The Zoo 3: Sodden/The Zoo 3 - Sodden (Disk 2 of 2).adf/Edited_Articles/HolmesNorwood4.ZOO

Text File | 1993-06-07 | 12.0 KB | 299 lines

 0
roman
 16
 0
 1

 0
 529
 0
 9
bookman
 24
 0
 3

 0
 529
 0
 29
pearl
 8
 0
 1

 0
 529
 0
 54
pearl
 8
 0
 1

 0
 529
 0
 79
pearl
 8
 0
 1

 0
 529
 0
 104
pearl
 8
 0
 1

 0
 529
 0
 128
pearl
 8
 0
 1

 0
 529
 0
 153
pearl
 8
 0
 1

 0
 529
 0
 178
pearl
 8
 0
 1

 0
 529
 0
 203
pearl
 8
 0
 1

 0
 529
 0
*!EOM
 206
1619Y00F05roman16Y00C1NTHE ADVENTURE OF THE NORWOOD BUILDER
2416Y00F07bookman24N
1218Y00F04ruby12Y00C3NExtracted from the novel:
1201NThe Return of Sherlock Holmes, A Collection of Holmes Adventures
2421Y00F07bookman24Y00C5N
2406Y00C5Nby
2401NSIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
2401N
2401N
2406Y00C3N
2414Y00F05roman16NTHE ADVENTURE OF THE NORWOOD BUILDER
1624Y00F05roman16Y00C4Y00C5NPart 4
0814Y00F05pearl08N
0801N
0806Y00C1N"Well, I tried one or two leads, but could get at nothing which would help
0801Nour hypothesis, and several points which would make against it.  I gave it
0801Nup at last and off I went to Norwood.
0801N
0801N"This place, Deep Dene House, is a big modern villa of staring brick,
0801Nstanding back in its own grounds, with a laurel-clumped lawn in front of it.
0801NTo the right and some distance back from the road was the timber-yard which
0801Nhad been the scene of the fire.  Here's a rough plan on a leaf of my
0801Nnotebook.  This window on the left is the one which opens into Oldacre's
0801Nroom.  You can look into it from the road, you see.  That is about the only
0801Nbit of consolation I have had to-day.  Lestrade was not there, but his head
0801Nconstable did the honours.  They had just found a great treasure-trove.  They
0801Nhad spent the morning raking among the ashes of the burned wood-pile, and
0801Nbesides the charred organic remains they had secured several discoloured
0801Nmetal discs.  I examined them with care, and there was no doubt that they
0801Nwere trouser buttons.  I even distinguished that one of them was marked with
0801Nthe name of `Hyams,' who was Oldacres tailor.  I then worked the lawn very
0801Ncarefully for signs and traces, but this drought has made everything as hard
0801Nas iron.  Nothing was to be seen save that some body or bundle had been
0801Ndragged through a low privet hedge which is in a line with the wood-pile.
0801NAll that, of course, fits in with the official theory.  I crawled about the
0801Nlawn with an August sun on my back, but I got up at the end of an hour no
0801Nwiser than before.
0801N
0801N"Well, after this fiasco I went into the bedroom and examined that also.  The
0801Nblood-stains were very slight, mere smears and discolourations, but
0801Nundoubtedly fresh.  The stick had been removed, but there also the marks were
0801Nslight.  There is no doubt about the stick belonging to our client.  He
0801Nadmits it.  Footmarks of both men could be made out on the carpet, but none
0801Nof any third person, which again is a trick for the other side.  They were
0801Npiling up their score all the time and we were at a standstill.
0801N
0801N"Only one little gleam of hope did I get--and yet it amounted to nothing.  I
0801Nexamined the contents of the safe, most of which had been taken out and left
0801Non the table.  The papers had been made up into sealed envelopes, one or two
0801Nof which had been opened by the police.  They were not, so far as I could
0801Njudge, of any great value, nor did the bank-book show that Mr. Oldacre was in
0801Nsuch very affluent circumstances.  But it seemed to me that all the papers
0801Nwere not there.  There were allusions to some deeds--possibly the more
0801Nvaluable--which I could not find.  This, of course, if we could definitely
0801Nprove it, would turn Lestrade's argument against himself, for who would
0801Nsteal a thing if he knew that he would shortly inherit it?
0801N
0801N"Finally, having drawn every other cover and picked up no scent, I tried my
0801Nluck with the housekeeper.  Mrs. Lexington is her name--a little, dark,
