September 29, 2023 • 62 mins
In "The Adventure of the Bascombe Valley Mystery," Sherlock Holmes is approached by Dr. Moore Agar, who seeks his help in uncovering the mysterious death of Mr. John Mason, a neighbor in the Bascombe Valley.Mason was found dead in his estate with a gunshot wound, and the circumstances surrounding his demise are unclear. His friend, Mr. Trevor, had been with him at the time but claims to have no knowledge of what transpired.Holmes investigates the scene and uncovers discrepancies in Mr. Trevor's story. Through meticulous examination, Holmes deduces that the death was not accidental but a case of murder. He exposes the truth: Mr. Trevor had killed Mason for financial gain, making it appear as though the death was accidental.Holmes presents his evidence, including the discovery of footprints and other subtle clues, leading to Mr. Trevor's confession. The case ends with Mr. Trevor's arrest, justice served, and Holmes once again demonstrating his exceptional deductive reasoning in solving the Bascombe Valley Mystery.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Adventure four of the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. This LibriVox
recording is in the public domain and is read by
Mark Smith of Simpsonville, South Carolina. The Adventures of Sherlock
Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Adventure four the Boscombe
(00:21):
Valley Mystery.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
We were seated at breakfast.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
One morning, my wife and I, when the maid brought
in a telegram. It was from Sherlock Holmes and ran
in this way.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Have you a couple of days to spare?
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Have just been wired for from the west of England
in connection with Boscombe Valley tragedy. Shall be glad if
you will come with me air and scenery perfect leave
Paddington by the eleven fifteen. What do you say, dear,
said my wife, looking across at me.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Will you go? I really don't know what to say.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
I have a fairly long list at present. Oh, Anstruther
would do your work for you. You have been looking
a little pale lately. I think that the change would
do you good. And you are always so interested in
mister Sherlock Holmes's cases. I should be ungrateful if I
were not seeing what I gained through one of them.
(01:20):
I answered, But if I am to go, I must
pack it once, for I have only half an hour.
My experience of camp life in Afghanistan had at least
had the effect of making me a prompt and ready traveler.
My wants were few and simple, so that in less
than the time stated, I was in a cab with
my valise, rattling away to Paddington's station. Sherlock Holmes was
(01:45):
pacing up and down the platform, his tall, gaunt figure
made even gaunter and taller by his long gray traveling
cloak and close fitting cloth cap. It is really very
good of you to come, Watson, said he. It makes
a considerable difference to me having someone with me on
whom I can thoroughly rely. Local aid is always either
(02:08):
worthless or else biased. If you will keep the two
corner seats, I shall get the tickets. We had the
carriage to ourselves, save for an immense litter of papers,
which Holmes had brought with him. Among these he rummaged
and read, with intervals of note taking and of meditation,
until we were past reading. Then he suddenly rolled them
(02:30):
all into a gigantic ball and tossed them up on
to the rack. Have you heard anything of the case,
he asked, not a word. I have not seen a
paper for some days. The London press has not had
very full of counts. I have just been looking through
all the recent papers in order to master the particulars.
(02:52):
It seems, from what I gather, to be one of
those simple cases which are so extremely difficult. That sounds
a little paradoxical, but it is profoundly true. Singularity is
almost invariably a clue. The more featureless and commonplace a
crime is, the more difficult it is to bring it home.
(03:14):
In this case, however, they have established a very serious
case against the son of the murdered man.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
It is a murder, then, well.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
It is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing
for granted until I have the opportunity of looking personally
into it. I will explain the state of things to
you as far as I have been able to understand it,
in a very few words. Boscombe Valley is a country
district not very far from ross in Herefordshire. The largest
(03:45):
landed proprietor in that part is a mister John Turner,
who made his money in Australia and returned some years
ago to the old country. One of the farms which
he held, that of Hatherley, was led to mister Charles
macth mac carthy, who was also an ex Australian. The
men had known each other in the colonies, so that
(04:06):
it was not unnatural that when they came to settle
down they should do so as near each other as possible.
Turner was apparently the richer man, so McCarthy became his tenant,
but still remained, it seems, upon terms of perfect equality,
as they were frequently together. McCarthy had one son, a
(04:26):
lad of eighteen, and Turner had an only daughter of
the same age, but neither of them had wives living.
They appeared to have avoided the society of the neighboring
English families and to have led retired lives, though both
the McCarthys were fond of sport and were frequently seen
at the race meetings of the neighborhood. McCarthy kept two servants,
(04:50):
a man and a girl. Turner had a considerable household,
some half dozen at the least. That is as much
as I have been able to gather about the families.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
Now for the facts.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
On June third, that is, on Monday last McCarthy left
his house at Hatherley about three in the afternoon and
walked down to the Boscombe Pool, which is a small
lake formed by the spreading out of the stream which
runs down the Boscombe Valley. He had been out with
a serving man in the morning at ross and he
had told the man that he must hurry, as he
(05:24):
had an appointment of importance to keep at three. From
that appointment, he never came back alive. From Heatherley farm
House to the Boscombe Pool is a quarter of a mile,
and two people saw him as he passed over this ground.
One was an old woman whose name is not mentioned,
and the other was William Crowder, a gamekeeper in the
(05:46):
employ of mister Turner. Both these witnesses deposed that mister
McCarthy was walking alone. The gamekeeper adds that within a
few minutes of his seeing McCarthy pass he had seen
his son, mister Jane Miss McCarthy, going the same way
with a gun under his arm. To the best of
his belief, the father was actually in sight at the
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time and the sun was following him. He thought no
more of the matter until he heard in the evening
of the tragedy that had occurred. The two McCarthys were
seen after the time when William Crowder, the gamekeeper, lost
sight of them. The Boscombe Pool is thickly wooded round,
with just a fringe of grass and of reeds around
(06:28):
the edge. A girl of fourteen, Patience Moran, who is
the daughter of the lodge keeper of the Boscombe Valley estate,
was in one of the woods picking flowers. She states
that while she was there, she saw at the border
of the wood and close by the lake, mister McCarthy
and his son, and that they appeared to be having
(06:50):
a violent quarrel. She heard mister McCarthy the elder, using
very strong language to his son, and she saw the
latter raise up his hand as if to strike his father.
She was so frightened by their violence that she ran
away and told her mother when she reached home that
she had left the two McCarthy's quarreling near Boscombe Pool,
(07:12):
and that she was afraid that they were going to fight.
She had hardly said the words when young mister McCarthy
came running up to the lodge to say that he
had found his father dead in the wood and to
ask for the help of the lodge keeper.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
He was much.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
Excited, without either his gun or his hat, and his
right hand and sleeve were observed to be stained with
fresh blood. On following him, they found the dead body
stretched out upon the grass beside the pool. The head
had been beaten in by repeated blows of some heavy
and blunt weapon. The injuries were such as might very
(07:48):
well have been inflicted by the butt end of his
son's gun, which was found lying on the grass within
a few paces of the body. Under these circumstances, the
young man was instantly arrested, and a verdict of wilful
murder having been returned at the inquest on Tuesday, he
was on Wednesday brought before the Magistrates at Ross, who
(08:10):
have referred the case to the next assizes. Those are
the main facts of the case as they came out
before the coroner and the police court. I could hardly
imagine a more damning case. I remarked, If ever circumstantial
evidence pointed to a criminal, it does so here. Circumstantial
(08:31):
evidence is a very tricky thing, answered Holmes thoughtfully. It
may seem to point very straight to one thing, but
if you shift your own point of view a little,
you will find it pointing in an equally uncompromising manner
to something entirely different. It must be confessed, however, that
(08:52):
the case looks exceedingly grave against the young man, and
it is very possible that he is indeed the culprit.
Are several people in the neighborhood, however, and among them
Miss Turner, the daughter of the neighboring landowner, who believe
in his innocence, and who have retained Lestrade, whom you
may recollect in connection with the study in Scarlet, to
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work out the case in his interest. Lestrade, being rather puzzled,
has referred the case to me, and hence it is
that two middle aged gentlemen are flying westward at fifty
miles an hour instead of quietly digesting their breakfasts at home.
I am afraid, said I, that the facts are so
obvious that you will find little credit to be gained
(09:37):
out of this case. There is nothing more deceptive than
an obvious fact, he answered, laughing. Besides, we may chance
to hit upon some other obvious facts which may have
been by no means obvious to mister Lestrade. You know
me too well to think that I am boasting when
I say that I shall either confirm or destroy his
(09:59):
theory by means which he is quite incapable of employing,
or even of understanding. To take the first example to hand,
I very clearly perceive that in your bedroom the window
is upon the right hand side. And yet I question
whether mister Lestrade would have noted even so self evident
a thing as that. How on earth, my dear fellow,
(10:23):
I know you well, I know the military neatness which
characterizes you. You shave every morning, and in this season
you shave by the sunlight. But since your shaving is
less and less complete as we get farther back on
the left side, until it becomes positively slovenly as we
get round the angle of the jaw, it is surely
(10:44):
very clear that that side is less illuminated than the other.
I could not imagine a man of your habits looking
at himself in an equal light and being satisfied with
such a result. I only quote this as a trivial
example of observation and inference. Therein lies my matier, and
it is just possible that it may be of some
(11:06):
service in the investigation which lies before us. There are
one or two minor points which were brought out in
the inquest, and which are worth considering?
Speaker 2 (11:16):
What are they?
Speaker 1 (11:18):
It appears that his arrest did not take place at once,
but after the return to Hatherley Farm. On the Inspector
of Constabulary informing him that he was a prisoner, he
remarked that he was not surprised to hear it, and
that it was no more than his deserts. This observation
of his had the natural effect of removing any traces
(11:38):
of doubt which might have remained in the minds of
the coroner's jury. It was a confession I ejaculated no,
for it was followed by a protestation of innocence. Coming
on the top of such a damning series of events,
it was at least a most suspicious remark. On the contrary,
(12:01):
said Holmes, it is the brightest rift which I can
at present see in the clouds. However innocent he might be,
he could not be such an absolute imbecile as not
to see that the circumstances were very black against him.
Had he appeared surprised at his own arrest or feigned
indignation at it, I should have looked upon it as
(12:23):
highly suspicious, because such surprise or anger would not be
natural under the circumstances, and yet might appear to be
the best policy to a scheming man. His frank acceptance
of the situation marks him as either an innocent man,
or else as a man of considerable self restraint and firmness.
(12:43):
As to his remark about his deserts, it was also
not unnatural if you consider that he stood beside the
dead body of his father, and that there is no
doubt that he had that very day so far forgotten
his filial duty as to bandy words with him, and
even according to the little girl, whose evidence is so important,
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to raise his hand as if to strike him. The
self reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark
appear to me to be the signs of a healthy mind,
rather than of a guilty one. I shook my head.
Many men have been hanged on far slighter evidence.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
I remarked.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
So they have, and many men have been wrongfully hanged.
What is the young man's own account of the matter.
It is, I am afraid, not very encouraging to his supporters,
Though there are one or two points in it which
are suggestive. You will find it here and may read
it for yourself. He picked out from his bundle a
(13:46):
copy of the local Herefordshire paper, and having turned down
the sheet, he pointed out the paragraph in which the
unfortunate young man had given his own statement of what
had occurred. I settled myself down in the corner of
the carriage and read it very carefully. It ran in
this way. Mister James McCarthy, the only son of the deceased,
(14:09):
was then called and gave evidence as follows.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
I had been.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
Away from home for three days at Bristol, and had
only just returned upon the morning of last Monday the third.
My father was absent from home at the time of
my arrival, and I was informed by the maid that
he had driven over to Ross with John Cobb, the groom.
