06 - Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Dive into the final volume of Arthur Conan Doyles detective stories, where he bids a heartfelt farewell to his most renowned creation - Sherlock Holmes. These eclectic tales span different stages of Holmess life, including his retirement, and are narrated from varying perspectives, including Watson, Holmes, and an omnipotent narrator. While many stories showcase Holmess famed deductive reasoning, others highlight lesser-known aspects of his character, such as his compassion, empathy, and sense of humor. His rapport with Dr. Watson, while occasionally blunt, is marked by kindness, affection, and professional respect, painting a portrait of a profound and intricate friendship that captivates readers. (Summary by T. A. Copeland).

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Section five of the Case Book of Sherlock Holmes by
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. This LibriVox according is in the
public domain. Read by Thomas Copeland, Story five The Adventure
of the Sussex Vampire. Holmes had read carefully a note
which the last post had brought him. Then, with the
dry chuckle, which was his nearest approach to a laugh,

(00:23):
he tossed it over to me. For a mixture of
the modern and the medieval, of the practical and the
wildly fanciful. I think this is surely the limit, said he.
What do you make of it? Watson? I read as
follows forty six Old Jewry, November nineteenth Ray Vampires, Sir,

(00:45):
our client, mister Robert Ferguson of Ferguson and Mirror Head
Tea Brokers of Mincing Lane, has made some inquiry from
us in a communication of even date concerning vampires. As
our firm specializes in entirely upon the assessment of machinery,
the matter hardly comes within our purview, and we have

(01:06):
therefore recommended mister Ferguson to call upon you and lay
the matter before you. We have not forgotten your successful
action in the case of Matilda Briggs. We are sir,
faithfully yours Morrison, Morrison and Dodd per E j C.
Matilda Briggs was not the name of a young woman, Watson,

(01:26):
said Holmes in a reminiscent voice. It was a ship
which is associated with the giant rat of Sumatra, a
story for which the world is not yet prepared. But
what do we know about vampires? Does it come within
our purview? Either anything is better than stagnation. But really
we seem to have been switched on to a grim's

(01:48):
fairy tale. Make a long arm, Watson, and see what
vee has to say. I leaned back and took down
the great index volume to which he referred. Holmes balanced
it on his knee, and his eyes moved slowly and
lovingly over the record of old cases mixed with the
accumulated information of a lifetime voyage of the glorious Scott.

(02:11):
He read that was a bad business. I have some
recollection that you made a record of at Watson, though
I was unable to congratulate you upon the result. Victor Lynch,
the forger Venomous Lizard, or Heila remarkable case that Vittoria
the circus Bell, Vanderbilt and the Yeggman, vipers, Vigor, the

(02:34):
Hammersmith wonder. Hello, Hello, good old index. You can't beat it.
Listen to this, Watson. Vampirism in Hungary, and again vampires
in Transylvania. He turned over the pages with eagerness, but
after a short intent perusal, he threw down the great
book with a snarl of disappointment. Rubbish, Watson, rubbish. What

(02:56):
have we to do with walking corpses who can only
be held in their grave by stakes driven through their hearts?
Is pure lunacy. But surely, said I, the vampire was
not necessarily a dead man. A living person might have
the habit I have read, for example, of the old
sucking the blood of the young in order to retain
their youth. You are right, Watson, it mentions the legend

(03:19):
in one of these references. But are we to give
serious attention to such things? This agency stands flat footed
upon the ground, and there it must be rain. The
world is big enough for us. No ghosts need apply.
I fear that we cannot take mister Robert Ferguson very
seriously impossibly. This note may be from him, and may

(03:43):
throw some light upon what is worrying him. He took
up a second letter, which had lain unnoticed upon the
table whilst he had been absorbed with the first. This
he began to read with a smile of amusement upon
his face, which gradually faded away into an expression of intent,
interest and concentration. When he had finished, he sat for

(04:04):
some little time, lost in thought, with the letter dangling
from his fingers. Finally, with a start, he aroused himself
from his reverie Cheeseman's Lamberley. Where is Lamberley, Watson? It
is in Sussex, south of Horsham, not very far eh
and Cheeseman's. I know that country homes. It is full

