III.--The Adventure of the Dancing Men.
HOLMES had been seated for some hours in silence with his long,thin back curved over a chemical vessel in which he was brewing aparticularly malodorous product. His head was sunk upon his breast, andhe looked from my point of view like a strange, lank bird, with dullgrey plumage and a black top-knot.
"So, Watson," said he, suddenly, "you do not propose to invest in SouthAfrican securities?"
I gave a start of astonishment. Accustomed as I was to Holmes's curiousfaculties, this sudden intrusion into my most intimate thoughts wasutterly inexplicable.
"How on earth do you know that?" I asked.
He wheeled round upon his stool, with a steaming test-tube in his handand a gleam of amusement in his deep-set eyes.
"Now, Watson, confess yourself utterly taken aback," said he.
"I am."
"I ought to make you sign a paper to that effect."
"Why?"
"Because in five minutes you will say that it is all so absurdlysimple."
"I am sure that I shall say nothing of the kind."
"You see, my dear Watson"--he propped his test-tube in the rack andbegan to lecture with the air of a professor addressing his class--"itis not really difficult to construct a series of inferences, eachdependent upon its predecessor and each simple in itself. If, afterdoing so, one simply knocks out all the central inferences and presentsone's audience with the starting-point and the conclusion, one mayproduce a startling, though possibly a meretricious, effect. Now, it wasnot really difficult, by an inspection of the groove between your leftforefinger and thumb, to feel sure that you did NOT propose to investyour small capital in the goldfields."
"I see no connection."
"Very likely not; but I can quickly show you a close connection. Hereare the missing links of the very simple chain: 1. You had chalk betweenyour left finger and thumb when you returned from the club last night.2. You put chalk there when you play billiards to steady the cue. 3. Younever play billiards except with Thurston. 4. You told me four weeks agothat Thurston had an option on some South African property which wouldexpire in a month, and which he desired you to share with him. 5. Yourcheque-book is locked in my drawer, and you have not asked for the key.6. You do not propose to invest your money in this manner."
"How absurdly simple!" I cried.
"Quite so!" said he, a little nettled. "Every problem becomes verychildish when once it is explained to you. Here is an unexplained one.See what you can make of that, friend Watson." He tossed a sheet ofpaper upon the table and turned once more to his chemical analysis.
I looked with amazement at the absurd hieroglyphics upon the paper.
"Why, Holmes, it is a child's drawing," I cried.
"Oh, that's your idea!"
"What else should it be?"
"That is what Mr. Hilton Cubitt, of Riding Thorpe Manor, Norfolk, isvery anxious to know. This little conundrum came by the first post, andhe was to follow by the next train. There's a ring at the bell, Watson.I should not be very much surprised if this were he."
A heavy step was heard upon the stairs, and an instant later thereentered a tall, ruddy, clean-shaven gentleman, whose clear eyes andflorid cheeks told of a life led far from the fogs of Baker Street. Heseemed to bring a whiff of his strong, fresh, bracing, east-coast airwith him as he entered. Having shaken hands with each of us, he wasabout to sit down when his eye rested upon the paper with the curiousmarkings, which I had just examined and left upon the table.
"Well, Mr. Holmes, what do you make of these?" he cried. "They told methat you were fond of queer mysteries, and I don't think you can find aqueerer one than that. I sent the paper on ahead so that you might havetime to study it before I came."
"It is certainly rather a curious production," said Holmes. "At firstsight it would appear to be some childish prank. It consists of a numberof absurd little figures dancing across the paper upon which theyare drawn. Why should you attribute any importance to so grotesque anobject?"
"I never should, Mr. Holmes. But my wife does. It is frightening her todeath. She says nothing, but I can see terror in her eyes. That's why Iwant to sift the matter to the bottom."
Holmes held up the paper so that the sunlight shone full upon it. It wasa page torn from a note-book. The markings were done in pencil, and ranin this way:--
GRAPHIC
Holmes examined it for some time, and then, folding it carefully up, heplaced it in his pocket-book.
"This promises to be a most interesting and unusual case," said he."You gave me a few particulars in your letter, Mr. Hilton Cubitt, but Ishould be very much obliged if you would kindly go over it all again forthe benefit of my friend, Dr. Watson."
"I'm not much of a story-teller," said our visitor, nervously claspingand unclasping his great, strong hands. "You'll just ask me anythingthat I don't make clear. I'll begin at the time of my marriage lastyear; but I want to say first of all that, though I'm not a rich man, mypeople have been at Ridling Thorpe for a matter of five centuries, andthere is no better known family in the County of Norfolk. Last year Icame up to London for the Jubilee, and I stopped at a boarding-house inRussell Square, because Parker, the vicar of our parish, was staying init. There was an American young lady there--Patrick was the name--ElsiePatrick. In some way we became friends, until before my month was upI was as much in love as a man could be. We were quietly married ata registry office, and we returned to Norfolk a wedded couple. You'llthink it very mad, Mr. Holmes, that a man of a good old family shouldmarry a wife in this fashion, knowing nothing of her past or of herpeople; but if you saw her and knew her it would help you to understand.
"She was very straight about it, was Elsie. I can't say that she did notgive me every chance of getting out of it if I wished to do so. 'I havehad some very disagreeable associations in my life,' said she; 'I wishto forget all about them. I would rather never allude to the past, forit is very painful to me. If you take me, Hilton, you will take a womanwho has nothing that she need be personally ashamed of; but you willhave to be content with my word for it, and to allow me to be silentas to all that passed up to the time when I became yours. If theseconditions are too hard, then go back to Norfolk and leave me to thelonely life in which you found me.' It was only the day before ourwedding that she said those very words to me. I told her that I wascontent to take her on her own terms, and I have been as good as myword.
