The Valley of Fear V 4 - A Dawning Light

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Part one, Chapter six of the Valley of Fay by
Arthur Conan Doyle. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox
recordings are in the public domain. For more information or
to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Chapter six Adawning Light.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
The three detectives had many matters of detail into which
to inquire, so I returned alone to our modest quarters
at the village inn. But before doing so, I took
a stroll in the curious old world garden which flanked
the house. Rows of very ancient yew trees cut into
strange designs girded it round. Inside was a beautiful stretch

(00:46):
of lawn with an old sun dial in the middle,
the whole effect so soothing and RESTful that it was
welcome to my somewhat jangled nerves. In that deeply peaceful
atmosphere one could forget or remember only as some fantastic
nightmare that darkened study with the sprawling, blood stained figure

(01:08):
on the floor. And yet as I strolled round it
and tried to steep my soul in its gentle balm,
a strange incident occurred which brought me back to the
tragedy and left a sinister impression in my mind. I
have said that a decoration of yew trees circled the garden.

(01:28):
At the end farthest from the house, they thickened into
a continuous hedge. On the other side of this hedge,
concealed from the eyes of any one approaching from the
direction of the house, there was a stone seat. As
I approached the spot, I was aware of voices, some
remark in the deep tones of a man, answered by

(01:49):
a little ripple of feminine laughter. An instant later I
had come round the end of the hedge, and my
eyes lit upon Missus Douglas and the man Barker, before
they were aware of my presence. Her appearance gave me
a shock. In the dining room, she had been demure
and discreet. Now all pretense of grief had passed away

(02:13):
from her, her eyes shone with the joy of living,
and her face still quivered with amusement at some remark
of her companion. He sat forward, his hands clasped and
his forearms on his knees, with an answering smile upon
his bold, handsome face. In an instant, but it was
just one instant too late. They resumed their solemn masks.

(02:37):
As my figure came into view, A hurried word or
two passed between them, and then Barker rose and came
towards me.

Speaker 3 (02:46):
Excuse me, sir, said he, But am I addressing doctor Watson.

Speaker 2 (02:52):
I bowed with a coldness which showed, I dare say,
very plainly the impression which had been produced upon my mind.

Speaker 3 (03:00):
We thought it was probably you, as your friendship with
mister Sherlock Holmes is so well known. Would you mind
coming over and speaking to missus Douglas for one instant?

Speaker 2 (03:11):
I followed him with a dour face. Very clearly I
could see in my mind's eye that shattered figure on
the floor. Here, within a few hours of the tragedy
were his wife and his nearest friend laughing together behind
a bush in the garden which had been his I
greeted the lady with reserve. I had grieved with her

(03:35):
grief in the dining room. Now I met her appealing
gaze with an unresponsive eye.

Speaker 4 (03:41):
I fear that you think me callous and hard hearted.

Speaker 2 (03:44):
Said she. I shrugged my shoulders. It is no business
of mine, said I.

Speaker 4 (03:51):
Perhaps some day you will do me justice if you
only realized there is no need.

Speaker 3 (03:56):
Why doctor Watson should realize.

Speaker 2 (03:59):
Said Barker quickly.

Speaker 3 (04:01):
As he himself said, it is no possible business.

Speaker 2 (04:04):
Of his exactly said I, and so I will beg
leave to resume my.

Speaker 4 (04:10):
Walk one moment, doctor Watson, cried.

Speaker 2 (04:14):
The woman in a pleading voice.

Speaker 4 (04:16):
There is one question which you can answer with more
authority than any one else in the world, and it
may make a very great difference to me. You know
mister Holmes and his relations with the police better than
any one else can. Supposing that a matter were brought
confidentially to his knowledge, is it absolutely necessary that he
should pass it on to the detectives.

Speaker 2 (04:38):
Yes, that's it, said Balka eagerly.

Speaker 3 (04:42):
Is he his own or is he entirely in with them?

Speaker 2 (04:46):
I really don't know that I should be justified in
discussing such a point.

Speaker 4 (04:50):
I beg I implore that you will, Doctor Watson. I
assure you that you will be helping us, helping me greatly,
if you will guide us on that point.

