The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Arthur
Conan Doyle adventure for the Boscombe
Valley mystery we were seated at
breakfast one morning my wife and I when
the maid brought in a telegram it was
from Sherlock Holmes and ran in this way
have you a couple of days to spare have
just been wired for from the West of
England in connection with Boscombe
Valley tragedy shall be glad if you will
come with me
air and scenery perfect leave Paddington
by the 11:15 what do you say dear said
my wife looking across at me will you go
I really don't know what to say I have a
fairly long list at present oh and
Strether would do your work for you you
have been looking a little pale lately I
think that the change would do you good
and you were always so interested in mr.
Sherlock Holmes's cases I should be
ungrateful if I were not seeing what I
gained through one of them I answered
but if I am to go I must pack at once
for I have only half an hour my
experience of camp life in Afghanistan
had at least had the effect of making me
a prompt and ready traveller by wants
were few and simple so that in less than
the time stated I was in a cab with my
valise rattling away to Paddington
Station Sherlock Holmes was pacing up
and down the platform his tall gaunt
figure made even gaunter and taller by
his long grey traveling cloak and
close-fitting cloth cap it is really
very good of you to come Watson said he
it makes a considerable difference to me
having someone with me on whom I can
thoroughly rely local aid is always
either worthless or else biased if
you'll keep the two corner seats I shall
get the tickets
we had the carriage to ourselves save
for an immense litter of papers which
Holmes had brought with him among these
he rummaged and read with intervals of
notetaking and of meditation until we
were past read
then he suddenly rolled them all into a
gigantic ball and tossed them up onto
the rack have you heard anything of the
case he asked not a word I have not seen
a paper for some days the London press
has not had very full of counts I have
just been looking through all the recent
papers in order to master the
particulars it seems from what I gather
to be one of those simple cases which
are so extremely difficult that sounds a
little paradoxical but it is profoundly
true singularity is almost invariably a
clue the more featureless and
commonplace a crime is the more
difficult it is to bring it home in this
case however they have established a
very serious case against the son of the
murdered man it is a murder then well it
is conjectured to be so I shall take
nothing for granted until I have the
opportunity of looking personally into
it I will explain the state of things to
you as far as I've been able to
understand it in a very few words
Boscombe Valley is a country district
not very far from Ross in Hertfordshire
the largest landed proprietor in that
part is a mr. John Turner who made his
money in Australia and returned some
years ago to the old country one of the
farms which he held that of Heatherly
was led to mr. Charles McCarthy who was
also an ex Australian the men had known
each other in the colonies so that it
was not unnatural that when they came to
settle down they should do so as near
each other as possible
Turner was apparently the richer man so
McCarthy became his tenant but still
remained it seems upon terms of perfect
equality as they were frequently
together McCarthy had one son a lad of
eighteen and Turner had an only daughter
of the same age but neither of them had
wives living they appeared to have
avoided the Society of the neighbouring
English families and to have led retired
lives though both the
these were fond of sport and were
frequently seen at the race-meetings of
the neighborhood
McCarthy kept two servants a man and a
girl Turner had a considerable household
some half-dozen at the least that is as
much as I have been able to gather about
the families now for the facts on June
3rd that is on Monday last McCarthy left
his house at Heather Lee about 3:00 in
the afternoon and walked down to the
Boscombe pool which is a small lake
formed by the spreading out of the
stream which runs down the Boscombe
Valley he had been out with a
serving-man in the morning at Ross and
he had told the man that he must hurry
as he had an appointment of importance
to keep it 3 from that appointment he
never came back alive from Heatherly
farmhouse to the Boscombe pool is a
quarter of a mile and two people saw him
as he passed over this ground one was an
old woman whose name is not mentioned
and the other was William Crowder a
gamekeeper in the employ of mr. Turner
both these witnesses depose that mr.