"Well, we have been married now for a year, and very happy we have been.But about a month ago, at the end of June, I saw for the first timesigns of trouble. One day my wife received a letter from America. I sawthe American stamp. She turned deadly white, read the letter, and threwit into the fire. She made no allusion to it afterwards, and I madenone, for a promise is a promise; but she has never known an easy hourfrom that moment. There is always a look of fear upon her face--a lookas if she were waiting and expecting. She would do better to trust me.She would find that I was her best friend. But until she speaks I cansay nothing. Mind you, she is a truthful woman, Mr. Holmes, and whatevertrouble there may have been in her past life it has been no fault ofhers. I am only a simple Norfolk squire, but there is not a man inEngland who ranks his family honour more highly than I do. She knows itwell, and she knew it well before she married me. She would never bringany stain upon it--of that I am sure.
"Well, now I come to the queer part of my story. About a week ago--itwas the Tuesday of last week--I found on one of the window-sills anumber of absurd little dancing figures, like these upon the paper. Theywere scrawled with chalk. I thought that it was the stable-boy who haddrawn them, but the lad swore he knew nothing about it. Anyhow, they hadcome there during the night. I had them washed out, and I only mentionedthe matter to my wife afterwards. To my surprise she took it veryseriously, and begged me if any more came to let her see them. None didcome for a week, and then yesterday morning I found this paper lying onthe sun-dial in the garden. I showed it to Elsie, and down she droppedin a dead faint. Since then she
has looked like a woman in a dream, halfdazed, and with terror always lurking in her eyes. It was then that Iwrote and sent the paper to you, Mr. Holmes. It was not a thing thatI could take to the police, for they would have laughed at me, but youwill tell me what to do. I am not a rich man; but if there is any dangerthreatening my little woman I would spend my last copper to shield her."
He was a fine creature, this man of the old English soil, simple,straight, and gentle, with his great, earnest blue eyes and broad,comely face. His love for his wife and his trust in her shone in hisfeatures. Holmes had listened to his story with the utmost attention,and now he sat for some time in silent thought.
"Don't you think, Mr. Cubitt," said he, at last, "that your best planwould be to make a direct appeal to your wife, and to ask her to shareher secret with you?"
Hilton Cubitt shook his massive head.
"A promise is a promise, Mr. Holmes. If Elsie wished to tell me shewould. If not, it is not for me to force her confidence. But I amjustified in taking my own line--and I will."
"Then I will help you with all my heart. In the first place, have youheard of any strangers being seen in your neighbourhood?"
"No."
"I presume that it is a very quiet place. Any fresh face would causecomment?"
"In the immediate neighbourhood, yes. But we have several smallwatering-places not very far away. And the farmers take in lodgers."
"These hieroglyphics have evidently a meaning. If it is a purelyarbitrary one it may be impossible for us to solve it. If, on the otherhand, it is systematic, I have no doubt that we shall get to the bottomof it. But this particular sample is so short that I can do nothing, andthe facts which you have brought me are so indefinite that we have nobasis for an investigation. I would suggest that you return to Norfolk,that you keep a keen look-out, and that you take an exact copy of anyfresh dancing men which may appear. It is a thousand pities that wehave not a reproduction of those which were done in chalk upon thewindow-sill. Make a discreet inquiry also as to any strangers in theneighbourhood. When you have collected some fresh evidence come to meagain. That is the best advice which I can give you, Mr. Hilton Cubitt.If there are any pressing fresh developments I shall be always ready torun down and see you in your Norfolk home."
The interview left Sherlock Holmes very thoughtful, and several timesin the next few days I saw him take his slip of paper from his note-bookand look long and earnestly at the curious figures inscribed upon it. Hemade no allusion to the affair, however, until one afternoon a fortnightor so later. I was going out when he called me back.
"You had better stay here, Watson."
"Why?"
"Because I had a wire from Hilton Cubitt this morning--you rememberHilton Cubitt, of the dancing men? He was to reach Liverpool Street atone-twenty. He may be here at any moment. I gather from his wire thatthere have been some new incidents of importance."
We had not long to wait, for our Norfolk squire came straight from thestation as fast as a hansom could bring him. He was looking worried anddepressed, with tired eyes and a lined forehead.
"It's getting on my nerves, this business, Mr. Holmes," said he, as hesank, like a wearied man, into an arm-chair. "It's bad enough to feelthat you are surrounded by unseen, unknown folk, who have some kind ofdesign upon you; but when, in addition to that, you know that it is justkilling your wife by inches, then it becomes as much as flesh and bloodcan endure. She's wearing away under it--just wearing away before myeyes."
"Has she said anything yet?"
"No, Mr. Holmes, she has not. And yet there have been times when thepoor girl has wanted to speak, and yet could not quite bring herselfto take the plunge. I have tried to help her; but I dare say I didit clumsily, and scared her off from it. She has spoken about my oldfamily, and our reputation in the county, and our pride in our unsulliedhonour, and I always felt it was leading to the point; but somehow itturned off before we got there."
"But you have found out something for yourself?"