Shortly after my return, I heard the wheels of his
(14:34):
trap in the yard, and looking out of my window,
I saw him get out and walk rapidly out of
the yard, though I was not aware in which direction
he was going. I then took my gun and strolled
out in the direction of the Buscombe Pool, with the
intention of visiting the rabbit warren, which is upon the
other side. On my way, I saw William Crowder, the gamekeeper,
(14:58):
as he had stated in his head evidence, but he
is mistaken in thinking that I was following my father.
I had no idea that he was in front of me.
When about a hundred yards from the pool, I heard
a cry of cooee, which was a usual signal between
my father and myself. I then hurried forward and found
(15:20):
him standing by the pool. He appeared to be much
surprised at seeing me, and asked me rather roughly what
I was doing.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
There.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
A conversation ensued which led to high words and almost
to blows, For my father was a man of a
very violent temper. Seeing that his passion was becoming ungovernable,
I left him and returned towards Hatherley Farm. I had
not gone more than one hundred fifty yards, however, when
I heard a hideous outcry behind me, which caused me
(15:51):
to run back again. I found my father expiring upon
the ground, with his head terribly injured. I dropped my
gun and head held him in my arms, but he
almost instantly expired. I knelt beside him for some minutes,
and then made my way to mister Turner's lodge keeper
his house, being the nearest to ask for assistance. I
(16:14):
saw no one near my father when I returned, and
I have no idea how he came by his injuries.
He was not a popular man, being somewhat cold and
forbidding in his manners, but he had, as far as
I know, no active enemies. I know nothing further of
the matter. The Coroner. Did your father make any statement to.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
You before he died? Witness?
Speaker 1 (16:40):
He mumbled a few words, but I could only catch
some allusion to a rat.
Speaker 2 (16:46):
The Coroner. What did you understand by that?
Speaker 1 (16:50):
Witness? It conveyed no meaning to me. I thought that
he was delirious. The Coroner.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
What was the point upon.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
Which you and your father had this final quarrel? Witness,
I should prefer not to answer, the Coroner. I am
afraid that I must press it. Witness, it is really
impossible for me to tell you. I can assure you
that it has nothing to do with the sad tragedy
(17:20):
which followed.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
The Coroner.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
That is for the court to decide. I need not
point out to you that your refusal to answer will
prejudice your case considerably in any future proceedings.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Which may arise.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
Witness, I must still refuse the Coroner. I understand that
the cry of COUI was a common signal between you
and your father. Witness it was the coroner. How was
it then, that he uttered it before he saw you,
and before he even knew that you had returned from Bristol?
(18:00):
Witness with considerable confusion, I do not know, a juryman.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
Did you see.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
Nothing which aroused your suspicions when you returned on hearing
the cry and found your father fatally injured? Witness nothing
definite the corridor, What do you mean, Witness. I was
so disturbed and excited as I rushed out into the
(18:27):
open that I could think of nothing except of my father.
Yet I have a vague impression that as I ran forward,
something lay upon the ground to the left of me.
It seemed to me to be something gray in color,
a coat of some sort, or a plaid perhaps. When
I rose from my father, I looked round.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
For it, but it was gone.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
Do you mean that it disappeared before you went for help? Yes,
it was gone. You cannot say what it was. No,
I had a feeling something was there. How far from
the body a dozen yards or so, and how far
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from the edge of the wood about the same. Then
if it was removed, it was while you were within
a dozen yards of it, Yes, but with my back
toward it. This concluded the examination of the witness. I see,
said I as I glanced down the column, that the coroner,
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in his concluding remarks, was rather severe upon young MacCarthy.
He calls attention, and with reason, to the discrepancy about
his father having signaled to him before seeing him, also
to his refusal to give details of his conversation with
his father, and his singular account of his father's dying words.
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They are all, as he remarks, very much against the son.
Holmes laughed softly to himself and stretched himself out upon
the cushioned seat. Both you and the corner have been
at some pains, said he, to single out the very
strongest points in the young man's favor. Don't you see
(20:16):
that you alternately give him credit for having too much
imagination and too little too little if he could not
invent a cause of quarrel which would give him the
sympathy of the jury, too much, if he evolved from
his own inner consciousness anything so aurey has a dying
reference to a rat and the incident of the vanishing cloth. No, sir,
(20:40):
I shall approach this case from the point of view
that what this young man says is true, and we
shall see whither that hypothesis will lead us. And now
here is my pocket, Petrarge, And not another word shall
I say of this case until we are on the
scene of action. We lunch at Swindon, and I see
that we we shall be there in twenty minutes. It
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was nearly four o'clock when we, at last, after passing
through the beautiful Stroud Valley and over the broad gleaming Severn,
found ourselves at the pretty little country town of Ross.
A lean ferret like man, furtive and sly looking, was
waiting for us upon the platform. In spite of the
(21:23):
light brown dustcoat and leather leggings which he wore in
deference to his rustic surroundings, I had no difficulty in
recognizing Lestrade of Scotland.
Speaker 2 (21:34):
Yard.
Speaker 1 (21:35):
With him, we drove to the Hereford Arms, where a
room had already been engaged for us.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
I have ordered a carriage.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
Said Lestrade, as we sat over a cup of tea.
I knew your energetic nature and that you would not
be happy until you had been on the scene of
the crime. It was very nice and complimentary of you,
Holmes answered, it is entirely a question of barometric pressure.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
Lestrade looked startled.
Speaker 1 (22:06):
I do not quite follow, he said, how is the
glass twenty nine? I see no wind and not a
cloud in the sky. I have a case full of
cigarettes here which needs smoking, and the sofa is very
much superior to the usual country hotel abomination. I do
not think that it is probable that I shall use
(22:28):
the carriage to night. Lestrade laughed indulgently. You have no
doubt already formed your conclusions from the newspapers, he said.
The case is as plain as a pike's staff, and
the more one goes into it, the plainer it becomes.
Speaker 2 (22:45):
Still.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
Of course, one can't refuse a lady, and such a
very positive one too. She has heard of you and
would have your opinion, though I repeatedly told her that
there was nothing which you could do which I have
not already done. Why, bless my soul, here is her
carriage at the door. He had hardly spoken before there
(23:06):
rushed into the room one of the most lovely young
women that I have ever seen in my life, her
violet eyes shining, her lips parted a pink flush upon
her cheeks, all thought of her natural reserve lost in
her overpowering excitement and concern. Oh, mister Sherlock Holmes, she cried,
(23:28):
glancing from one to the other of us, and finally,
with a woman's quick intuition, fastening upon my companion. I
am so glad that you have come. I have driven
down to tell you so I know that James didn't
do it. I know it, and I want you to
start upon your work knowing it too. Never let yourself
(23:49):
doubt upon that point. We have known each other since
we were little children, and I know his faults as
no one else does. But he is too tender hearted
to hurt a Such a charge is absurd to any
one who really knows him. I hope we may clear him,
Miss Turner, said Sherlock Holmes.
Speaker 2 (24:10):
You may rely upon my doing all.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
That I can, but you have read the evidence. You
have formed some conclusion. Do you not see some loophole,
some flaw? Do you not yourself think that he is innocent?
Speaker 2 (24:26):
I think that it is very probable.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
There now, she cried, throwing back her head and looking
defiantly at Lestrade.
Speaker 2 (24:35):
You hear he gives me hopes.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. I am afraid that my colleague
has been a little quick in forming his conclusions, he said,
But he is right. Oh, I know that he is right.
James never did it. And about his quarrel with his father,
I am sure that the reason why he would not
speak about it to the coroner was because I was
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concerned in it.
Speaker 2 (25:03):
In what way? Asked Holmes.
Speaker 1 (25:06):
It is no time for me to hide anything. James
and his father had many disagreements about me. Mister McCarthy
was very anxious that there should be a marriage between us.
Speaker 2 (25:18):
James and I.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
Have always loved each other as brother and sister. But
of course he is young and has seen very little
of life yet, and and well, he naturally did not
wish to do anything like that yet. And there were quarrels,
and this, I am sure was one of them. And
your father, asked Holmes, was he in favor of such
(25:43):
a union? No, he was quite averse to it. Also,
No one but mister McCarthy was in favor of it.
A quick blush passed over her fresh young face as
Holmes shot one of his keen, questioning glances at her.
Thank you for this information, said he, may I see
(26:03):
your father. If I call tomorrow, I am afraid the
doctor won't allow it.
Speaker 2 (26:09):
The doctor, yes, have you not heard?
Speaker 1 (26:13):
Poor father has never been strong for years back, but
this has broken him down completely. He is taken to
his bed and doctor Willow says that he is a
wreck and that his nervous system is shattered. Mister McCarthy
was the only man alive who had known Dad in
the old days in Victoria. Huh, in Victoria that is important. Yes,
(26:39):
at the mines, quite so, at the gold mines, where
as I understand mister Turner made his money. Yes, certainly.
Speaker 2 (26:50):
Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material.
Speaker 1 (26:53):
Assistance to me. You will tell me if you have
any news tomorrow. No doubt you will go to the
prison to see James. Oh. If you do, mister Holmes,
do tell him that I know him to be innocent.
Speaker 2 (27:07):
I will, Miss Turner. I must go.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
Home now, for Dad is very ill and he misses me.
So if I leave him, good bye, and God help
you in your undertaking. She hurried from the room as
impulsively as she had entered, and we heard the wheels
of her carriage rattle off down the street. I am
ashamed of you. Holmes said, Lestrade with dignity, after a
(27:33):
few minutes silence. Why should you raise up hopes what
you are bound to disappoint. I am not over tender
of heart, but I call it cruel. I think that
I see my way to clearing. James MacCarthy said, Holmes,
have you in order to see him in prison? Yes,
but only for you and me. Then I shall reconsider
(27:57):
my resolution about going out. I have still time to
take a train to Hereford and seem to night ample.
Then let us do so, Watson. I fear that you
will find it very slow, but I shall only be
away a couple of hours. I walked down to the
station with them, and then wandered through the streets of
(28:18):
the little town, finally returning to the hotel, where I
lay upon the sofa and tried to interest myself in
a yellow backed novel. The puny plot of the story
was so thin, however, when compared to the deep mystery
through which we were groping, and I found my attention
wander so continually from the action, to the fact that
(28:39):
I at last flung it across the room and gave
myself up entirely to a consideration of the events of
the day. Supposing that this unhappy young man's story were
absolutely true, then what hellish thing, what absolutely unforeseen, an
extraordinary calamity could have occurred between the time when he
(29:00):
parted from his father and the moment when drawn back
by his screams, he rushed into the glade. It was
something terrible and deadly.
Speaker 2 (29:11):
What could it be?
Speaker 1 (29:13):
Might not the nature of the injuries reveal something to
my medical instincts. I rang the bell and called for
the weekly county paper, which contained a verbatim account of
the inquest. In the surgeon's deposition, it was stated that
the posterior third of the left parietal bone and the
left half of the occipital bone had been shattered by
(29:35):
a heavy blow from a blunt weapon. I marked the
spot upon my own head. Clearly such a blow must
have been struck from behind. That was to some extent
in favor of the accused, as when seeing quarreling, he
was face to face with his father. Still it did
not go for very much, for the older man might
(29:56):
have turned his back before the blow fell. Still, it
might be worthwhile to call Holmes's attention to it. Then
there was the peculiar dying reference.
Speaker 2 (30:07):
To a rat.
Speaker 1 (30:08):
What could that mean? It could not be delirium. A
man dying from a sudden blow does not commonly become delirious. No,
it was more likely to be an attempt to explain
how he met his fate. But what could it indicate?
I cudgeled my brains to find some possible explanation, And
(30:30):
then the incident of the gray cloth seen by young McCarthy.
If that were true, the murderer must have dropped some
part of his dress, presumably his overcoat, in his flight,
and must have had the hardihood to return and to
carry it away at the instant when the sun was
kneeling with his back turn not a dozen paces off.