Speaker 2 (05:00):
There was such a ring of sincerity in the woman's
voice that for the instant I forgot all about her
levity and was moved only to do her will. Mister
Holmes is an independent investigator. I said, he is his
own master and would act as his own judgment directed.
At the same time, he would naturally feel loyalty towards

(05:23):
the officials who were working on the same case, and
he would not conceal from them anything which would help
them in bringing a criminal to justice. Beyond this, I
can say nothing, and I would refer you to mister
Holmes himself if he wanted fuller information. So saying, I
raised my hat and went upon my way, leaving them

(05:44):
still seated behind that concealing hedge. I looked back as
I rounded the far end of it, and saw that
they were still talking very earnestly together, And as they
were gazing after me, it was clear that it was
our interview that was the subject of their debate.

Speaker 5 (06:02):
I wish none of their confidences.

Speaker 2 (06:04):
Said Holmes, when I reported to him what had occurred.
He had spent the whole afternoon at the manor house
in consultation with his two colleagues, and returned about five
with a ravenous appetite for a high tea, which I
had ordered for him.

Speaker 5 (06:19):
No confidence is Watson, for they are mighty awkward if
it comes to an arrest for conspiracy and murder.

Speaker 2 (06:25):
You think it will come to that? He was in
his most cheerful and debonnair humor, My.

Speaker 5 (06:32):
Dear Watson, when I have exterminated that fourth egg, I
shall be ready to put you in touch with the
whole situation. I don't say that we have fathomed it,
far from it. But when we have traced the missing dumbbell,
the dumb bell, dear me, Watson, is it possible that
you have not penetrated the fact that the case hangs

(06:54):
upon missing dumbell? Oh? Well, you need not be downcast,
for between us, I don't think that either Inspector Mac
or the excellent local practitioner has grasped the overwhelming importance
of this incident. One dumbbell, Watson, consider an athlete with
one dumb bell, picturity yourself, the unilateral development, the imminent

(07:20):
danger of a spinal curvature, shocking, Watson, shocking.

Speaker 2 (07:24):
He sat with his mouth full of toast and his
eyes sparkling with mischief, watching my intellectual entanglement. The mere
sight of his excellent appetite was an assurance of success.
For I had very clear recollections of days and nights
without a thought of food, when his baffled mind had
chafed before some problem, while his thin, eager features became

(07:48):
more attenuated with the asceticism of complete mental concentration. Finally,
he lit his pipe, and, sitting in the inglenook of
the old village inn, he talked slowly and at random
about his case, rather as one who thinks aloud, than
as one who makes a considered statement.

Speaker 5 (08:09):
A lie, Watson, A great, big, thumping, obtrusive, uncompromising lie.
That's what meets us on the threshold. There is our
starting point. The whole story told by Barker is a lie.
But Barker's story is corroborated by missus Douglas. Therefore she

(08:30):
is lying. Also. They are both lying and in a conspiracy.
So now we have the clear problem. Why are they
lying and what is the truth which they are trying
so hard to conceal? Let us try, Watson, you and
I if we can get behind the lie and reconstruct

(08:50):
the truth. How do I know that they are lying?
Because it is a clumsy fabrication which simply could not
be true. Consider, according to the story given to us,
the assassin had less than a minute after the murder
had been committed to take that ring, which was under
another ring from the dead man's finger, to replace the

(09:13):
other ring, a thing which he would surely never have done,
and to put that singular card beside his victim. I
say that this was obviously impossible. You may argue, but
I have too much respect for your judgment, Watson, to
think that you will do so. That the ring may
have been taken before the man was killed. The fact

(09:35):
that the candle had been lit only a short time
shows that there had been no lengthy interview. Was Douglas,
from what we hear of his fearless character, a man
who would be likely to give up his wedding ring
at such short notice, or could we conceive of his
giving it up at all? No, No, Watson, The assassin

(09:56):
was alone with the dead man for some time, with
the lamp lit. Of that, I have no doubt at all.
But the gunshot was apparently the cause of death. Therefore
the shot must have been fired some time earlier than
we are told. But there could be no mistake about
such a matter as that. We are in the presence therefore,

