The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle (booksvooks txt) π
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- Author: Arthur Conan Doyle
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βMy 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.β
βOne moment,β said Holmes. βWhere does this path lead to?β
βTo the road.β
βHow long is it?β
βA hundred yards or so.β
βAt the point where the path passes through the gate you could surely pick up the tracks?β
βUnfortunately, the path was tiled at that point.β
βWell, on the road itself?β
βNo; it was all trodden into mire.β
βTut-tut! Well, then, these tracks upon the grass, were they coming or going?β
βIt was impossible to say. There was never any outline.β
βA large foot or a small?β
βYou could not distinguish.β
Holmes gave an ejaculation of impatience.
βIt has been pouring rain and blowing a hurricane ever since,β said he. βIt 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?β
βI 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.
βI 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 forwards, so that it is almost impossible that it could have been self-inflicted.β
βUnless he fell upon the knife,β said Holmes.
βExactly. 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.β
From his pocket Stanley Hopkins drew a small paper packet. He unfolded it and disclosed a golden pince-nez, with two broken ends of black silk cord dangling from the end of it. βWilloughby Smith had excellent sight,β he added. βThere can be no question that this was snatched from the face or the person of the assassin.β
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 them 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 he tossed across to Stanley Hopkins.
βThat's the best I can do for you,β said he. βIt may prove to be of some use.β
The astonished detective read the note aloud. It ran as follows:β
βWanted, 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, a peering 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.β
Holmes smiled at the astonishment of Hopkins, which must have been reflected upon my features.
βSurely my deductions are simplicity itself,β said he. βIt 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 are 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 centre, or near the centre, 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 is sure to have the physical characteristics of such vision, which are seen in the forehead, the eyelids, and the shoulders.β
βYes,β I said, βI can follow each of your arguments. I confess, however, that I am unable to understand how you arrive at the double visit to the optician.β
Holmes took the glasses in his hand.
βYou will perceive,β he said, βthat the clips are lined with tiny bands of cork to soften the pressure upon the nose. One of these is discoloured 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.β
βBy George, it's marvellous!β cried Hopkins, in an ecstasy of admiration. βTo think that I had all that evidence
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