McCarthy was walking alone the
gamekeeper adds that within a few
minutes of his seeing McCarthy pass he
had seen his son mr. James McCarthy
going the same way with a gun under his
arm to the best of his belief the father
was actually in sight at the time and
the son was following him he thought no
more of the matter until he heard in the
evening of the tragedy that had occurred
the two mccarthy's were seen after the
time when william crowder the
game-keeper
lost sight of them the Boscombe pool is
thickly wooded round with just a fringe
of grass and of reeds around the edge a
girl of 14 patients Moran who is the
daughter of the lodge-keeper of the
Boscombe Valley Estate was in one of the
woods picking flowers she states that
while she was there she saw at the
border of the wood and close by the lake
mr. McCarthy and his son and that they
appeared to be having a violent quarrel
she heard mr. McCarthy the elder using
very
wrong language to his son and she saw
the ladder raise up his hand as if to
strike his father she was so frightened
by their violence that she ran away and
told her mother when she reached home
that she had left the two mccarthy's
quarreling near Boscombe pool and that
she was afraid that they were going to
fight she had hardly said the words when
young mr. McCarthy came running up to
the lodge to say that he had found his
father dead in the wood and asked for
the help of the lodge-keeper he was much
excited without either his gun or his
hat and his right hand and sleeve were
observed to be stained with fresh blood
on following him they found the dead
body stretched out upon the grass beside
the pool the head had been beaten in by
repeated blows of some heavy and blunt
weapon the injuries were such as might
very well have been inflicted by the
butt-end of his son's gun which was
found lying on the grass within a few
paces of the body under these
circumstances the young man was
instantly arrested and a verdict of
willful murder having been returned at
the inquest on Tuesday he was on
Wednesday brought before the magistrates
at Ross who have referred the case to
the next Assizes those are the main
facts of the case as they came out
before the coroner and the police court
I could hardly imagine a more damning
case I remarked if ever circumstantial
evidence pointed to a criminal it does
so here circumstantial evidence is a
very tricky thing answered Holmes
thoughtfully it may seem to point very
straight to one thing but if you shift
your own point of view a little you will
find it pointing in an equally
uncompromising manner to something
entirely different it must be confessed
however that the case looks exceedingly
grave against the young man and it is
very possible that he is indeed the
culprit there are several people in the
neighbourhood however and among them
miss Turner the daughter of the
neighbouring landowner who believed in
his innocence and who have retained
lists
rhod whom you may recollect in
connection with a study in scarlet to
work out the case in his interest
Lestrade
being rather puzzled has referred the
case to me and hence it is that two
middle-aged gentlemen are flying
westward at fifty miles an hour instead
of quietly digesting their breakfasts at
home
I am afraid said I that the facts are so
obvious that you will find little credit
to be gained out of this case there is
nothing more deceptive than an obvious
fact he answered laughing besides we may
chance to hit upon some other obvious
facts which may have been by no means
obvious to mr. Lestrade you know me too
well to think that I am boasting when I
say that I shall either confirm or
destroy his theory by means which he is
quite incapable of employing or even of
understanding to take the first example
to hand I very clearly perceived that in
your bedroom the window is upon the
right-hand side and yet I question
whether mr. Lestrade would have noted
even so self-evident a thing as that how
on earth My dear fellow I know you well
I know the military neatness which
characterises you you shave every
morning and in this season you shave by
the sunlight but since your shaving is
less and less complete as we get farther
back on the left side until it becomes
positively slovenly as we get round the
angle of the jaw it is surely very clear
that that side is less illuminated than
the other I could not imagine a man of
your habits looking at himself in an
equal light and being satisfied with
such a result I only quote this as a
trivial example of observation and
inference therein lies my matey a and it
is just possible that it may be of some
service in the investigation which lies
before us there are one or two minor
points which were brought out in the
inquest and which are worth considering
what are they it appears that his arrest
did not take place at once
but after the return to Heatherly far
on the inspector of Constabulary and
forming him that he was a prisoner he
remarked that he was not surprised to
hear it and that it was no more than his
desserts this observation of his had the
natural effect of removing any traces of
doubt which might have remained in the
minds of the coroner's jury it was a
confession I ejaculated no for it was
followed by a protestation of innocence
coming on the top of such a damning
series of events it was at least a most
suspicious remark on the contrary said
Holmes it is the brightest rift which I
can at present see in the clouds however
innocent he might be he could not be
such an absolute imbecile as not to see
that the circumstances were very black
against him had he appeared surprised at
his own arrest or feigned indignation at
it I should have looked upon it as
highly suspicious because such surprise
or anger would not be natural under the
circumstances and yet might appear to be
the best policy to a scheming man his
frank acceptance of the situation marks
him as either an innocent man or else as
a man of considerable self-restraint and
firmness as to his remark about his
deserts it was also not unnatural if you
consider that he stood beside the dead
body of his father and that there is no
doubt that he had that very day so far
forgotten his filial duty as to bandy
words with him and even according to the
little girl whose evidence is so
important to raise his hand as if to
strike him the self-reproach and
contrition which are displayed in his
remark appeared to me to be the signs of
a healthy mind rather than of a guilty
one I shook my head many men have been
hanged on far slighter evidence I
remarked so they have and many men have
been wrongfully hanged
what is the young man's own account of
the matter it is I'm afraid not very
encouraging to his supporters
though there are one or two points in it
which are suggestive you will find it
here and they read it for yourself he
picked out from his bundle a copy of the
local Hereford sure paper and having
turned down the sheet he pointed out the
paragraph in which the unfortunate young
man had given his own statement of what
had occurred I settled myself down in
the corner of the carriage and read it
very carefully it ran in this way mr.
