A Sherlock Holmes Adventure: 34 The Golden Pince-Nez Audiobook

The Adventure of the golden past may when I look at the three massive manuscript volumes which contain our work for the Year 1894 I confess that it is very difficult for me out of such a wealth of material to select the cases which are most interesting in themselves and at the same time most conducive to a display of those peculiar powers for which my friend was famous as I turn over the pages I see my notes upon the repulsive story of the red leech and the terrible death of Crosby the banker here also I find an account of the a Dalton tragedy and the singular contents of the ancient British Barrow the famous Smith Mortimer succession case comes also within this period and so does the tracking and arrest of Hugh ray the boulevard assassin and exploit which one for Holmes an autographed letter of thanks from the French president and the order of the Legion of Honor each of these would furnish a narrative but on the whole I am of opinion that none of them unites so many singular points of interest as the episode of yoxley old place which includes not only the lamentable death of young Willoughby Smith but also those subsequent developments which through so curious a light upon the causes of the crime it was a wild tempestuous night towards the close of November Holmes and I sat together in silence all the evening he engaged with the powerful lens deciphering the remains of the original inscription upon a palimpsest eye deep in a recent treatise upon surgery outside the wind howled down Baker Street while the rain beat fiercely against the windows it was strange there in the very depths of the town with ten miles of man's handiwork on every side of us to feel the iron grip of nature and to be conscious that the huge elemental forces all London was no more than the mole hills that dot the fields I walked to the window and looked out on the deserted street the occasional lamps gleamed on the expanse of muddy road and shining pavement a single cab was splashing its way from the Oxford Street end well Watson it's as well we have not to turn out tonight said Holmes laying aside his lens and rolling up the palimpsest I've done enough for one sitting it is trying work for the eyes so far as I can make out it is nothing more exciting than an Abi's accounts dating from the second half of the 15th century hello hello hello what's this amid the droning of the wind there had come the stamping of a horses hoofs and the long grind of a wheel as it rasped against the curb the cab which I had seen had pulled up at our door what can he want I ejaculated as a man stepped out of it want he wants us and we my poor Watson want overcoats and cravat sand galoshes and every aid that man ever invented to fight the weather wait a bit though there's the cab off again there's hope yet it have kept it if he had wanted us to come run down my dear fellow and opened the door for all virtuous folk have been long in bed when the light of the hall lamp fell upon our midnight visitor I had no difficulty in recognising him it was young Stanley Hopkins a promising detective in whose career Holmes had several times shown a very practical interest is he in he asked eagerly come up my dear sir said Holmes's voice from above I hope you have no designs upon us on such a night as this the detective mounted the stairs and our lamp gleamed upon his shining waterproof I helped him out of it while Holmes knocked a blaze out of the logs in the grate now my dear Hopkins draw up and warm your toes said he here's a cigar and the doctor has a prescription containing hot water and a lemon which is good medicine on a night like this it must be something important which has brought you out in such a gale it is indeed mr. Holmes I've had a bustling afternoon I promise you did you see anything of the Oxley case in the latest editions I've seen nothing later than the 15th century today well it was only a paragraph and all wrong with that so you've not missed anything I haven't let the grass grow under my feet it's down in Kent seven miles from Chatham and three from the railway line I was wired for at 3:15 reached yoxley old place at 5:00 conducted my investigation was back at Charing Cross by the last train and straight to you by cab which means I suppose that you are not quite clear about your case it means that I can make neither head nor tail of it so far as I can see it is just as tangled a business as ever I handled and yet at first it seemed so simple the one couldn't go wrong there's no motive mr. Holmes that's what bothers me I can't put my hand on a motive he is a man dead there's no denying that but so far as I can see no reason on earth why anyone should wish him harm Holmes lit his cigar and leaned back in his chair let us hear about it said he I've got my facts pretty clear said Stanley Hopkins all I want now is to know what they all mean the story so far as I can make it out is like this some years ago this country house yoxley old place was taken by an elderly man who gave the name of Professor coram he was an invalid keeping his bed half the time and the other half hobbling around the house with a stick or being pushed about the grounds by the gardener in a bath chair he was well-liked by the few neighbors who called upon him and he has the reputation down there of being a very learning man his household used to starvin elderly housekeeper mrs. marker and of a maid Susan Tarlton they have both been with him since his arrival and they seem to be women of excellent character the professor is writing a learned book and he found it necessary about a year ago to engage a secretary the first two that he tried were not successes but the third mr. Willoughby Smith a very young man straight from university seems