(04:27):
of old houses which are named after the men who
built them centuries ago. You get Oddley's and Harvey's and Carratns.
The folk are forgotten, but their names live in their houses. Precisely,
said Holmes coldly. It was one of the peculiarities of
his proud, self contained nature, that, though he docketed any
fresh information very quickly and accurately in his brain, he

(04:50):
seldom made any acknowledgment to the giver. I rather fancy
we shall know a good deal more about Cheeseman's Lamberley
before we are through. The letter is as I had
hoped from Robert Ferguson. By the way he claims acquaintance
with you with me, you had better read it. He
handed the letter across. It was headed with the address quoted,

(05:13):
Dear mister Holmes said, I have been recommended to you
by my lawyers. But indeed the matter is so extraordinarily
delicate that it is most difficult to discuss. It concerns
a friend for whom I enacting This gentleman married some
five years ago a Peruvian lady, the daughter of a
Peruvian merchant whom he had met in connection with the

(05:34):
importation of nitrates. The lady was very beautiful, but the
fact of her foreign birth and of her alien religion
always caused a separation of interests and of feelings between
husband and wife, so that after a time his love
may have cooled towards her, and he may have come
to regard their union as a mistake. He felt there

(05:55):
were sides of her character which he could never explore
or understand. This was the more painful, as she was
as loving a wife as a man could have, to
all appearance, absolutely devoted. Now for the point which I
will make more plain when we meet. Indeed, this note
is merely to give you a general idea of the situation,

(06:17):
and to ascertain whether you would care to interest yourself
in the matter. The lady began to show some curious
traits quite alien to her ordinarily sweet and gentle disposition.
The gentleman had been married twice, and he had one
son by the first wife. This boy was now fifteen,
a very charming and affectionate youth, though unhappily injured through

(06:39):
an accident in childhood. Twice the wife was caught in
the act of assaulting this poor lad in the most
unprovoked way. Once she struck him with a stick and
left a great wheel on his arm. This was a
small matter, however, compared with a conduct to her own child,
a dear boy just under one year of age. On

(06:59):
one occasion, about a month ago, the child had been
left by its nurse for a few minutes. A loud
cry from the baby as of pain, called the nurse back.
As she ran into the room, she saw her employer,
the lady, leaning over the baby and apparently biting his neck.
There was a small wound in the neck, from which
a stream of blood had escaped. The nurse was so

(07:22):
horrified that she wished to call the husband, but the
lady implored her not to do so, and actually gave
her five pounds as a price for her silence. No
explanation was ever given, and for the moment the matter
was passed over. It left, however, a terrible impression upon
the nurse's mind, and from that time she began to
watch her mistress closely, and to keep a closer guard

(07:45):
upon the baby, whom she tenderly loved. It seemed to
her that even as she watched the mother, so the
mother watched her, and that every time she was compelled
to leave the baby alone, the mother was waiting to
get at it. Day and night, night the nurse covered
the child, and day and night the silent, watchful mother
seemed to be lying in wait as a wolf waits

(08:08):
for a lamb. It must read most incredible to you,
and yet I beg you to take it seriously, for
a child's life and a man's sanity may depend upon it.
At last, there came one dreadful day when the facts
could no longer be concealed from the husband. The nurse's
nerve had given way. She could stand astray no longer,
and she made a clean breast of it all to

(08:29):
the man. To him it seemed as wild a tale
as it may now seem to you. He knew his
wife to be a loving wife, and, save for the
assaults upon her step son, a loving mother. Why then
should she wound her own dear little baby. He told
the nurse that she was dreaming, that her suspicions were
those of a lunatic, and that such libels upon her

(08:51):
mistress were not to be tolerated. Whilst they were talking,
a sudden cry of pain was heard. Nurse and master
rushed together to the nursery. Imagine his feelings, mister Holmes,
as he saw his wife rise from a kneeling position
beside the cot, and saw blood upon the child's exposed
neck and upon the sheet. With a cry of horror,

(09:13):
he turned his wife's face to the light and saw
blood all round her lips. It was she, she, beyond
all question, who had drunk the poor baby's blood. So
the matter stands. She is now confined to her room.
There has been no explanation. The husband is half demented.
He knows, and I know little of vamporism. Beyond the name.