(30:52):
What a tissue of mysteries and improbabilities the whole thing was.
I did not wonder at Lestrad's opinion, And yet I
had so much faith in Sherlock Holmes's insight that I
could not lose hope, as long as every fresh fact
seemed to strengthen his conviction of young McCarthy's innocence. It
(31:14):
was late before Sherlock Holmes returned. He came back alone,
for Lestrade was staying in lodgings in the town. The
glass still keeps very high, he remarked, as he sat down.
It is of importance that it should not rain before
we are able to go over the ground. On the
other hand, a man should be at his very best
(31:36):
and keenest for such nice work as that, And I
did not wish to do it when fagged by a
long journey. I have seen young McCarthy, and what did.
Speaker 2 (31:46):
You learn from him? Nothing?
Speaker 1 (31:50):
Could he throw no light, none at all. I was
inclined to think it one time that he knew who
had done it and was screening him or her. But
I am convinced now that he is as puzzled as
every one else. He is not a very quick witted youth,
though comely to look at, and I should think sound
(32:10):
at heart. I cannot admire his taste, I remarked. If
it is indeed a fact that he was averse to
a marriage with so charming a young lady as this
miss turner, Ah, thereby hangs a rather painful tale. This
fellow is madly, insanely in love with her, but some
(32:33):
two years ago, when he was only a lad, and
before he really knew her, for she had been away
five years at a boarding school. What does the idiot
do but get into the clutches of a barmaid in
Bristol and marry her at a registry office. No one
knows a word of the matter, but you can imagine
how maddening it must be to him to be upbraided
(32:55):
for not doing what he would give his very eyes
to do, but what he knows to.
Speaker 2 (33:00):
Be absolutely impossible.
Speaker 1 (33:02):
It was sheer frenzy of this sort which made him
throw his hands up into the air when his father,
at their last interview, was goading him on to propose
to Miss Turner. On the other hand, he had no
means of supporting himself, and his father, who was by
all accounts a very hard man, would have thrown him
over utterly had he known the truth. It was with
(33:25):
his bar made wife that he had spent the last
three days in Bristol, and his father did not know
where he was.
Speaker 2 (33:33):
Mark that point, it.
Speaker 1 (33:34):
Is of importance good has come out of evil, however,
for the barmaid, finding from the papers that he is
in serious trouble and likely to be hanged, has thrown
him over utterly, and has written to him to say
that she has a husband already in the bermuded dockyard,
so that there is really no tie between them. I
(33:56):
think that that bit of news has consoled young MacCarthy
for all that he is suffered. But if he is innocent,
who has done it?
Speaker 2 (34:05):
Ah? Who?
Speaker 1 (34:07):
I would call your attention very particularly to two points.
One is that the murdered man had an appointment with
some one at the pool, and that the someone could
not have been his son, for his son was away
and he did not know when he would return. The
second is that the murdered man was heard to cry
cooie before he knew that his son had returned.
Speaker 2 (34:31):
Those are the crucial.
Speaker 1 (34:32):
Points upon which the case depends. And now let us
talk about George Meredith, if you please, and we shall
leave all minor matters until tomorrow. There was no rain,
as Holmes had foretold, and the morning broke bright and cloudless.
At nine o'clock Lestrade called for us with the carriage,
and we set off for Heavily Farm and the Buscombe Pool.
(34:56):
There is serious news this morning.
Speaker 2 (34:58):
Lestrade observed.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
It is said that mister Turner of the Hall is
so ill that his life is despaired. Of an elderly man,
I presume, said Holmes, about sixty. But his constitution has
been shattered by his life abroad, and he has been
in failing health for some time. This business has had
a very bad effect upon him. He was an old
(35:23):
friend of MacCarthy's, and I may add a great benefactor
to him, for I have learned that he gave him
Haatherly farm rent free. Indeed, that is interesting, said Holmes. Oh, yes,
in a hundred other ways he has helped him. Everybody
about here speaks of his kindness to him. Really, does
(35:46):
it not strike you as a little singular that this MacCarthy,
who appears to have had little of his own, and
to have been under such obligations to Turner, should still
talk of marrying his son to Turner's daughter, who is
presumably heiress to the estate, and that in such a
very cuxture manner, as if it were merely a case
(36:06):
of a proposal.
Speaker 2 (36:07):
And all else would follow.
Speaker 1 (36:10):
It is the more strange since we know that Turner
himself was averse to the idea. The daughter told us,
as much, do you not deduce something from that? We
have got to the deductions and the inferences, said Lestrade,
weaking at me, I find it hard enough to tackle facts, Holmes,
(36:30):
without flying away after theories and fancies. You are right,
said Holmes, demurely. You do find it very hard to
tackle the facts. Anyhow, I have grasped one fact which
you seem to have find it difficult to get hold of,
replied Lestrade with some warmth, and that is that MacCarthy
(36:54):
senior met his death from McCarthy junior, and that all
theories to the contrary are the mere wrs moonshine. Well,
moonshine is a brighter thing than fog, said Holmes, laughing.
Speaker 2 (37:08):
But I am very much.
Speaker 1 (37:09):
Mistaken if this is not hapthily farm upon the left, Yes,
that is it.
Speaker 2 (37:15):
It was a wide.
Speaker 1 (37:16):
Spread, comfortable looking building, two storied, slate roofed, with great
yellow blotches of lichen upon the gray walls. The drawn
blinds and the smokeless chimneys, however, gave it a stricken look,
as though the weight of this horror still lay heavy
upon it. We called at the door when the maid,
at Holmes's request, showed us the boots which her master
(37:40):
wore at the time of his death, and also a
pair of the Sun's, though not the pair which he
had then had. Having measured these very carefully from seven
or eight different points. Holmes desired to be led to
the courtyard, from which we all followed the winding track
which led to Boscombe pool Sherlock Holmes was transformed when
(38:03):
he was hot. Upon such ascent as this, Men who
had only known the quiet thinker and logician of Baker
Street would have failed to recognize him. His face flushed
and darkened, His brows were drawn into two hard black lines,
while his eyes shone out from beneath them with a
steely glitter. His face was bent downward, his shoulders bowed,
(38:27):
his lips compressed, and a vein stood out like whipcord
in his long, sinewy neck. His nostrils seemed to dilate
with a purely animal lust for the chase, and his
mind was so absolutely concentrated upon the matter before him
that a question or remark fell unheeded upon his ears,
(38:49):
or at the most only provoked a quick, impatient snarl
in reply. Swiftly and silently he made his way along
the track, which ran through the meadows and so by
way of the woods to the Boscombe Pool. It was damp,
marshy ground, as is all that district, and there were
(39:09):
marks of many feet, both upon the path and amid
the short grass which bounded it on either side. Sometimes
Holmes would hurry on, sometimes stop dead, and once he
made quite a little detour into the meadow. Lestrade and
I walked behind him, the detective indifferent and contemptuous, while
(39:29):
I watched my friend with the interest which sprang from
the conviction that every one of his actions was directed
towards a definite end. The Boscombe Pool, which is a
little reed girt sheet of water some fifty yards across,
is situated at the boundary between the Heatherley Farm and
(39:50):
the private park of the wealthy mister Turner, above the
woods which lined it. Upon the farther side we could
see the red jutting pinnacles which mark the side of
the the rich landowner's dwelling. On the Heatherly side of
the pool, the woods grew very thick, and there was
a narrow belt of sotting grass twenty paces across between
(40:11):
the edge of the trees and the reeds which lined
the lake. Lestrade showed us the exact spot at which
the body had been found, and indeed, so moist was
the ground that I could plainly see the traces which
had been left by the fall of the stricken man
to Holmes. As I could see by his eager face
(40:31):
and peering eyes, very many other things were to be
read upon the trampled grass. He ran round like a
dog who was picking up a scent, and then turned
upon my companion.
Speaker 2 (40:43):
What did you go into the pool for, he asked.
Speaker 1 (40:48):
I fished about with a rake. I thought there might
be some weapon or other trace. But how on earth, Oh, tut, tut,
I have no time. That left foot of yours, with
its inward twist, is all over the place. A mole
could trace it, and there it vanishes among the reeds. Oh,
how simple it would all have been had I been
(41:09):
here before they came like a herd of buffalo and
wallowed all over it. Here is where the party where
the lodge keeper came, and they have covered all tracks
for six or eight feet round the body. But here
are three separate tracks of the same feet. He drew
out a lens and lay down upon his waterproof to
have a better view, talking all the time rather to
(41:32):
himself than to us. These are young McCarthy's feet. Twice
he was walking, and once he ran swiftly so that
the soles are deeply marked and the heels hardly visible.
That bears out his story. He ran when he saw
his father on the ground. Then here are the father's feet,
(41:52):
as he paced.
Speaker 2 (41:53):
Up and down.
Speaker 1 (41:55):
What is this? Then it is the butt end of
the gun, as the son stood listening, And this, hah,
what have we here? Tiptoes, tiptoes square two, Quite unusual
boots they come, they go, they come again. Of course,
(42:15):
that was for the cloak. Now where did they come from?
He ran up and down, sometimes losing, sometimes finding the track,
until we were well within the edge of the wood
and under the shadow of a great beach, the largest
tree in the neighborhood. Holmes traced his way to the
farther side of this and lay down once more, upon
(42:37):
his face with a little cry of satisfaction. For a
long time he remained there, turning over the leaves and
dried sticks, gathering up what seemed to me to be
dust into an envelope, and examining with his lens not
only the ground, but even the bark of the tree.
As far as he could reach. A jagged stone was
(42:59):
lying among them moss, and this also he carefully examined
and retained. Then he followed a pathway through the wood
until he came to the high road, where all traces
were lost. It has been a case of considerable interest.
Speaker 2 (43:15):
He remarked, returning to his natural manner.
Speaker 1 (43:18):
I fancy that this gray house on the right must
be the lodge. I think that I will go in
and have a word with Moran, and perhaps write a
little note. Having done that, we may drive back to
our luncheon. You may walk to the cab, and I
shall be with you.
Speaker 2 (43:34):
Presently.
Speaker 1 (43:36):
It was about ten minutes before we regained our cab
and drove back into Ross Holmes still carrying with him
the stone which he had picked up in the wood.
This may interest you, lestrade, he remarked, holding it out.
Speaker 2 (43:51):
The murder was done with it.
Speaker 1 (43:53):
I see no marks, there are none.
Speaker 2 (43:57):
How do you know?
Speaker 1 (43:58):
Then? The grass was growing under it. It had only
lain there a few days. There was no sign of
a place whence it had been taken. It corresponds with
the injuries. There is no sign of any other weapon,
and the murderer is a tall man, left handed, limps
(44:19):
with the right leg, wears thick soled shooting boots and
a great cloak. Smokes Indian cigars, uses a cigar holder,
and carries a blunt pen knife in his pocket. There
are several other indications, but these may be enough to
aid us in our search.
Speaker 2 (44:38):
Lestrade laughed.
Speaker 1 (44:40):
I am afraid that I am still a skeptic, he said.
Theories are all very well, but we have to deal
with a hard headed British jury. Nu Vherand answered Holmes, calmly,
you work your own method, and I shall work mine.
I shall be busy the safter and shall probably return
(45:02):
to London by the evening train and leave your case unfinished.
No finished, But the mystery it is solved.
Speaker 2 (45:14):
Who was the criminal?
Speaker 1 (45:15):
Then the gentleman I describe? But who is he? Surely
it would not be difficult to find out? This is
not such a populous neighborhood. Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. I
am a practical man, he said, and I really cannot
undertake to go about the country looking for a left
(45:38):
headed gentleman with a game leg I should become the
laughing stock of Scotland. Yard all right, said Holmes quietly.
I have given you the chance. Here are your lodgings.
