The Resident Patient - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

<v Speaker 1>The resident patient. Glancing over the somewhat incoherent series of
<v Speaker 1>memoirs with which I have endeavored to illustrate a few
<v Speaker 1>of the mental peculiarities of my friend mister Sherlock Holmes,
<v Speaker 1>I have been struck by the difficulty which I have
<v Speaker 1>experienced in picking out examples which shall in every way
<v Speaker 1>answer my purpose. For in those cases in which Holmes
<v Speaker 1>has performed some toward a force of analytical reasoning and
<v Speaker 1>has demonstrated the value of his peculiar methods of investigation,
<v Speaker 1>the facts themselves have often been so slight or so commonplace,
<v Speaker 1>that I could not feel justified in laying them before
<v Speaker 1>the public. On the other hand, it has frequently happened
<v Speaker 1>that he has been concerned in some research where the
<v Speaker 1>facts have been of the most remarkable and dramatic character,
<v Speaker 1>but where the share which he has himself taken in
<v Speaker 1>determining their causes has been less pronounced than I, as
<v Speaker 1>his biographer, could wish. The small matter which I have
<v Speaker 1>chronicled under the heading of a study in scar and
<v Speaker 1>that other later one connected with the loss of the
<v Speaker 1>glorious Scott, may serve as examples of this. Scylla and charybdis,
<v Speaker 1>which are forever threatening the historian. It may be that,
<v Speaker 1>in the business of which I am now about to write,
<v Speaker 1>the part which my friend played is not sufficiently accentuated.
<v Speaker 1>And yet the whole train of circumstances is so remarkable
<v Speaker 1>that I cannot bring myself to omit it entirely from
<v Speaker 1>this series. It had been a close, rainy day in October.
<v Speaker 1>Our blinds were half drawn, and homes lay curled upon
<v Speaker 1>the sofa, reading and re reading a letter which he
<v Speaker 1>had received by the morning post. For myself, my term
<v Speaker 1>of service in India had trained me to stand heat
<v Speaker 1>better than cold, and a thermometer of ninety was no hardship.
<v Speaker 1>But the paper was uninteresting. Parliament had risen, everybody was
<v Speaker 1>out of town, and I yearned for the glades of
<v Speaker 1>the New Forest or the shingle of Southsea. A depleted
<v Speaker 1>bank account had caused me to postpone my holiday. And
<v Speaker 1>as to my companion, neither the country nor the sea
<v Speaker 1>presented the slightest attraction to him. He loved to lie
<v Speaker 1>in the very center of five millions of people, with
<v Speaker 1>his filaments stretching out and running through them, responsive to
<v Speaker 1>every little rumor or suspicion of unsolved crime. Appreciation of
<v Speaker 1>nature found no place among his many gifts, and his
<v Speaker 1>only change was when he turned his mind from the
<v Speaker 1>evil doer of the town to track down his brother
<v Speaker 1>of the country. Finding that Holmes was too absorbed for conversation,
<v Speaker 1>I had tossed aside the barren paper, and leaning back
<v Speaker 1>in my chair, I fell into a brown study. Suddenly
<v Speaker 1>my companion's voice broke in upon my thoughts. You are right, Watson,
<v Speaker 1>said he. It does seem a very preposterous way of
<v Speaker 1>settling a dispute. Most preposterous, I exclaimed, and then, suddenly
<v Speaker 1>realizing how he had echoed the inmost thought of my soul,
<v Speaker 1>I sat up in my chair and stared at him
<v Speaker 1>in blank amazement. What is this, Holmes, I cried, This
<v Speaker 1>is beyond anything which I could have imagined. He laughed
<v Speaker 1>heartily at my perplexity. You remember, said he that, some
<v Speaker 1>little time ago, when I read you the passage in
<v Speaker 1>one of Poe's sketches, in which a close reasoner follows
<v Speaker 1>the unspoken thought of his companion, you were inclined to
<v Speaker 1>treat the matter as a mere tortive force of the
<v Speaker 1>author on my remarking that I was constantly in the
<v Speaker 1>habit of doing the same thing. You expressed incredulity. Oh no,
<v Speaker 1>perhaps not with your tongue, my dear Watson, but certainly
