeford But I have named that price, so I intend to stick to it”
”Well, it is very handsoht the bust up with , and at lastplaced upon our table a complete specimen of that bust which we had already seen ments
Holmes took a paper from his pocket and laid a ten-pound note upon the table
”You will kindly sign that paper, Mr Sandeford, in the presence of these witnesses It is siht that you ever had in the bust to me I am a methodical ht take afterwards Thank you, Mr Sandeford; here is your ”
When our visitor had disappeared, Sherlock Holan by taking a clean white cloth fro it over the table Then he placed his newly acquired bust in the centre of the cloth Finally, he picked up his hunting-crop and struck Napoleon a sharp blow on the top of the head The figure broke into fragerly over the shattered remains Next instant, with a loud shout of triumph he held up one splinter, in which a round, dark object was fixed like a plu
”Gentlemen,” he cried, ”let ias”
Lestrade and I sat silent for a moment, and then, with a spontaneous iht crisis of a play A flush of colour sprang to Holmes's pale cheeks, and he bowed to us like the e of his audience It was at suchmachine, and betrayed his huularly proud and reserved nature which turned aith disdain fro moved to its depths by spontaneous wonder and praise froentle in the world, and it has been , to trace it from the Prince of Colonna's bedroom at the Dacre Hotel, where it was lost, to the interior of this, the last of the six busts of Napoleon which were manufactured by Gelder & Co, of Stepney You will remember, Lestrade, the sensation caused by the disappearance of this valuable jewel and the vain efforts of the London police to recover it I was myself consulted upon the case, but I was unable to throw any light upon it Suspicion fell upon the maid of the Princess, as an Italian, and it was proved that she had a brother in London, but we failed to trace any connection between them The maid's name was Lucretia Venucci, and there is no doubt in o was the brother I have been looking up the dates in the old files of the paper, and I find that the disappearance of the pearl was exactly two days before the arrest of Beppo, for some crime of violence--an event which took place in the factory of Gelder & Co, at the veryh you see them, of course, in the inverse order to the way in which they presented themselves to me Beppo had the pearl in his possession He may have stolen it from Pietro, he o-between of Pietro and his sister It is of no consequence to us which is the correct solution
”The main fact is that he HAD the pearl, and at that moment, when it was on his person, he was pursued by the police He made for the factory in which he worked, and he knew that he had only a few minutes in which to conceal this enormously valuable prize, which would otherwise be found on him when he was searched Six plaster casts of Napoleon were drying in the passage One of them was still soft In an instant Beppo, a skilful workman, made a small hole in the wet plaster, dropped in the pearl, and with a few touches covered over the aperture once -place No one could possibly find it But Beppo was condemned to a year's imprisonment, and in the meanwhile his six busts were scattered over London He could not tell which contained his treasure Only by breaking the, for as the plaster et it was probable that the pearl would adhere to it--as, in fact, it has done Beppo did not despair, and he conducted his search with considerable ingenuity and perseverance Through a cousin orks with Gelder, he found out the retail fired to find employment with Morse Hudson, and in that way tracked down three of them The pearl was not there Then, with the help of so out where the other three busts had gone The first was at Harker's There he was dogged by his confederate, who held Beppo responsible for the loss of the pearl, and he stabbed him in the scuffle which followed”
”If he was his confederate, why should he carry his photograph?” I asked
”As ahim, if he wished to inquire about him from any third person That was the obvious reason Well, after the murder I calculated that Beppo would probably hurry rather than delay his movements He would fear that the police would read his secret, and so he hastened on before they should get ahead of him Of course, I could not say that he had not found the pearl in Harker's bust I had not even concluded for certain that it was the pearl, but it was evident to , since he carried the bust past the other houses in order to break it in the garden which had a la it Since Harker's bust was one in three, the chances were exactly as I told you--two to one against the pearl being inside it There reo for the London one first I warned the inedy, and ent doith the happiest results By that tiia pearl that ere after The name of the murdered man linked the one event with the other There only re one--and the pearl ht it in your presence from the owner--and there it lies”
We sat in silence for a ood many cases, Mr Holmes, but I don't know that I ever knew a more workmanlike one than that We're not jealous of you at Scotland Yard No, sir, we are very proud of you, and if you come down to-morrow, there's not a est constable, ouldn't be glad to shake you by the hand”
”Thank you!” said Holmes ”Thank you!” and as he turned away, it seemed to me that he was more nearly moved by the softer human emotions than I had ever seen him A moment later he was the cold and practical thinker once et out the papers of the Conk-Singleton forgery case Good-bye, Lestrade If any little probleive you a hint or two as to its solution”
THE ADVENTURE OF THE THREE STUDENTS
