The Valley of Fear V 4 - Epilogue

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Epilogue of the Valley of Fair by Arthur Conan Doyle.
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Speaker 2 (00:16):
The police trial had passed in which the case of
John Douglas was referred to a higher court, so had
the quarter sessions at which he was acquitted as having
acted in self defense.

Speaker 3 (00:28):
Get him out of England at any.

Speaker 2 (00:29):
Cost, wrote Holmes to the wife.

Speaker 3 (00:32):
There are forces here which may be more dangerous than
those he has escaped. There is no safety for your
husband in England.

Speaker 2 (00:40):
Two months had gone by, and the case had to
some extent passed from our minds. Then one morning there
came an enigmatic note slipped into our letter box.

Speaker 4 (00:50):
Dear me, mister Holmes.

Speaker 2 (00:52):
Dear me, said this singular epistle. There was neither superscription
nor signature. I laughed at the quaint message, but Holmes
showed unwonted seriousness.

Speaker 3 (01:03):
Deviltry Watson, he remarked.

Speaker 2 (01:05):
And sat long with a clouded brow. Late last night,
missus Hudson, our landlady, brought up a message that a
gentleman wished to see mister Holmes, and that the matter
was of the utmost importance. Close at the heels of
his messenger came Cecil Barker, our friend of the moated
Manor House. His face was drawn and haggard.

Speaker 4 (01:27):
I've had bad news, terrible news, mister Holmes said he.

Speaker 2 (01:33):
I feared as much, said Holmes.

Speaker 4 (01:35):
You have not had a cable, have you.

Speaker 3 (01:38):
I have had a note from some one who has.

Speaker 4 (01:41):
It's poor Douglas. They tell me his name is Edwards,
but he will always be Jack Douglas of Benito Canyon.
To me, I told you that they started together for
South Africa in the Palmyra three weeks ago exactly. The
ship reached Cape Town last night. I received this cable
from Missus Douglas. This morning. Jack has been lost overboard

(02:05):
in gail Off Saint Helena. No one knows how accident occurred.

Speaker 1 (02:09):
Ivy Douglas.

Speaker 2 (02:11):
Ha, it came like that, did it, said Holmes thoughtfully.

Speaker 3 (02:15):
Well, I've no doubt it was well staged managed.

Speaker 4 (02:19):
You mean that you think there was no accident.

Speaker 3 (02:22):
Noney in the world. He was murdered, surely so.

Speaker 4 (02:26):
I think also, these infernal scourers this cursed, vindictive nest
of criminals.

Speaker 3 (02:34):
No, no, my good sir, said Holmes. There is a
master hand here. It is no case of sword off
shot guns and clumsy six shooters. You can tell an
old master by the sweep of his brush. I can
tell a moriarty when I see one. This crime is
from London, not from America.

Speaker 4 (02:54):
But for what motive?

Speaker 3 (02:55):
Because it is done by a man who cannot afford
to fail, one whose whole unique position depends upon the
fact that all he does must succeed. A great brain
and a huge organization have been turned to the extinction
of one man. It is crushing the nut with the

(03:15):
trip hammer, an absurd extravagance of energy, but the nut
is very effectually crushed all the same.

Speaker 4 (03:25):
How came this man to have anything to do with it?

Speaker 3 (03:29):
I can only say that the first word that ever
came to us of the business was from one of
his lieutenants. These Americans were well advised. Having an English
job to do, they took into partnership, as any foreign
criminal could do this great consultant in crime. From that
moment their man was doomed. At first, he would content

(03:52):
himself by using his machinery in order to find their victim.
Then he would indicate how the matter might be treated. Finally,
when he read in the reports of the failure of
this agent, he would step in himself with a master touch.
You heard me warn this man at Birlston Manor House

(04:12):
that the coming danger was greater than the past? Was
I right?

Speaker 2 (04:17):
Barker beat his head with his clenched fist in his
impotent anger.

Speaker 4 (04:22):
Do not tell me we have to sit down under this.
Do you say that no one can ever get level
with this king devil?

Speaker 3 (04:30):
No? I don't say that.

Speaker 2 (04:31):
Said Holmes, and his eyes seemed to be looking far
into the future.

Speaker 3 (04:36):
I don't say that he can't be beat. But you
must give me time. You must give me time.

Speaker 2 (04:44):
We all sat in silence for some minutes, while those
fateful eyes still strained to pierce the veil.

Speaker 1 (04:53):
End of epilog End of the Valley of Fair by
Arthur Conan Doyle