<v Speaker 1>with your eyebrows. So when I saw you throw down
<v Speaker 1>your paper and enter upon a train of thought, I
<v Speaker 1>was very happy to have the opportunity of reading it off,
<v Speaker 1>and eventually of breaking into it, as a proof that
<v Speaker 1>I had been in rapport with you. But I was
<v Speaker 1>still far from satisfied in the example which you read
<v Speaker 1>to me, said I. The reasoner drew his conclusions from
<v Speaker 1>the actions of the man whom he observed. If I
<v Speaker 1>remember right, he stumbled over a heap of stones, looked
<v Speaker 1>up at the stars, and so on. But I've been
<v Speaker 1>seated quietly in my chair, And what clues can I
<v Speaker 1>have given you? You do yourself an injustice. The features
<v Speaker 1>are given to man as the means by which he
<v Speaker 1>shall express his emotions, and yours are faithful servants. Do
<v Speaker 1>you mean to say that you read my train of
<v Speaker 1>thoughts from my features? Your features, and especially your eyes.
<v Speaker 1>Perhaps you cannot yourself recall how your reverie commenced. No
<v Speaker 1>I cannot. Then I will tell you. After throwing down
<v Speaker 1>your paper, which was the act which drew my attention
<v Speaker 1>to you, You sat for half a minute with a
<v Speaker 1>vacant expression. Then your eyes fixed themselves upon your newly
<v Speaker 1>framed picture of General Gordon, and I saw by the
<v Speaker 1>alteration in your face that a train of thought had
<v Speaker 1>been started, but it did not lead very far. Your
<v Speaker 1>eyes turned across to the unframed portrait of Henry Ward Beecher,
<v Speaker 1>which stands upon the top of your books. You then
<v Speaker 1>glanced up at the wall, and of course your meaning
<v Speaker 1>was obvious. You were thinking that if the portrait were framed,
<v Speaker 1>it would just cover that bare space and correspond with
<v Speaker 1>Gordon's picture over there. You followed me wonderfully, I exclaimed,
<v Speaker 1>so far I could hardly have gone astray. But now
<v Speaker 1>your thoughts went back to Beecher, and you looked hard across,
<v Speaker 1>as if you were studying the character in his features.
<v Speaker 1>Then your eyes ceased pucker, but you continue to look across,
<v Speaker 1>and your face was thoughtful. You were recalling the incidents
<v Speaker 1>of Beecher's career. I was well aware that you could
<v Speaker 1>not do this without thinking of the mission which he
<v Speaker 1>undertook on behalf of the North at the time of
<v Speaker 1>the Civil War. For I remember you expressing your passionate
<v Speaker 1>indignation at the way in which he was received by
<v Speaker 1>the more turbulent of our people. You felt so strongly
<v Speaker 1>about it that I knew you could not think of
<v Speaker 1>Beecher without thinking of that. Also, when a moment later
<v Speaker 1>I saw your eyes wander away from the picture, I
<v Speaker 1>suspected that your mind had now turned to the Civil war.
<v Speaker 1>And when I observed that your lips set, your eyes sparkled,
<v Speaker 1>and your hands clinched, I was positive that you were
<v Speaker 1>indeed thinking of the gallantry which was shown by both
<v Speaker 1>sides in that desperate struggle. But then again your face
<v Speaker 1>grew sadder. You shook your head. You were dwelling upon
<v Speaker 1>the sadness and horror and useless waste of life. Your
<v Speaker 1>hands stole towards your own old wound, and a smile
<v Speaker 1>quivered on your lips, which showed me that the ridiculous
<v Speaker 1>side of this method of settling international questions had forced
<v Speaker 1>itself upon your mind. At this point I agreed with
<v Speaker 1>you that it was preposterous, and was glad to find
<v Speaker 1>that all my deductions had been correct. Absolutely, said I,
<v Speaker 1>And now that you've explained it. I confess that I
<v Speaker 1>am as amazed as before. It was very superficial, My
<v Speaker 1>dear Watson, I assure you I should not have intruded
<v Speaker 1>it upon your attention, had you not shown some incredulity
<v Speaker 1>the other day. But the evening has brought a breeze
<v Speaker 1>with it. What do you say to a ramble through London?
