His Last Bow Part 2 (2/2)
It is a matter of history, however, that a little tier of San Pedro should meet with his deserts Wily and bold, he and his coing-house in Edate into Curzon Square Froland Sonor Rulli, his secretary, were both murdered in their rooms at the Hotel Escurial at Madrid The crime was ascribed to Nihilism, and the murderers were never arrested Inspector Baynes visited us at Baker Street with a printed description of the dark face of the secretary, and of the netic black eyes, and the tufted brows of his master We could not doubt that justice, if belated, had come at last
”A chaotic case,pipe ”It will not be possible for you to present in that compact form which is dear to your heart It covers two continents, concerns two groups of hly respectable presence of our friend, Scott Eccles, whose inclusion showsmind and a well-developed instinct of self- preservation It is rele of possibilities ith our worthy collaborator, the inspector, have kept our close hold on the essentials and so been guided along the crooked and winding path Is there any point which is not quite clear to you?”
”The object of the e creature in the kitchen e from the backwoods of San Pedro, and this was his fetish When his coed retreat--already occupied, no doubt by a confederate--the co an article of furniture But the mulatto's heart ith it, and he was driven back to it next day, when, on reconnoitering through the , he found policeer, and then his piety or his superstition drove him to try once more Inspector Baynes, ith his usual astuteness, had nized its importance and had left a trap into which the creature walked Any other point, Watson?”
”The torn bird, the pail of blood, the charred bones, all the mystery of that weird kitchen?”
Holmes smiled as he turned up an entry in his note-book
”I spent aup on that and other points Here is a quotation froions: ”'The true voodoo-worshi+pper atte of importance without certain sacrifices which are intended to propitiate his unclean Gods In extreme cases these rites take the form of human sacrifices followed by cannibalism The more usual victims are a white cock, which is plucked in pieces alive, or a black goat, whose throat is cut and body burned'
”So you see our savage friend was very orthodox in his ritual It is grotesque, Watson,” Holmes added, as he slowly fastened his notebook, ”but, as I have had occasion to rerotesque to the horrible”
The Adventure of the Cardboard Box
In choosing a few typical cases which illustrate the remarkable mental qualities of my friend, Sherlock Holmes, I have endeavoured, as far as possible, to select those which presented thea fair field for his talents It is, however, unfortunately impossible entirely to separate the sensational from the criminal, and a chronicler is left in the dilemma that he must either sacrifice details which are essential to his stateive a false impression of the problem, or he must use matter which chance, and not choice, has provided him with With this short preface I shall turn to h a peculiarly terrible, chain of events
It was a blazing hot day in August Baker Street was like an oven, and the glare of the sunlight upon the yellow brickwork of the house across the road was painful to the eye It was hard to believe that these were the sas of winter Our blinds were half-drawn, and Hol a letter which he had received by thepost For myself, my term of service in India had trained me to stand heat better than cold, and a ther paper was uninteresting Parliament had risen Everybody was out of town, and I yearned for the glades of the New Forest or the shi+ngle of Southsea A depleted bank account had caused me to postpone my holiday, and as to my cohtest attraction to him He loved to lie in the very center of fiveout and running through them, responsive to every little rumour or suspicion of unsolved criifts, and his only change hen he turned his mind from the evil-doer of the town to track down his brother of the country
Finding that Holmes was too absorbed for conversation I had tossed side the barren paper, and leaning back in my chair I fell into a brown study Suddenly ht, Watson,” said he ”It does see a dispute”
”Most preposterous!” I exclai how he had echoed the inht of my soul, I sat up in my chair and stared at him in blank amazement
”What is this, Hol which I could have ihed heartily at my perplexity
”You reo when I read you the passage in one of Poe's sketches in which a close reasoner follows the unspoken thoughts of his companion, you were inclined to treat thethat I was constantly in the habit of doing the sa you expressed incredulity”
”Oh, no!”
”Perhaps not with your tongue, my dear Watson, but certainly with your eyebrows So when I saw you thron your paper and enter upon a train of thought, I was very happy to have the opportunity of reading it off, and eventually of breaking into it, as a proof that I had been in rapport with you”
But I was still far from satisfied ”In the example which you read to me,” said I, ”the reasoner drew his conclusions froht, he stumbled over a heap of stones, looked up at the stars, and so on But I have been seated quietly in iven you?”
”You do yourself an injustice The features are given to man as the means by which he shall express his emotions, and yours are faithful servants”
”Do you hts from my features?”
”Your features and especially your eyes Perhaps you cannot yourself recall how your reverie commenced?”