"A good deal, Mr. Holmes. I have several fresh dancing men pictures foryou to examine, and, what is more important, I have seen the fellow."
"What, the man who draws them?"
"Yes, I saw him at his work. But I will tell you everything in order.When I got back after my visit to you, the very first thing I saw nextmorning was a fresh crop of dancing men. They had been drawn in chalkupon the black wooden door of the tool-house, which stands beside thelawn in full view of the front windows. I took an exact copy, and hereit is." He unfolded a paper and laid it upon the table. Here is a copyof the hieroglyphics:--
GRAPHIC
"Excellent!" said Holmes. "Excellent! Pray continue."
"When I had taken the copy I rubbed out the marks; but two morningslater a fresh inscription had appeared. I have a copy of it here":--
GRAPHIC
Holmes rubbed his hands and chuckled with delight.
"Our material is rapidly accumulating," said he.
"Three days later a message was left scrawled upon paper, and placedunder a pebble upon the sun-dial. Here it is. The characters are, as yousee, exactly the same as the last one. After that I determined to lie inwait; so I got out my revolver and I sat up in my study, which overlooksthe lawn and garden. About two in the morning I was seated by thewindow, all being dark save for the moonlight outside, when I heardsteps behind me, and there was my wife in her dressing-gown. Sheimplored me to come to bed. I told her frankly that I wished to see whoit was who played such absurd tricks upon us. She answered that it wassome senseless practical joke, and that I should not take any notice ofit.
"'If it really annoys you, Hilton, we might go and travel, you and I,and so avoid this nuisance.'
"'What, be driven out of our own house by a practical joker?' said I.'Why, we should have the whole county laughing at us.'
"'Well, come to bed,' said she, 'and we can discuss it in the morning.'
"Suddenly, as she spoke, I saw her white face grow whiter yet in themoonlight, and her hand tightened upon my shoulder. Something was movingin the shadow of the tool-house. I saw a dark, creeping figure whichcrawled round the corner and squatted in front of the door. Seizing mypistol I was rushing out, when my wife threw her arms round me and heldme with convulsive strength. I tried to throw her off, but she clung tome most desperately. At last I got clear, but by the time I had openedthe door and reached the house the creature was gone. He had left atrace of his presence, however, for there on the door was the very samearrangement of dancing men which had already twice appeared, and whichI have copied on that paper. There was no other sign of the fellowanywhere, though I ran all over the grounds. And yet the amazing thingis that he must have been there all the time, for when I examined thedoor again in the morning he had scrawled some more of his picturesunder the line which I had already seen."
"Have you that fresh drawing?"
"Yes; it is very short, but I made a copy of it, and here it is."
Again he produced a paper. The new dance was in this form:--
GRAPHIC
"Tell me," said Holmes--and I could see by his eyes that he was muchexcited--"was this a mere addition to the first, or did it appear to beentirely separate?"
"It was on a different panel of the door."
"Excellent! This is far the most important of all for our purpose. Itfills me with hopes. Now, Mr. Hilton Cubitt, please continue your mostinteresting statement."
"I have nothing more to say, Mr. Holmes, except that I was angry withmy wife that night for having held me back when I might have caught theskulking rascal. She said that she feared that I might come to harm. Foran instant it had crossed my mind that perhaps what she really fearedwas that HE might come to harm, for I could not doubt that she knew whothis man was and what he meant by these strange signals. But there is atone in my wife's voice, Mr. Holmes, and a look in her eyes which forbiddoubt, and I am sure that it was indeed my own safety that was in hermind. There's the whole case, and now I want your advice as to what Iought
to do. My own inclination is to put half-a-dozen of my farm ladsin the shrubbery, and when this fellow comes again to give him such ahiding that he will leave us in peace for the future."
"I fear it is too deep a case for such simple remedies," said Holmes."How long can you stay in London?"
"I must go back to-day. I would not leave my wife alone all night foranything. She is very nervous and begged me to come back."
"I dare say you are right. But if you could have stopped I mightpossibly have been able to return with you in a day or two. Meanwhileyou will leave me these papers, and I think that it is very likely thatI shall be able to pay you a visit shortly and to throw some light uponyour case."
Sherlock Holmes preserved his calm professional manner until our visitorhad left us, although it was easy for me, who knew him so well, to seethat he was profoundly excited. The moment that Hilton Cubitt's broadback had disappeared through the door my comrade rushed to the table,laid out all the slips of paper containing dancing men in front of him,and threw himself into an intricate and elaborate calculation. Fortwo hours I watched him as he covered sheet after sheet of paper withfigures and letters, so completely absorbed in his task that he hadevidently forgotten my presence. Sometimes he was making progress andwhistled and sang at his work; sometimes he was puzzled, and would sitfor long spells with a furrowed brow and a vacant eye. Finally he sprangfrom his chair with a cry of satisfaction, and walked up and down theroom rubbing his hands together. Then he wrote a long telegram upon acable form. "If my answer to this is as I hope, you will have a verypretty case to add to your collection, Watson," said he. "I expect thatwe shall be able to go down to Norfolk to-morrow, and to take our friendsome very definite news as to the secret of his annoyance."
I confess that I was filled with curiosity, but I was aware that Holmesliked to make his disclosures at his own time and in his own way; so Iwaited until it should suit him to take me into his confidence.