0801Nsilent person, with suspicious and sidelong eyes.  She could tell us
0801Nsomething if she would--I am convinced of it.  But she was as close as wax.
0801NYes, she had let Mr. McFarlane in at half-past nine.  She wished her hand had
0801Nwithered before she had done so.  She had gone to bed at half-past ten.  Her
0801Nroom was at the other end of the house, and she could hear nothing of what
0801Nhad passed.  Mr. McFarlane had left his hat, and to the best of her had been
0801Nawakened by the alarm of fire.  Her poor, dear master had certainly been
0801Nmurdered.  Had he any enemies?  Well, every man had enemies, but Mr. Oldacre
0801Nkept himself very much to himself, and only met people in the way of
0801Nbusiness.  She had seen the buttons, and was sure that they belonged to the
0801Nclothes which he had worn last night.  The wood-pile was very dry, for it had
0801Nnot rained for a month.  It burned like tinder, and by the time she reached
0801Nthe spot, nothing could be seen but flames.  She and all the firemen smelled
0801Nthe burned flesh from inside it.  She knew nothing of the papers, nor of Mr.
0801NOldacre's private affairs.
0801N
0801N"So, my dear Watson, there's my report of a failure.  And yet--and yet--" he
0801Nclenched his thin hands in a paroxysm of conviction--"I KNOW it's all wrong.
0801N I feel it in my bones.  There is something that has not come out, and that
0801Nhousekeeper knows it.  There was a sort of sulky defiance in her eyes, which
0801Nonly goes with guilty knowledge.  However, there's no good talking any more
0801Nabout it, Watson; but unless some lucky chance comes our way I fear that the
0801NNorwood Disappearance Case will not figure in that chronicle of our successes
0801Nwhich I foresee that a patient public will sooner or later have to endure."
0801N
0801N"Surely," said I, "the man's appearance would go far with any jury?"
0801N
0801N"That is a dangerous argument my dear Watson.  You remember that terrible
0801Nmurderer, Bert Stevens, who wanted us to get him off in '87?  Was there ever
0801Na more mild-mannered, Sunday-school young man?"
0801N
0801N"It is true."
0801N
0801N"Unless we succeed in establishing an alternative theory, this man is lost.
0801NYou can hardly find a flaw in the case which can now be presented against
0801Nhim, and all further investigation has served to strengthen it.  By the way,
0801Nthere is one curious little point about those papers which may serve us as
0801Nthe starting-point for an inquiry.  On looking over the bank-book I found
0801Nthat the low state of the balance was principally due to large checks which
0801Nhave been made out during the last year to Mr. Cornelius.  I confess that I
0801Nshould be interested to know who this Mr. Cornelius may be with whom a
0801Nretired builder has such very large transactions.  Is it possible that he has
0801Nhad a hand in the affair?  Cornelius might be a broker, but we have found no
0801Nscrip to correspond with these large payments.  Failing any other indication,
0801Nmy researches must now take the direction of an inquiry at the bank for the
0801Ngentleman who has cashed these checks.  But I fear, my dear fellow, that our
0801Ncase will end ingloriously by Lestrade hanging our client, which will
0801Ncertainly be a triumph for Scotland Yard."
0801N
0801NI do not know how far Sherlock Holmes took any sleep that night, but when I
0801Ncame down to breakfast I found him pale and harassed, his bright eyes the
0801Nbrighter for the dark shadows round them.  The carpet round his chair was
0801Nlittered with cigarette-ends and with the early editions of the morning
0801Npapers.  An open telegram lay upon the table.
0801N
0801N"What do you think of this, Watson?" he asked, tossing it across.
0801N
0801NIt was from Norwood, and ran as follows:
0801N
0801N
0801NImportant fresh evidence to hand.  McFarlane's guilt definitely established.
0801NAdvise you to abandon case.
0801N                                              LESTRADE.