<v Speaker 1>I was weary of our little sitting room and gladly acquiesced.
<v Speaker 1>For three hours we strolled about together, watching the ever
<v Speaker 1>changing kaleidoscope of life as it ebbs and flows through
<v Speaker 1>Fleet Street and the Strand. His characteristic talk, its keen
<v Speaker 1>observance of detail, and subtle power of inference, held me
<v Speaker 1>amused and enthralled. It was ten o'clock before we reached
<v Speaker 1>Baker Street again. A Brupham was waiting at our door. Hum,
<v Speaker 1>a doctor's general practitioner, I perceive, said Holmes not been
<v Speaker 1>long in practice, but has a good deal to do.
<v Speaker 1>Come to consult us. I fancy lucky we came back.
<v Speaker 1>I was sufficiently conversant with Holmes's methods to be able
<v Speaker 1>to follow his reasoning and to see that the nature
<v Speaker 1>and state of the various medical instruments in the wicker
<v Speaker 1>basket which hung in the lamp light inside the Brupham
<v Speaker 1>had given him the data for his swift deduction. The
<v Speaker 1>light in our window above showed that his late visit
<v Speaker 1>was indeed intended for us. With some curiosity as to
<v Speaker 1>what could have sent a brother Medico to us at
<v Speaker 1>such an hour, I followed Holmes into our sanctum. A pale,
<v Speaker 1>taper faced man with sandy whiskers rose up from a
<v Speaker 1>chair by the fire as we entered. His age may
<v Speaker 1>not have been more than three or four and thirty,
<v Speaker 1>but his haggard expression and unhealthy hue told of a
<v Speaker 1>life which has sapped his strength and robbed him of
<v Speaker 1>his youth. His manner was nervous and shy, like that
<v Speaker 1>of a sensitive gentleman, and the thin white hand which
<v Speaker 1>he laid on the mantelpiece as he rose was that
<v Speaker 1>of an artist rather than of a surgeon. His dress
<v Speaker 1>was quiet and somber, a black frock coat, dark trousers,
<v Speaker 1>and a touch of color about his necktie. Good evening, doctor,
<v Speaker 1>said Holmes cheerily. I am glad to see that you
<v Speaker 1>have only been waiting a very few minutes. You spoke
<v Speaker 1>to my coachman. Then now it was the candle on
<v Speaker 1>the side table that told me, pray, resume your seat
<v Speaker 1>and let me know how I can serve you. My
<v Speaker 1>name is doctor Percy Trevellian, said our visitor. He and
<v Speaker 1>I live at four O three Brook Street. Are you
<v Speaker 1>not the author of a monograph upon Obscure Nervous Lesions?
<v Speaker 1>I asked, his pale cheeks flushed with pleasure at hearing
<v Speaker 1>that his work was known to me. I so seldom
<v Speaker 1>hear of the work that I thought it was quite dead,
<v Speaker 1>said he. My publishers gave me most discouraging account of
<v Speaker 1>its sale. You are, yourself, I presume, a medical man,
<v Speaker 1>a retired Army surgeon. My own hobby has always been
<v Speaker 1>nervous disease. I should wish to make it an absolute specialty,
<v Speaker 1>but of course a man must take what he can
<v Speaker 1>get at first. This, however, is beside the question, mister
<v Speaker 1>Sherlock Holmes, and I quite appreciate how valuable your time is.