But there was a delay in that answering telegram, and two days ofimpatience followed, during which Holmes pricked up his ears at everyring of the bell. On the evening of the second there came a letter fromHilton Cubitt. All was quiet with him, save that a long inscription hadappeared that morning upon the pedestal of the sun-dial. He inclosed acopy of it, which is here reproduced:--
GRAPHIC
Holmes bent over this grotesque frieze for some minutes, and thensuddenly sprang to his feet with an exclamation of surprise and dismay.His face was haggard with anxiety.
"We have let this affair go far enough," said he. "Is there a train toNorth Walsham to-night?"
I turned up the time-table. The last had just gone.
"Then we shall breakfast early and take the very first in the morning,"said Holmes. "Our presence is most urgently needed. Ah! here is ourexpected cablegram. One moment, Mrs. Hudson; there may be an answer. No,that is quite as I expected. This message makes it even more essentialthat we should not lose an hour in letting Hilton Cubitt know howmatters stand, for it is a singular and a dangerous web in which oursimple Norfolk squire is entangled."
So, indeed, it proved, and as I come to the dark conclusion of a storywhich had seemed to me to be only childish and bizarre I experience onceagain the dismay and horror with which I was filled. Would that I hadsome brighter ending to communicate to my readers, but these are thechronicles of fact, and I must follow to their dark crisis the strangechain of events which for some days made Ridling Thorpe Manor ahousehold word through the length and breadth of England.
We had hardly alighted at North Walsham, and mentioned the name of ourdestination, when the station-master hurried towards us. "I suppose thatyou are the detectives from London?" said he.
A look of annoyance passed over Holmes's face.
"What makes you think such a thing?"
"Because Inspector Martin from Norwich has just passed through. Butmaybe you are the surgeons. She's not dead--or wasn't by last accounts.You may be in time to save her yet--though it be for the gallows."
Holmes's brow was dark with anxiety.
"We are going to Ridling Thorpe Manor," said he, "but we have heardnothing of what has passed there."
"It's a terrible business," said the station-master. "They are shot,both Mr. Hilton Cubitt and his wife. She shot him and then herself--sothe servants say. He's dead and her life is despaired of. Dear, dear,one of the oldest families in the County of Norfolk, and one of the mosthonoured."
Without a word Holmes hurried to a carriage, and during the long sevenmiles' drive he never opened his mouth. Seldom have I seen him soutterly despondent. He had been uneasy during all our journey fromtown, and I had observed that he had turned over the morning papers withanxious attention; but now this sudden realization of his worst fearsleft him in a blank melancholy. He leaned back in his seat, lost ingloomy speculation. Yet there was much around to interest us, for wewere passing through as singular a country-side as any in England, wherea few scattered cottages represented the population of to-day, while onevery hand enormous square-towered churches bristled up from the flat,green landscape and told of the glory and prosperity of old East Anglia.At last the violet rim of the German Ocean appeared over the green edgeof the Norfolk coast, and the driver pointed with his whip to two oldbrick and timber gables which projected from a grove of trees. "That'sRidling Thorpe Manor," said he.
As we drove up to the porticoed front door I observed in front ofit, beside the tennis lawn, the black tool-house and the pedestalledsun-dial with which we had such strange associations. A dapper littleman, with a quick, alert manner and a waxed moustache, had justdescended from a high dog-cart. He introduced himself as InspectorMartin, of the Norfolk Constabulary, and he was considerably astonishedwhen he heard the name of my companion.
"Why, Mr. Holmes, the crime was only committed at three this morning.How could you hear of it in London and get to the spot as soon as I?"
"I anticipated it. I came in the hope of preventing it."
"Then you must have important evidence of which we are ignorant, forthey were said to be a most united couple."
"I have only the evidence of the dancing men," said Holmes. "I willexplain the matter to you later. Meanwhile, since it is too late toprevent this tragedy, I am very anxious that I should use the knowledgewhich I possess in order to ensure that justice be done. Will youassociate me in your investigation, or will you prefer that I should actindependently?"
"I should be proud to feel that we were acting together, Mr. Holmes,"said the inspector, earnestly.
"In that case I should be glad to hear the evidence and to examine thepremises without an instant of unnecessary delay."
Inspector Martin had the good sense to allow my friend to do thingsin his own fashion, and contented himself with carefully noting theresults. The local surgeon, an old, white-haired man, had just come downfrom Mrs. Hilton Cubitt's room, and he reported that her injuries wereserious, but not necessarily fatal. The bullet had passed through thefront of her brain, and it would probably be some time before she couldregain consciousness. On the question of whether she had been shot orhad shot herself he would not venture to express any decided opinion.Certainly the bullet had been discharged at very close quarters. Therewas only the one pistol found in the room, two barrels of which hadbeen emptied. Mr. Hilton Cubitt had been shot through the heart. It wasequally conceivable that he had shot her and then himself, or thatshe had been the criminal, for the revolver lay upon the floor midwaybetween them.
"Has he been moved?" asked Holmes.
"We have moved nothing except the lady. We could not leave her lyingwounded upon the floor."
"How long have you been here, doctor?"
"Since four o'clock."
"Anyone else?"
"Yes, the constable here."
"And you have touched nothing?"
"Nothing."
"You have acted with great discretion. Who sent for you?"
"The housemaid, Saunders."
"Was it she who gave the alarm?"
"She and Mrs. King, the cook."
"Where are they now?"
"In the kitchen, I believe."
"Then I think we had better hear their story at once."