James McCarthy the only son of the
deceased was then called and gave
evidence as follows I had been away from
home for three days at Bristol and had
only just returned upon the morning of
last Monday the third my father was
absent from home at the time of my
arrival and I was informed by the maid
that he had driven over to Ross with
John Cobb the groom shortly after my
return I heard the wheels of his trap in
the yard and looking out of my window I
saw him get out and walk rapidly out of
the yard though I was not aware in which
direction he was going either took my
gun and strolled out in the direction of
the Boscombe pool with the intention of
visiting the rabbit warren which is upon
the other side on my way I saw william
crowder the game-keeper as he had stated
in his evidence but he is mistaken in
thinking that I was following my father
I had no idea that he was in front of me
when about a hundred yards from the pool
I heard a cry of cooee which was a usual
signal between my father and myself I
then hurried forward and found him
standing by the pool he appeared to be
much surprised at seeing me and asked me
rather roughly what I was doing there a
conversation ensued which led to high
words and almost two blows for my father
was a man of a very violent temper
seeing that his passion was becoming
uncover Noble I left him and returned
towards Heatherly farm I had not gone
more than 150 yards however when I heard
a hideous outcry
behind me which caused me to run back
again I found my father expiring upon
the ground with his head terribly
injured I dropped my gun and held him in
my arms but he almost instantly expired
I knelt beside him for some minutes and
then made my way to mr. Turner's
lodge-keeper his house being the nearest
to ask for assistance I saw no one near
my father when I returned and I have no
idea how he came by his injuries he was
not a popular man being somewhat cold
and forbidding in his manners but he had
as far as I know no active enemies I
know nothing further of the matter the
coroner did your father make any
statement to you before he died witness
he mumbled a few words but I could only
catch some allusion to a rat the coroner
what did you understand by that witness
it conveyed no meaning to me I thought
that he was delirious
the coroner what was the point upon
which you and your father had this final
quarrel witness I should prefer not to
answer the coroner I am afraid that I
must press it witness it is really
impossible for me to tell you I can
assure you that it has nothing to do
with the sad tragedy which followed the
coroner that is for the court to decide
I need not point out to you that your
refusal to answer will prejudice your
case considerably in any future
proceedings which may arise witness I
must still refuse the coroner I
understand that the cry of cooee was a
common signal between you and your
father witness it was the coroner how
was it then that he uttered it before he
saw you and before he even knew that you
had returned from Bristol witness with
considerable confusion I do
not know a juryman did you see nothing
which aroused your suspicions when you
returned on hearing the cry and found
your father fatally injured witness
nothing definite the corridor what do
you mean
witness I was so disturbed and excited
as I rushed out into the open that I
could think of nothing except of my
father yet I have a vague impression
that as I ran forward something lay upon
the ground to the left of me it seemed
to me to be something grey in color a
coat of some sort or a plaid perhaps
when I rose from My Father I looked
round for it but it was gone do you mean
that it disappeared before you went for
help yes it was gone you cannot say what
it was no I had a feeling something was
there how far from the body a dozen
yards or so and how far from the edge of
the wood about the same then if it was
removed it was while you were within a
dozen yards of it yes but with my back
toward it this concluded the examination
of the witness I see said I as I glanced
down the column that the coroner in his
concluding remarks was rather severe
upon young McCarthy he calls attention
and with reason to the discrepancy about
his father having signaled to him before
seeing him also to his refusal to give
details of his conversation with his
father and his singular account of his
father's dying words they are all as he
remarks very much against the son Holmes
left softly to himself and stretched
himself out upon the cushioned seat both
you and the coroner had been at some
pains said he to single out the very
strongest points in the young man's
favour don't you see that you
alternately give him
credit for having too much imagination
and too little too little if he could
not invent a cause of quarrel which
would give him the sympathy of the jury
too much if he evolved from his own
inner consciousness anything so outré
has a dying reference to a rat and the
incident of the vanishing cloth no sir I
shall approach this case from the point
of view that what this young man says is
true and we shall see whether that
hypothesis will lead us and now here is
my pocket
pet Raj and not another word shall I say
of this case until we are on the scene
of action we lunch at Swindon and I see
that we shall be there in 20 minutes
it was nearly 4 o'clock when we at last
after passing through the beautiful
Stroud Valley and over the broad
gleaming Severn found ourselves at the
pretty little country town of Ross a
lean ferret-like man furtive and sly
looking was waiting for us upon the
platform in spite of the light brown
dust coat and leather leggings which he
wore in deference to his rustic
surroundings I had no difficulty in
recognising lestrade of scotland yard
with him we drove to the Hereford arms
where room had already been engaged for
us I have ordered a carriage said
Lestrade as we sat over a cup of tea I
knew your energetic nature and that you
would not be happy until you had been on
the scene of the crime
it was very nice and complimentary of
you Holmes answered it is entirely a
question of barometric pressure Lestrade
looked startled I do not quite follow he
said how is the glass twenty-nine I see
no wind and not a cloud in the sky I
have a case full of cigarettes here