(09:35):
We had thought it was some wild tale of foreign parts.
And yet here in the very heart of the English Sussex. Well,
all this can be discussed with you in the morning.
Will you see me? Will you use your great powers
in aiding a distracted man? If so kindly wire to
Ferguson Cheeseman's Lamberley, and I will be at your rooms

(09:56):
by ten o'clock. Yours faithfully, Robert Ferguson. Yes, I believe
your friend Watson played rugby for Blackheath when I was
three quarter for Richmond. It is the only personal introduction
which I can give. Of course, I remember him, said
I as I laid down the letter. Beg Bob Ferguson,
the finest three quarter Richmond ever had. He was always

(10:19):
a good natured chap. It's like him to be so
concerned over a friend's case. Holmes looked at me thoughtfully
and shook his head. I never get your limits, Watson
said he. There are unexplored possibilities about you. Take a
wire down like a good fellow. We'll examine your case
with pleasure. Your case. We must not let him think

(10:43):
that this agency is a home for the weak minded.
Of course, it is his case, send him that wire
and let the matter rest till morning. Promptly, at ten
o'clock next morning, Ferguson strode into our room. I had
remembered him as a long, slab sided man with loose
limbs and a fine turn of speed, which had carried

(11:04):
him round many an opposing back. There is surely nothing
in life more painful than to meet the wreck of
a fine athlete whom one has known in his prime.
His great frame had fallen in, his flaxen hair were scanty,
and his shoulders were bowed. I fear that I roused
corresponding emotions in him, Hullo, Watson said he, and his

(11:26):
voice was still deep and hearty. You don't look quite
the man you did when I threw you over the
ropes into the crowd at the Old Deer Park. I
expect I've changed a bit also, but it's this last
day or two that has aged me. I see by
your telegram, mister Holmes, that it is no use my
pretending to be any one's deputy. It is simpler to

(11:47):
deal direct, said Holmes. Of course it is, but you
can imagine how difficult it is when you are speaking
of the one woman whom you are bound to protect
and help. What can I do? How am I to
go to the police with such a story, and yet
the kiddies have got to be protected? Is it madness,
mister Holmes? Is it something in the blood? Have you

(12:10):
any similar case in your experience? For God's sake, give
me some advice, for I am at my wits end
very naturally, mister Ferguson. Now sit here and pull yourself
together and give me a few clear answers. I can
assure you that I am very far from being at
my wits end, and that I am confident we shall
find some solution. First of all, tell me what steps

(12:34):
you have taken. Is your wife still near the children?
We had a dreadful scene. She is a most loving woman,
mister Holmes. If ever a woman loved a man with
all her heart and soul, she loves me. She was
cut to the heart that I should have discovered this horrible,
this incredible secret. She would not even speak. She gave

(12:54):
no answer to my reproaches, save to gaze at me
with a sort of wild, despairing look in her eyes.
Then she rushed to her room and locked herself in.
Since then, she has refused to see me. She has
a maid who was with her before her marriage, Dolores
by name, a friend rather than a servant. She takes
her food to her. Then the child is in no

(13:16):
immediate danger. Missus Mason. The nurse has sworn that she
will not leave it night or day. I can absolutely
trust her. I am more uneasy about poor little Jack, for,
as I told you in my note, he has twice
been assaulted by her, but never wounded. No, she struck
him savagely. It is the more terrible as he is

(13:38):
a poor, little, inoffensive cripple. Ferguson's gaunt features softened as
he spoke of his boy. You would think that the
dear lad's condition would soften any one's heart. A fall
in childhood and a twisted spine, mister Holmes, but the dearest,
most loving heart within. Holmes had picked up the letter

(13:59):
of yesterday and was reading it over. What other inmates
are there in your house, mister Ferguson. Two servants who
have not been long with us, One stable hand Michael,
who sleeps in the house, my wife, myself, my boy Jack, baby, Dolores,
and missus Mason. That is all I gather that you
did not know your wife well at the time of

(14:21):
your marriage. I had only known her a few weeks.
How long had this made Dolores been with her some years?
Then your wife's character would really be better known by
Dolores than by you. Yes, you may say so. Holmes
made a note. I fancy said, he that I may
be of more use at Lamberley than here. It is

(14:44):
eminently a case for personal investigation. If the lady remains
in her room, our presence could not annoy or inconvenience her.
Of course we would stay at the inn. Ferguson gave
a gesture of relief. It is what I hoped, mister Holmes.
There is an excellent train too from Victoria if you
could come. Of course we could come. There is a