(10:17):
of a deliberate conspiracy upon the part of the two
people who heard the gunshot of the man Barker, and
of the woman Douglas. When on the top of this
I am able to show that the blood mark on
the window sill was deliberately placed there by Barker in
order to give a false clue to the police. You
will admit that the case grows dark against him. Now

(10:42):
we have to ask ourselves at what hour the murder
actually did occur. Up to half past ten, the servants
were moving about the house, so it was certainly not
before that time. At a quarter to eleven, they had
all gone to their rooms, with the exception of Ames,
who was in the pantry. I have been drying some
experiments after you left us this afternoon, and I find

(11:05):
that no noise which mac Donald can make in the
study can penetrate to me in the pantry when the
doors are all shut. It is otherwise, however, from the
housekeeper's room, it is not so far down the corridor
as from it I could vaguely hear a voice when
it was very loudly raised. The sound from a shot
gun is to some extent muffled. When the discharge is

(11:28):
at very close range, as it undoubtedly was in this instance,
it would not be very loud. And yet in the
silence of the night, it should have easily penetrated to
missus Allan's room. She is, as she has told us,
somewhat deaf, but none the less. She mentioned in her
evidence that she did hear something like a door slamming

(11:50):
half an hour before the alarm was given. Half an
hour before the alarm was given would be a quarter
to eleven. I have no doubt that what she heard
was the report of the gun, and that this was
the real instant of the murder. If this is so,
we have now to determine what Barker and Missus Douglas,

(12:10):
presuming that they are not the actual murderers, could have
been doing from quarter to eleven, when the sound of
the shot brought them down, until quarter past eleven, when
they rang the bell and summoned the servants. What were
they doing and why did they not instantly give the alarm?
That is the question which faces us, and when it

(12:31):
has been answered, we shall surely have gone some way
to solve our problem.

Speaker 2 (12:36):
I am convinced myself, said I that there is an
understanding between those two people. She must be a heartless
creature to sit laughing at some jest. Within a few
hours of her husband's murder exactly.

Speaker 5 (12:51):
She does not shine as a wife, even in her
own account of what occurred. I am not a whole
souled admirer of woman, as you are aware, Watson. But
my experience of life has taught me that there are
few wives, having any regard for their husbands, who would
let any man's spoken word stand between them and that

(13:13):
husband's dead body. Should I ever marry, Watson, I should
hope to inspire my wife with some feeling which would
prevent her from being walked off by a housekeeper when
my corpse was lying within a few yards of her.
It was badly stage managed, for even the rawest investigators
must be struck by the absence of the usual feminine allulation.

(13:37):
If there had been nothing else, this incident alone would
have suggested a pre arranged conspiracy.

Speaker 2 (13:44):
To my mind, you think then definitely that Barker and
missus Douglas are guilty of the murder.

Speaker 5 (13:51):
There is an appalling directness about your questions, Watson.

Speaker 2 (13:55):
Said Holmes, shaking his pipe at me.

Speaker 5 (13:58):
They come at me like bullets. If you put it
that missus Douglas and Barker know the truth about the murder,
and are conspiring to conceal it. Then I can give
you a whole souled answer. I am sure they do.
But your more deadly proposition is not so clear. Let
us for a moment consider the difficulties which stand in

(14:19):
the way. We will suppose that this couple are united
by the bonds of a guilty love, and that they
have determined to get rid of the man who stands
between them. It is a large supposition, for discreet inquiry
among servants and others has failed to corroborate it in
any way. On the contrary, there is a good deal

(14:39):
of evidence that the Douglases were very attached to each other.

Speaker 2 (14:44):
That I am sure cannot be true, said I, thinking
of the beautiful smiling face in the garden.

Speaker 5 (14:52):
Well, at least they gave that impression. However, we will
suppose that they are an extraordinarily astute couple who deceive
everyone upon this point and conspire to murder the husband.
He happens to be a man over whose head some
danger hangs.

Speaker 2 (15:09):
We have only their word for that. Holmes looked thoughtful.