to have been just what his employer wanted his work consisted in writing all the morning to the professor's dictation and he usually spent the evening in hunting up references and passages which bore upon the next day's work this Willoughby Smith has nothing against him either as a boy at Uppingham or as a young man at Cambridge I have seen his testimonials and from the first he was a decent quiet hard-working fellow with no weak spot in him at all and yet this is the lad who has met his death this morning in the professor study under circumstances which can point only to murder the wind howled and screamed at the windows Holmes and I drew closer to the fire while the young inspector slowly and point-by-point developed his singular narrative if you were to search all England said he I don't suppose you could find a household more self-contained or freer from outside influences whole weeks would pass and not one of them go past the garden gate the professor was buried in his work and existed for nothing else young Smith knew nobody in the neighborhood and lived very much as his employer did the two women had nothing to take them from the house Mortimer the gardener who wheels the bath chair is an army pensioner an old Crimean man of excellent character he does not live in the house but in a three-room cottage at the other end of the garden those are the only people that you would find within the grounds of yoxley Oh place at the same time the gate of the garden is a hundred yards from the main London to Chatham Road it opens with a latch and there is nothing to prevent anyone from walking in now I will give you the evidence of Susan Tarlton who was the only person who can say anything positive about the matter it was in the forenoon between 11:00 and 12:00 she was engaged at the moment in hanging some curtains in the upstairs front bedroom professor coram was still in bed for when the weather is bad he seldom rises before midday the housekeeper was busied with some work in the back of the house Willoughby Smith had been in his bedroom which he uses as a sitting-room but the maid heard him at that moment pass along the passage and descend to the study immediately below her she did not see him but she says that she could not be mistaken in his quick firm tread she did not hear the study door closed but a minute or so later there was a dreadful cry in the room below it was a wild horse scream so strange and unnatural that it might have come either from a man or a woman at the same instant there was a heavy thud which shook the old house and then all was silent the maid stood petrified for a moment and then recovering her courage she ran downstairs the study door was shut and she opened it inside young mr. Willoughby Smith was stretched upon the floor at first she could see no injury but as she tried to raise him she saw that blood was pouring from the underside of his neck it was pierced by a very small but very deep wound which had divided the carotid artery the instrument with which the injury had been inflicted lay upon the carpet beside him it was one of those small sealing-wax knives to be found on old-fashioned writing tables with an ivory handle and a stiff blade it was part of the fittings of the professor's own desk first the maid thought that young Smith was already dead but on pouring some water from the carafe over his forehead he opened his eyes for an instant the professor he murmured it was she the maid is prepared to swear that those were the exact words he tried desperately to say something else and he held his right hand up in the air then he fell back dead in the meantime the housekeeper had also arrived upon the scene but she was just too late to catch the young man's dying words leaving Susan with the body she hurried to the professor's room he was sitting up in bed horribly agitated for he had heard enough to convince him that something terrible had occurred mrs. marker is prepared to swear that the professor was still in his night clothes and indeed it was impossible for him to dress without the help of Mortimer whose orders were to come at 12 o'clock the professor declares that he heard the distant cry but that he knows nothing more he can give no explanation of the young man's last words the professor it was she but imagines that they were the outcome of delirium he believes that Willoughby Smith had not an enemy in the world and can give no reason for the crime his first action was to send Mortimer the gardener for the local police a little later the Chief Constable sent for me nothing was moved before I got there and strict orders were given that no one should walk upon the paths leading to the house it was a splendid chance of putting your theories into practice mr. Sherlock Holmes there was really nothing wanting except mr. Sherlock Holmes said my companion with a somewhat bitter smile well let us hear about it what sort of a job did you make of it I must ask you first mr. Holmes to glance at this rough plan which will give you a general idea of the position of the professor's study and various points of the case it will help you in following my investigation he unfolded the rough chart and he laid it across Holmes's knee I rose and standing behind Holmes studied it over his shoulder it is very rough of course and it only deals with the points which seemed to me to be essential all the rest you will see later for yourself now first of all presuming that the assassin entered the house how did he or she come in undoubtedly by the garden path and the back door from which there is direct access to the study any other way would have been exceedingly complicated the escape must have also been made along that line four of the two other exits from the room one was blocked by Susan as she ran downstairs