The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle (booksvooks txt) π
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- Author: Arthur Conan Doyle
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βWhat do you want me to do?β
βTo tell me the truth.β
βMr. Holmes!β
βNo, no, Lady Brackenstall, it is no use. You may have heard of any little reputation which I possess. I will stake it all on the fact that your story is an absolute fabrication.β
Mistress and maid were both staring at Holmes with pale faces and frightened eyes.
βYou are an impudent fellow!β cried Theresa. βDo you mean to say that my mistress has told a lie?β
Holmes rose from his chair.
βHave you nothing to tell me?β
βI have told you everything.β
βThink once more, Lady Brackenstall. Would it not be better to be frank?β
For an instant there was hesitation in her beautiful face. Then some new strong thought caused it to set like a mask.
βI have told you all I know.β
Holmes took his hat and shrugged his shoulders. βI am sorry,β he said, and without another word we left the room and the house. There was a pond in the park, and to this my friend led the way. It was frozen over, but a single hole was left for the convenience of a solitary swan. Holmes gazed at it and then passed on to the lodge gate. There he scribbled a short note for Stanley Hopkins and left it with the lodge-keeper.
βIt may be a hit or it may be a miss, but we are bound to do something for friend Hopkins, just to justify this second visit,β said he. βI will not quite take him into my confidence yet. I think our next scene of operations must be the shipping office of the Adelaide-Southampton line, which stands at the end of Pall Mall, if I remember right. There is a second line of steamers which connect South Australia with England, but we will draw the larger cover first.β
Holmes's card sent in to the manager ensured instant attention, and he was not long in acquiring all the information which he needed. In June of '95 only one of their line had reached a home port. It was the ROCK OF GIBRALTAR, their largest and best boat. A reference to the passenger list showed that Miss Fraser of Adelaide, with her maid, had made the voyage in her. The boat was now on her way to Australia, somewhere to the south of the Suez Canal. Her officers were the same as in '95, with one exception. The first officer, Mr. Jack Croker, had been made a captain and was to take charge of their new ship, the BASS ROCK, sailing in two days' time from Southampton. He lived at Sydenham, but he was likely to be in that morning for instructions, if we cared to wait for him.
No; Mr. Holmes had no desire to see him, but would be glad to know more about his record and character.
His record was magnificent. There was not an officer in the fleet to touch him. As to his character, he was reliable on duty, but a wild, desperate fellow off the deck of his ship, hot-headed, excitable, but loyal, honest, and kind-hearted. That was the pith of the information with which Holmes left the office of the Adelaide-Southampton company. Thence he drove to Scotland Yard, but instead of entering he sat in his cab with his brows drawn down, lost in profound thought. Finally he drove round to the Charing Cross telegraph office, sent off a message, and then, at last, we made for Baker Street once more.
βNo, I couldn't do it, Watson,β said he, as we re-entered our room. βOnce that warrant was made out nothing on earth would save him. Once or twice in my career I feel that I have done more real harm by my discovery of the criminal than ever he had done by his crime. I have learned caution now, and I had rather play tricks with the law of England than with my own conscience. Let us know a little more before we act.β
Before evening we had a visit from Inspector Stanley Hopkins. Things were not going very well with him.
βI believe that you are a wizard, Mr. Holmes. I really do sometimes think that you have powers that are not human. Now, how on earth could you know that the stolen silver was at the bottom of that pond?β
βI didn't know it.β
βBut you told me to examine it.β
βYou got it, then?β
βYes, I got it.β
βI am very glad if I have helped you.β
βBut you haven't helped me. You have made the affair far more difficult. What sort of burglars are they who steal silver and then throw it into the nearest pond?β
βIt was certainly rather eccentric behaviour. I was merely going on the idea that if the silver had been taken by persons who did not want it, who merely took it for a blind as it were, then they would naturally be anxious to get rid of it.β
βBut why should such an idea cross your mind?β
βWell, I thought it was possible. When they came out through the French window there was the pond, with one tempting little hole in the ice, right in front of their noses. Could there be a better hiding-place?β
βAh, a hiding-placeβthat is better!β cried Stanley Hopkins. βYes, yes, I see it all now! It was early, there were folk upon the roads, they were afraid of being seen with the silver, so they sank it in the pond, intending to return for it when the coast was clear. Excellent, Mr. Holmesβthat is better than your idea of a blind.β
βQuite so; you have got an admirable theory. I have no doubt that my own ideas were quite wild, but you must admit that they have ended in discovering the silver.β
βYes, sir, yes. It was all your doing. But I have had a bad set-back.β
βA set-back?β
βYes, Mr. Holmes. The Randall gang were arrested in New York this morning.β
βDear me, Hopkins! That is certainly rather against your theory that they committed a murder in Kent last night.β
βIt is fatal, Mr. Holmes, absolutely fatal. Still, there are other gangs of three besides the Randalls, or it may be some new gang of which the police have never heard.β
βQuite so; it is perfectly possible. What, are you off?β
βYes, Mr. Holmes; there is no rest for me until I have got to the bottom of the business. I suppose you have no hint to give me?β
βI have given you one.β
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