It was in the year '95 that a combination of events, into which I need not enter, caused Mr Sherlock Holreat university towns, and it was during this time that the small but instructive adventure which I am about to relate befell us It will be obvious that any details which would help the reader exactly to identify the college or the criminal would be injudicious and offensive So painful a scandal may well be allowed to die out With due discretion the incident itself may, however, be described, since it serves to illustrate some of those qualities for which my friend was remarkable I will endeavour, in my statement, to avoid such terms as would serve to liive a clue as to the people concerned
We were residing at the tis close to a library where Sherlock Hollish charters--researches which led to results so striking that they may be the subject of one ofwe received a visit from an acquaintance, Mr Hilton Soae of St Luke's Mr Soames was a tall, spare man, of a nervous and excitable temperament I had always known him to be restless in his manner, but on this particular occasion he was in such a state of uncontrollable agitation that it was clear so very unusual had occurred
”I trust, Mr Holmes, that you can spare me a few hours of your valuable time We have had a very painful incident at St Luke's, and really, but for the happy chance of your being in town, I should have been at a loss what to do”
”I am very busy just now, and I desire no distractions,” my friend answered ”I should much prefer that you called in the aid of the police”
”No, no, my dear sir; such a course is utterly iain, and this is just one of those cases where, for the credit of the college, it is most essential to avoid scandal Your discretion is as well known as your powers, and you are the oneyou, Mr Holmes, to do what you can”
My friend's teenial surroundings of Baker Street Without his scrapbooks, his chemicals, and his hoed his shoulders in ungracious acquiescence, while our visitor in hurried words and with esticulation poured forth his story
”I must explain to you, Mr Holmes, that to-morrow is the first day of the examination for the Fortescue Scholarshi+p I am one of the examiners My subject is Greek, and the first of the papers consists of a large passage of Greek translation which the candidate has not seen This passage is printed on the exae if the candidate could prepare it in advance For this reason, great care is taken to keep the paper secret
”To-day, about three o'clock, the proofs of this paper arrived from the printers The exercise consists of half a chapter of Thucydides I had to read it over carefully, as the text must be absolutely correct At four-thirty my task was not yet completed I had, however, promised to take tea in a friend's rooms, so I left the proof upon my desk I was absent rather more than an hour
”You are aware, Mr Holreen baize one within and a heavy oak one without As I approached my outer door, I was ained that I had leftin ht The only duplicate which existed, so far as I kneas that which belonged to my servant, Bannister--a man who has looked after my room for ten years, and whose honesty is absolutely above suspicion I found that the key was indeed his, that he had entered my room to know if I wanted tea, and that he had very carelessly left the key in the door when he came out His visit toit His forgetfulness about the key would have mattered little upon any other occasion, but on this one day it has produced the most deplorable consequences
”The moed a slips I had left the on the floor, one was on the side table near the , and the third here I had left it”
Hole on the floor, the second in the , the third where you left it,” said he
”Exactly, Mr Holmes You amaze me How could you possibly know that?”
”Pray continue your very interesting stateined that Bannister had taken the unpardonable liberty of exa my papers He denied it, however, with the ut the truth The alternative was that so had observed the key in the door, had known that I was out, and had entered to look at the papers A large sum of money is at stake, for the scholarshi+p is a very valuable one, and an unscrupulous e over his fellows
”Bannister was very much upset by the incident He had nearly fainted e found that the papers had undoubtedly been taave him a little brandy and left him collapsed in a chair, while I made a most careful examination of the room I soon saw that the intruder had left other traces of his presence besides the rumpled papers On the table in the ere several shreds from a pencil which had been sharpened A broken tip of lead was lying there also Evidently the rascal had copied the paper in a great hurry, had broken his pencil, and had been compelled to put a fresh point to it”
”Excellent!” said Holood-hurossed by the case ”Fortune has been your friend”
”This was not all I have a neriting-table with a fine surface of red leather I am prepared to swear, and so is Bannister, that it was smooth and unstained Now I found a clean cut in it about three inches long--not a mere scratch, but a positive cut Not only this, but on the table I found a s which looks like sawdust in it I am convinced that these marks were left by the man who rifled the papers There were no footmarks and no other evidence as to his identity I was at ht occurred to ht round to put the matter into your hands Do help me, Mr Holmes You see my dilemma Either I must find the man or else the examination must be postponed until fresh papers are prepared, and since this cannot be done without explanation, there will ensue a hideous scandal, which will throw a cloud not only on the college, but on the university Above all things, I desire to settle the matter quietly and discreetly”
”I shall be happy to look into it and to give you such advice as I can,” said Hol on his overcoat ”The case is not entirely devoid of interest Had anyone visited you in your roo Daulat Ras, an Indian student, who lives on the same stair, came in to ask me some particulars about the examination”
”For which he was entered?”
”Yes”