and the other leads straight to the professor's bedroom I therefore directed my attention at once to the garden path which was saturated with recent rain and would certainly show any footmarks my examination showed me that I was dealing with a cautious and expert criminal no footmarks were to be found on the path there could be no question however that someone had passed along the grass border which lines the path and that he had done so in order to avoid leaving a track I could not find anything in the nature of a distinct impression but the grass was trodden down and someone had undoubtedly passed it could only have been the murderer since neither the gardener nor anyone else had been there that morning and the rain had only begun during the night one moment said Holmes where does this path lead to to the road how long is it a hundred yards or so at the point where the path passes through the gate you could surely pick up the tracks unfortunately the path was tiled at that point well on the road itself no it was all trodden into mire tut-tut well then these tracks upon the grass were they coming or going it was impossible to say there was never any outline a large foot or a small you could not distinct Holmes gave an ejaculation of impatience it has been pouring rain and blowing a hurricane ever since said he it will be harder to read now than that palimpsest well well it can't be helped what did you do Hopkins after you had made certain that you had made certain of nothing I think I made certain of a good deal mr. Holmes I knew that someone had entered the house cautiously from without i next examined the corridor it is lined with cocoanut matting and had taken no impression of any kind this brought me into the study itself it is a scantily furnished room the main article is a large writing table with a fixed bureau this Bureau consists of a double column of drawers with a central small cupboard between them the drawers were open the cupboard locked the drawers it seems were always open and nothing of value was kept in them there were some papers of importance in the cupboard but there were no signs that this had been tampered with and the professor assures me that nothing was missing it is certain that no robbery has been committed I come now to the body of the young man it was found near the bureau and just to the left of it as marked upon that chart the stab was on the right side of the neck and from behind forward so that it is almost impossible that it could have been self-inflicted unless he fell upon the knife said Holmes exactly the idea crossed my mind but we found the knife some feet away from the body so that seems impossible then of course there are the man's own dying words and finally there was this very important piece of evidence which was found clasped in the dead man's right hand from his pocket Stanley Hopkins drew a small paper packet he unfolded it and disclosed a golden pants nay with two broken ends of black silk cord dangling from the end of it Willoughby Smith had excellent sight he added there can be no question that this was snatched from the face or the person of the assassin Sherlock Holmes took the glasses into his hand and examined them with the utmost attention and interest he held them on his nose endeavoured to read through them went to the window and stared up the street with them looked at the most minutely in the full light of the lamp and finally with a chuckle seated himself at the table and wrote a few lines upon a sheet of paper which she tossed across to Stanley Hopkins that's the best I can do for you said he it may prove to be of some use the astonished detective read the note aloud it ran as follows wanted a woman of good address attired like a lady she has a remarkably thick nose with eyes which are set close upon either side of it she has a puckered forehead appearing expression and probably rounded shoulders there are indications that she has had recourse to an optician at least twice during the last few months as her glasses are of remarkable strength and as opticians are not very numerous there should be no difficulty in tracing her Holmes smiled out the astonishment of Hopkins which must have been reflected upon my features surely my deductions are simplicity itself said he it would be difficult to name any articles which afford a finer field for inference than a pair of glasses especially so remarkable a pair as these that they belong to a woman I infer from their delicacy and also of course from the last words of the dying man as to her being a person of refinement and well dressed they are as you perceive handsomely mounted in solid gold and it is inconceivable that anyone who wore such glasses could be slatternly in other respects you will find that the clips are too wide for your nose showing that the lady's nose was very broad at the base this sort of nose is usually a short and coarse one but there is a sufficient number of exceptions to prevent me from being dogmatic or from insisting upon this point in my description my own face is a narrow one and yet I find that I cannot get my eyes into the center nor near the center of these glasses therefore the lady's eyes are set very near to the sides of the nose you will perceive Watson that the glasses are concave and of unusual strength a lady whose vision has been so extremely contracted all her life you sure to have the physical characteristics of such vision which are seen in the forehead the eyelids and the shoulders yes I said I can follow each of your arguments I confess however that I'm unable to understand how you arrived at the double visit to the optician Holmes took the glasses in his hand you will perceive he said that the clips are lined with tiny bands of cork to soften the pressure upon the nose one of