(15:07):
lull at present. I can give you my undivided energies.
Watson of course comes with us. But there are one
or two points upon which I wish to be very
sure before I start. This unhappy lady, as I understand it,
has appeared to assault both the children, her own baby
and your little son. That is so, but the attacks

(15:30):
take different forms, do they not. She has beaten her
son once with a stick, and once very savagely with
her hands. Did she give no explanation why she struck him? None,
save that she hated him again and again she said,
so well, that is not unknown among stepmothers. Er posthumous jealousy,

(15:51):
we will say, is the lady jealous by nature? Yes,
she is very jealous, jealous with all the strength of
her fiery, tropical love. But the boy, he is fifteen,
I understand, and probably very developed in mind, since his
body has been circumscribed in action. Did he give you
no explanation of these assaults? No, he declared, there was

(16:15):
no reason. Were they good friends at other times? No,
there was never any love between them. Yet you say
he is affectionate. Never in the world could there be
so devoted a son. My life is his life. He
is absorbed in what I say or do. Once again,

(16:35):
Holmes made a note. For some time he sat lost
in thought. No doubt you and the boy were great
comrades before this second marriage. You were thrown very close together,
were you not very much so? And the boy, having
so affectionate a nature, was devoted, no doubt to the
memory of his mother. Most devoted he would certainly seem

(16:59):
to be a most interesting lad. There is one other
point about these assaults, with a strange attacks upon the
baby and the assaults upon your son at the same period.
In the first case it was so, it was as
if some frenzy had seized her and she had vented
her rage upon both. In the second case it was

(17:19):
only Jack who suffered. Missus Mason had no complaint to
make about the baby. That certainly complicates matters. I don't
quite follow you, mister Holmes. Possibly not. One forms provisional
theories and waits for time or fuller knowledge to explode them.
A bad habit, mister Ferguson. But human nature is weak.

(17:42):
I fear that your old friend here has given an
exaggerated view of my scientific methods. However, I will only
say at the present stage that your problem does not
appear to me to be insoluble, and that you may
expect to find us at Vittoria. At two o'clock. It
was evening of a dull, foggy November day, when, having

(18:05):
left our bags at the Chequers Lamberley, we drove through
the Sussex clay of a long winding drive and finally
reached the isolated and ancient farmhouse in which Ferguson dwelt.
It was a large, straggling building, very old in the center,
very new at the wings, with towering Tudor chimneys and
achen spotted, high pitched roof of horseham slabs. The doorsteps

(18:30):
were worn into curves, and the ancient tiles which lined
the porch were marked with the rebus of a cheese
and a man after the original builder. Within, the ceilings
were corrugated with heavy oaken beams, and the uneven floors
sagged into sharp curves. An odor of age and decay
pervaded the whole crumbling building. There was one very large

(18:53):
central room into which Ferguson led us. Here in a
huge old fashioned fireplace with an iron screen behind mind
it dated sixteen seventy. There blazed and spluttered a splendid
log fire. The room, as I gazed round, was a
most singular mixture of dates and of places. The half
paneled walls may well have belonged to the original Yeoman

(19:15):
farmer of the seventeenth century. They were ornamented, however, on
the lower part by a line of well chosen modern
water colors, while above, where yellow plaster took the place
of oak, there was hung a fine collection of South
American utensils and weapons, which had been brought, no doubt
by the Peruvian lady upstairs. Holmes rose with that quick

(19:36):
curiosity which sprang from his eager mind, and examined them
with some care. He returned with his eyes full of thought. Hullo,
he cried, Hullo. A spaniel had lain in a basket
in the corner. It came slowly forwards towards its master,

(19:56):
walking with difficulty. Its hind legs moved irregularly, and its
tail was on the ground. It licked Ferguson's hand. What
is it, mister Holmes? The dog? What's the matter with it?
That's what puzzled the vet. A sort of paralysis, spinal meningitis,
he thought. But it is passing. He'll be all right soon.

(20:17):
Monte Carlo. A shiver of assent passed through the drooping tail.
The dog's mournful eyes passed from one of us to
the other. He knew that we were discussing his case.
Did it come on suddenly in a single night? How
long ago it may have been four months ago? Very remarkable,

(20:39):
very suggestive. What do you see in it? Mister Holmes,
a confirmation of what I had already thought. For God's sake,
what do you think, mister Holmes. It may be a
mere intellectual puzzle to you, but it is life and
death to me. My wife a would be murderer, my
child in constant danger. Don't play with me, mister Holmes.