Speaker 2 (45:52):
Good bye.
Speaker 1 (45:53):
I shall drop you a line before I leave Having
left Lestrade at his rooms, we drove to our hote tell,
where we found lunch upon the table. Holmes was silent
and buried in thought, with a pained expression upon his face,
as one who finds himself in a perplexing position. Look here, Watson,
(46:15):
he said, when the cloth was cleared, just sit down
in this chair and let me preach to you for
a little. I don't know quite what to do, and
I should value your advice. Light a cigar and let
me expound.
Speaker 2 (46:29):
Pray do so well.
Speaker 1 (46:31):
Now, in considering this case, there are two points about
young mac carthy's narrative which struck us both instantly, although
they impressed me in his favor and you against him.
One was the fact that his father should, according to
his account, cry coo ee before seeing him. The other
was his singular, dying reference to a rat. He mumbled
(46:55):
several words, you understand, but that was all that caught
the son's ear. Now from this double point, our research
must commence, and we will begin it by presuming that
what the lad says is absolutely true.
Speaker 2 (47:10):
What of this COUI?
Speaker 1 (47:12):
Then? Well, obviously it could not have been meant for
the sun. The sun, as far as he knew was
in Bristol. It was mere chance that he was within earshot.
Speaker 2 (47:24):
The coui was.
Speaker 1 (47:25):
Meant to attract the attention of whoever it was that
he had the appointment with. But coui is a distinctly
Australian cry, and one which is used between Australians. There
is a strong presumption that the person whom McCarthy expected
to meet him at Boscombe Pool was someone who had
been in Australia. What of the rat, then, Sherlock Holmes
(47:50):
took a folded paper from his pocket and flattened it
out on the table. This is a map of the
colony of Victoria, he said, I wired to Bristol for
it last night. He put his hand over part of
the map.
Speaker 2 (48:06):
What do you read? A rat? I read? And now
he raised his hand. Balarat.
Speaker 1 (48:17):
Quite so, that was the word the man uttered, and
of which his son only caught the last two syllables.
He was trying to utter the name of his murderer,
so and so of Ballarat. It is wonderful, I exclaimed,
It is obvious. And now you see I had narrowed
(48:38):
the field down considerably. The possession of a grave garment
was a third point which, granting the son's statement to
be correct, was a certainty. We have come now, out
of mere vagueness, to the definite conception of an Australian
from Ballarat with a gray cloak, certainly, and one who
(48:59):
was at home in the district. For the pool can
only be approached by the farm or by the estate,
where strangers could hardly wander. Quite so then comes our
expedition of to day. By an examination of the ground,
I gained the trifling details which I gave to that
imbecile Lestrade as to the personality of the criminal. But
(49:24):
how did you gain them? You know my method? It
is founded upon the observation of trifles. His height, I
know that you might roughly judge from the length of
his stride. His boots, too might be told from their traces. Yes,
they were peculiar boots. But his lameness, the impression of
(49:46):
his right foot was always less distinct than his left.
He put less weight upon it, why because he limped
he was lame, But his left handedness. You were yourself
struck by the nature of the injury. As recorded by
the surgeon at the inquest, the blow was struck from
me immediately behind, and yet was upon the left side. Now,
(50:11):
how can that be unless it were by a left
handed man. He had stood behind that tree during the
interview between the father and the son. He had even
smoked there. I found the ash of a cigar, which
my special knowledge of tobacco ashes enables me to pronounce
as an Indian cigar. I have, as you know, devoted
(50:33):
some attention to this and written a little monograph on
the ashes of one hundred forty different varieties of pipe
cigar and cigarette tobacco. Having found the ash, I then
looked round and discovered the stump among the moss where
he had tossed it. It was an Indian cigar of
the variety which are rolled in Rotterdam, and the cigar
(50:56):
holder I could see that the end had not been
in his mouth, therefore he used a holder. The tip
had been cut off, not bitten off, but the cut
was not a clean one, so I deduced a blunt penknife.
Speaker 2 (51:12):
Holmes, I said, you.
Speaker 1 (51:14):
Have drawn a net round this man from which he
cannot escape, and you have saved an innocent human life,
as truly as if you had cut the cord which.
Speaker 2 (51:22):
Was hanging him.
Speaker 1 (51:24):
I see the direction in which all this points the
culprit is. Mister John Turner, cried, the hotel waiter, opening
the door of our sitting room and ushering in a visitor.
The man who entered was a strange and impressive figure.
His slow limping step and bowed shoulders gave the appearance
(51:45):
of decrepitude, and yet his hard, deep lined, craggy features
and his enormous limbs showed that he was possessed of
unusual strength of body and of character. His tangled beard,
grizzled and outstanding drooping eyebrows combined to give an air
of dignity and power to his appearance. But his face
(52:08):
was of an ashen white, while his lips and the
corners of his nostrils were tinged with a shade of blue.
It was clear to me at a glance that he
was in the grip of some deadly and chronic disease.
Speaker 2 (52:22):
Pray sit down on the sofa.
Speaker 1 (52:25):
Said Holmes gently. You had my note, Yes, the lodge
keeper brought it up. You said that you wished to
see me here to avoid scandal. I thought people would
talk if I went to the hall, And why did
you wish to see me? He looked across at my
(52:46):
companion with despair in his weary eyes, as though his
question was already answered. Yes, said Holmes, answering the look
rather than the words. It is so I know all
about McCarthy. The old man sank his face in his hands.
God help me, he cried. But I would not have
(53:09):
let the young man come to harm. I give you
my word that I would have spoken out if it
went against him at the assizes. I am glad to
hear you say so, said Holmes gravely. I would have
spoken now had it not been for my dear girl.
It would break her heart. It will break her heart
(53:30):
when she hears that I am arrested. It may not
come to that, said Holmes. What I am no official agent.
I understand that it was your daughter who required my
presence here, and I am acting in her interests. Young
McCarthy must be got off. However, I am a dying man,
(53:54):
said old Turner. I have had diabetes for years. My
doctor says it is a question whether I shall live
a month. Yet I would rather die under my own
roof than in a jail. Holmes rose and sat down
at the table, with his pen in his hand and
a bundle of paper before him. Just tell us the truth,
(54:17):
he said. I shall jot down the facts, you will
sign it, and Watson here can witness it. Then I
could produce your confession at the last extremity to save
young McCarthy. I promise you that I shall not use
it unless it is absolutely needed. It says well, said
the old man. It's a question whether I shall live
(54:40):
to the assizes. So it matters little to me, but
I should wish to spare Alice the shock. And now
I will make the thing clear to you. It has
been a long time in the acting, but will not
take me long to tell you didn't know this dead
man and McCarthy. He was a devil incarnate. I tell
(55:05):
you that God keep you out of the clutches of
such a man as he. His grip has been upon
me these twenty years, and he has blasted my life.
I'll tell you first how I came to be in
his power. It was in the early sixties at the Diggings.
Speaker 2 (55:26):
I was a young.
Speaker 1 (55:27):
Chap then, hot blooded and reckless, ready to turn my
hand at anything I got among bad companions. Took to drink,
had no luck with my claim, took to the bush,
and in a word, became what you would call over
here a highway robber. There were six of us and
(55:49):
we had a wild, free life of it, sticking up
a station from time to time, or stopping the wagons
on the road to the diggings. Blackjack of Bellaratu was
the name I went under, and our party is still
remembered in the colony as the Ballarat Gang. One day
a gold convoy came down from Ballarat to Melbourne, and
(56:12):
we lay in wait for it and attacked it. There
were six troopers and six of us, so it was
a close thing, but we emptied four of their saddles.
At the first volley. Three of our boys were killed. However,
before we got the swag, I put my pistol to
the head of the wagon driver, who was this very
man McCarthy. A wish to the Lord that I had
(56:35):
shot him then, but I spared him, though I saw
his wicked little eyes fixed on my face, as though
to remember every feature. We got away with the gold,
became wealthy men and made our way over to England
without being suspected. There I parted from my old pals
and determined to settle down to a quiet and respectable life.
(56:59):
I bought this estate which chanced to be in the market,
and I set myself to do a little good with
my money to make up for the way in which
I had earned it. I married too, and though my
wife died young, she left me my dear little Alice,
even when she was just a baby. Her wee hand
(57:20):
seemed to lead me down the right path as nothing
else had ever done. In a word, I turned over
a new leaf and did my best to make up
for the past. All was going well when McCarthy laid
his grip upon me. I had gone up to town
about an investment, and I met him in Regent Street
(57:41):
with hardly a coat to his back or a boot
to his foot. Here we are, jack, says he, touching
me on the arm. We'll be as good as a
family to you. There's two of us, me and my son,
and you can have the keeping of us if you don't.
It's a fine, law abiding country is England, and there's
(58:04):
always a policeman within hail well down. They came to
the West Country, there was no shaking them off, and
there they have lived rent free on my best land
ever since. There was no rest for me, no peace,
no forgetfulness, turn where I would, there was his cunning,
(58:24):
grinning face at my elbow. It grew worse as Alice
grew up, for he soon saw I was more afraid
of her knowing my past than of the police. Whatever
he wanted he must have, and whatever it was I
gave him without question, land, money, houses, until at last
he asked a thing which I could not give. He
(58:47):
asked for Alice. His son, you see, had grown up,
and so had my girl, And as I was known
to be in weak health, it seemed a fine stroke
to him that his lad should step into the whole property.
But there I was firm. I would not have his
cursed stock mixed with mine, not that I had. And
(59:09):
he disliked to the lad, but his blood was in him,
and that was enough. I stood firm. MacCarthy threatened, I
braved him to do his worst. We were to meet
at the pool midway between our houses to talk it over.
When I went down there, I found him talking with
(59:29):
his son. So I smoked a cigar and waited behind
a tree until he should be alone. But as I
listened to his talk, all that was black and bitter
in me seemed to come uppermost. He was urging his
son to marry my daughter with as little regard for
what she might think as if she were a slut
from off the streets. He drove me mad to think
(59:52):
that I and all that I held most deer, should
be in the power of such a man as this.
Could I not snap the bond. I was already a
dying and desperate man. Though clear of mind and fairly
strong of limb. I knew that my own fate was sealed.
But my memory and my girl both could be saved
(01:00:14):
if I could but silence that foul tongue. I did it,
mister Holmes, I would do it again, deeply as I
have sinned. I have led a life of martyrdom to
atone for it. But that my girl should be entangled
in the same meshes which held me was more than
I could suffer. I struck him down with no more
(01:00:36):
compunction than if he had been some foul and venomous beast.
His cry brought back his son, but I had gained
the cover of the wood, though I was forced to
go back to fetch the cloak which I had dropped
in my flight. That is the true story, gentlemen, of
all that occurred, well it is not for me to
(01:00:58):
judge you, said Hulme Holmes, as the old man signed
the statement which had been drawn out. I pray that
we may never be exposed to such a temptation. I
pray not, sir. And what do you intend to do
in view of your health?
Speaker 2 (01:01:16):
Nothing?
Speaker 1 (01:01:17):
You are yourself aware that you will soon have to
answer for your deed at a higher court than the assizes.
I will keep your confession, and if MacCarthy is condemned,
I shall be forced to use it. If not, it
shall never be seen my mortal eye, and your secret,
whether you be alive or dead, shall be safe with us. Farewell, then,
(01:01:41):
said the old man, solemnly. Your own death beds, when
they come, will be the easier for the thought of
the peace which.
Speaker 2 (01:01:48):
You have given to mine.
Speaker 1 (01:01:50):
Tottering and shaking in all his giant frame, he stumbled
slowly from the room. God help us, said Holmes, after
a long silence. Why does fate play such tricks with
poor helpless worms. I never hear of such a case
as this that I do not think of Baxter's words
(01:02:10):
and say, there but for the grace of God, goes
Sherlock Holmes. James McCarthy was acquitted at the Assizes on
the strength of a number of objections which have been
drawn out by Holmes and submitted to the defending council.