these is discolored and worn to some slight extent but the other is new evidently one has fallen off and been replaced I should judge that the older of them has not been there more than a few months they exactly correspond so I gather that the lady went back to the same establishment for the second pie George it's marvellous cried Hopkins in an ecstasy of admiration to think that I had all that evidence in my hand and never knew it I had intended however to go the round of the London opticians of course you would meanwhile have you anything more to tell us about the case nothing mr. Holmes I think that you know as much as I do now probably more we have had inquire is made as to any stranger seen on the country roads or at the railway station we have heard of none what beats me is the utter want of all object in the crime not a ghost of a motive can anyone suggest ah there I am not in a position to help you but I suppose you want us to come out tomorrow if it is not asking too much mr. Holmes there's a train from Charing Cross to chat at 6:00 in the morning and we should be at yoxley old place between 8:00 and 9:00 then we shall take it your case has certainly some features of great interest and I shall be delighted to look into it well it's nearly 1:00 and we had best get a few hours sleep I dare say you can manage alright on the sofa in front of the fire I'll light my spirit lamp and give you a cup of coffee before we start the Gale had blown itself out next day but it was a bitter morning when we started upon our journey we saw the cold winter sunrise over the dreary marshes of the Thames and the long sullen reaches of the river which I shall ever associate with our pursuit of the Andaman Island er in the earlier days of our career after a long and weary journey we alighted at a small station some miles from Chatham while a horse was being put into a trap at the local inn we snatched a hurried breakfast and so we were all ready for business when we at last arrived at yoxley old place a constable met us at the garden gate well Wilson any news no sir nothing no reports of any stranger seen no sir down at the station they are certain that no stranger either came or went yesterday have you had inquiries made at Inns and lodgings yes sir there is no one that we cannot account for well it's only a reasonable walk to Chatham anyone might stay there or take a train without being observed this is the garden path of which I spoke mr. Holmes I'll pledge my word there was no mark on it yesterday on which side were the marks on the grass this side sir this narrow margin of grass between the path and the flowerbed I can't see the traces now but they were clear to me then yes yes someone has passed along said Holmes stooping over the grass border our lady must have picked her steps carefully must she not since on the one side she would leave a track on the path and on the other and even clearer one on the soft bed yes sir she must have been a cool hand I saw an intent look pass over Holmes's face you say that she must have come back this way yes sir there is no other on this strip of grass certainly mr. Holmes hmm it was a very remarkable performance very remarkable well I think we have exhausted the path let us go Father this garden door is usually kept open I suppose then this visitor had nothing to do but to walk in the idea of murder was not in her mind or she would have provided herself with some sort of weapon instead of having to pick this knife off the writing-table she advanced along this corridor leaving no traces upon the coconut matting then she found herself in this study how long was she there we have no means of judging not more than a few minutes sir I forgot to tell you that mrs. marker the housekeeper had been in there tidying not very long before about a quarter of an hour she said well that gives us a limit our lady enters this room and what does she do she goes over to the writing table what for not for anything in the drawers if there had been anything worth her taking it would surely have been locked up no it was for something in that wooden Bureau hello what is that scratch upon the face of it just hold a match Watson why did you not tell me of this Hopkins the mark which he was examining began upon the brass work on the right-hand side of the keyhole and extended for about four inches where it had scratched the varnish from the surface I noticed it mr. Holmes but you'll always find scratches around a keyhole this is recent quite recent see how the brass shines where it is cut an old scratch would be the same color as the surface look at it through my lens there's the varnish - like earth on each side of a furrow is mrs. marker there a sad-faced elderly woman came into the room did you dust this bureau yesterday morning yes sir did you notice this scratch no sir I did not I'm sure you did not for a duster would have swept away these shreds of varnish who has the key of this bureau the professor keeps it on his watch-chain is it a simple key no sir it is a chubbs key very good mrs. marker you can go now we are making a little progress our lady enters the room advances to the bureau and either opens it or tries to do so while she is thus engaged young Willoughby Smith enters the room in her hurried who withdraw the key she makes this scratch upon the door he seizes her and she snatching up the nearest object which happens to be this knife strikes at him in order to make him let go his hold the blow is a fatal one he falls and she escapes either with or without the object for which she has come is Susan the maid there could anyone have got away through that door after the time that you heard the cry Susan no sir it is impossible before I got down the stair I'd have seen anyone in the passage besides the door never