Speaker 5 (15:14):
I see, Watson, you are sketching out a theory by
which everything they say from the beginning is false. According
to your idea, there was never any hidden menace or
secret society, or valley of fear, or Boss mac somebody
or anything else. Well, that is a good sweeping generalization.

(15:35):
Let us see what that brings us to. They invent
this theory to account for the crime. They then play
up to the idea by leaving this bicycle in the
park as proof of the existence of some outsider. The
stain on the window sill conveys the same idea, so
does the card on the body, which might have been
prepared in the house. That all fits into your hypothesis, Watson.

(15:58):
But now we come on the nasty, angular, uncompromising bits
which won't slip into their places. Why a cut off shotgun,
of all weapons, and an American one at that. How
could they be so sure that the sound of it
would not bring someone on to them. It's a mere chance,
as it is that missus Allen did not start out

(16:21):
to inquire for the slamming door. Why did your guilty
couple do all this, Watson?

Speaker 2 (16:29):
I confess that I can't explain it.

Speaker 5 (16:32):
Then again, if a woman and her lover conspire to
murder a husband, are they going to advertise their guilt
by ostentatiously removing his wedding ring after his death. Does
that strike you as very probable? Watson?

Speaker 2 (16:46):
No, it does not.

Speaker 5 (16:49):
And once again, if the thought of leaving a bicycle
concealed outside had occurred to you, would it really have
seemed worth doing? When the dullest detective would nature say
this is an obvious blind as the bicycle is the
first thing which the fugitive needed in order to make
his escape.

Speaker 2 (17:08):
I can conceive of no explanation.

Speaker 5 (17:12):
And yet there should be no combination of events for
which the wit of man cannot conceive an explanation simply
as a mental exercise, without any assertion that it is true.
Let me indicate a possible line of thought. It is,
I admit, mere imagination, But how often is imagination the

(17:33):
mother of truth. We will suppose that there was a
guilty secret, a really shameful secret, in the life of
this man Douglas. This leads to his murder by some
one who is We will suppose an avenger, someone from outside.
This avenger, for some reason which I confess I am
still at a loss to explain, took the dead man's

(17:55):
wedding ring. The vendetta might conceivably date back to the
man's first marriage, and the ring be taken for some
such reason. Before this avenger got away, Barker and the
wife had reached the room, The assassin convinced them that
any attempt to arrest him would lead to the publication
of some hideous scandal. They were converted to this idea

(18:18):
and preferred to let him go. For this purpose. They
probably lowered the bridge, which can be done quite noiselessly,
and then raised it again. He made his escape, and
for some reason thought that he could do so more
safely on foot than on the bicycle. He therefore left
his machine where it would not be discovered until he

(18:40):
had got safely away. So far we are within the
bounds of possibility, are we not?

Speaker 2 (18:46):
Well, it is possible, no doubt, said I, with some reserve.

Speaker 5 (18:53):
We have to remember, Watson, that whatever occurred is certainly
something very extraordinary. Well, now, to continue our suppositious case,
the couple, not necessarily a guilty couple, realize, after the
murderer is gone, that they have placed themselves in a
position in which it may be difficult for them to
prove that they did not themselves either, do the deed

(19:16):
or connive at it. They rapidly and rather clumsily met
the situation. The mark was put by Barker's bloodstained slipper
upon the window sill to suggest how the fugitive got away.
They obviously were the two who must have heard the
sound of the gun, so they gave the alarm exactly
as they would have done, but a good half hour

(19:38):
after the event.

Speaker 2 (19:39):
And how do you propose to prove all this?

Speaker 5 (19:43):
Well, if there were an outsider, he may be traced
and taken. That would be the most effective of all proofs.
But if not, well, the resources of science are far
from being exhausted. I think that an evening alone in
that study would help me much.

Speaker 2 (19:59):
An e evening alone I.

Speaker 5 (20:01):
Propose to garp there presently. I have arranged it with
the estimable aims. Who is by no means wholehearted about Barker?
I shall sit in that room and see if its
atmosphere brings me inspiration. I'm a believer in the genius loci.
You smile, friend Watson, Well we shall see by the

(20:22):
way you have that big umbrella of yours, have you
not it is here? Well, I'll borrow that if I.