0801N
1213Y00F04ruby12N
0814Y00F05pearl08N"This sounds serious," said I.
0801N
0801N"It is Lestrade's little cock-a-doodle of victory," Holmes answered, with a
0801Nbitter smile.  "And yet it may be premature to abandon the case.  After all,
0801Nimportant fresh evidence is a two-edged thing, and may possibly cut in a very
0801Ndifferent direction to that which Lestrade imagines.  Take your breakfast,
0801NWatson, and we will go out together and see what we can do.  I feel as if I
0801Nshall need your company and your moral support today."
0801N
0801NMy friend had no breakfast himself, for it was one of his peculiarities that
0801Nin his more intense moments he would permit himself no food, and I have known
0801Nhim presume upon his iron strength until he has fainted from pure inanition.
0801N"At present I cannot spare energy and nerve force for digestion," he would
0801Nsay in answer to my medical remonstrances.  I was not surprised, therefore,
0801Nwhen this morning he left his untouched meal behind him, and started with me
0801Nfor Norwood.  A crowd of morbid sightseers were still gathered round Deep
0801NDene House, which was just such a suburban villa as I had pictured.  Within
0801Nthe gates Lestrade met us, his face flushed with victory, his manner grossly
0801Ntriumphant.
0801N
0801N"Well, Mr. Holmes, have you proved us to be wrong yet?  Have you found your
0801Ntramp?" he cried.
0801N
0801N"I have formed no conclusion whatever," my companion answered.
0801N
0801N"But we formed ours yesterday, and now it proves to be correct, so you must
0801Nacknowledge that we have been a little in front of you this time, Mr.
0801NHolmes."
0801N
0801N"You certainly have the air of something unusual having occurred," said
0801NHolmes.
0801N
0801NLestrade laughed loudly.
0801N
0801N"You don't like being beaten any more than the rest of us do," said he.  "A
0801Nman can't expect always to have it his own way, can he, Dr. Watson?  Step
0801Nthis way, if you please, gentlemen, and I think I can convince you once for
0801Nall that it was John McFarlane who did this crime."
0801N
0801NHe led us through the passage and out into a dark hall beyond.
0801N
0801N"This is where young McFarlane must have come out to get his hat after the
0801Ncrime was done," said he.  "Now look at this."  With dramatic suddenness he
0801Nstruck a match, and by its light exposed a stain of blood upon the
0801Nwhitewashed wall.  As he held the match nearer, I saw that it was more than a
0801Nstain.  It was the well-marked print of a thumb.
0801N
0801N"Look at that with your magnifying glass, Mr. Holmes."
0801N
0801N"Yes, I am doing so."
0801N
0801N"You are aware that no two thumb-marks are alike?"
0801N
0801N"I have heard something of the kind."
0801N
0801N"Well, then, will you please compare that print with this wax impression of
0801Nyoung McFarlane's right thumb, taken by my orders this morning?"
0801N
0801NAs he held the waxen print close to the blood-stain, it did not take a
0801Nmagnifying glass to see that the two were undoubtedly from the same thumb.
0801NIt was evident to me that our unfortunate client was lost.
0801N
0801N"That is final," said Lestrade.
0801N
0801N"Yes, that is final," I involuntarily echoed.
0801N
0801N"It is final," said Holmes.
0801N
0801NSomething in his tone caught my ear, and I turned to look at him.  An
0801Nextraordinary change had come over his face.  It was writhing with inward
0801Nmerriment.  His two eyes were shining like stars.  It seemed to me that he
0801Nwas making desperate efforts to restrain a convulsive attack of laughter.
0801N
0801N"Dear me!  Dear me!" he said at last.  "Well, now, who would have thought it?
0801NAnd how deceptive appearances may be, to be sure!  Such a nice young man to
0801Nlook at!  It is a lesson to us not to trust our own judgment, is it not,
0801NLestrade?"
0801N
0801N"Yes, some of us are a little too much inclined to be cock-sure, Mr. Holmes,"
0801Nsaid Lestrade.  The man's insolence was maddening, but we could not resent
0801Nit.
*!EOF