The old hall, oak-panelled and high-windowed, had been turned into acourt of investigation. Holmes sat in a great, old-fashioned chair, hisinexorable eyes gleaming out of his haggard face. I could read in thema set purpose to devote his life to this quest until the client whom hehad failed to save should at last be avenged. The trim Inspector Martin,the old, grey-headed country doctor, myself, and a stolid villagepoliceman made up the rest of that strange company.
The two women told their story clearly enough. They had been arousedfrom their sleep by the sound of an explosion, which had been followeda minute later by a second one. They slept in adjoining rooms, and Mrs.King had rushed in to Saunders. Together they had descended the stairs.The door of the study was open and a candle was burning upon the table.Their master lay upon his face in the centre of the room. He was quitedead. Near the window his wife was crouching, her head leaning againstthe wall. She was horribly wounded, and the side of her face was redwith blood. She breathed heavily, but was incapable of saying anything.The passage, as well as the room, was full of smoke and the smell ofpowder. The window was certainly shut and fastened upon the inside. Bothwomen were positive upon the point. They had at once sent for thedoctor and for the constable. Then, with the aid of the groom and thestable-boy, they had conveyed their injured mistress to her room. Bothshe and her husband had occupied the bed. She was clad in her dress--hein his dressing-gown, over his night clothes. Nothing had been moved inthe study. So far as they knew there had never been any quarrel betweenhusband and wife. They had always looked upon them as a very unitedcouple.
These were the main points of the servants' evidence. In answer toInspector Martin they were clear that every door was fastened upon theinside, and that no one could have escaped from the house. In answerto Holmes they both remembered that they were conscious of the smellof powder from the moment that they ran out of their rooms upon thetop floor. "I commend that fact very carefully to your attention," saidHolmes to his professional colleague. "And now I think that we are in aposition to undertake a thorough examination of the room."
The study proved to be a small chamber, lined on three sides with books,and with a writing-table facing an ordinary window, which looked outupon the garden. Our first attention was given to the body of theunfortunate squire, whose huge frame lay stretched across the room. Hisdisordered dress showed that he had been hastily aroused from sleep.The bullet had been fired at him from the front, and had remained inhis body after penetrating the heart. His death had certainly beeninstantaneous and painless. There was no powder-marking either upon hisdressing-gown or on his hands. According to the country surgeon the ladyhad stains upon her face, but none upon her hand.
"The absence of the latter means nothing, though its presence maymean everything," said Holmes. "Unless the powder from a badly-fittingcartridge happens to spurt backwards, one may fire many shots withoutleaving a sign. I would suggest that Mr. Cubitt's body may now beremoved. I suppose, doctor, you have not recovered the bullet whichwounded the lady?"
"A serious operation will be necessary before that can be done. Butthere are still four cartridges in the revolver. Two have been fired andtwo wounds inflicted, so that each bullet can be accounted for."
"So it would seem," said Holmes. "Perhaps you can account also for thebullet which has so obviously struck the edge of the window?"
He had turned suddenly, and his long, thin finger was pointing to a holewhich had been drilled right through the lower window-sash about an inchabove the bottom.
"By George!" cried the inspector. "How ever did you see that?"
"Because I looked for it."
"Wonderful!" said the country doctor. "You are certainly right, sir.Then a third shot has been fired, and therefore a third person must havebeen present. But who could that have been and how could he have gotaway?"
"That is the problem which we are now about to solve," said SherlockHolmes. "You remember, Inspector Martin, when the servants said that onleaving their room they were at once conscious of a smell of powder Iremarked that the point was an extremely important one?"
"Yes, sir; but I confess I did not quite follow you."
"It suggested that at the time of the firing the window as well as thedoor of the room had been open. Otherwise the fumes of powder could nothave been blown so rapidly through the house. A draught in the room wasnecessary for that. Both door and window were only open for a very shorttime, however."
"How do you prove that?"
"Because the candle has not guttered."
"Capital!" cried the inspector. "Capital!"
"Feeling sure that the window had been open at the time of the tragedyI conceived that there might have been a third person in the affair, whostood outside this opening and fired through it. Any shot directed atthis person might hit the sash. I looked, and there, sure enough, wasthe bullet mark!"
"But how came the window to be shut and fastened?"
"The woman's first instinct would be to shut and fasten the window. But,halloa! what is this?"
It was a lady's hand-bag which stood upon the study table--a trim littlehand-bag of crocodile-skin and silver. Holmes opened it and turnedthe contents out. There were twenty fifty-pound notes of the Bank ofEngland, held together by an india-rubber band--nothing else.
"This must be preserved, for it will figure in the trial," said Holmes,as he handed the bag with its contents to the inspector. "It is nownecessary that we should try to throw some light upon this third bullet,which has clearly, from the splintering of the wood, been fired frominside the room. I should like to see Mrs. King, the cook, again. Yousaid, Mrs. King, that you were awakened by a LOUD explosion. When yousaid that, did you mean that it seemed to you to be louder than thesecond one?"
"Well, sir, it wakened me from my sleep, and so it is hard to judge. Butit did seem very loud."
"You don't think that it might have been two shots fired almost at thesame instant?"
"I am sure I couldn't say, sir."
"I believe that it was undoubtedly so. I rather think, Inspector Martin,that we have now exhausted all that this room can teach us. If you willkindly step round with me, we shall see what fresh evidence the gardenhas to offer."
