The Return of Sherlock Holmes Part 18 (1/2)
”You will perceive,” he said, ”that the clips are lined with tiny bands of cork to soften the pressure upon the nose One of these is discoloured and worn to soht extent, but the other is new Evidently one has fallen off and been replaced I should judge that the older of them has not been there ather that the lady went back to the sae, it's marvellous!” cried Hopkins, in an ecstasy of admiration ”To think that I had all that evidence in o the round of the London opticians”
”Of course you would Meanwhile, have you anything , Mr Holmes I think that you know as much as I do now--probably er seen on the country roads or at the railway station We have heard of none What beats host of a est”
”Ah! there I am not in a position to help you But I suppose you want us to co tooCross to Chatha, and we should be at Yoxley Old Place between eight and nine”
”Then we shall take it Your case has certainly sohted to look into it Well, it's nearly one, and we had best get a few hours' sleep I daresay you can ht ive you a cup of coffee before we start”
The gale had blown itself out next day, but it was a bittere started upon our journey We saw the cold winter sun rise over the dreary , sullen reaches of the river, which I shall ever associate with our pursuit of the Anda and weary journey, we alighted at a s put into a trap at the local inn, we snatched a hurried breakfast, and so ere all ready for business e at last arrived at Yoxley Old Place A constable ate
”Well, Wilson, any news?”
”No, sir--nothing”
”No reports of any stranger seen?”
”No, sir Down at the station they are certain that no stranger either came or went yesterday”
”Have you had inquiries s?”
”Yes, sir: there is no one that we cannot account for”
”Well, it's only a reasonable walk to Chatha observed This is the garden path of which I spoke, Mr Hole my word there was no mark on it yesterday”
”On which side were the in of grass between the path and the flower-bed I can't see the traces now, but they were clear to ,” said Holrass border ”Our lady must have picked her steps carefully, must she not, since on the one side she would leave a track on the path, and on the other an even clearer one on the soft bed?”
”Yes, sir, she must have been a cool hand”
I saw an intent look pass over Holmes's face
”You say that she must have come back this way?”
”Yes, sir, there is no other”
”On this strip of grass?”
”Certainly, Mr Holmes”
”Hum! It was a very remarkable performance--very reo farther This garden door is usually kept open, I suppose? Then this visitor had nothing to do but to walk in The idea of murder was not in her mind, or she would have provided herself with so to pick this knife off the writing-table She advanced along this corridor, leaving no traces upon the cocoanutwas she there? We have no ”
”Not ot to tell you that Mrs Marker, the housekeeper, had been in there tidying not very long before--about a quarter of an hour, she says”
”Well, that gives us a lioes over to the writing-table What for? Not for anything in the drawers If there had been anything worth her taking, it would surely have been locked up No, it was for so in that wooden bureau Halloa! what is that scratch upon the face of it? Just hold a match, Watson Why did you not tellbegan upon the brass-work on the right-hand side of the keyhole, and extended for about four inches, where it had scratched the varnish from the surface
”I noticed it, Mr Holmes, but you'll always find scratches round a keyhole”
”This is recent, quite recent See how the brass shi+nes where it is cut An old scratch would be the sah my lens There's the varnish, too, like earth on each side of a furrow Is Mrs Marker there?”
A sad-faced, elderly woman came into the roo?”
”Yes, sir”
”Did you notice this scratch?”
”No, sir, I did not”
”I am sure you did not, for a duster would have swept away these shreds of varnish Who has the key of this bureau?”
”The Professor keeps it on his watch-chain”
”Is it a siood Mrs Marker, you can go Noe are ress Our lady enters the room, advances to the bureau, and either opens it or tries to do so While she is thus engaged, young Willoughby Smith enters the room In her hurry to withdraw the key, she makes this scratch upon the door He seizes her, and she, snatching up the nearest object, which happens to be this knife, strikes at hio his hold The blow is a fatal one He falls and she escapes, either with or without the object for which she has coot away through that door after the time that you heard the cry, Susan?”
”No sir, it is iot down the stair, I'd have seen anyone in the passage Besides, the door never opened, or I would have heard it”
”That settles this exit Then no doubt the lady went out the way she cae leads only to the professor's room There is no exit that way?”
”No, sir”
”We shall go down it and make the acquaintance of the professor Halloa, Hopkins! this is very important, very important indeed The professor's corridor is also lined with cocoanut ”
”Well, sir, what of that?”
”Don't you see any bearing upon the case? Well, well I don't insist upon it No doubt I aestive Come with e, which was of the saarden At the end was a short flight of steps ending in a door Our guide knocked, and then ushered us into the professor's bedrooe chamber, lined with innumerable volumes, which had overflowed from the shelves and lay in piles in the corners, or were stacked all round at the base of the cases The bed was in the centre of the room, and in it, propped up with pilloas the owner of the house I have seldoaunt, aquiline face which was turned towards us, with piercing dark eyes, which lurked in deep hollows under overhung and tufted brows His hair and beard hite, save that the latter was curiously stained with yellow around his le of white hair, and the air of the room was fetid with stale tobacco smoke As he held out his hand to Holmes, I perceived that it was also stained with yellow nicotine
”A slish, with a curious little arette And you, sir? I can recommend them, for I have them especially prepared by Ionides, of Alexandria He sends rieve to say that I have to arrange for a fresh supply every fortnight Bad, sir, very bad, but an old man has few pleasures Tobacco and my work--that is all that is left tolittle darting glances all over the room
”Tobacco and my work, but now only tobacco,” the old man exclaimed ”Alas! what a fatal interruption! Who could have foreseen such a terrible catastrophe? So esti , he was an admirable assistant What do you think of the matter, Mr Holmes?”
”I have not yet made up my mind”
”I shall indeed be indebted to you if you can throw a light where all is so dark to us To a poor bookwor I seeht But you are a man of action--you are a man of affairs It is part of the everyday routine of your life You can preserve your balance in every e you at our side”
Hol up and down one side of the roo I observed that he was s with extraordinary rapidity It was evident that he shared our host's liking for the fresh Alexandrian cigarettes