Old Turner lived for seven months after our interview, but
(01:02:32):
he is now dead, and there is every prospect that
the son and daughter may come to live haply together,
in ignorance of the black cloud which rests upon their past.
Speaker 2 (01:02:45):
End of adventure four
Adventure four of the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. This LibriVox
recording is in the public domain and is read by
Mark Smith of Simpsonville, South Carolina. The Adventures of Sherlock
Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Adventure four the Boscombe
(00:21):
Valley Mystery.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
We were seated at breakfast.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
One morning, my wife and I, when the maid brought
in a telegram. It was from Sherlock Holmes and ran
in this way.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Have you a couple of days to spare?
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Have just been wired for from the west of England
in connection with Boscombe Valley tragedy. Shall be glad if
you will come with me air and scenery perfect leave
Paddington by the eleven fifteen. What do you say, dear,
said my wife, looking across at me.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Will you go? I really don't know what to say.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
I have a fairly long list at present. Oh, Anstruther
would do your work for you. You have been looking
a little pale lately. I think that the change would
do you good. And you are always so interested in
mister Sherlock Holmes's cases. I should be ungrateful if I
were not seeing what I gained through one of them.
(01:20):
I answered, But if I am to go, I must
pack it once, for I have only half an hour.
My experience of camp life in Afghanistan had at least
had the effect of making me a prompt and ready traveler.
My wants were few and simple, so that in less
than the time stated, I was in a cab with
my valise, rattling away to Paddington's station. Sherlock Holmes was
(01:45):
pacing up and down the platform, his tall, gaunt figure
made even gaunter and taller by his long gray traveling
cloak and close fitting cloth cap. It is really very
good of you to come, Watson, said he. It makes
a considerable difference to me having someone with me on
whom I can thoroughly rely. Local aid is always either
(02:08):
worthless or else biased. If you will keep the two
corner seats, I shall get the tickets. We had the
carriage to ourselves, save for an immense litter of papers,
which Holmes had brought with him. Among these he rummaged
and read, with intervals of note taking and of meditation,
until we were past reading. Then he suddenly rolled them
(02:30):
all into a gigantic ball and tossed them up on
to the rack. Have you heard anything of the case,
he asked, not a word. I have not seen a
paper for some days. The London press has not had
very full of counts. I have just been looking through
all the recent papers in order to master the particulars.
(02:52):
It seems, from what I gather, to be one of
those simple cases which are so extremely difficult. That sounds
a little paradoxical, but it is profoundly true. Singularity is
almost invariably a clue. The more featureless and commonplace a
crime is, the more difficult it is to bring it home.
(03:14):
In this case, however, they have established a very serious
case against the son of the murdered man.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
It is a murder, then, well.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
It is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing
for granted until I have the opportunity of looking personally
into it. I will explain the state of things to
you as far as I have been able to understand it,
in a very few words. Boscombe Valley is a country
district not very far from ross in Herefordshire. The largest
(03:45):
landed proprietor in that part is a mister John Turner,
who made his money in Australia and returned some years
ago to the old country. One of the farms which
he held, that of Hatherley, was led to mister Charles
macth mac carthy, who was also an ex Australian. The
men had known each other in the colonies, so that
(04:06):
it was not unnatural that when they came to settle
down they should do so as near each other as possible.
Turner was apparently the richer man, so McCarthy became his tenant,
but still remained, it seems, upon terms of perfect equality,
as they were frequently together. McCarthy had one son, a
(04:26):
lad of eighteen, and Turner had an only daughter of
the same age, but neither of them had wives living.
They appeared to have avoided the society of the neighboring
English families and to have led retired lives, though both
the McCarthys were fond of sport and were frequently seen
at the race meetings of the neighborhood. McCarthy kept two servants,
(04:50):
a man and a girl. Turner had a considerable household,
some half dozen at the least. That is as much
as I have been able to gather about the families.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
Now for the facts.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
On June third, that is, on Monday last McCarthy left
his house at Hatherley about three in the afternoon and
walked down to the Boscombe Pool, which is a small
lake formed by the spreading out of the stream which
runs down the Boscombe Valley. He had been out with
a serving man in the morning at ross and he
had told the man that he must hurry, as he
(05:24):
had an appointment of importance to keep at three. From
that appointment, he never came back alive. From Heatherley farm
House to the Boscombe Pool is a quarter of a mile,
and two people saw him as he passed over this ground.
One was an old woman whose name is not mentioned,
and the other was William Crowder, a gamekeeper in the
(05:46):
employ of mister Turner. Both these witnesses deposed that mister
McCarthy was walking alone. The gamekeeper adds that within a
few minutes of his seeing McCarthy pass he had seen
his son, mister Jane Miss McCarthy, going the same way
with a gun under his arm. To the best of
his belief, the father was actually in sight at the
(06:08):
time and the sun was following him. He thought no
more of the matter until he heard in the evening
of the tragedy that had occurred. The two McCarthys were
seen after the time when William Crowder, the gamekeeper, lost
sight of them. The Boscombe Pool is thickly wooded round,
with just a fringe of grass and of reeds around
(06:28):
the edge. A girl of fourteen, Patience Moran, who is
the daughter of the lodge keeper of the Boscombe Valley estate,
was in one of the woods picking flowers. She states
that while she was there, she saw at the border
of the wood and close by the lake, mister McCarthy
and his son, and that they appeared to be having
(06:50):
a violent quarrel. She heard mister McCarthy the elder, using
very strong language to his son, and she saw the
latter raise up his hand as if to strike his father.
She was so frightened by their violence that she ran
away and told her mother when she reached home that
she had left the two McCarthy's quarreling near Boscombe Pool,
(07:12):
and that she was afraid that they were going to fight.
She had hardly said the words when young mister McCarthy
came running up to the lodge to say that he
had found his father dead in the wood and to
ask for the help of the lodge keeper.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
He was much.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
Excited, without either his gun or his hat, and his
right hand and sleeve were observed to be stained with
fresh blood. On following him, they found the dead body
stretched out upon the grass beside the pool. The head
had been beaten in by repeated blows of some heavy
and blunt weapon. The injuries were such as might very
(07:48):
well have been inflicted by the butt end of his
son's gun, which was found lying on the grass within
a few paces of the body. Under these circumstances, the
young man was instantly arrested, and a verdict of wilful
murder having been returned at the inquest on Tuesday, he
was on Wednesday brought before the Magistrates at Ross, who
(08:10):
have referred the case to the next assizes. Those are
the main facts of the case as they came out
before the coroner and the police court. I could hardly
imagine a more damning case. I remarked, If ever circumstantial
evidence pointed to a criminal, it does so here. Circumstantial
(08:31):
evidence is a very tricky thing, answered Holmes thoughtfully. It
may seem to point very straight to one thing, but
if you shift your own point of view a little,
you will find it pointing in an equally uncompromising manner
to something entirely different. It must be confessed, however, that
(08:52):
the case looks exceedingly grave against the young man, and
it is very possible that he is indeed the culprit.
Are several people in the neighborhood, however, and among them
Miss Turner, the daughter of the neighboring landowner, who believe
in his innocence, and who have retained Lestrade, whom you
may recollect in connection with the study in Scarlet, to
(09:14):
work out the case in his interest. Lestrade, being rather puzzled,
has referred the case to me, and hence it is
that two middle aged gentlemen are flying westward at fifty
miles an hour instead of quietly digesting their breakfasts at home.
I am afraid, said I, that the facts are so
obvious that you will find little credit to be gained
(09:37):
out of this case. There is nothing more deceptive than
an obvious fact, he answered, laughing. Besides, we may chance
to hit upon some other obvious facts which may have
been by no means obvious to mister Lestrade. You know
me too well to think that I am boasting when
I say that I shall either confirm or destroy his
(09:59):
theory by means which he is quite incapable of employing,
or even of understanding. To take the first example to hand,
I very clearly perceive that in your bedroom the window
is upon the right hand side. And yet I question
whether mister Lestrade would have noted even so self evident
a thing as that. How on earth, my dear fellow,
(10:23):
I know you well, I know the military neatness which
characterizes you. You shave every morning, and in this season
you shave by the sunlight. But since your shaving is
less and less complete as we get farther back on
the left side, until it becomes positively slovenly as we
get round the angle of the jaw, it is surely
(10:44):
very clear that that side is less illuminated than the other.
I could not imagine a man of your habits looking
at himself in an equal light and being satisfied with
such a result. I only quote this as a trivial
example of observation and inference. Therein lies my matier, and
it is just possible that it may be of some
(11:06):
service in the investigation which lies before us. There are
one or two minor points which were brought out in
the inquest, and which are worth considering?
Speaker 2 (11:16):
What are they?
Speaker 1 (11:18):
It appears that his arrest did not take place at once,
but after the return to Hatherley Farm. On the Inspector
of Constabulary informing him that he was a prisoner, he
remarked that he was not surprised to hear it, and
that it was no more than his deserts. This observation
of his had the natural effect of removing any traces
(11:38):
of doubt which might have remained in the minds of
the coroner's jury. It was a confession I ejaculated no,
for it was followed by a protestation of innocence. Coming
on the top of such a damning series of events,
it was at least a most suspicious remark. On the contrary,
(12:01):
said Holmes, it is the brightest rift which I can
at present see in the clouds. However innocent he might be,
he could not be such an absolute imbecile as not
to see that the circumstances were very black against him.
Had he appeared surprised at his own arrest or feigned
indignation at it, I should have looked upon it as
(12:23):
highly suspicious, because such surprise or anger would not be
natural under the circumstances, and yet might appear to be
the best policy to a scheming man. His frank acceptance
of the situation marks him as either an innocent man,
or else as a man of considerable self restraint and firmness.
(12:43):
As to his remark about his deserts, it was also
not unnatural if you consider that he stood beside the
dead body of his father, and that there is no
doubt that he had that very day so far forgotten
his filial duty as to bandy words with him, and
even according to the little girl, whose evidence is so important,
(13:04):
to raise his hand as if to strike him. The
self reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark
appear to me to be the signs of a healthy mind,
rather than of a guilty one. I shook my head.
Many men have been hanged on far slighter evidence.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
I remarked.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
So they have, and many men have been wrongfully hanged.
What is the young man's own account of the matter.
It is, I am afraid, not very encouraging to his supporters,
Though there are one or two points in it which
are suggestive. You will find it here and may read
it for yourself. He picked out from his bundle a
(13:46):
copy of the local Herefordshire paper, and having turned down
the sheet, he pointed out the paragraph in which the
unfortunate young man had given his own statement of what
had occurred. I settled myself down in the corner of
the carriage and read it very carefully. It ran in
this way. Mister James McCarthy, the only son of the deceased,
(14:09):
was then called and gave evidence as follows.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
I had been.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
Away from home for three days at Bristol, and had
only just returned upon the morning of last Monday the third.
My father was absent from home at the time of
my arrival, and I was informed by the maid that
he had driven over to Ross with John Cobb, the groom.
Shortly after my return, I heard the wheels of his
(14:34):
trap in the yard, and looking out of my window,
I saw him get out and walk rapidly out of
the yard, though I was not aware in which direction
he was going. I then took my gun and strolled
out in the direction of the Buscombe Pool, with the
intention of visiting the rabbit warren, which is upon the
other side. On my way, I saw William Crowder, the gamekeeper,
(14:58):
as he had stated in his head evidence, but he
is mistaken in thinking that I was following my father.
I had no idea that he was in front of me.