Speaker 2 (20:29):
May, certainly, but what a wretched weapon.

Speaker 5 (20:33):
If there is danger, nothing serious, my dear Watson or
I should certainly ask for your assistance, but I'll take
the umbrella. At present, I am only awaiting the return
of our colleagues from Tunbridge Wells, where they are at
present engaged in trying for a likely owner to the bicycle.

Speaker 2 (20:52):
It was nightfall before Inspector mac Donald and White Mason
came back from their expedition, and they arrived exultant, reporting
a great advance in our investigation.

Speaker 6 (21:04):
Man, I'll admit that I had my doubts if there
was ever an.

Speaker 2 (21:09):
Outsider, said mac Donald.

Speaker 6 (21:11):
But that's all past. Now we've had the bicycle identified
and we have a description of a man. So that's
a long step on our journey.

Speaker 5 (21:22):
It sounds to me like the beginning of the end,
said Holmes. I'm sure I congratulate you both with all
my heart.

Speaker 6 (21:30):
Well, I started from the fact that mister Douglas had
seemed disturbed since the day before when he had been
at Tunbridge Wells. It was at Tunbridge Wells then that
he had become conscious of some danger. It was clear
therefore that if a man had come over with a bicycle.
It was from Tunbridge Wells that he might be expected

(21:53):
to have come. We took the bicycle over with us
and showed it at the hotel's It was a identified
at once by the manager of the Eagle Commercial as
belonging to a man named Hargrave, who had taken a
room there two days before. This bicycle and a small
valise were his whole belongings. He had registered his name

(22:16):
as coming from London, but he'd given no address. The
valise was London made and the contents were British, but
the man himself was undoubtedly an American.

Speaker 2 (22:28):
Well well, said Holmes, gleefully.

Speaker 5 (22:32):
You have indeed done some solid work while I have
been sitting spinning theories with my friend. It's a lesson
in being practical, mister mac Aye.

Speaker 6 (22:41):
It's just that, mister Holmes.

Speaker 2 (22:43):
Said the inspector with satisfaction. But this may all fit
in with your theories. I remarked that may.

Speaker 5 (22:52):
Or may not be, but let us hear the end,
mister mac Was there nothing to identify this man.

Speaker 6 (22:59):
So little that it was evident that he had carefully
guarded himself against identification. There were no papers or letters,
and no marking upon his clothes. A cycle map of
the county lay on his bedroom table. He had left
the hotel after breakfast yesterday morning on his bicycle, and

(23:19):
no more was heard of him until our enquiries.

Speaker 7 (23:23):
That's what puzzles me, mister Holmes, said Whitemason. If the
fellow did not want the hue and cry raised over him,
one would imagine that he would have returned and remained
at the hotel as an inoffensive tourist. As it is,
he must know that he will be reported to the

(23:43):
police by the hotel manager, and that his disappearance will
be connected with the murder.

Speaker 5 (23:49):
So one would imagine still he has been justified of
his wisdom up to date at any rate, since he
has not been taken. But his description. What of that?

Speaker 2 (24:00):
Mac Donald referred to his note book.

Speaker 6 (24:03):
Here we have it so far as they could give it.
They didn't seem to have taken any particular stock of him.
But still the porter, the clerk, and the chambermaid are
all agreed that this about covers the points. He was
a man about five foot nine in height, fifty or
so years of age, his hair slightly grizzled, a grayish mustache,

(24:28):
a curved nose and a face which all of them
described as fierce and forbidding.

Speaker 5 (24:35):
Well by the expression that might almost be a description of.

Speaker 2 (24:39):
Douglas himself, said Holmes.

Speaker 5 (24:42):
He is just over fifty, with grizzled hair and mustache,
and about the same height. Did you get anything else?

Speaker 6 (24:50):
He was dressed in a heavy gray suit with a
reefer jacket, and he wore a short yellow overcoat and
a soft cap.

Speaker 5 (24:58):
What about the shotgun?

Speaker 6 (25:00):
It is less than two feet long. It could very
well have fitted into his valise. He could have carried
it inside his overcoat without difficulty.

Speaker 5 (25:10):
And how do you consider that all the spars on
the general case.