which needs smoking and the sofa is very
much superior to the usual country hotel
abomination I do not think that it is
probable that I shall use the carriage
tonight Lestrade laughed and
you have no doubt how reformed your
conclusions from the newspapers he said
the case is as plain as a pikestaff and
the more one goes into it the plainer it
becomes still of course one can't refuse
a lady and such a very positive one too
she has heard of you and would have your
opinion though I repeatedly told her
that there was nothing which you could
do which I have not already done why
bless my soul here is her carriage at
the door he had hardly spoken before
there rushed into the room one of the
most lovely young women that I've ever
seen in my life her violet eyes shining
her lips parted a pink flush upon her
cheeks all thought of her natural
reserve lost in her overpowering
excitement and concern Oh
mr. Sherlock Holmes she cried glancing
from one to the other of us and finally
with a woman's quick intuition fastening
upon my companion I am so glad that you
have come I have driven down to tell you
so I know that James didn't do it I know
it and I want you to start upon your
work knowing it to never let yourself
doubt upon that point we have known each
other since we were little children and
I know his fault says no one else does
but he is too tender-hearted to hurt a
fly such a charge is absurd to anyone
who really knows him I hope we may clear
him miss Turner said Sherlock Holmes you
may rely upon my doing all that I can
but you have read the evidence you have
formed some conclusion do you not see
some loophole some flaw do you not
yourself think that he is innocent I
think that it is very probable there now
she cried throwing back her head and
looking defiantly at Lestrade you hear
he gives me hopes Lestrade shrugged his
shoulders I am afraid that my colleague
has been a little quick informing his
conclude
Asians he said but he is right oh I know
that he is right James never did it and
about his quarrel with his father I am
sure that the reason why he would not
speak about it to the coroner was
because I was concerned in it
in what way asked Holmes it is no time
for me to hide anything James and his
father had many disagreements about me
mr. McCarthy was very anxious that there
should be a marriage between us James
and I have always loved each other as
brother and sister but of course he is
young and has seen very little of life
yet and and well he naturally did not
wish to do anything like that yet and
there were quarrels and this I am sure
was one of them and your father asked
Holmes was he in favor of such a union
no he was quite averse to it also no one
but mr. McCarthy was in favor of it a
quick blush passed over her fresh young
face as Holmes shot one of his keen
questioning glances at her thank you for
this information said he may I see your
father if I call tomorrow I am afraid
the doctor won't allow it the doctor yes
have you not heard poor father has never
been strong for years back but this has
broken him down completely he is taken
to his bed and dr. willows says that he
is a wreck and that his nervous system
is shattered mr. McCarthy was the only
man alive who had known dad in the old
days in Victoria huh in Victoria that is
important yes at the mines quite so at
the gold mines where as I understand mr.
Turner made his money yes certainly
thank you Miss Turner you have been of
material assistance to me you will tell
me if you have any news tomorrow
no doubt you will go to the prison to
see James oh if you do mr. Holmes do
tell him that I know him to be innocent
I will miss Turner I must go home now
for dad is very ill and he misses me so
if I leave him goodbye and God help you
in your undertaking
she hurried from the room as impulsively
as she had entered and we heard the
wheels of her carriage rattle off down
the street I am ashamed of you Holmes
said Lestrade with dignity after a few
minutes silence why should you raise up
hopes which you were bound to disappoint
I am NOT over tender of heart but I call
it cruel I think that I see my way to
clearing James McCarthy said Holmes have
you in order to see him in prison yes
but only for you and me then I shall
reconsider my resolution about going out
we have still time to take a train to
Hereford and see him tonight
ample then let us do so Watson I fear
that you will find it very slow but I
shall only be a way of a couple of hours
I walked down to the station with them
and then wandered through the streets of
the little town finally returning to the
hotel where I lay upon the sofa and
tried to interest myself in a
yellow-backed novel the puny plot of the
story was so thin however when compared
to the deep mystery through which we
were groping and I found my attention
wander so continually from the action to
the fact that I at last flung it across
the room and gave myself up entirely to
a consideration of the events of the day
supposing that this unhappy young man's
story were absolutely true then what
hellish thing what absolutely unforeseen
and extraordinary calamity could have
occurred between the time when he parted
from his father and the moment when
drawn back by his screams he rushed into
the glade it was something terrible and
deadly
what could it
might not the nature of the injuries
reveal something to my medical instincts
I rang the bell and called for the
weekly county paper which contained a
verbatim account of the inquest in the
surgeons deposition it was stated that
the posterior third of the left parietal
bone and the left half of the occipital
bone had been shattered by a heavy blow
from a blunt weapon I marked the spot
upon my own head clearly such a blow
must have been struck from behind that
was to some extent in favor of the
accused as when seen quarrelling he was
face to face with his father still it
did not go for very much for the older
man might have turned his back before
the blow fell still it might be
worthwhile to call Holmes's attention to
it then there was the peculiar dying
reference to a rat what could that mean
it could not be delirium a man dying
from a sudden blow does not commonly
become delirious no it was more likely
to be an attempt to explain how he met