When about a hundred yards from the pool, I heard
a cry of cooee, which was a usual signal between
my father and myself. I then hurried forward and found
(15:20):
him standing by the pool. He appeared to be much
surprised at seeing me, and asked me rather roughly what
I was doing.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
There.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
A conversation ensued which led to high words and almost
to blows, For my father was a man of a
very violent temper. Seeing that his passion was becoming ungovernable,
I left him and returned towards Hatherley Farm. I had
not gone more than one hundred fifty yards, however, when
I heard a hideous outcry behind me, which caused me
(15:51):
to run back again. I found my father expiring upon
the ground, with his head terribly injured. I dropped my
gun and head held him in my arms, but he
almost instantly expired. I knelt beside him for some minutes,
and then made my way to mister Turner's lodge keeper
his house, being the nearest to ask for assistance. I
(16:14):
saw no one near my father when I returned, and
I have no idea how he came by his injuries.
He was not a popular man, being somewhat cold and
forbidding in his manners, but he had, as far as
I know, no active enemies. I know nothing further of
the matter. The Coroner. Did your father make any statement to.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
You before he died? Witness?
Speaker 1 (16:40):
He mumbled a few words, but I could only catch
some allusion to a rat.
Speaker 2 (16:46):
The Coroner. What did you understand by that?
Speaker 1 (16:50):
Witness? It conveyed no meaning to me. I thought that
he was delirious. The Coroner.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
What was the point upon.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
Which you and your father had this final quarrel? Witness,
I should prefer not to answer, the Coroner. I am
afraid that I must press it. Witness, it is really
impossible for me to tell you. I can assure you
that it has nothing to do with the sad tragedy
(17:20):
which followed.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
The Coroner.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
That is for the court to decide. I need not
point out to you that your refusal to answer will
prejudice your case considerably in any future proceedings.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Which may arise.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
Witness, I must still refuse the Coroner. I understand that
the cry of COUI was a common signal between you
and your father. Witness it was the coroner. How was
it then, that he uttered it before he saw you,
and before he even knew that you had returned from Bristol?
(18:00):
Witness with considerable confusion, I do not know, a juryman.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
Did you see.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
Nothing which aroused your suspicions when you returned on hearing
the cry and found your father fatally injured? Witness nothing
definite the corridor, What do you mean, Witness. I was
so disturbed and excited as I rushed out into the
(18:27):
open that I could think of nothing except of my father.
Yet I have a vague impression that as I ran forward,
something lay upon the ground to the left of me.
It seemed to me to be something gray in color,
a coat of some sort, or a plaid perhaps. When
I rose from my father, I looked round.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
For it, but it was gone.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
Do you mean that it disappeared before you went for help? Yes,
it was gone. You cannot say what it was. No,
I had a feeling something was there. How far from
the body a dozen yards or so, and how far
(19:11):
from the edge of the wood about the same. Then
if it was removed, it was while you were within
a dozen yards of it, Yes, but with my back
toward it. This concluded the examination of the witness. I see,
said I as I glanced down the column, that the coroner,
(19:33):
in his concluding remarks, was rather severe upon young MacCarthy.
He calls attention, and with reason, to the discrepancy about
his father having signaled to him before seeing him, also
to his refusal to give details of his conversation with
his father, and his singular account of his father's dying words.
(19:55):
They are all, as he remarks, very much against the son.
Holmes laughed softly to himself and stretched himself out upon
the cushioned seat. Both you and the corner have been
at some pains, said he, to single out the very
strongest points in the young man's favor. Don't you see
(20:16):
that you alternately give him credit for having too much
imagination and too little too little if he could not
invent a cause of quarrel which would give him the
sympathy of the jury, too much, if he evolved from
his own inner consciousness anything so aurey has a dying
reference to a rat and the incident of the vanishing cloth. No, sir,
(20:40):
I shall approach this case from the point of view
that what this young man says is true, and we
shall see whither that hypothesis will lead us. And now
here is my pocket, Petrarge, And not another word shall
I say of this case until we are on the
scene of action. We lunch at Swindon, and I see
that we we shall be there in twenty minutes. It
(21:03):
was nearly four o'clock when we, at last, after passing
through the beautiful Stroud Valley and over the broad gleaming Severn,
found ourselves at the pretty little country town of Ross.
A lean ferret like man, furtive and sly looking, was
waiting for us upon the platform. In spite of the
(21:23):
light brown dustcoat and leather leggings which he wore in
deference to his rustic surroundings, I had no difficulty in
recognizing Lestrade of Scotland.
Speaker 2 (21:34):
Yard.
Speaker 1 (21:35):
With him, we drove to the Hereford Arms, where a
room had already been engaged for us.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
I have ordered a carriage.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
Said Lestrade, as we sat over a cup of tea.
I knew your energetic nature and that you would not
be happy until you had been on the scene of
the crime. It was very nice and complimentary of you,
Holmes answered, it is entirely a question of barometric pressure.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
Lestrade looked startled.
Speaker 1 (22:06):
I do not quite follow, he said, how is the
glass twenty nine? I see no wind and not a
cloud in the sky. I have a case full of
cigarettes here which needs smoking, and the sofa is very
much superior to the usual country hotel abomination. I do
not think that it is probable that I shall use
(22:28):
the carriage to night. Lestrade laughed indulgently. You have no
doubt already formed your conclusions from the newspapers, he said.
The case is as plain as a pike's staff, and
the more one goes into it, the plainer it becomes.
Speaker 2 (22:45):
Still.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
Of course, one can't refuse a lady, and such a
very positive one too. She has heard of you and
would have your opinion, though I repeatedly told her that
there was nothing which you could do which I have
not already done. Why, bless my soul, here is her
carriage at the door. He had hardly spoken before there
(23:06):
rushed into the room one of the most lovely young
women that I have ever seen in my life, her
violet eyes shining, her lips parted a pink flush upon
her cheeks, all thought of her natural reserve lost in
her overpowering excitement and concern. Oh, mister Sherlock Holmes, she cried,
(23:28):
glancing from one to the other of us, and finally,
with a woman's quick intuition, fastening upon my companion. I
am so glad that you have come. I have driven
down to tell you so I know that James didn't
do it. I know it, and I want you to
start upon your work knowing it too. Never let yourself
(23:49):
doubt upon that point. We have known each other since
we were little children, and I know his faults as
no one else does. But he is too tender hearted
to hurt a Such a charge is absurd to any
one who really knows him. I hope we may clear him,
Miss Turner, said Sherlock Holmes.
Speaker 2 (24:10):
You may rely upon my doing all.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
That I can, but you have read the evidence. You
have formed some conclusion. Do you not see some loophole,
some flaw? Do you not yourself think that he is innocent?
Speaker 2 (24:26):
I think that it is very probable.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
There now, she cried, throwing back her head and looking
defiantly at Lestrade.
Speaker 2 (24:35):
You hear he gives me hopes.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. I am afraid that my colleague
has been a little quick in forming his conclusions, he said,
But he is right. Oh, I know that he is right.
James never did it. And about his quarrel with his father,
I am sure that the reason why he would not
speak about it to the coroner was because I was
(25:01):
concerned in it.
Speaker 2 (25:03):
In what way? Asked Holmes.
Speaker 1 (25:06):
It is no time for me to hide anything. James
and his father had many disagreements about me. Mister McCarthy
was very anxious that there should be a marriage between us.
Speaker 2 (25:18):
James and I.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
Have always loved each other as brother and sister. But
of course he is young and has seen very little
of life yet, and and well, he naturally did not
wish to do anything like that yet. And there were quarrels,
and this, I am sure was one of them. And
your father, asked Holmes, was he in favor of such
(25:43):
a union? No, he was quite averse to it. Also,
No one but mister McCarthy was in favor of it.
A quick blush passed over her fresh young face as
Holmes shot one of his keen, questioning glances at her.
Thank you for this information, said he, may I see
(26:03):
your father. If I call tomorrow, I am afraid the
doctor won't allow it.
Speaker 2 (26:09):
The doctor, yes, have you not heard?
Speaker 1 (26:13):
Poor father has never been strong for years back, but
this has broken him down completely. He is taken to
his bed and doctor Willow says that he is a
wreck and that his nervous system is shattered. Mister McCarthy
was the only man alive who had known Dad in
the old days in Victoria. Huh, in Victoria that is important. Yes,
(26:39):
at the mines, quite so, at the gold mines, where
as I understand mister Turner made his money. Yes, certainly.
Speaker 2 (26:50):
Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material.
Speaker 1 (26:53):
Assistance to me. You will tell me if you have
any news tomorrow. No doubt you will go to the
prison to see James. Oh. If you do, mister Holmes,
do tell him that I know him to be innocent.
Speaker 2 (27:07):
I will, Miss Turner. I must go.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
Home now, for Dad is very ill and he misses me.
So if I leave him, good bye, and God help
you in your undertaking. She hurried from the room as
impulsively as she had entered, and we heard the wheels
of her carriage rattle off down the street. I am
ashamed of you. Holmes said, Lestrade with dignity, after a
(27:33):
few minutes silence. Why should you raise up hopes what
you are bound to disappoint. I am not over tender
of heart, but I call it cruel. I think that
I see my way to clearing. James MacCarthy said, Holmes,
have you in order to see him in prison? Yes,
but only for you and me. Then I shall reconsider
(27:57):
my resolution about going out. I have still time to
take a train to Hereford and seem to night ample.
Then let us do so, Watson. I fear that you
will find it very slow, but I shall only be
away a couple of hours. I walked down to the
station with them, and then wandered through the streets of
(28:18):
the little town, finally returning to the hotel, where I
lay upon the sofa and tried to interest myself in
a yellow backed novel. The puny plot of the story
was so thin, however, when compared to the deep mystery
through which we were groping, and I found my attention
wander so continually from the action, to the fact that
(28:39):
I at last flung it across the room and gave
myself up entirely to a consideration of the events of
the day. Supposing that this unhappy young man's story were
absolutely true, then what hellish thing, what absolutely unforeseen, an
extraordinary calamity could have occurred between the time when he
(29:00):
parted from his father and the moment when drawn back
by his screams, he rushed into the glade. It was
something terrible and deadly.
Speaker 2 (29:11):
What could it be?
Speaker 1 (29:13):
Might not the nature of the injuries reveal something to
my medical instincts. I rang the bell and called for
the weekly county paper, which contained a verbatim account of
the inquest. In the surgeon's deposition, it was stated that
the posterior third of the left parietal bone and the
left half of the occipital bone had been shattered by
(29:35):
a heavy blow from a blunt weapon. I marked the
spot upon my own head. Clearly such a blow must
have been struck from behind. That was to some extent
in favor of the accused, as when seeing quarreling, he
was face to face with his father. Still it did
not go for very much, for the older man might
(29:56):
have turned his back before the blow fell. Still, it
might be worthwhile to call Holmes's attention to it. Then
there was the peculiar dying reference.
Speaker 2 (30:07):
To a rat.
Speaker 1 (30:08):
What could that mean? It could not be delirium. A
man dying from a sudden blow does not commonly become delirious. No,
it was more likely to be an attempt to explain
how he met his fate. But what could it indicate?
I cudgeled my brains to find some possible explanation, And
(30:30):
then the incident of the gray cloth seen by young McCarthy.
If that were true, the murderer must have dropped some
part of his dress, presumably his overcoat, in his flight,
and must have had the hardihood to return and to
carry it away at the instant when the sun was
kneeling with his back turn not a dozen paces off.
(30:52):
What a tissue of mysteries and improbabilities the whole thing was.
I did not wonder at Lestrad's opinion, And yet I
had so much faith in Sherlock Holmes's insight that I
could not lose hope, as long as every fresh fact
seemed to strengthen his conviction of young McCarthy's innocence. It
(31:14):
was late before Sherlock Holmes returned. He came back alone,
for Lestrade was staying in lodgings in the town. The
glass still keeps very high, he remarked, as he sat down.