(20:59):
It is too terribly serious. The big rugby three quarter
was trembling all over. Holmes put his hand soothingly upon
his arm. I fear that there is pain for you,
mister Ferguson. Whatever the solution may be, said he. I
would spare you all I can. I cannot say more
for the instant, but before I leave this house, I

(21:19):
hope I may have something definite. Please God, you may,
if you will excuse me, gentlemen, I will go up
to my wife's room and see if there has been
any change. He was away some minutes, during which Holmes
resumed his examination of the curiosities upon the wall. When
our host returned, it was clear from his downcast face

(21:40):
that he had made no progress. He brought with him
a tall, slim, brown faced girl. The tea is ready
to loris, said Ferguson. See that your mistress has everything
she can wish. She very ill, cried the girl, looking
with indignant eyes at her master. She now ask for food.
She very ill, she need doctor. I frightened stay alone

(22:01):
with her without doctor. Ferguson looked at me with a
question in his eyes. I should be so glad if
I could be of use. Would your mistress see doctor Watson?
I take him. I now ask leave, she needs doctor,
then I'll come with you. At once. I followed the girl,
who was quivering with strong emotion, up the staircase and

(22:23):
down an ancient corridor. At the end was an iron
clamped and massive door. It struck me as I looked
at it that if Ferguson tried to force his way
to his wife, he would find it no easy matter.
The girl drew a key from her pocket, and the
heavy oaken planks creaked upon their old hinges. I passed in,
and she swiftly followed, fastening the door behind her. On

(22:46):
the bed, a woman was lying who was clearly in
a high fever. She was only half conscious, but as
I entered, she raised a pair of frightened but beautiful
eyes and glared at me in apprehension. Seeing a stranger,
She app to be relieved, and sank back with a
sigh upon the pillow. I stepped up to her with
a few reassuring words, and she lay still while I

(23:08):
took her pulse and temperature both were high, and yet
my impression was that the condition was rather that of
mental and nervous excitement than of any actual seizure. She
lie like that one day, two day. I fraid she'd die,
said the girl. The woman turned her flushed and handsome
face towards me. Where is my husband? He is below

(23:31):
and would wish to see you. I will not see him.
I will not see him. Then she seemed to wander
off into delirium. A fiend, A fiend, Oh, what shall
I do with this devil? Can I help you in
any way? No? No one can help. It is finished,

(23:51):
All is destroyed. Do what I will, all is destroyed.
The woman must have some strange delusion. I could not
see Bob Ferguson in the character of fiend or devil. Madame.
I said, your husband loves you dearly. He is deeply
grieved at this happening. Again, she turned on me those
glorious eyes. He loves me, yes, But do I not

(24:14):
love him? Do I not love him even to sacrifice
myself rather than break his dear heart. That is how
I love him. And yet he could think of me,
he could speak of me. So he is full of grief.
But he cannot understand. No, he cannot understand, but he
should trust. Will you not see him, I suggested, No, No,

(24:39):
I cannot forget those terrible words, nor the look upon
his face. I will not see him. Go now, you
can do nothing for me. Tell him only one thing.
I want my child. I have a right to my child.
That is the only message I can send him. She
turned her face to the wall and would say no more.

(25:01):
I returned to the room downstairs, where Ferguson and Holmes
still sat by the fire. Ferguson listened moodily to my
account of the interview. How can I sent her the child?
He said? How do I know what strange impulse might
come upon her? How can I ever forget how she
rose from beside it with its blood upon her lips.