his fate but what could it indicate i
cudgelled my brains to find some
possible explanation and then the
incident of the grey cloth scene by
young McCarthy if that were true the
murderer must have dropped some part of
his dress presumably his overcoat in his
flight and must have had the hardihood
to return and to carry it away at the
instant when the son was kneeling with
his back turn not a dozen paces off what
a tissue of mysteries and
improbabilities the whole thing was I
did not wonder at Lestrade zap engine
and yet I had so much faith in Sherlock
Holmes's insight that I could not lose
hope as long as every fresh fact seemed
to strengthen his conviction of young
McCarthy's innocence it was late before
Sherlock Holmes returned he came back
alone for Lestrade was staying in
lodgings in the town the glass still
keeps very high he remarked as
sat down it is of importance that it
should not rain before we are able to go
over the ground on the other hand a man
should be at his very best and keenest
for such nice work as that and I did not
wish to do it when fagged by a long
journey I have seen young McCarthy and
what did you learn from him nothing
could he throw no light none at all
I was inclined to think at one time that
he knew who had done it and was
screening him or her but I am convinced
now that he is as puzzled as everyone
else he is not a very quick-witted youth
though comely to look at and I should
think sound at heart I cannot admire his
taste I remarked if it is indeed a fact
that he was averse to a marriage was so
charming a young lady as this miss
Turner ah thereby hangs a rather painful
tale this fellow is madly insanely in
love with her but some two years ago
when he was only a lad and before he
really knew her for she had been away
five years at a boarding-school what
does the idiot do but get into the
clutches of a barmaid in Bristol and
marry her at a registry office no one
knows a word of the matter but you can
imagine how maddening it must be to him
to be upbraided for not doing what he
would give his very eyes to do but what
he knows to be absolutely impossible it
was sheer frenzy of this sort which made
him throw his hands up into the air when
his father at their last interview was
goading him on to propose to miss Turner
on the other hand he had no means of
supporting himself and his father who
was by all accounts a very hard man
would have thrown him over utterly had
he known the truth it was with his
barmaid wife that he had spent the last
three days in Bristol and his father did
not know where he was mark that point it
is of importance good has come out of
evil however for the barmaid
finding from the papers that he is in
serious trouble and likely to be hanged
has thrown him over utterly and has
written to him to say that she has a
husband already in the Bermuda Dockyard
so that there is really no tie between
them I think that that bit of news has
consoled young McCarthy for all that he
has suffered but if he is innocent who
has done it
oh who I would call your attention very
particularly to two points one is that
the murdered man had an appointment with
someone at the pool and that the someone
could not have been his son for his son
was away and he did not know when he
would return the second is that the
murdered man was heard to cry cooee
before he knew that his son had returned
those are the crucial points upon which
the case depends and now let us talk
about George Meredith if you please and
we shall leave all minor matters until
tomorrow there was no rain as Holmes had
foretold and the morning broke bright
and cloudless at nine o'clock Lestrade
called for us with the carriage and we
set off for heavily farm and the
Boscombe pool there is serious news this
morning
Lestrade observed it is said that mr.
Turner of the hall is so ill that his
life is despaired of an elderly man I
presume said Holmes about sixty but his
Constitution has been shattered by his
life abroad and he has been in failing
health for some time this business has
had a very bad effect upon him he was an
old friend of McCarthy's and I may add a
great benefactor to him for I have
learned that he gave him Heatherly farm
rent-free indeed that is interesting
said Holmes oh yes in a hundred other
ways he has helped him everybody about
here speaks of his kindness to him
really does it not strike you as a
little singular that this McCarthy who
appears to have had little of his own
and to have been under such
obligations to Turner should still talk
of marrying his son to Turner's daughter
who is presumably heiress to the estate
and that in such a very cocksure manner
as if it were merely a case of a
proposal and all else would follow it is
the more strange since we know that
Turner himself was averse to the idea
the daughter told us as much do you not
deduce something from that we have got
to the deductions and the inferences
said Lestrade we can get me I find it
hard enough to tackle facts Holmes
without flying away after theories and
fancies you are right said Holmes to
merely you do find it very hard to
tackle the facts anyhow I have grasped
one fact which you seemed to have find
it difficult to get hold of replied
Lestrade with some warmth and that is
that McCarthy senior met his death from
McCarthy jr. and that all theories to
the contrary are the merest moonshine
well moonshine is a brighter thing than
fog said Holmes laughing but I am very
much mistaken if this is not happily
farm upon the left yes that is it it was
a widespread comfortable-looking
building two-storied slate roofed with
great yellow blotches of lichen upon the
gray walls the drawn blinds and the
smokeless chimneys however gave it a
stricken look as though the weight of
this horror still lay heavy upon it we
called at the door when the maid at
Holmes's request showed us the boots
which her master wore at the time of his
death and also a pair of the sons though
not the pair which he had then had
having measured these very carefully
from seven or eight different points
Holmes desired to be led to the
courtyard from which we all followed the
winding track which led to Boscombe pool
Sherlock Holmes was transformed when he
was hot upon such a scent as this men