It is of importance that it should not rain before
we are able to go over the ground. On the
other hand, a man should be at his very best
(31:36):
and keenest for such nice work as that, And I
did not wish to do it when fagged by a
long journey. I have seen young McCarthy, and what did.
Speaker 2 (31:46):
You learn from him? Nothing?
Speaker 1 (31:50):
Could he throw no light, none at all. I was
inclined to think it one time that he knew who
had done it and was screening him or her. But
I am convinced now that he is as puzzled as
every one else. He is not a very quick witted youth,
though comely to look at, and I should think sound
(32:10):
at heart. I cannot admire his taste, I remarked. If
it is indeed a fact that he was averse to
a marriage with so charming a young lady as this
miss turner, Ah, thereby hangs a rather painful tale. This
fellow is madly, insanely in love with her, but some
(32:33):
two years ago, when he was only a lad, and
before he really knew her, for she had been away
five years at a boarding school. What does the idiot
do but get into the clutches of a barmaid in
Bristol and marry her at a registry office. No one
knows a word of the matter, but you can imagine
how maddening it must be to him to be upbraided
(32:55):
for not doing what he would give his very eyes
to do, but what he knows to.
Speaker 2 (33:00):
Be absolutely impossible.
Speaker 1 (33:02):
It was sheer frenzy of this sort which made him
throw his hands up into the air when his father,
at their last interview, was goading him on to propose
to Miss Turner. On the other hand, he had no
means of supporting himself, and his father, who was by
all accounts a very hard man, would have thrown him
over utterly had he known the truth. It was with
(33:25):
his bar made wife that he had spent the last
three days in Bristol, and his father did not know
where he was.
Speaker 2 (33:33):
Mark that point, it.
Speaker 1 (33:34):
Is of importance good has come out of evil, however,
for the barmaid, finding from the papers that he is
in serious trouble and likely to be hanged, has thrown
him over utterly, and has written to him to say
that she has a husband already in the bermuded dockyard,
so that there is really no tie between them. I
(33:56):
think that that bit of news has consoled young MacCarthy
for all that he is suffered. But if he is innocent,
who has done it?
Speaker 2 (34:05):
Ah? Who?
Speaker 1 (34:07):
I would call your attention very particularly to two points.
One is that the murdered man had an appointment with
some one at the pool, and that the someone could
not have been his son, for his son was away
and he did not know when he would return. The
second is that the murdered man was heard to cry
cooie before he knew that his son had returned.
Speaker 2 (34:31):
Those are the crucial.
Speaker 1 (34:32):
Points upon which the case depends. And now let us
talk about George Meredith, if you please, and we shall
leave all minor matters until tomorrow. There was no rain,
as Holmes had foretold, and the morning broke bright and cloudless.
At nine o'clock Lestrade called for us with the carriage,
and we set off for Heavily Farm and the Buscombe Pool.
(34:56):
There is serious news this morning.
Speaker 2 (34:58):
Lestrade observed.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
It is said that mister Turner of the Hall is
so ill that his life is despaired. Of an elderly man,
I presume, said Holmes, about sixty. But his constitution has
been shattered by his life abroad, and he has been
in failing health for some time. This business has had
a very bad effect upon him. He was an old
(35:23):
friend of MacCarthy's, and I may add a great benefactor
to him, for I have learned that he gave him
Haatherly farm rent free. Indeed, that is interesting, said Holmes. Oh, yes,
in a hundred other ways he has helped him. Everybody
about here speaks of his kindness to him. Really, does
(35:46):
it not strike you as a little singular that this MacCarthy,
who appears to have had little of his own, and
to have been under such obligations to Turner, should still
talk of marrying his son to Turner's daughter, who is
presumably heiress to the estate, and that in such a
very cuxture manner, as if it were merely a case
(36:06):
of a proposal.
Speaker 2 (36:07):
And all else would follow.
Speaker 1 (36:10):
It is the more strange since we know that Turner
himself was averse to the idea. The daughter told us,
as much, do you not deduce something from that? We
have got to the deductions and the inferences, said Lestrade,
weaking at me, I find it hard enough to tackle facts, Holmes,
(36:30):
without flying away after theories and fancies. You are right,
said Holmes, demurely. You do find it very hard to
tackle the facts. Anyhow, I have grasped one fact which
you seem to have find it difficult to get hold of,
replied Lestrade with some warmth, and that is that MacCarthy
(36:54):
senior met his death from McCarthy junior, and that all
theories to the contrary are the mere wrs moonshine. Well,
moonshine is a brighter thing than fog, said Holmes, laughing.
Speaker 2 (37:08):
But I am very much.
Speaker 1 (37:09):
Mistaken if this is not hapthily farm upon the left, Yes,
that is it.
Speaker 2 (37:15):
It was a wide.
Speaker 1 (37:16):
Spread, comfortable looking building, two storied, slate roofed, with great
yellow blotches of lichen upon the gray walls. The drawn
blinds and the smokeless chimneys, however, gave it a stricken look,
as though the weight of this horror still lay heavy
upon it. We called at the door when the maid,
at Holmes's request, showed us the boots which her master
(37:40):
wore at the time of his death, and also a
pair of the Sun's, though not the pair which he
had then had. Having measured these very carefully from seven
or eight different points. Holmes desired to be led to
the courtyard, from which we all followed the winding track
which led to Boscombe pool Sherlock Holmes was transformed when
(38:03):
he was hot. Upon such ascent as this, Men who
had only known the quiet thinker and logician of Baker
Street would have failed to recognize him. His face flushed
and darkened, His brows were drawn into two hard black lines,
while his eyes shone out from beneath them with a
steely glitter. His face was bent downward, his shoulders bowed,
(38:27):
his lips compressed, and a vein stood out like whipcord
in his long, sinewy neck. His nostrils seemed to dilate
with a purely animal lust for the chase, and his
mind was so absolutely concentrated upon the matter before him
that a question or remark fell unheeded upon his ears,
(38:49):
or at the most only provoked a quick, impatient snarl
in reply. Swiftly and silently he made his way along
the track, which ran through the meadows and so by
way of the woods to the Boscombe Pool. It was damp,
marshy ground, as is all that district, and there were
(39:09):
marks of many feet, both upon the path and amid
the short grass which bounded it on either side. Sometimes
Holmes would hurry on, sometimes stop dead, and once he
made quite a little detour into the meadow. Lestrade and
I walked behind him, the detective indifferent and contemptuous, while
(39:29):
I watched my friend with the interest which sprang from
the conviction that every one of his actions was directed
towards a definite end. The Boscombe Pool, which is a
little reed girt sheet of water some fifty yards across,
is situated at the boundary between the Heatherley Farm and
(39:50):
the private park of the wealthy mister Turner, above the
woods which lined it. Upon the farther side we could
see the red jutting pinnacles which mark the side of
the the rich landowner's dwelling. On the Heatherly side of
the pool, the woods grew very thick, and there was
a narrow belt of sotting grass twenty paces across between
(40:11):
the edge of the trees and the reeds which lined
the lake. Lestrade showed us the exact spot at which
the body had been found, and indeed, so moist was
the ground that I could plainly see the traces which
had been left by the fall of the stricken man
to Holmes. As I could see by his eager face
(40:31):
and peering eyes, very many other things were to be
read upon the trampled grass. He ran round like a
dog who was picking up a scent, and then turned
upon my companion.
Speaker 2 (40:43):
What did you go into the pool for, he asked.
Speaker 1 (40:48):
I fished about with a rake. I thought there might
be some weapon or other trace. But how on earth, Oh, tut, tut,
I have no time. That left foot of yours, with
its inward twist, is all over the place. A mole
could trace it, and there it vanishes among the reeds. Oh,
how simple it would all have been had I been
(41:09):
here before they came like a herd of buffalo and
wallowed all over it. Here is where the party where
the lodge keeper came, and they have covered all tracks
for six or eight feet round the body. But here
are three separate tracks of the same feet. He drew
out a lens and lay down upon his waterproof to
have a better view, talking all the time rather to
(41:32):
himself than to us. These are young McCarthy's feet. Twice
he was walking, and once he ran swiftly so that
the soles are deeply marked and the heels hardly visible.
That bears out his story. He ran when he saw
his father on the ground. Then here are the father's feet,
(41:52):
as he paced.
Speaker 2 (41:53):
Up and down.
Speaker 1 (41:55):
What is this? Then it is the butt end of
the gun, as the son stood listening, And this, hah,
what have we here? Tiptoes, tiptoes square two, Quite unusual
boots they come, they go, they come again. Of course,
(42:15):
that was for the cloak. Now where did they come from?
He ran up and down, sometimes losing, sometimes finding the track,
until we were well within the edge of the wood
and under the shadow of a great beach, the largest
tree in the neighborhood. Holmes traced his way to the
farther side of this and lay down once more, upon
(42:37):
his face with a little cry of satisfaction. For a
long time he remained there, turning over the leaves and
dried sticks, gathering up what seemed to me to be
dust into an envelope, and examining with his lens not
only the ground, but even the bark of the tree.
As far as he could reach. A jagged stone was
(42:59):
lying among them moss, and this also he carefully examined
and retained. Then he followed a pathway through the wood
until he came to the high road, where all traces
were lost. It has been a case of considerable interest.
Speaker 2 (43:15):
He remarked, returning to his natural manner.
Speaker 1 (43:18):
I fancy that this gray house on the right must
be the lodge. I think that I will go in
and have a word with Moran, and perhaps write a
little note. Having done that, we may drive back to
our luncheon. You may walk to the cab, and I
shall be with you.
Speaker 2 (43:34):
Presently.
Speaker 1 (43:36):
It was about ten minutes before we regained our cab
and drove back into Ross Holmes still carrying with him
the stone which he had picked up in the wood.
This may interest you, lestrade, he remarked, holding it out.
Speaker 2 (43:51):
The murder was done with it.
Speaker 1 (43:53):
I see no marks, there are none.
Speaker 2 (43:57):
How do you know?
Speaker 1 (43:58):
Then? The grass was growing under it. It had only
lain there a few days. There was no sign of
a place whence it had been taken. It corresponds with
the injuries. There is no sign of any other weapon,
and the murderer is a tall man, left handed, limps
(44:19):
with the right leg, wears thick soled shooting boots and
a great cloak. Smokes Indian cigars, uses a cigar holder,
and carries a blunt pen knife in his pocket. There
are several other indications, but these may be enough to
aid us in our search.
Speaker 2 (44:38):
Lestrade laughed.
Speaker 1 (44:40):
I am afraid that I am still a skeptic, he said.
Theories are all very well, but we have to deal
with a hard headed British jury. Nu Vherand answered Holmes, calmly,
you work your own method, and I shall work mine.
I shall be busy the safter and shall probably return
(45:02):
to London by the evening train and leave your case unfinished.
No finished, But the mystery it is solved.
Speaker 2 (45:14):
Who was the criminal?
Speaker 1 (45:15):
Then the gentleman I describe? But who is he? Surely
it would not be difficult to find out? This is
not such a populous neighborhood. Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. I
am a practical man, he said, and I really cannot
undertake to go about the country looking for a left
(45:38):
headed gentleman with a game leg I should become the
laughing stock of Scotland. Yard all right, said Holmes quietly.
I have given you the chance. Here are your lodgings.
Speaker 2 (45:52):
Good bye.
Speaker 1 (45:53):
I shall drop you a line before I leave Having
left Lestrade at his rooms, we drove to our hote tell,
where we found lunch upon the table. Holmes was silent
and buried in thought, with a pained expression upon his face,
as one who finds himself in a perplexing position. Look here, Watson,
(46:15):
he said, when the cloth was cleared, just sit down
in this chair and let me preach to you for
a little. I don't know quite what to do, and
I should value your advice. Light a cigar and let
me expound.