opened or I would have heard it that settles this exit then no doubt the lady went out the way she came I understand that this other passage leads only to the professor's room there is no exit that way no sir we shall go down it and make the acquaintance of the professor hello Hopkins this is very important very important indeed the professor's corridor is also lined with cocoanut matting well sir what of it don't you see any bearing upon the case well well I don't insist upon it no doubt I am wrong and yet it seems to me to be suggestive come with me and introduce me we pass down the passage which was of the same length as that which led to the garden at the end was a short flight of steps ending in a door our guide knocked and then ushered us into the professor's bedroom it was a very large chamber lined with innumerable volumes which had overflowed from the shelves and lay in piles in the corners or were stacked all round at the base of the cases the bed was in the center of the room and in it propped up with pillows was the owner of the house I have seldom seen a more remarkable looking person it was a gaunt aquiline face which was turned towards us with piercing dark eyes which lurked in deep hollows under overhung and tufted brows his hair and beard were white save that the latter was curiously stained with yellow around his mouth a cigarette glowed amid the tangle of white hair and the air of the room was fetid with stale tobacco smoke as he held out his hand to Holmes I perceived that it was also stained with yellow nicotine a smoker mr. Holmes said he speaking in well chosen English with a curious little mincing accent pray take a cigarette and you sir I can recommend them for I have them especially prepared by Ayane DS of Alexandria he sends me a thousand at a time and I grieved to say that I have to arrange for a fresh supply every fortnight bad sir very bad but an old man has few pleasures tobacco and my work that is all that is left to me Holmes had lit a cigarette and was shooting little darting glances all over the room tobacco and my work but now only tobacco the old man exclaimed alas what a fatal interruption who could have foreseen such a terrible catastrophe so estimable a young man I assure you that after a few months training he was an admirable assistant what do you think of the matter mr. Holmes I have not yet made up my mind I shall indeed be indebted to you if you can throw a light where all is so dark to us to a poor bookworm and invalid like myself such a blow is paralyzing I seem to have lost the Faculty of thought but you are a man of action you are a man of affairs it is part of the everyday routine of your life you can preserve your balance in every emergency we are fortunate indeed in having you at our side Holmes was pacing up and down one side of the room whilst the old professor was talking I observed that he was smoking with extraordinary rapidity it was evident that he shared our hosts liking for the fresh Alexandrian cigarettes yes sir it is a crushing blow said the old man that is my magnum opus the pile of papers on the side table yonder it is my analysis of the documents found in the Coptic monasteries of Syria and Egypt a work which will cut deep but the very foundation of revealed religion with my enfeebled health I do not know whether I shall ever be able to complete it now that my assistant has been taken from me dear me mr. Holmes why you are even a quicker smoker than I am myself Holmes smiled I am a connoisseur said he taking another cigarette from the box his fourth and lighting it from the stub of that which he had finished I will not trouble you with any lengthy cross-examination professor coram since I gather that you were in bed at the time of the crime and could know nothing about it I would only ask this what do you imagine that this poor fellow meant by his last words the professor it was she the professor shook his head Susan is a country girl said he and you know the incredible stupidity of that class fancy that the poor fellow murmured some incoherent delirious words and that she twisted them into this meaningless message I see you have no explanation yourself of the tragedy possibly an accident possibly I only breathe it among ourselves a suicide young men have their hidden troubles some affair of the heart perhaps which we have never known it is a more probable supposition than murder but the eyeglasses ah I am only a student a man of dreams I cannot explain the practical things of life but still we are aware my friend that love gauges may take strange shapes by all means take another cigarette it is a pleasure to see anyone appreciate them so a fan the glove glasses who knows what article may be carried as a token or treasured when a man puts an end to his life this gentleman speaks of footsteps in the grass but after all it is easy to be mistaken on such a point as to the knife it might well be thrown far from the unfortunate man as he fell it is possible that I speak as a child but to me it seems that Willoughby Smith has met his fate by his own hand Holmes seemed struck by the theory thus put forward and he continued to walk up and down for some time lost in thought and consuming cigarette after cigarette tell me professor coram he said at last what is in that cupboard in the bureau nothing that would help a thief family papers letters from my poor wife diplomas of universities which have done me honour here is the key you can look for yourself Holmes picked up the key and looked at it for an instant then handed it back no I hardly think it would help me said he I should prefer to go quietly down to your garden and turn the whole matter over in my head there is something to be said for the theory of suicide which you have put forward we must apologize for