A flower-bed extended up to the study window, and we all broke into anexclamation as we approached it. The flowers were trampled down, and thesoft soil was imprinted all over with footmarks. Large, masculine feetthey were, with peculiarly long, sharp toes. Holmes hunted about amongthe grass and leaves like a retriever after a wounded bird. Then, witha cry of satisfaction, he bent forward and picked up a little brazencylinder.
"I thought so," said he; "the revolver had an ejector, and here is thethird cartridge. I really think, Inspector Martin, that our case isalmost complete."
The country inspector's face had shown his intense amazement at therapid and masterful progress of Holmes's investigation. At first hehad shown some disposition to assert his own position; but now he wasovercome with admiration and ready to follow without question whereverHolmes led.
"Whom do you suspect?" he asked.
"I'll go into that later. There are several points in this problem whichI have not been able to explain to you yet. Now that I have got so farI had best proceed on my own lines, and then clear the whole matter uponce and for all."
"Just as you wish, Mr. Holmes, so long as we get our man."
"I have no desire to make mysteries, but it is impossible at the momentof action to enter into long and complex explanations. I have thethreads of this affair all in my hand. Even if this lady should neverrecover consciousness we can still reconstruct the events of last nightand ensure that justice be done. First of all I wish to know whetherthere is any inn in this neighbourhood known as 'Elrige's'?"
The servants were cross-questioned, but none of them had heard of
such aplace. The stable-boy threw a light upon the matter by remembering thata farmer of that name lived some miles off in the direction of EastRuston.
"Is it a lonely farm?"
"Very lonely, sir."
"Perhaps they have not heard yet of all that happened here during thenight?"
"Maybe not, sir."
Holmes thought for a little and then a curious smile played over hisface.
"Saddle a horse, my lad," said he. "I shall wish you to take a note toElrige's Farm."
He took from his pocket the various slips of the dancing men. With thesein front of him he worked for some time at the study-table. Finally hehanded a note to the boy, with directions to put it into the handsof the person to whom it was addressed, and especially to answer noquestions of any sort which might be put to him. I saw the outside ofthe note, addressed in straggling, irregular characters, very unlikeHolmes's usual precise hand. It was consigned to Mr. Abe Slaney,Elrige's Farm, East Ruston, Norfolk.
"I think, inspector," Holmes remarked, "that you would do well totelegraph for an escort, as, if my calculations prove to be correct, youmay have a particularly dangerous prisoner to convey to the county gaol.The boy who takes this note could no doubt forward your telegram. Ifthere is an afternoon train to town, Watson, I think we should do wellto take it, as I have a chemical analysis of some interest to finish,and this investigation draws rapidly to a close."
When the youth had been dispatched with the note, Sherlock Holmes gavehis instructions to the servants. If any visitor were to call asking forMrs. Hilton Cubitt no information should be given as to her condition,but he was to be shown at once into the drawing-room. He impressed thesepoints upon them with the utmost earnestness. Finally he led the wayinto the drawing-room with the remark that the business was now out ofour hands, and that we must while away the time as best we might untilwe could see what was in store for us. The doctor had departed to hispatients, and only the inspector and myself remained.
"I think that I can help you to pass an hour in an interesting andprofitable manner," said Holmes, drawing his chair up to the tableand spreading out in front of him the various papers upon which wererecorded the antics of the dancing men. "As to you, friend Watson, I oweyou every atonement for having allowed your natural curiosity to remainso long unsatisfied. To you, inspector, the whole incident may appealas a remarkable professional study. I must tell you first of all theinteresting circumstances connected with the previous consultationswhich Mr. Hilton Cubitt has had with me in Baker Street." He thenshortly recapitulated the facts which have already been recorded. "Ihave here in front of me these singular productions, at which onemight smile had they not proved themselves to be the fore-runners ofso terrible a tragedy. I am fairly familiar with all forms of secretwritings, and am myself the author of a trifling monograph upon thesubject, in which I analyze one hundred and sixty separate ciphers;but I confess that this is entirely new to me. The object of those whoinvented the system has apparently been to conceal that these charactersconvey a message, and to give the idea that they are the mere randomsketches of children.
"Having once recognised, however, that the symbols stood for letters,and having applied the rules which guide us in all forms of secretwritings, the solution was easy enough. The first message submitted tome was so short that it was impossible for me to do more than to saywith some confidence that the symbol XXX stood for E. As you are aware,E is the most common letter in the English alphabet, and it predominatesto so marked an extent that even in a short sentence one would expectto find it most often. Out of fifteen symbols in the first message fourwere the same, so it was reasonable to set this down as E. It is truethat in some cases the figure was bearing a flag and in some cases not,but it was probable from the way in which the flags were distributedthat they were used to break the sentence up into words. I accepted thisas a hypothesis, and noted that E was represented by XXX.
"But now came the real difficulty of the inquiry. The order ofthe English letters after E is by no means well marked, and anypreponderance which may be shown in an average of a printed sheet may bereversed in a single short sentence. Speaking roughly, T, A, O, I, N, S,H, R, D, and L are the numerical order in which letters occur; but T,A, O, and I are very nearly abreast of each other, and it would be anendless task to try each combination until a meaning was arrived at. I,therefore, waited for fresh material. In my second interview with Mr.Hilton Cubitt he was able to give me two other short sentences and onemessage, which appeared--since there was no flag--to be a single word.Here are the symbols. Now, in the single word I have already got thetwo E's coming second and fourth in a word of five letters. It mightbe 'sever,' or 'lever,' or 'never.' There can be no question thatthe latter as a reply to an appeal is far the most probable, andthe circumstances pointed to its being a reply written by the lady.Accepting it as correct, we are now able to say that the symbols XXXstand respectively for N, V, and R.