<v Speaker 1>The fact is that a very singular train of events
<v Speaker 1>has occurred recently at my house in Brook Street, and
<v Speaker 1>to night they came to such a head as I
<v Speaker 1>felt it was quite impossible for me to wait another
<v Speaker 1>hour before asking for your advice and assistance. Sherlock Holmes
<v Speaker 1>sat down and lit his pipe. You are very welcome
<v Speaker 1>to both, said he pray. Let me have a detailed
<v Speaker 1>account of what the circumstances are which have disturbed you.
<v Speaker 1>One or two of them are so trivial, said Doctor Trevallion.
<v Speaker 1>That really I am almost ashamed to mention them. But
<v Speaker 1>the matter is so inexplicable, and the recent turn which
<v Speaker 1>it has taken is so elaborate, that I shall lay
<v Speaker 1>it all before you, and you shall judge what is
<v Speaker 1>essential and what is not. I am compelled to begin
<v Speaker 1>with to say something of my own college career. I
<v Speaker 1>am a London University man, you know, and I am
<v Speaker 1>sure that you will not think that I am unduly
<v Speaker 1>singing my own praises if I say that my student
<v Speaker 1>career was considered by my professors to be a very
<v Speaker 1>promising one. After I graduated, I continued to devote myself
<v Speaker 1>to research, occupying a minor position in King's College Hospital,
<v Speaker 1>and I was fortunate enough to excite considerable interest by
<v Speaker 1>my my research into the pathology of catalepsy, and finally
<v Speaker 1>to win the Bruce Pinkton Prize and meddle by the
<v Speaker 1>monograph on Nervous Lesions to which your friend has just alluded.
<v Speaker 1>I should not go too far if I were to
<v Speaker 1>say that there was a general impression at the time
<v Speaker 1>that a distinguished career lay before me. But the one
<v Speaker 1>great stumbling block lay in my want of capital. As
<v Speaker 1>you will readily understand, a specialist who aims high is
<v Speaker 1>compelled to start in one of a dozen streets in
<v Speaker 1>the Cavendish Square Quarter, all of which entail enormous rents
<v Speaker 1>and furnishing expenses. Besides this preliminary outlay, he must be
<v Speaker 1>prepared to keep himself for some years, and to hire
<v Speaker 1>a presentable carriage and horse. To do this was quite
<v Speaker 1>beyond my power, and I could only hope that by economy,
<v Speaker 1>I might in ten years time save enough to enable
<v Speaker 1>me to put up my plate. Suddenly, however, an unexpected
<v Speaker 1>incident opened up quite a new prospect to me. This
<v Speaker 1>was a visit from a gentleman of the name of Blessington,
<v Speaker 1>who was a complete stranger to me. He came up
<v Speaker 1>to my room one morning and plunged into business in
<v Speaker 1>an instant. You are the same, Percy Trevellion, who has
<v Speaker 1>had so distinguished a career and won a great prize lately,
<v Speaker 1>said he. I bowed answer me frankly, he continued, for
<v Speaker 1>you'll find it your interest to do so. You have
<v Speaker 1>all the cleverness which makes a successful man, have you
<v Speaker 1>the tact? I could not help smiling at the abruptness
<v Speaker 1>of the question. I trust that I have my share,
<v Speaker 1>I said, any bad habits not drawn towards drink ere? Really, sir,
<v Speaker 1>I cried, quite right, that's all right. But I was
<v Speaker 1>bound to ask, with all these qualities, why are you
<v Speaker 1>not in practice? I shrugged my shoulders. Come, come, said
<v Speaker 1>he in his bustling way. It's the old story. More
<v Speaker 1>in your brains than in your pocket. Eh, What would
<v Speaker 1>you say if I were to start you in brook Street?
<v Speaker 1>I stared at him in astonishment. Oh it's for my sake,
<v Speaker 1>not for yours, he cried. I'll be perfectly frank with you,
<v Speaker 1>and if it suits you, it'll suit me very well.
<v Speaker 1>I have a few thousands to invest, you see, and
<v Speaker 1>I think I'll sink them in you. But why, I gasped, Well,
<v Speaker 1>it's just like any other speculation, and safer than most.
