The Return of Sherlock Holmes Part 17 (1/2)
The man turned white to the roots of his hair
”I have told you everything, sir”
”Nothing to add?”
”Nothing at all, sir”
”Well, then, I estions to you When you sat down on that chair yesterday, did you do so in order to conceal some object which would have shoho had been in the roohastly
”No, sir, certainly not”
”It is only a suggestion,” said Holmes, suavely ”I frankly adh, since the moment that Mr Soa in that bedroom”
Bannister licked his dry lips
”There was no man, sir”
”Ah, that's a pity, Bannister Up to now you may have spoken the truth, but now I know that you have lied”
The man's face set in sullen defiance
”There was no man, sir”
”Come, come, Bannister!”
”No, sir, there was no one”
”In that case, you can give us no further information Would you please remain in the roooing to ask you to have the great kindness to go up to the roo Gilchrist, and to ask him to step down into yours”
An instant later the tutor returned, bringing with hiure of a y step and a pleasant, open face His troubled blue eyes glanced at each of us, and finally rested with an expression of blank dismay upon Bannister in the farther corner
”Just close the door,” said Holmes ”Now, Mr Gilchrist, we are all quite alone here, and no one need ever know one word of what passes between us We can be perfectly frank with each other We want to know, Mr Gilchrist, how you, an honourable man, ever came to commit such an action as that of yesterday?”
The unfortunate young ered back, and cast a look full of horror and reproach at Bannister
”No, no, Mr Gilchrist, sir, I never said a word--never one word!” cried the servant
”No, but you have now,” said Holmes ”Now, sir, you must see that after Bannister's words your position is hopeless, and that your only chance lies in a frank confession”
For a moment Gilchrist, with upraised hand, tried to control his writhing features The next he had thrown hi his face in his hands, he had burst into a stor
”Come, come,” said Holmes, kindly, ”it is hu a callous criminal Perhaps it would be easier for you if I were to tell Mr Soa Shall I do so? Well, well, don't trouble to answer Listen, and see that I do you no injustice
”From the moment, Mr Soames, that you said to me that no one, not even Bannister, could have told that the papers were in your rooan to take a definite shape in my mind The printer one could, of course, dismiss He could exaht nothing of If the proofs were in a roll, he could not possibly knohat they were On the other hand, it seemed an unthinkable coincidence that a man should dare to enter the room, and that by chance on that very day the papers were on the table I dismissed that The man who entered knew that the papers were there How did he know?
”When I approached your roo that I was conteht, under the eyes of all these opposite rooh it Such an idea was absurd I washow tall a man would need to be in order to see, as he passed, what papers were on the central table I ah, and I could do it with an effort No one less than that would have a chance Already you see I had reason to think that, if one of your three students was aof the three
”I entered, and I took you into estions of the side table Of the centre table I could , until in your description of Gilchrist you -distance ju came to me in an instant, and I only needed certain corroborative proofs, which I speedily obtained
”What happened with{sic} this: This young fellow had erounds, where he had been practising the ju-shoes, which are provided, as you are aware, with several sharp spikes As he passed yourhe saw, by ht, these proofs upon your table, and conjectured what they were No harm would have been done had it not been that, as he passed your door, he perceived the key which had been left by the carelessness of your servant A sudden impulse came over him to enter, and see if they were indeed the proofs It was not a dangerous exploit for he could always pretend that he had simply looked in to ask a question
”Well, when he saw that they were indeed the proofs, it was then that he yielded to temptation He put his shoes on the table What was it you put on that chair near the ?”
”Gloves,” said the young man
Holloves on the chair, and he took the proofs, sheet by sheet, to copy theate and that he would see hiate Suddenly he heard hiot his gloves but he caught up his shoes and darted into the bedrooht at one side, but deepens in the direction of the bedrooh to show us that the shoe had been drawn in that direction, and that the culprit had taken refuge there The earth round the spike had been left on the table, and a second sample was loosened and fell in the bedroorounds this -pit and carried away a speciether with some of the fine tan or sawdust which is strewn over it to prevent the athlete fro Have I told the truth, Mr Gilchrist?”
The student had drawn himself erect
”Yes, sir, it is true,” said he
”Good heavens! have you nothing to add?” cried Soaraceful exposure has bewildered me I have a letter here, Mr Soa in the ht It was before I knew that my sin had found me out Here it is, sir You will see that I have said, `I have detero in for the examination I have been offered a co out to South Africa at once'”
”I am indeed pleased to hear that you did not intend to profit by your unfair advantage,” said Soae your purpose?”
Gilchrist pointed to Bannister
”There is the ht path,” said he
”Come now, Bannister,” said Holmes ”It will be clear to you, fro man out, since you were left in the room, and must have locked the door when you went out As to his escaping by that , it was incredible Can you not clear up the last point in this mystery, and tell us the reasons for your action?”
”It was sih, sir, if you only had known, but, with all your cleverness, it was impossible that you could know Time was, sir, when I was butler to old Sir Jabez Gilchrist, this young gentlee as servant, but I never forgot my old employer because he was down in the world I watched his son all I could for the sake of the old days Well, sir, when I caiven, the very first thing I saas Mr Gilchrist's tan gloves a-lying in that chair I knew those gloves well, and I understood their a would budge me until Mr Soa master, whom I had dandled on my knee, and confessed it all to me Wasn't it natural, sir, that I should save him, and wasn't it natural also that I should try to speak to him as his dead father would have done, and make him understand that he could not profit by such a deed? Could you blaing to his feet ”Well, Soames, I think we have cleared your little problem up, and our breakfast awaits us at hoht future awaits you in Rhodesia For once you have fallen low Let us see, in the future, how high you can rise”
THE ADVENTURE OF THE GOLDEN PINCE-NEZ
When I look at the three massive manuscript volumes which contain our work for the year 1894, I confess that it is very difficult for me, out of such a wealth ofin themselves, and at the same time most conducive to a display of those peculiar powers for which es, I see my notes upon the repulsive story of the red leech and the terrible death of Crosby, the banker Here also I find an account of the Addleton tragedy, and the singular contents of the ancient British barrow The famous Smith-Mortimer succession case co and arrest of Huret, the Boulevard assassin--an exploit which won for Holraph letter of thanks froion of Honour Each of these would furnish a narrative, but on the whole I aular points of interest as the episode of Yoxley Old Place, which includes not only the lahby Smith, but also those subsequent developht upon the causes of the criht, towards the close of Nove, he engaged with a powerful lens deciphering the reinal inscription upon a paliery Outside the wind howled down Baker Street, while the rain beat fiercely against the s It was strange there, in the very depths of the toith ten miles of rip of Nature, and to be conscious that to the huge elemental forces all London was no more than the molehills that dot the fields I walked to the , and looked out on the deserted street The occasional la pave its way from the Oxford Street end
”Well, Watson, it's as e have not to turn out to-night,” said Hol up the pali work for the eyes So far as I canthan an Abbey's accounts dating from the second half of the fifteenth century Halloa! halloa! halloa! What's this?”