(25:22):
He shuddered at the recollection. The child is safe with
Missus Mason, and there he must remain a smart maid.
The only modern thing which we had seen in the
house had brought in some tea. As she was serving it,
the door opened and a youth entered the room. It
was a remarkable lad, pale faced and fair haired, with excitable,

(25:43):
light blue eyes which blazed into a sudden flame of
emotion and joy as they rested upon his father. He
rushed forward and threw his arms round his neck with
the abandon of a loving girl. Oh, Daddy, he cried,
I did not know that you would do yet, I
should have been here to meet you. Oh, I am
so glad to see you. Ferguson gently disengaged himself from

(26:08):
the embrace with some little show of embarrassment. Dear old
Chap said, he patting the flaxen head with a very
tender hand. I came early because my friends mister Holmes
and doctor Watson have been persuaded to come down and
spend an evening with us. Is that mister Holmes, the detective. Yes.
The youth looked at us with a very penetrating, and

(26:29):
as it seemed to me, unfriendly gaze. What about your
other child, mister Ferguson asked Holmes. Might we make the
acquaintance of the baby? Ask missus Mason to bring baby down,
said Ferguson. The boy went off with a curious, shambling gait,
which told my surgical eyes that he was suffering from
a weak spine. Presently he returned, and behind him came

(26:52):
a tall, gaunt woman bearing in her arms a very
beautiful child, dark eyed, golden haired, a wonderful mixture of
the Saxon and the Latin. Ferguson was evidently devoted to it,
for he took it into his arms and fondled it
most tenderly. Fancy any one having the heart to hurt him,
he muttered, as he glanced down at the small, angry

(27:14):
red pucker upon the cherub throat. It was at this
moment that I chanced to glance at Holmes and saw
a most singular intentness in his expression. His face was
as set as if it had been carved out of
old ivory, and his eyes, which had glanced for a
moment at father and child, were now fixed with eager

(27:34):
curiosity upon something at the other side of the room.
Following his gaze, I could only guess that he was
looking out through the window at the melancholy, dripping garden.
It is true that a shutter had half closed outside
and obstructed the view, but none the less, it was
certainly at the window that Holmes was fixing his concentrated attention.

(27:56):
Then he smiled, and his eyes came back to the baby.
On its chubby neck, there was this small puckered mark.
Without speaking, Holmes examined it with care. Finally, he shook
one of the dimpled fists, which waved in front of him.
Good Bye, little man, you have made a strange start
in life. Nurse, I should wish to have a word

(28:19):
with you in private. He took her aside and spoke
earnestly for a few minutes. I only heard the last words,
which were your anxiety will soon, I hope be set
at rest. The woman, who seemed to be a sour,
silent kind of creature, withdrew with the child. What is
missus Mason like, asked Holmes. Not very prepossessing externally as

(28:43):
you can see, but a heart of gold and devoted
to the child. Do you like her? Jack Holmes turned
suddenly upon the boy. His expressive mobile face shadowed over
and he shook his head. Jackie has very strong likes
and dislikes, said Fergus, putting his arm round the boy. Luckily,
I am one of his likes. The boy cooed and

(29:06):
nestled his head upon his father's breast. Ferguson gently disengaged him.
Run away, little Jackie, said he, and he watched his
son with loving eyes until he disappeared. Now, mister Holmes,
he continued, when the boy was gone, I really feel
that I have brought you on a fool's errand for
what can you possibly do save give me your sympathy.

(29:27):
It must be an exceedingly delicate and complex affair. From
your point of view. It is certainly delicate, said my friend,
with an amused smile. But I have not been struck
up to now with its complexity. It has been a
case for intellectual deduction. But when this original intellectual deduction
is confirmed point by point, by quite a number of

(29:49):
independent incidents, then the subjective becomes objective, and we can
say confidently that we have reached our goal. I had,
in fact reached it before we left Baker Street, and
the rest has merely been observation and confirmation. Ferguson put
his big hand to his furrowed forehead. For heaven sake, Holmes,

(30:10):
he said, hoarsely, if you can see the truth in
this matter, do not keep me in suspense? How do
I stand? What shall I do? I care nothing as
to how you have found your facts, so long as
you have really got them. Certainly I owe you an explanation,
and you shall have it. But you will permit me
to handle the matter in my own way. Is the

(30:31):
lady capable of seeing us? Watson? She is ill, but
she is quite rational, very good. It is only in
her presence that we can clear the matter up. Let
us go up to her. She will not see me,
cried Ferguson. Oh yes she will, said Holmes. He scribbled
a few lines upon a sheet of paper. You at

(30:52):
least have the entree, Watson. Will you have the goodness
to give the lady this note? I ascended again and
handed the note to Dolores, who cautiously opened the door.
A minute later I heard a cry from within, a
cry in which joy and surprise seemed to be blended.
Dolores looked out. She will see them, she will listen,