having intruded upon you professor coram and I promise that we won't disturb you until after lunch at two o'clock we will come again and report to you anything which may have happened in the interval Holmes was curious lead astray and we walked up and down the garden path for some time in silence have you a clue I asked at last it depends upon those cigarettes that I smoked said he it is possible that I am utterly mistaken the cigarettes will show me my dear Holmes I exclaimed how on earth will will you may see for yourself if not there's no harm done of course we always have the optician clue to fall back upon but I take a shortcut when I can get it ah here is the good mrs. marker let us enjoy five minutes of instructive conversation with her I may have remarked before that Holmes had when he liked a peculiarly ingratiating way with women and that he very readily established terms of confidence with them in half the time which he had named he had captured the housekeeper's goodwill and was chatting with her as if he had known her for years yes mr. Holmes it is as you say sir he does smoke something terrible all day and sometimes all night sir I've seen that room of a morning well sir you'd have thought it was a London Fog poor young mr. Smith he was a smoker also but not as bad as the professor his health well I don't know that it's better nor worse for the smoking ah said Holmes but it kills the appetite oh I don't know about that sir I suppose the professor eats hardly anything well he is variable I'll say that for him our wager he took no breakfast this morning and won't face his lunch after all the cigarettes I saw him consume well you're out there sir as it happens for he ate a remarkable big breakfast this morning I don't know when I've known him make a better one and he's ordered a good dish of cutlets for his lunch I'm surprised myself for since I came into that room yesterday and saw young mr. Smith lying there on the floor I couldn't bear to look at food well it takes all sorts to make a world and the professor hasn't let it take his appetite away we loitered the morning away in the garden Stanley Hopkins had gone down to the village to look into some rumors of a strange woman who had been seen by some children on the Chatham Road the previous morning asked my friend all his usual energy seemed to have deserted him I had never known him handle a case in such a half-hearted fashion even the news brought back by Hopkins that he had found the children and that they had undoubtedly seen a woman exactly corresponding with Holmes's description and wearing either spectacles or eyeglasses failed to rouse any sign of keen interest he was more attentive when Susan who waited upon us at lunch volunteered the information that she believed mr. Smith had been out for a walk yesterday morning and that he had only returned half an hour before the tragedy occurred I could not myself see the bearing of this incident but I clearly perceived that Holmes was weaving it into the general scheme which he had formed in his brain suddenly he sprang from his chair and glanced at his watch two o'clock gentlemen said he we must go up and have it out with our friend the professor the old man had just finished his lunch and certainly his empty dish bore evidence to the good appetite with which the housekeeper had credited him he was indeed a weird figure as he turned his white mane and his glowing eyes towards us the eternal cigarette smouldered in his mouth he had been dressed and was seated in an armchair by the fire well mr. Holmes have you solved this mystery yet he shoved the large tin of cigarettes which stood on a table beside him towards my companion Holmes stretched out his hand at the same moment and between them they tipped the box over the edge for a minute - we were all on our knees retrieving stray cigarettes from impossible places when we rose again I observed Holmes's eyes were shining and his cheeks tinged with color only at a crisis have I seen those battle signals flying yes said he I have solved it Stanley Hopkins and I stared in amazement something like a sneer quivered over the gaunt features of the old professor indeed in the garden no here here when this instant you are surely joking mr. Sherlock Holmes you compel me to tell you that this is too serious a matter to be treated in such a fashion I have forged down tested every link of my chain professor coram and I am sure that it is sound what your motives are or what exact parts you play in this strange business I am not yet able to say in a few minutes I shall probably hear it from your own lips meanwhile I will reconstruct what is past for your benefit so that you may know the information which I still require a lady yesterday entered your study she came with the intention of possessing herself of certain documents which were in your Bureau she had a key of her own I have had an opportunity of examining yours and I do not find that slight discoloration which the scratch made upon the varnish would have produced you were not an accessory therefore and she came so far as I can read the evidence without your knowledge to rob you the professor blew a cloud from his lips this is most interesting and instructive said he have you no more to add surely having traced this lady so far you can also say what has become of her I will endeavor to do so in the first place she was seized by your secretary and stabbed him in order to escape this catastrophe I'm inclined to regard as an unhappy accident for I am convinced that the lady had no intention of inflicting so Grievous an injury an assassin does not come unarmed horrified by what she had done she rushed wildly away from the scene of the tragedy unfortunately for her she had lost her glasses in the scuffle and as she was