<v Speaker 1>What am I to do. Then I'll tell you I'll
<v Speaker 1>take the house, furnish it, pay the maids, and run
<v Speaker 1>the whole place. All you have to do is just
<v Speaker 1>to wear out your chair in the consulting room. I'll
<v Speaker 1>let you have pocket money and everything, and you hand
<v Speaker 1>over to me three quarters of what you earn, and
<v Speaker 1>you keep the other quarter for yourself. This was the
<v Speaker 1>strange proposal, mister Holmes, with which the man Blessington approached me.
<v Speaker 1>I won't weary you with the account of how we
<v Speaker 1>bargained and negotiated. It ended in my moving into the
<v Speaker 1>house next lady day and starting in practice on very
<v Speaker 1>much the same conditions as he had suggested. He came
<v Speaker 1>himself to live with me in the character of a
<v Speaker 1>resident patient. His heart was weak, it appears, and he
<v Speaker 1>needed constant medical supervision. He turned the two best rooms
<v Speaker 1>of the first floor into a sitting room and bed
<v Speaker 1>room for himself. He was a man of singular habits,
<v Speaker 1>shunning company and very seldom going out. His life was irregular,
<v Speaker 1>but in one respect he was regularity itself. Every evening,
<v Speaker 1>at the same hour he walked into the consulting room,
<v Speaker 1>examined the books, put down five and threepence for every
<v Speaker 1>guinea that I had earned, and carried the rest off
<v Speaker 1>to the strong box in his own room. I may
<v Speaker 1>say with confidence that he never had occasion to regret
<v Speaker 1>his speculation. From the first it was a success. A
<v Speaker 1>few good cases, and the reputation which I had won
<v Speaker 1>in the hospital brought me rapidly to the front, and
<v Speaker 1>during the last few years I have made him a
<v Speaker 1>rich man. So much mister Holmes, for my past history
<v Speaker 1>and my relations with mister Blessington, it only remains for
<v Speaker 1>me now to tell you what has occurred to bring
<v Speaker 1>me here to night. Some weeks ago mister Blessington came
<v Speaker 1>down to me, in as it seemed to me, a
<v Speaker 1>state of considerable agitation. He spoke of some burglary which
<v Speaker 1>he said had been committed in the West End, and
<v Speaker 1>he appeared, I remember, to be quite unnecessarily excited about it,
<v Speaker 1>declaring that a day should not pass before we should
<v Speaker 1>add stronger bolts to our windows and doors. For a
<v Speaker 1>week he continued to be in a peculiar state of restlessness,
<v Speaker 1>peering continually out of the windows and to take the
<v Speaker 1>short walk which had usually been the prelude to his dinner.
<v Speaker 1>From his manner, it struck me that he was in
<v Speaker 1>mortal dread of something or somebody. But when I questioned
<v Speaker 1>him upon the point, he became so offensive that I
<v Speaker 1>was compelled to drop the subject. Gradually, as time passed,
<v Speaker 1>his fears appeared to die away, and he had renewed
<v Speaker 1>his former habits, when a fresh event reduced him to
<v Speaker 1>the pitiable state of prostration in which he now lies.
<v Speaker 1>What happened was this. Two days ago I received the
<v Speaker 1>letter which I now read to you. Neither address nor
<v Speaker 1>date is attached to it. A Russian nobleman, who is
<v Speaker 1>now resident in England, it runs, would be glad to
<v Speaker 1>avail himself of the professional assistance of doctor Percy Trevallian.
<v Speaker 1>He has been for some years a victim to cataleptic attacks,
<v Speaker 1>on which, as is well known, doctor trevallion is an authority.