who had only known the quiet
and logician of Baker Street would have
failed to recognize him his face flushed
and darkened his brows were drawn into
too hard black lines while his eyes
shone out from beneath them with a
steely glitter his face was bent
downward his shoulders bowed his lips
compressed and the veins stood out like
whipcord in his long sinewy neck his
nostrils seemed to dilate with a purely
animal lust for the chase and his mind
was so absolutely concentrated upon the
matter before him that a question or
remark fell unheeded upon his ears or at
the most only provoked a quick impatient
snarl in reply swiftly and silently he
made his way along the track which ran
through the meadows and so by way of the
woods to the Boscombe pool it was damp
marshy ground as is all that district
and there were marks of many feet both
upon the path and amid the short grass
which bounded it on either side
sometimes homes would hurry on sometimes
stop dead and once he made quite a
little detour into the meadow Lestrade
and I walked behind him the detective
indifferent and contemptuous while I
watched my friend with the interest
which sprang from the conviction that
every one of his actions was directed
towards a definite end the Boscombe pool
which is a little red dirt sheet of
water some fifty yards across is
situated at the boundary between the
Heatherly farm and the private park of
the wealthy mr Turner above the woods
which lined it upon the farther side we
could see the red jutting pinnacles
which marked the site of the rich
landowners dwelling on the Heather Lee
side of the pool the woods grew very
thick and there was a narrow belt of
sodden grass twenty paces across between
the edge of the trees and the reeds
which lined the lake Lestrade showed us
the exact spot at which the body had
been found and indeed
moist was the ground that I could
plainly see the traces which have been
left by the fall of the stricken man two
homes as I could see by his eager face
and peering eyes very many other things
were to be read upon the trampled grass
he ran round of like a dog who is
picking up a scent and then turned upon
my companion what did you go into the
pool for he asked I fished about with a
rake I thought there might be some
weapon or other trace but how on earth
Oh tut-tut I have no time that left foot
of yours with its inward twist is all
over the place a mole could trace it and
there it vanishes among the reeds oh how
simple it would all have been had I been
here before they came like a herd of
buffalo and wallowed all over it here is
where the party with the lodge-keeper
came and they have covered all tracks
for six or eight feet round the body but
here are three separate tracks of the
same feet he drew out a lens and lay
down upon his waterproof to have a
better view talking all the time rather
to himself than to us these are young
McCarthy's feet twice he was walking and
once he ran swiftly so that the soles
are deeply marked and the heels hardly
visible that bears out his story he ran
when he saw his father on the ground
then here are the Fathers feet as he
paced up and down what is this then it
is the butt end of the gun as the son
stood listening and this ha ha what have
we here tiptoes tiptoes square too quite
unusual boots they come they go they
come again of course that was for the
cloak now where did they come from he
ran up and down sometimes losing
sometimes finding the track until we
were well within the edge of the wood
and under the shadow of a great beach
the largest tree in the neighborhood
Holmes traced his way to the farther
side of this and lay down once more upon
his face with a little cry of
satisfaction for a long time he remained
there turning over the leaves and dried
sticks gathering up what seemed to me to
be dust into an envelope and examining
with his lens not only the ground but
even the bark of the tree as far as he
could reach a jagged stone was lying
among the moss and this also he
carefully examined and retained then he
followed a pathway through the wood
until he came to the highroad where all
traces were lost it has been a case of
considerable interest he remarked
returning to his natural manner I fancy
that this grey house on the right
must be the lodge I think that I will go
in and have a word with Moran and
perhaps write a little note having done
that we may drive back to our luncheon
you may walk to the cab and I shall be
with you presently it was about ten
minutes before we regained our cab and
drove back into Ross home still carrying
with him the stone which he had picked
up in the wood this may interest you
Lestrade he remarked holding it out the
murder was done with it
I see no marks there are none
how do you know then the grass was
growing under it it had only lain there
a few days there was no sign of a place
whence it had been taken it corresponds
with the injuries there is no sign of
any other weapon and the murderer is a
tall man left-handed limps with the
right leg wears thick-soled shooting
boots and a great cloak smokes Indian
cigars uses a cigar-holder and carries a
blunt penknife in his pocket there are
several other indications but these may
be enough to aid us in our search
Lestrade laughed I am afraid that I am
still a skeptic he said theories are all
very well but we
have to deal with a hard-headed British
jury new fella wrong answered Holmes
calmly you work your own method and I
shall work mine I shall be busy this
afternoon and shall probably return to
London by the evening train
and leave your case unfinished no
finished but the mystery it is solved
who was the criminal then the gentleman
I described but who is he surely it
would not be difficult to find out this
is not such a populous neighbourhood
Lestrade shrugged his shoulders I am a
practical man he said and I really
cannot undertake to go about the country
looking for a left-handed gentleman with
a game leg I should become the
laughingstock of Scotland Yard all right
said Holmes quietly I have given you the
chance here are your lodgings goodbye I
shall drop you a line before I leave
having left Lestrade at his rooms we
drove to our hotel where we found lunch
upon the table Holmes was silent and
buried in thought with a pained