Speaker 6 (25:15):
Well, mister Holmes, said mac Donald. When we have got
our man, and you may be sure that I had
his description on the wires within five minutes of hearing it,
we shall be better able to judge. But even as
it stands, we've surely gone a long way. We know
that an American calling himself Hargrave came to Tunbridge Wells

(25:37):
two days ago with a bicycle and valise, and the
latter was a sword off shotgun. So he came with
the deliberate purpose of crime. Yesterday morning he's set off
for this place on his bicycle with his gun concealed
in his overcoat. No one saw him arrive, so far
as we can learn. But he need not pass through

(25:58):
the village to reach the park gates, and there are
many cyclists upon the road. Presumably he at once concealed
his cycle among the laurels where it was found, and
possibly lurked there himself with his eye on the house,
waiting for mister Douglas to come out. The shotgun has
a strange weapon to use inside a house, but he

(26:19):
had intended to use it outside, and there it has
very obvious advantages, as it would be impossible to miss
with it, and the sound of shots is so common
in an English sporting neighborhood that no particular notice would
be taken.

Speaker 2 (26:35):
That is all very clear, said Holmes.

Speaker 6 (26:38):
Well, mister Douglas does not appear. What was he to
do next? He left his bicycle and approached the house
in the twilight. He found the bridge down and no
one about. He took his chance, intending no doubt to
make some excuse if he met any one. He met
no one. He slipped into the first room, is sore

(27:01):
and concealed himself behind the curtain. Thence he could see
the drawbridge go up, and he knew that his only
escape was through the moat. He waited until quarter past eleven,
when mister Douglas, upon his usual nightly round, came into
the room. He shut him and escaped as arranged. He

(27:21):
was aware that the bicycle would be described by the
hotel people and be a clue against him, so he
left it there and made his way by some other
means to London, or to some safe hiding place which
he had already arranged. How is that, mister Holmes.

Speaker 5 (27:39):
Well, mister mac it is very good and very clear,
so far as it goes. That is your end of
the story. My end is that the crime was committed
half an hour earlier than reported, that missus Douglas and
Barker are both in a conspiracy to conceal something, that
they aided the murderer's escape, or at least that they

(27:59):
reached the room before he escaped, and that they fabricated
evidence of his escape through the window, whereas in all
probability they had themselves let him go by lowering the bridge.
That's my reading of the first half.

Speaker 2 (28:15):
The two detectives shook their heads.

Speaker 6 (28:17):
Well, mister Holmes. If this is true, we only tumble
out of one mystery into another.

Speaker 2 (28:24):
Said the London inspector, and in some ways a worse one,
added Whitemason.

Speaker 7 (28:30):
The lady has never been in America in all her life.
What possible connection could she have with an American assassin
which would cause her to shelter him?

Speaker 2 (28:42):
I freely admit the difficulties, said Holmes.

Speaker 5 (28:47):
I propose to make a little investigation of my own
to night, and it is just possible that it may
contribute something to the common cause.

Speaker 6 (28:57):
Can we help you, mister Holmes, No.

Speaker 5 (29:00):
No darkness and doctor Watson's umbrella. My wants are simple,
and Aimes the faithful Aimes no doubt he will stretch
a point for me. All my lines of thought lead
me back invariably to the one basic question, why should
an athletic man develop his frame upon so unnatural an

(29:22):
instrument as a single dumb bell.

Speaker 2 (29:26):
It was late that night when Holmes returned from his
solitary excursion. We slept in a double bedded room, which
was the best that the little country inn could do
for us. I was already asleep when I was partly
awakened by his entrance. Well, Holmes, I murmured, have you
found anything out? He stood beside me in silence, his

(29:50):
candle in his hand. Then the tall, lean figure inclined
towards me.

Speaker 5 (29:56):
I say, Watson, he whispered, Would you be afraid to
sleep in the same room with a lunatic, A man
with softening of the brain, an idiot whose mind has
lost its grip?

Speaker 2 (30:08):
Not in the least, I answered, in astonishment. Ah, that's lucky,
he said, And not another word would he utter that night.

Speaker 1 (30:19):
End of Part one, Chapter six