extremely short-sighted she was really helpless without them she ran down a corridor which she imagined to be that by which she had come both were lined with cocoanut matting and it was only when it was too late that she understood that she had taken the wrong passage and that her retreat was cut off behind her what was she to do she could not go back she could not remain where she was she must go on she went on she mounted a stair pushed open the door and found herself in your room the old man sat with his mouth open staring wildly at Holmes amazement and fear was stamped upon his expressive features now with an effort he shrugged his shoulders and burst into insincere laughter all very fine mr. Holmes said he but there is one little floor in your splendid theory I was myself in my room and I never left it during the day I am aware of that professor coram and you mean to say that I could lie upon that bed and not be aware that a woman had entered my room I never said so you were aware of it you spoke with her you recognized her you aided her to escape again the professor burst into high keed laughter he had risen to his feet and his eyes glowed like embers you are mad he cried you are talking insanely I helped her to escape where is she now she is there said Holmes and he pointed to a high bookcase in the corner of the room I saw the old man throw up his arms a terrible convulsion passed over his grim face and he fell back in his chair at the same instant the bookcase at which Holmes pointed swung round upon a hinge and a woman rushed out to the room you are right she cried in a strange foreign voice you are right I am here she was brown with the dust and draped with the cobwebs which had come from the walls of her hiding place her face too was streaked with grime and at the best she could never have been handsome for she had the exact physical characteristics which Holmes had divined with in addition a long and obstinate chin what with her natural blindness and what with a change from dark to light she stood as one dazed blinking about her to see where and who we were and yet in spite of all these disadvantages there was a certain nobility in the woman's bearing a gallantry in the defiant chin and in the upraised head which compelled something of respect and admiration Stanley Hopkins had laid his arm upon her arm and claimed her as his prisoner but she waved him aside gently and yet with an overmastering dignity which compelled obedience the old man lay back in his chair with a twitching face and stared at her with brooding eyes yes sir I am your prisoner she said from where I stood I could hear everything and I know that you have learned the truth I confess it all it was I who killed the young man but you are right you who say it was an accident I did not even know that it was a knife which I held in my hand for in my despair I snatched anything from the table and struck at him to make him let me go it is the truth that I tell madam said Holmes I am sure that it is the truth I fear that you are far from well she had turned a dreadful color the more ghastly under the dark dust streaks upon her face she seated herself on the side of the bed then she resumed I have only a little time here she said but I would have you to know the whole truth I am this man's wife he is not Englishman he is a Russian his name I will not tell for the first time the old man stirred god bless you Anna he cried god bless you she cast a look of the deepest disdain in his direction why should you cling so hard to that wretched life of yours Sergius said she it has done harm to many and good to none not even to yourself however it is not for me to cause the frail thread to be snapped before God's time I have enough already upon my soul since I crossed the threshold of this cursed house but I must speak or I shall be too late I have said gentleman that I am this man's wife he was 50 and I a foolish girl of 20 when we married it was in a city of Russia a university I will not name the place god bless you Anna murmured the old man again we were reformers revolutionists near lists you understand he and I and many more then there came a time of trouble a police officer killed many were arrested evidence was wanted and in order to save his own life and to earn a great reward my husband betrayed his own wife and his companions yes we were all arrested upon his confession some of us found our way to the gallows and some to Siberia I was among these last but my term was not for life my husband came to England with his ill-gotten gains and has lived in quiet ever since knowing well that if the Brotherhood knew where he was not a week would pass before justice would be done the old man reached out a trembling hand and helped himself to a cigarette I am in your hands Anna said he you were always good to me I have not yet told you the height of his villainy said she among our comrades of the order there was one who was the friend of my heart he was noble unselfish loving all that my husband was not he hated violence we were all guilty if that is guilt but he was not he wrote forever dissuading us from such a course these letters would have saved him so with my diary in which from day to day I had entered both my feelings towards him and the view which each of us had taken my husband found and kept both diary and letters he hid them and he tried hard to swear away the young man's life in this he failed but Alexis was sent a convict to Siberia where now at this moment he works in a salt mine think of that you villain Hugh villain now now at this very moment Alexis a man whose name you are not worthy to speak works and lives like a slave and yet I have your life in my hands and I let you go you were always a noblewoman ana said the old man puffing at his cigarette