expression upon his face as one who
finds himself in a perplexing position
look here Watson he said when the cloth
was cleared just sit down in this chair
and let me preach to you for a little I
don't know quite what to do and I should
value your advice light a cigar and let
me expand pray do so well now in
considering this case there are two
points about young McCarthy's narrative
which struck us both instantly although
they impressed me in his favor and you
against him one was the fact that his
father should according to his account
cry cooee before seeing him the other
was a singular dying reference to a rat
he mumbled several words you understand
but that was all that caught the son's
ear now from this
point our research must commence and we
will begin it by presuming that what the
lad says is absolutely true what of this
cooee then well obviously it could not
have been meant for the Sun the Sun as
far as he knew was in Bristol it was
mere chance that he was within earshot
the cuy was meant to attract the
attention of whoever it was that he had
the appointment with but Kui is a
distinctly Australian cry and one which
is used between Australians there is a
strong presumption that the person whom
McCarthy expected to meet him at
Boscombe pool was someone who had been
in Australia what of the rat then
Sherlock Holmes took a folded paper from
his pocket and flattened it out on the
table this is a map of the colony of
Victoria he said I wired to Bristol for
it last night he put his hand over part
of the map what do you read a rat I read
and now he raised his hand Ballarat
quite so that was the word the man
uttered and of which his son only caught
the last two syllables he was trying to
utter the name of his murderer so and so
of Ballarat it is wonderful I exclaimed
it is obvious and now you see I had
narrowed the field down considerably
the possession of a grave garment was a
third point which granting the son's
statement to be correct was a certainty
we have come now out of mere vagueness
to the definite conception of an
Australian from Ballarat with a gray
cloak certainly and one who was at home
in the district for the pool can only be
approached by the farm or by the estate
where strangers could hardly wander
quite so then comes our expedition of
today by an examination of the
ground I gained the trifling details
which I gave to that imbecile Lestrade
as to the personality of the criminal
but how did you gain them you know my
method it is founded upon the
observation of trifles his height I know
that you might roughly judge from the
length of his stride his boots too might
be told from their traces yes they were
peculiar boots but his lameness the
impression of his right foot was always
less distinct than his left he put less
weight upon it why because he limped he
was lame but his left handedness you
were yourself struck by the nature of
the injury as recorded by the surgeon at
the inquest the blow was struck from me
immediately behind and yet was upon the
left side now how can that be unless it
were by a left-handed man he had stood
behind that tree during the interview
between the father and the son he had
even smoked there I found the ash of a
cigar which my special knowledge of
tobacco ashes enables me to pronounce as
an Indian cigar I have as you know
devoted some attention to this and
written a little monograph on the ashes
of 140 different varieties of pipe cigar
and cigarette tobacco having found the
ash I then looked round and discovered
the stump among the moss where he had
tossed it it was an Indian cigar of the
variety which are rolled in Rotterdam
and the cigar holder I could see that
the end had not been in his mouth
therefore he used a holder the tip had
been cut off not bitten off but the cut
was not a clean one so I deduced a blunt
penknife Holmes I said you have drawn a
net round this man from which he cannot
escape and you have saved an innocent
human life as truly as if you would cut
the cord which was hanging him I see the
direction in which all this points the
culprit is
mr. John Turner cried the hotel waiter
opening the door of our sitting-room and
ushering in a visitor the man who
entered was a strange and impressive
figure his slow limping step and bowed
shoulders gave the appearance of
decrepitude and yet his hard deep-lined
craggy features and his enormous limbs
showed that he was possessed of unusual
strength of body and of character his
tangled beard grizzled hair and
outstanding drooping eyebrows combined
to give an air of dignity and power to
his appearance but his face was of an
ashen white while his lips and the
corners of his nostrils were tinged with
a shade of blue it was clear to me at a
glance that he was in the grip of some
deadly and chronic disease pray sit down
on the sofa said Holmes gently you had
my note yes the lodge-keeper brought it
up you said that you wish to see me here
to avoid scandal I thought people would
talk if I went to the hall and why did
you wish to see me he looked across at
my companion with despair in his weary
eyes as though his question was already
answered yes said Holmes answering the
look rather than the words it is so I
know all about McCarthy the old man sank
his face in his hands God helped me he
cried but I would not have let the young
man come to harm I give you my word that
I would have spoken out if it went
against him at the Assizes I am glad to
hear you say so said Holmes gravely I
would have spoken now had it not been
for my dear girl it would break her
heart it will break her heart when she
hears that I am arrested it may not come
to that said Holmes what I am no
official agent I understand that it
was your daughter who required my
presence here and I am acting in her
interests young McCarthy must be got off
however I am a dying man said old Turner
I have had diabetes for years my doctor
says it is a question whether I should
live a month yet I would rather die
under my own roof than in a jail homes
rose and sat down at the table with his
pen in his hand and a bundle of paper
before him just tell us the truth he
said I shall jot down the facts you will
sign it and Watson here can witness it
then I could produce your confession at
the last extremity to save young