<v Speaker 1>He proposes to call at about quarter past six to
<v Speaker 1>morrow evening, if Doctor Trevallian will make it convenient to
<v Speaker 1>be at home. This letter interested me deeply, because the
<v Speaker 1>chief difficulty in the study of catalepsy is the rareness
<v Speaker 1>of the disease. You may believe, then, that I was
<v Speaker 1>in my consulting room when at the appointed hour the
<v Speaker 1>page showed in the patient. He was an elderly man, thin, demure,
<v Speaker 1>and commonplace, by no means the conception one forms of
<v Speaker 1>a Russian nobleman. I was much more struck by the
<v Speaker 1>appearance of his companion. This was a tall young man,
<v Speaker 1>surprisingly handsome, with a dark, fierce face and the lips
<v Speaker 1>and chest of a Hercules. He had his hand under
<v Speaker 1>the other's arm as they entered, and helped him to
<v Speaker 1>a chair with a tenderness which one would hardly have
<v Speaker 1>expected from his appearance. You will excuse me coming in, doctor,
<v Speaker 1>said he to me, speaking English with a slight lisp.
<v Speaker 1>This is my father, and his health is a matter
<v Speaker 1>of the most overwhelming importance to me. I was touched
<v Speaker 1>by his filial anxiety. You would perhaps care to remain
<v Speaker 1>during the consultation, said I, Not for the world, he cried,
<v Speaker 1>with a gesture of horror. It is more painful to
<v Speaker 1>me than I can express. If I were to see
<v Speaker 1>my father in one of those dreadful seizures. I am
<v Speaker 1>convinced that I should never survive it. My own nervous
<v Speaker 1>system is an exceptionally sensitive one. With your permission, I
<v Speaker 1>will remain in the waiting room while you go into
<v Speaker 1>my father's case. To this, of course, I assented, and
<v Speaker 1>the young man withdrew the patient, and I then plunged
<v Speaker 1>into a discussion of his case, of which I took
<v Speaker 1>exhaustive notes. He was not remarkable for intelligence, and his
<v Speaker 1>answers were frequently obscure, which I attribut to his limited
<v Speaker 1>acquaintance with our language. Suddenly, however, as I sat writing,
<v Speaker 1>he ceased to give any answer at all to my inquiries,
<v Speaker 1>and on my turning towards him, I was shocked to
<v Speaker 1>see that he was sitting bolt upright in his chair,
<v Speaker 1>staring at me with a perfectly blank and rigid face.
<v Speaker 1>He was again in the grip of his mysterious malady.
<v Speaker 1>My first feeling, as I have just said, was one
<v Speaker 1>of pity and horror. My second, I fear, was rather
<v Speaker 1>one of professional satisfaction. I made notes of my patient's
<v Speaker 1>pulse and temperature, tested the rigidity of his muscles, and
<v Speaker 1>examined his reflexes. There was nothing markedly abnormal in any
<v Speaker 1>of these conditions, which harmonized with my former experiences. I
<v Speaker 1>had obtained good results in such cases by the inhalation
<v Speaker 1>of nitrite of amyl, and the presence seemed an admirable
<v Speaker 1>opportunity of testing its virtues. The bottle was downstairs in
<v Speaker 1>my laboratory, so leaving my patient seated in his chair,
<v Speaker 1>I ran down to get it. There was some little
<v Speaker 1>delay in finding it five minutes, let us say, and
<v Speaker 1>then I returned. Imagine my amazement to find the room
<v Speaker 1>empty and the patient gone. Of course, my first act
<v Speaker 1>was to run into the waiting room. The sun had
<v Speaker 1>gone also. The hall door had been closed, but not shut.
<v Speaker 1>My page, who admits patience, is a new boy, and
<v Speaker 1>by no means quick he waits downstairs and runs up
<v Speaker 1>to show patients out. When I ring the consulting room bell,
<v Speaker 1>he had heard nothing, and the affair remained a complete mystery.