Speaker 2 (46:29):
Pray do so well.
Speaker 1 (46:31):
Now, in considering this case, there are two points about
young mac carthy's narrative which struck us both instantly, although
they impressed me in his favor and you against him.
One was the fact that his father should, according to
his account, cry coo ee before seeing him. The other
was his singular, dying reference to a rat. He mumbled
(46:55):
several words, you understand, but that was all that caught
the son's ear. Now from this double point, our research
must commence, and we will begin it by presuming that
what the lad says is absolutely true.
Speaker 2 (47:10):
What of this COUI?
Speaker 1 (47:12):
Then? Well, obviously it could not have been meant for
the sun. The sun, as far as he knew was
in Bristol. It was mere chance that he was within earshot.
Speaker 2 (47:24):
The coui was.
Speaker 1 (47:25):
Meant to attract the attention of whoever it was that
he had the appointment with. But coui is a distinctly
Australian cry, and one which is used between Australians. There
is a strong presumption that the person whom McCarthy expected
to meet him at Boscombe Pool was someone who had
been in Australia. What of the rat, then, Sherlock Holmes
(47:50):
took a folded paper from his pocket and flattened it
out on the table. This is a map of the
colony of Victoria, he said, I wired to Bristol for
it last night. He put his hand over part of
the map.
Speaker 2 (48:06):
What do you read? A rat? I read? And now
he raised his hand. Balarat.
Speaker 1 (48:17):
Quite so, that was the word the man uttered, and
of which his son only caught the last two syllables.
He was trying to utter the name of his murderer,
so and so of Ballarat. It is wonderful, I exclaimed,
It is obvious. And now you see I had narrowed
(48:38):
the field down considerably. The possession of a grave garment
was a third point which, granting the son's statement to
be correct, was a certainty. We have come now, out
of mere vagueness, to the definite conception of an Australian
from Ballarat with a gray cloak, certainly, and one who
(48:59):
was at home in the district. For the pool can
only be approached by the farm or by the estate,
where strangers could hardly wander. Quite so then comes our
expedition of to day. By an examination of the ground,
I gained the trifling details which I gave to that
imbecile Lestrade as to the personality of the criminal. But
(49:24):
how did you gain them? You know my method? It
is founded upon the observation of trifles. His height, I
know that you might roughly judge from the length of
his stride. His boots, too might be told from their traces. Yes,
they were peculiar boots. But his lameness, the impression of
(49:46):
his right foot was always less distinct than his left.
He put less weight upon it, why because he limped
he was lame, But his left handedness. You were yourself
struck by the nature of the injury. As recorded by
the surgeon at the inquest, the blow was struck from
me immediately behind, and yet was upon the left side. Now,
(50:11):
how can that be unless it were by a left
handed man. He had stood behind that tree during the
interview between the father and the son. He had even
smoked there. I found the ash of a cigar, which
my special knowledge of tobacco ashes enables me to pronounce
as an Indian cigar. I have, as you know, devoted
(50:33):
some attention to this and written a little monograph on
the ashes of one hundred forty different varieties of pipe
cigar and cigarette tobacco. Having found the ash, I then
looked round and discovered the stump among the moss where
he had tossed it. It was an Indian cigar of
the variety which are rolled in Rotterdam, and the cigar
(50:56):
holder I could see that the end had not been
in his mouth, therefore he used a holder. The tip
had been cut off, not bitten off, but the cut
was not a clean one, so I deduced a blunt penknife.
Speaker 2 (51:12):
Holmes, I said, you.
Speaker 1 (51:14):
Have drawn a net round this man from which he
cannot escape, and you have saved an innocent human life,
as truly as if you had cut the cord which.
Speaker 2 (51:22):
Was hanging him.
Speaker 1 (51:24):
I see the direction in which all this points the
culprit is. Mister John Turner, cried, the hotel waiter, opening
the door of our sitting room and ushering in a visitor.
The man who entered was a strange and impressive figure.
His slow limping step and bowed shoulders gave the appearance
(51:45):
of decrepitude, and yet his hard, deep lined, craggy features
and his enormous limbs showed that he was possessed of
unusual strength of body and of character. His tangled beard,
grizzled and outstanding drooping eyebrows combined to give an air
of dignity and power to his appearance. But his face
(52:08):
was of an ashen white, while his lips and the
corners of his nostrils were tinged with a shade of blue.
It was clear to me at a glance that he
was in the grip of some deadly and chronic disease.
Speaker 2 (52:22):
Pray sit down on the sofa.
Speaker 1 (52:25):
Said Holmes gently. You had my note, Yes, the lodge
keeper brought it up. You said that you wished to
see me here to avoid scandal. I thought people would
talk if I went to the hall, And why did
you wish to see me? He looked across at my
(52:46):
companion with despair in his weary eyes, as though his
question was already answered. Yes, said Holmes, answering the look
rather than the words. It is so I know all
about McCarthy. The old man sank his face in his hands.
God help me, he cried. But I would not have
(53:09):
let the young man come to harm. I give you
my word that I would have spoken out if it
went against him at the assizes. I am glad to
hear you say so, said Holmes gravely. I would have
spoken now had it not been for my dear girl.
It would break her heart. It will break her heart
(53:30):
when she hears that I am arrested. It may not
come to that, said Holmes. What I am no official agent.
I understand that it was your daughter who required my
presence here, and I am acting in her interests. Young
McCarthy must be got off. However, I am a dying man,
(53:54):
said old Turner. I have had diabetes for years. My
doctor says it is a question whether I shall live
a month. Yet I would rather die under my own
roof than in a jail. Holmes rose and sat down
at the table, with his pen in his hand and
a bundle of paper before him. Just tell us the truth,
(54:17):
he said. I shall jot down the facts, you will
sign it, and Watson here can witness it. Then I
could produce your confession at the last extremity to save
young McCarthy. I promise you that I shall not use
it unless it is absolutely needed. It says well, said
the old man. It's a question whether I shall live
(54:40):
to the assizes. So it matters little to me, but
I should wish to spare Alice the shock. And now
I will make the thing clear to you. It has
been a long time in the acting, but will not
take me long to tell you didn't know this dead
man and McCarthy. He was a devil incarnate. I tell
(55:05):
you that God keep you out of the clutches of
such a man as he. His grip has been upon
me these twenty years, and he has blasted my life.
I'll tell you first how I came to be in
his power. It was in the early sixties at the Diggings.
Speaker 2 (55:26):
I was a young.
Speaker 1 (55:27):
Chap then, hot blooded and reckless, ready to turn my
hand at anything I got among bad companions. Took to drink,
had no luck with my claim, took to the bush,
and in a word, became what you would call over
here a highway robber. There were six of us and
(55:49):
we had a wild, free life of it, sticking up
a station from time to time, or stopping the wagons
on the road to the diggings. Blackjack of Bellaratu was
the name I went under, and our party is still
remembered in the colony as the Ballarat Gang. One day
a gold convoy came down from Ballarat to Melbourne, and
(56:12):
we lay in wait for it and attacked it. There
were six troopers and six of us, so it was
a close thing, but we emptied four of their saddles.
At the first volley. Three of our boys were killed. However,
before we got the swag, I put my pistol to
the head of the wagon driver, who was this very
man McCarthy. A wish to the Lord that I had
(56:35):
shot him then, but I spared him, though I saw
his wicked little eyes fixed on my face, as though
to remember every feature. We got away with the gold,
became wealthy men and made our way over to England
without being suspected. There I parted from my old pals
and determined to settle down to a quiet and respectable life.
(56:59):
I bought this estate which chanced to be in the market,
and I set myself to do a little good with
my money to make up for the way in which
I had earned it. I married too, and though my
wife died young, she left me my dear little Alice,
even when she was just a baby. Her wee hand
(57:20):
seemed to lead me down the right path as nothing
else had ever done. In a word, I turned over
a new leaf and did my best to make up
for the past. All was going well when McCarthy laid
his grip upon me. I had gone up to town
about an investment, and I met him in Regent Street
(57:41):
with hardly a coat to his back or a boot
to his foot. Here we are, jack, says he, touching
me on the arm. We'll be as good as a
family to you. There's two of us, me and my son,
and you can have the keeping of us if you don't.
It's a fine, law abiding country is England, and there's
(58:04):
always a policeman within hail well down. They came to
the West Country, there was no shaking them off, and
there they have lived rent free on my best land
ever since. There was no rest for me, no peace,
no forgetfulness, turn where I would, there was his cunning,
(58:24):
grinning face at my elbow. It grew worse as Alice
grew up, for he soon saw I was more afraid
of her knowing my past than of the police. Whatever
he wanted he must have, and whatever it was I
gave him without question, land, money, houses, until at last
he asked a thing which I could not give. He
(58:47):
asked for Alice. His son, you see, had grown up,
and so had my girl, And as I was known
to be in weak health, it seemed a fine stroke
to him that his lad should step into the whole property.
But there I was firm. I would not have his
cursed stock mixed with mine, not that I had. And
(59:09):
he disliked to the lad, but his blood was in him,
and that was enough. I stood firm. MacCarthy threatened, I
braved him to do his worst. We were to meet
at the pool midway between our houses to talk it over.
When I went down there, I found him talking with
(59:29):
his son. So I smoked a cigar and waited behind
a tree until he should be alone. But as I
listened to his talk, all that was black and bitter
in me seemed to come uppermost. He was urging his
son to marry my daughter with as little regard for
what she might think as if she were a slut
from off the streets. He drove me mad to think
(59:52):
that I and all that I held most deer, should
be in the power of such a man as this.
Could I not snap the bond. I was already a
dying and desperate man. Though clear of mind and fairly
strong of limb. I knew that my own fate was sealed.
But my memory and my girl both could be saved
(01:00:14):
if I could but silence that foul tongue. I did it,
mister Holmes, I would do it again, deeply as I
have sinned. I have led a life of martyrdom to
atone for it. But that my girl should be entangled
in the same meshes which held me was more than
I could suffer. I struck him down with no more
(01:00:36):
compunction than if he had been some foul and venomous beast.
His cry brought back his son, but I had gained
the cover of the wood, though I was forced to
go back to fetch the cloak which I had dropped
in my flight. That is the true story, gentlemen, of
all that occurred, well it is not for me to
(01:00:58):
judge you, said Hulme Holmes, as the old man signed
the statement which had been drawn out. I pray that
we may never be exposed to such a temptation. I
pray not, sir. And what do you intend to do
in view of your health?
Speaker 2 (01:01:16):
Nothing?
Speaker 1 (01:01:17):
You are yourself aware that you will soon have to
answer for your deed at a higher court than the assizes.
I will keep your confession, and if MacCarthy is condemned,
I shall be forced to use it. If not, it
shall never be seen my mortal eye, and your secret,
whether you be alive or dead, shall be safe with us. Farewell, then,
(01:01:41):
said the old man, solemnly. Your own death beds, when
they come, will be the easier for the thought of
the peace which.
Speaker 2 (01:01:48):
You have given to mine.
Speaker 1 (01:01:50):
Tottering and shaking in all his giant frame, he stumbled
slowly from the room. God help us, said Holmes, after
a long silence. Why does fate play such tricks with
poor helpless worms. I never hear of such a case
as this that I do not think of Baxter's words
(01:02:10):
and say, there but for the grace of God, goes
Sherlock Holmes. James McCarthy was acquitted at the Assizes on
the strength of a number of objections which have been
drawn out by Holmes and submitted to the defending council.
Old Turner lived for seven months after our interview, but
(01:02:32):
he is now dead, and there is every prospect that
the son and daughter may come to live haply together,
in ignorance of the black cloud which rests upon their past.
Speaker 2 (01:02:45):
End of adventure four
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