"Even now I was in considerable difficulty, but a happy thought put mein possession of several other letters. It occurred to me that if theseappeals came, as I expected, from someone who had been intimate with thelady in her early life, a combination which contained two E's withthree letters between might very well stand for the name 'ELSIE.' Onexamination I found that such a combination formed the termination ofthe message which was three times repeated. It was certainly some appealto 'Elsie.' In this way I had got my L, S, and I. But what appeal couldit be? There were only four letters in the word which preceded 'Elsie,'and it ended in E. Surely the word must be 'COME.' I tried all otherfour letters ending in E, but could find none to fit the case. So now Iwas in possession of C, O, and M, and I was in a position to attack thefirst message once more, dividing it into words and putting dots foreach symbol which was still unknown. So treated it worked out in thisfashion:--
.M .ERE ..E SL.NE.
"Now the first letter CAN only be A, which is a most useful discovery,since it occurs no fewer than three times in this short sentence, andthe H is also apparent in the second word. Now it becomes:--
AM HERE A.E SLANE.
Or, filling in the obvious vacancies in the name:--
AM HERE ABE SLANEY.
I had so many letters now that I could proceed with considerableconfidence to the second message, which worked out in this fashion:--
A. ELRI.ES.
Here I could only make sense by putting T and G for the missing letters,and supposing that the name was that of some house or inn at which thewriter was staying."
Inspector Martin and I had listened with the utmost interest to the fulland clear account of how my friend had produced results which had led toso complete a command over our difficulties.
"What did you do then, sir?" asked the inspector.
"I had every reason to suppose that this Abe Slaney was an American,since Abe is an American contraction, and since a letter from Americahad been the starting-point of all the trouble. I had also every causeto think that there was some criminal secret in the matter. The lady'sallusions to her past and her refusal to take her husband into herconfidence both pointed in that direction. I therefore cabled to myfriend, Wilson Hargreave, of the New York Police Bureau, who has morethan once made use of my knowledge of London crime. I asked him whetherthe name of Abe Slaney was known to him. Here is his reply: 'The mostdangerous crook in Chicago.' On the very evening upon which I had hisanswer Hilton Cubitt sent me the last message from Slaney. Working withknown letters it took this form:--
ELSIE .RE.ARE TO MEET THY GO.
The addition of a P and a D completed a message which showed me that therascal was proceeding from persuasion to threats, and my knowledge ofthe crooks of Chicago prepared me to find that he might very rapidlyput his words into action. I at once came to Norfolk with my friend andcolleague, Dr. Watson, but, unhappily, only in time to find that theworst had already occurred."
"It is a privilege to be associated with you in the handling of a case,"said the
inspector, warmly. "You will excuse me, however, if I speakfrankly to you. You are only answerable to yourself, but I have toanswer to my superiors. If this Abe Slaney, living at Elrige's, isindeed the murderer, and if he has made his escape while I am seatedhere, I should certainly get into serious trouble."
"You need not be uneasy. He will not try to escape."
"How do you know?"
"To fly would be a confession of guilt."
"Then let us go to arrest him."
"I expect him here every instant."
"But why should he come?"
"Because I have written and asked him."
"But this is incredible, Mr. Holmes! Why should he come because youhave asked him? Would not such a request rather rouse his suspicions andcause him to fly?"
"I think I have known how to frame the letter," said Sherlock Holmes."In fact, if I am not very much mistaken, here is the gentleman himselfcoming up the drive."
A man was striding up the path which led to the door. He was a tall,handsome, swarthy fellow, clad in a suit of grey flannel, with a Panamahat, a bristling black beard, and a great, aggressive hooked nose, andflourishing a cane as he walked. He swaggered up the path as if theplace belonged to him, and we heard his loud, confident peal at thebell.
"I think, gentlemen," said Holmes, quietly, "that we had best take upour position behind the door. Every precaution is necessary when dealingwith such a fellow. You will need your handcuffs, inspector. You canleave the talking to me."
We waited in silence for a minute--one of those minutes which one cannever forget. Then the door opened and the man stepped in. In an instantHolmes clapped a pistol to his head and Martin slipped the handcuffsover his wrists. It was all done so swiftly and deftly that the fellowwas helpless before he knew that he was attacked. He glared from one tothe other of us with a pair of blazing black eyes. Then he burst into abitter laugh.
"Well, gentlemen, you have the drop on me this time. I seem to haveknocked up against something hard. But I came here in answer to a letterfrom Mrs. Hilton Cubitt. Don't tell me that she is in this? Don't tellme that she helped to set a trap for me?"
"Mrs. Hilton Cubitt was seriously injured and is at death's door."
The man gave a hoarse cry of grief which rang through the house.
"You're crazy!" he cried, fiercely. "It was he that was hurt, not she.Who would have hurt little Elsie? I may have threatened her, God forgiveme, but I would not have touched a hair of her pretty head. Take itback--you! Say that she is not hurt!"
"She was found badly wounded by the side of her dead husband."
He sank with a deep groan on to the settee and buried his face in hismanacled hands. For five minutes he was silent. Then he raised his faceonce more, and spoke with the cold composure of despair.