she had risen but she fell back again with a little cry of pain I must finish she said when my term was over I set myself to get the diary and letters which if sent to the Russian government would procure my friends release I knew that my husband had come to England after months of searching I discovered where he was I knew that he still had the diary for when I was in Serbia I had a letter from him once reproaching me and quoting some passages from its pages yet I was sure that with his revengeful nature he would never give it to me of his own free will I must get it for myself with this object I engaged an agent from a private detective firm who entered my husband's house as a secretary it was your second secretary Sergius the one who left you so hurriedly he found that papers were kept in the cupboard and he got an impression of the key he would not go father he furnished me with a plan of the house and he told me that in the forenoon the study was always empty as the secretary was employed up here so at last I took my courage in both hands and I came down to get the papers for myself I succeeded but at what cost I had just taken the paper and was locking the cupboard when the young man seized me I had seen him already that morning he had met me on the road and I had asked him to tell me where professor coram lived not knowing that he was in his employ exactly exactly said Holmes the secretary came back and told his employer of the woman he had met then in his last breath he tried to send a message that it was she the she whom he had just discussed with him you must let me speak said the woman in an imperative voice and her face contracted as if in pain when he had fallen I rushed from the room chose the wrong door and found myself in my husband's room he spoke of giving me up I showed him that if he did so his life was in my hands if he gave me to the law I could give him to the Brotherhood it was not that I wish to live for my own sake but it was that I desire to accomplish my purpose he knew that I would do what I said that his own fate was involved in mine for that reason and for no other he shielded me he thrust me into that dark hiding place a relic of old days known only to himself he took his meals in his own room and so was able to give me part of his food it was agreed that when the police left the house I should slip away by night and come back no more but in some way you have read our plans sheet all from the bosom of her dress a small packet these are my last words said she here is the packet which will save Alexis I confide it to your honor and to your love of justice take it you will deliver it at the Russian embassy now I have done my duty and stopped her cried Holmes he had bounded across the room and had wrenched a small file from her hand too late she said sinking back on the bed too late I took the poison before I left my hiding place my head swims I am going charge you sir to remember the packet a simple case and yet in some ways an instructive one Holmes remarked as we traveled back to town it hinged from the outset upon the pass nay but for the fortunate chance of the dying man having seized these I'm not sure that we could ever have reached our solution it was clear to me from the strength of the glasses that the wearer must have been very blind and helpless when deprived of them when you asked me to believe that she walked along a narrow strip of grass without once making a false step I remarked as you may remember that it was a noteworthy performance in my mind I set it down as an impossible performance save in the unlikely case that she had a second pair of glasses I was forced therefore to consider seriously the hypothesis that she had remained within the house on perceiving the similarity of the two corridors it became clear that she might very easily have made such a mistake and in that case it was evident that she must have entered the professor's room I was keenly on the alert therefore for whatever would bear out this supposition and I examined the room narrowly for anything in the shape of a hiding place the carpet seemed continued person firmly nailed so I dismissed the idea of a trapdoor there might well be a recess behind the books as you are aware such devices are common in old libraries I observed that books were piled on the floor at all other points but that one bookcase was left clear this then might be the door I could see no marks to guide me but the carpet was of a dumb color which lends itself very well to examination I therefore smoked a great number of those excellent cigarettes and I dropped the ash all over the space in front of the suspected bookcase it was a simple trick but exceedingly effective I then went downstairs and I ascertained in your presence Watson without your perceiving the drift of my remarks that Professor quorums consumption of food had increased as one would expect when he is supplying a second person we then ascended to the room again when by upsetting the cigarette box I obtained an excellent view of the floor and was able to see quite clearly from the traces upon the cigarette ash that the prisoner had in our absence come out from her retreat well Hopkins here we are a Charing Cross and I congratulate you on having brought your case to a successful conclusion you are going to headquarters no doubt I think Watson you and I will drive together to the Russian embassy

Channel: Sherlock Holmes Stories Magpie Audio

Views: 346,075

Rating: 4.5679326 out of 5

Keywords: Pince-Nez, Pants Nay, Arthur Conan Doyle, Doyle, Sherlock Holmes, Homes, Holmes, Sherlock, audiobook, audio, magpie audio, unabridged, Greg Wagland, Adventure, short story, detective, bedtime story, narrator

Id: B-rtCJnI9k4

Length: 57min 15sec (3435 seconds)

Published: Tue Mar 14 2017