(31:13):
said she at my summons. Ferguson and Holmes came up.
As we entered the room. Ferguson took a step or
two towards his wife, who had raised herself in the bed,
but she held out her hand to repulse him. He
sank into an arm chair, while Holmes seated himself beside him,
after bowing to the lady, who looked at him with
wide eyed amazement. I think we can dispense with Dolores,

(31:38):
said Holmes. Oh very well, madame, if you would rather,
she stayed. I can see no objection now, mister Ferguson.
I am a busy man with many calls, and my
methods have to be short and direct. The swiftest surgery
is the least painful. Let me first say what will
ease your mind. Your wife is a very good, a

(31:58):
very loving, and a very ill used woman. Ferguson sat
up with a cry of joy. Prove that, mister Holmes,
and I am your debtor forever. I will do so,
but in doing so I must wound you deeply in
another direction. I care nothing so long as you clear
my wife. Everything on earth is insignificant compared to that.

(32:21):
Let me tell you then, the train of reasoning which
passed through my mind in Baker Street. The idea of
a vampire was to me absurd. Such things do not
happen in criminal practice in England. And yet Your observation
was precise. You had seen the lady rise from beside
the child's caught with the blood upon her lips. I did.

(32:41):
Did it not occur to you that a bleeding wound
may be sucked for some other purpose than to draw
the blood from it? Was there not a queen in
English history who sucked such a wound to draw poison
from it? Poison a South American household. My instinct felt
the presence of those weapons upon the wall before my
eyes ever saw them. It might have been other poison,

(33:05):
but that was what occurred to me when I saw
that little empty quiver beside the small bird bow. It
was just what I expected to see. If the child
were pricked with one of those arrows dipped in curare
or some other devilish drug, it would mean death if
the venom were not sucked out, and the dog. If

(33:25):
one were to use such a poison, would one not
try it first in order to see that it had
not lost its power? I did not see the dog,
but at least I understood him, and he fitted into
my reconstruction. Now do you understand your wife feared such
an attack, She saw it made and saved the child's life.

(33:46):
And yet she shrank from telling you all the truth,
for she knew how you loved the boy, and feared
lest it break your heart. Jackie. I watched him as
you fondled the child just now. His face was clearly
reflected in the glass of the window, where the shutter
formed a background. I saw such jealousy, such cruel hatred,

(34:08):
as I have seldom seen in a human face. My Jackie.
You have to face it, mister Ferguson. It is the
more painful because it is a distorted love, a maniacal,
exaggerated love for you and possibly for his dead mother,
which has prompted his action. His very soul is consumed

(34:29):
with hatred for this splendid child, whose health and beauty
are contrast to his own weakness. Good God, it is incredible.
Have I spoken the truth? Madame? The lady was sobbing,
with her face buried in the pillows. Now she turned
to her husband. How could I tell you, Bob, I

(34:51):
felt the blow it would be to you. It was
better that I should wait, and that it should come
from some other lips than mine. When this general who
seems to have powers of magic, wrote that he knew
all I was glad. I think a year at sea
would be my prescription for Master Jackie, said Holmes, rising

(35:13):
from his chair. Only one thing is still clouded, madame.
We can quite understand your attacks upon Master Jackie. There
is a limit to a mother's patience. But how did
you dare to leave the child these last two days?
I had told missus Mason. She knew exactly so, I imagined.

(35:35):
Ferguson was standing by the bed, choking, his hands outstretched
and quivering. This, I fancy is the time for our exit, Watson,
said Holmes in a whisper. If you will take one
elbow of the two faithful Dolores, I will take the other.
There Now, he added, as he closed the door behind him,

(35:56):
I think we may leave them to settle the rest
among themselves. I have only one further note of this case.
It is the letter which Holmes wrote in final answer
to that with which the narrative begins. It ran thus
Baker Street, November twenty first, Ray Vampires, Sir, referring to

(36:16):
your letter of the nineteenth, I beg to state that
I have looked into the inquiry of your client, mister
Robert Ferguson of Ferguson and Weirhead tea brokers of Mincing Lane,
and that the matter has been brought to a satisfactory conclusion.
With thanks for your recommendation, I am sir, faithfully yours,
Sherlock Holmes end of the Adventure of the Sussex Vampire