"I have nothing to hide from you, gentlemen," said he. "If I shot theman he had his shot at me, and there's no murder in that. But if youthink I could have hurt that woman, then you don't know either me orher. I tell you there was never a man in this world loved a woman morethan I loved her. I had a right to her. She was pledged to me years ago.Who was this Englishman that he should come between us? I tell you thatI had the first right to her, and that I was only claiming my own."
"She broke away from your influence when she found the man that youare," said Holmes, sternly. "She fled from America to avoid you, and shemarried an honourable gentleman in England. You dogged her and followedher and made her life a misery to her in order to induce her to abandonthe husband whom she loved and respected in order to fly with you, whomshe feared and hated. You have ended by bringing about the death of anoble man and driving his wife to suicide. That is your record in thisbusiness, Mr. Abe Slaney, and you will answer for it to the law."
"If Elsie dies I care nothing what becomes of me," said the American.He opened one of his hands and looked at a note crumpled up in his palm."See here, mister," he cried, with a gleam of suspicion in his eyes,"you're not trying to scare me over this, are you? If the lady ishurt as bad as you say, who was it that wrote this note?" He tossed itforwards on to the table.
"I wrote it to bring you here."
"You wrote it? There was no one on earth outside the Joint who knew thesecret of the dancing men. How came you to write it?"
"What one man can invent another can discover," said Holmes. There isa cab coming to convey you to Norwich, Mr. Slaney. But, meanwhile, youhave time to make some small reparation for the injury you have wrought.Are you aware that Mrs. Hilton Cubitt has herself lain under gravesuspicion of the murder of her husband, and that it was only my presencehere and the knowledge which I happened to possess which has saved herfrom the accusation? The least that you owe her is to make it clearto the whole world that she was in no way, directly or indirectly,responsible for his tragic end."
"I ask nothing better," said the American. "I guess the very best case Ican make for myself is the absolute naked truth."
"It is my duty to warn you that it will be used against you," cried theinspector, with the magnificent fair-play of the British criminal law.
Slaney shrugged his shoulders.
"I'll chance that," said he. "First of all, I want you gentlemen tounderstand that I have known this lady since she was a child. There wereseven of us in a gang in Chicago, and Elsie's father was the boss of theJoint. He was a clever man, was old Patrick. It was he who invented thatwriting, which would pass as a child's scrawl unless you just happenedto have the key to it. Well, Elsie learned some of our ways; but shecouldn't stand the business, and she had a bit of honest money of herown, so she gave us all the slip and got away to London. She had beenengaged to me, and she would have married me, I believe, if I had takenover another profession; but she would have nothing to do with anythingon the cross. It was only after her marriage to this Englishman that Iwas able to find out where she was. I wrote to her, but got no answer.After that I came over, and, as letters were no use, I put my messageswhere she could read them.
"Well, I have been here a month now. I lived in that farm, where I hada room down below, and could get in and out every night, and no one thewiser. I tried all I could to coax Elsie away. I knew that she read themessages, for once she wrote an answer under one of them. Then my tempergot the better of me, and I began to threaten her. She sent me a letterthen, imploring me to go away and saying that it would break her heartif any scandal should come upon her husband. She said that she wouldcome down when her husband was asleep at three in the morning, and speakwith me through the end window, if I would go away afterwards and leaveher in peace. She came down and brought money with her, trying to bribeme to go. This made me mad, and I caught her arm and tried to pullher through the window. At that moment in rushed the husband with hisrevolver in his hand. Elsie had sunk down upon the floor, and we wereface to face. I was heeled also, and I held up my gun to scare him offand let me get away. He fired and missed me. I pulled off almost at thesame instant, and down he dropped. I made away across the garden, and asI went I heard the window shut behind me. That's God's truth, gentlemen,every word of it, and I heard no more about it until that lad cameriding up with a note which made me walk in here, like a jay, and givemyself into your hands."
A cab had driven up whilst the American had been talking. Two uniformedpolicemen sat inside. Inspector Martin rose and touched his prisoner onthe shoulder.
"It is time for us to go."
"Can I see her first?"
"No, she is not conscious. Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I only hope that if everagain I have an important case I shall have the good fortune to have youby my side."
We stood at the window and watched the cab drive away. As I turned backmy eye caught the pellet of paper which the prisoner had tossed upon thetable. It was the note with which Holmes had decoyed him.
"See if you can read it, Watson," said he, with a smile.
It contained no word, but this little line of dancing men:--
GRAPHIC
"If you use the code which I have explained," said Holme
s, "you willfind that it simply means 'Come here at once.' I was convinced thatit was an invitation which he would not refuse, since he could neverimagine that it could come from anyone but the lady. And so, my dearWatson, we have ended by turning the dancing men to good when they haveso often been the agents of evil, and I think that I have fulfilled mypromise of giving you something unusual for your note-book. Three-fortyis our train, and I fancy we should be back in Baker Street for dinner."
Only one word of epilogue. The American, Abe Slaney, was condemned todeath at the winter assizes at Norwich; but his penalty was changed topenal servitude in consideration of mitigating circumstances, and thecertainty that Hilton Cubitt had fired the first shot. Of Mrs. HiltonCubitt I only know that I have heard she recovered entirely, and thatshe still remains a widow, devoting her whole life to the care of thepoor and to the administration of her husband's estate.
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THE STRAND MAGAZINE Vol. 27 JANUARY, 1904 THE RETURN OF SHERLOCK HOLMES. By ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE.
The Return of Sherlock Holmes Page 3