”No, I cannot”
”Then I will tell you After throwing down your paper, which was the action which drew my attention to you, you sat for half a minute with a vacant expression Then your eyes fixed themselves upon your newly framed picture of General Gordon, and I saw by the alteration in your face that a train of thought had been started But it did not lead very far Your eyes flashed across to the unframed portrait of Henry Ward Beecher which stands upon the top of your books Then you glanced up at the wall, and of course yourthat if the portrait were framed it would just cover that bare space and correspond with Gordon's picture there”
”You have followed me wonderfully!” I exclaione astray But now your thoughts went back to Beecher, and you looked hard across as if you were studying the character in his features Then your eyes ceased to pucker, but you continued to look across, and your face was thoughtful You were recalling the incidents of Beecher's career I ell aware that you could not do this without thinking of the mission which he undertook on behalf of the North at the ti your passionate indignation at the way in which he was received by the ly about it that I knew you could not think of Beecher without thinking of that also When a moment later I saw your eyes wander away from the picture, I suspected that your mind had now turned to the Civil War, and when I observed that your lips set, your eyes sparkled, and your hands clenched I was positive that you were indeed thinking of the gallantry which was shown by both sides in that desperate struggle But then, again, your face grew sadder, you shook your head You were dwelling upon the sadness and horror and useless waste of life Your hand stole towards your own old wound and a smile quivered on your lips, which showedinternational questions had forced itself upon your reed with you that it was preposterous and was glad to find that all my deductions had been correct”
”Absolutely!” said I ”And now that you have explained it, I confess that I am as amazed as before”
”It was very superficial, my dear Watson, I assure you I should not have intruded it upon your attention had you not shown some incredulity the other day But I have in my hands here a little problem which may prove to be ht reading Have you observed in the paper a short paragraph referring to the reh the post to Miss Cushi+ng, of Cross Street, Croydon?”
”No, I saw nothing”
”Ah! then you must have overlooked it Just toss it over to me Here it is, under the financial coluh to read it aloud”
I picked up the paper which he had thrown back to raph indicated It was headed, ”A Grueso at Cross Street, Croydon, has been arded as a peculiarly revolting practical joke unless so should prove to be attached to the incident At two o'clock yesterday afternoon a small packet, wrapped in brown paper, was handed in by the postman A cardboard box was inside, which was filled with coarse salt On e was horrified to find two human ears, apparently quite freshly severed The box had been sent by parcel post fro before There is no indication as to the sender, and the , who is a maiden lady of fifty, has led a most retired life, and has so few acquaintances or correspondents that it is a rare event for her to receive anything through the post Soe, she let apart et rid of on account of their noisy and irregular habits The police are of opinion that this outrageby these youths, ed her a grudge and who hoped to frighten her by sending her these relics of the dissecting-rooms Some probability is lent to the theory by the fact that one of these students came fro's belief, fro actively investigated, Mr Lestrade, one of the very se of the case”
”So much for the Daily Chronicle,” said Hol ”Now for our friend Lestrade I had a note fro, in which he says: ”I think that this case is verytheto work upon We have, of course, wired to the Belfast post-office, but a large number of parcels were handed in upon that day, and they have nothe sender The box is a half-pound box of honeydew tobacco and does not help us in any way The medical student theory still appears to me to be the most feasible, but if you should have a few hours to spare I should be very happy to see you out here I shall be either at the house or in the police-station all day
”What say you, Watson? Can you rise superior to the heat and run down to Croydon with me on the off chance of a case for your annals?”
”I was longing for so for our boots and tell theed ar-case”
A shower of rain fell while ere in the train, and the heat was far less oppressive in Croydon than in town Holmes had sent on a wire, so that Lestrade, as wiry, as dapper, and as ferret- like as ever, aiting for us at the station A walk of fiveresided
It was a very long street of two-story brick houses, neat and priroups of aproned wo at the doors Halfway down, Lestrade stopped and tapped at a door, which was opened by a s in the front room, into which ere ushered She was a placid-faced wo down over her temples on each side A worked antimacassar lay upon her lap and a basket of coloured silks stood upon a stool beside her
”They are in the outhouse, those dreadful things,” said she as Lestrade entered ”I wish that you would take the I only kept them here until my friend, Mr Holmes, should have seen them in your presence”
”Why in my presence, sir?”
”In case he wished to ask any questions”
”What is the use of askingwhatever about it?”
”Quite so,way ”I have no doubt that you have been annoyed h already over this business”
”Indeed I have, sir I a new for me to see my name in the papers and to find the police in s I here, Mr Lestrade If you wish to see theo to the outhouse”