McCarthy I promise you that I shall not
use that unless it is absolutely needed
it says well said the old man it's a
question whether I shall live to the
Assizes so it matters little to me but I
should wish to spare Alice the shock and
now I will make the thing clear to you
it has been a long time and the acting
but will not take me long to tell you
didn't know this dead man McCarthy he
was a devil incarnate I tell you that
God keep you out of the clutches of such
a man as he his grip has been upon me
these twenty years and he has blasted my
life I'll tell you first how I came to
be in his power it was in the early 60s
at the diggings I was a young chap then
hot-blooded and reckless ready to turn
my hand at anything
I got among bad companions took to drink
had no luck with my claim took to the
bush and in a word became what you would
call over here a highway robber there
was six of us and we had a wild free
life of it sticking up a station from
time to time or stopping the wagons on
the road
to the diggings blackjack of Ballarat
was the name I went under and our party
is still remembered in the colony as the
Ballarat gang one day Gold convoy came
down from Ballarat to Melbourne and we
lay in wait for it and attacked it there
were six troopers and six of us so it
was a closed thing but we emptied four
of their saddles at the first volley
three of our boys were killed however
before we got the swag I put my pistol
to the head of the wagon driver who was
this very man McCarthy I wish to the
Lord that I had shot him then but I
spared him though I saw his wicked
little eyes fixed on my face as though
to remember every feature we got away
with the gold became wealthy men and
made our way over to a Glen without
being suspected there I parted from my
old pals and determined to settle down
to a quiet and respectable life
I bought this estate which chanced to be
in the market and I set myself to do a
little good with my money
to make up for the way in which I had
earned it I married to and though my
wife died young she left me my dear
little Alice even when she was just a
baby her wee hand seemed to lead me down
the right path as nothing else had ever
done in a word I turned over a new leaf
and did my best to make up for the past
all was going well when McCarthy laid
his grip upon me I had gone up to town
about an investment and I met him in
Regent Street with hardly a coat to his
back or a boot to his foot here we are
Jack says he touching me on the arm will
be as good as a family to you there's
two of us me and my son and you can have
the keeping of us if you don't it's a
fine law-abiding country is England and
there's always a policeman within hail
well down they came to the West Country
there was no shaking them off and there
they have lived rent-free on my best
land ever since there was no rest for me
no peace no forgetfulness turn where I
would there was his cunning grinning
face at my elbow it grew worse as Alice
grew up for he soon saw I was more
afraid of her knowing my past than of
the police whatever he wanted he must
have and whatever it was I gave him
without question land money houses until
at last he asked a thing which I could
not give he asked for Alice his son you
see had grown up and so had my girl and
as I was known to be in weak health it
seemed a fine stroke to him that his lad
should step into the whole property but
there I was firm I would not have his
cursed stock mixed with mine not that I
had any dislike to the lad but his blood
was in him and that was enough I stood
firm McCarthy threatened I braved him to
do his worst
we were to meet at the pool midway
between our houses to talk it over when
I went down there I found him talking
with his son so I smoked a cigar and
waited behind a tree until he should be
alone but as I listened to his talk all
that was black and bitter in me seemed
to come uppermost
he was urging his son to marry my
daughter with as little regard for what
she might think as if she were a slut
from off the streets he drove me mad to
think that I and all that I held most
dear should be in the power of such a
man as this could I not snap the bond I
was already a dying and desperate man
no clearer of mind and fairly strong of
limb
I knew that my own fate was sealed but
my memory and my girl both could be
saved if I could but silence that foul
tongue I did it mr. Holmes I would do it
again deeply as I have sinned
I have led a life of martyrdom to atone
for it but that my girl should be
entangled in the same meshes which held
me was more that I could suffer I struck
him down with no more compunction and if
he had been some foul and venomous beast
his cry brought back his son but I had
gained the cover of the wood though I
was forced to go back to fetch the cloak
which I had dropped in my flight that is
the true story gentlemen of all that
occurred well it is not for me to judge
you said Holmes as the old man signed
the statement which had been drawn out I
pray that we may never be exposed to
such a temptation I pray not sir and
what do you intend to do in view of your
health nothing you are yourself aware
that you will soon have to answer for
your deed at a higher court than the
Assizes I will keep your confession and
if McCarthy is condemned I shall be
forced to use it if not it shall never
be seen my mortal eye and your secret
whether you be alive or dead shall be
safe with us farewell then said the old
man
solemnly your own deathbeds when they
come will be the easier for the thought
of the peace which you have given to
mine tottering and shaking in all his
giant frame he stumbled slowly from the
room god help us
said Holmes after a long silence why
does fate play such tricks with poor
helpless worms I never hear of such a
case as this that I do not think of
Baxter's words and say there but for the
grace of God go Sherlock Holmes James
McCarthy was acquitted at the Assizes on
the strength of a number of objections
which had been drawn out by Holmes and
submitted to the defending Council old
Turner lived for seven months after our
interview but he is now dead
and there is every prospect that the son
and daughter may come to live happily
together
in ignorance of the black cloud which
rests upon their past end of adventure
for