<v Speaker 1>Mister Blessington came in from his walk shortly afterwards, but
<v Speaker 1>I did not say anything to him upon the subject,
<v Speaker 1>for to tell the truth, I have got in the
<v Speaker 1>way of late of holding as little communication with him
<v Speaker 1>as possible. Well, I never thought that I should see
<v Speaker 1>anything more of the Russian and his son, So you
<v Speaker 1>can imagine my amazement when at the very same hour
<v Speaker 1>this evening they both came marching into my consulting room,
<v Speaker 1>just as they had done before. I feel that I
<v Speaker 1>owe you a great many apologies for my abrupt departure yesterday, doctor,
<v Speaker 1>said my patient. I confess that I was very much
<v Speaker 1>surprised at it, said I. Well, the fact is, he remarked,
<v Speaker 1>that when I recover from these attacks, my mind is
<v Speaker 1>always very clouded as to all that has gone before.
<v Speaker 1>I woke up in a strange room, as it seemed
<v Speaker 1>to me, and made my way out into the street
<v Speaker 1>in a sort of dazed way when you were absent,
<v Speaker 1>and I said the son, seeing my father past the
<v Speaker 1>door of the waiting room, naturally thought that the consultation
<v Speaker 1>had come to an end. It was not until we
<v Speaker 1>had reached home that I began to realize the true
<v Speaker 1>state of affairs. Well, said I, laughing. There is no
<v Speaker 1>harm done except that you puzzled me terribly. So if you, sir,
<v Speaker 1>would kindly step into the waiting room, I shall be
<v Speaker 1>happy to continue our consultation, which was brought to so
<v Speaker 1>abrupt an ending. For half an hour or so, I
<v Speaker 1>discussed that old gentleman's symptoms with him, and then, having
<v Speaker 1>prescribed for him, I saw him go off upon the
<v Speaker 1>arm of his son. I have told you that mister
<v Speaker 1>Blessington generally chose this hour of the day for his exercise.
<v Speaker 1>He came in shortly afterwards and passed upstairs. An instant
<v Speaker 1>later I heard him running down, and he burst into
<v Speaker 1>my consulting room like a man who is mad with panic.
<v Speaker 1>Who has been in my room? He cried. No, one
<v Speaker 1>said I, it's a lie, he yelled, come up and look.
<v Speaker 1>I passed over the grossness of his language, as he
<v Speaker 1>seemed half out of his mind with fear. When I
<v Speaker 1>went upstairs with him, he pointed to several footprints upon
<v Speaker 1>the light carpet. Do you mean to say those are mine?
<v Speaker 1>He cried. They were certainly very much larger than any
<v Speaker 1>which he could have made, and were evidently quite fresh.
<v Speaker 1>It rained hard this afternoon, as you know, and my
<v Speaker 1>patients were the only people who called. It must have
<v Speaker 1>been the case, then, that the man in the waiting
<v Speaker 1>room had, for some unknown reason, while I was busy
<v Speaker 1>with the other ascended to the room of my resident patient.
<v Speaker 1>Nothing had been touched or taken, but there were the
<v Speaker 1>footprints to prove that the intrusion was an undoubted fact.
<v Speaker 1>Mister Blessington seemed more excited over the matter than I
<v Speaker 1>should have thought possible, though of course it was enough
<v Speaker 1>to disturb anybody's peace of mind. He actually sat crying
<v Speaker 1>in an arm chair, and I it'd hardly get him
<v Speaker 1>to speak coherently. It was his suggestion that I should
<v Speaker 1>come round to you, and of course I at once
<v Speaker 1>saw the propriety of it, For certainly the incident is
<v Speaker 1>a very singular one, though he appears to completely overrate
<v Speaker 1>its importance. If you would only come back with me,
<v Speaker 1>my Brotherham, you would at least be able to soothe him,
<v Speaker 1>though I can hardly hope that you will be able
<v Speaker 1>to explain this remarkable occurrence. Sherlock Holmes had listened to
<v Speaker 1>this long narrative with an intentness which showed me that
<v Speaker 1>his interest was keenly aroused. His face was as impassive
<v Speaker 1>as ever, but his lids had dropped more heavily over
<v Speaker 1>his eyes, and his smoke had curled up more thickly
<v Speaker 1>from his pipe to emphasize each curious episode in the
<v Speaker 1>doctor's tale. As our visitor concluded, Holmes sprang up without
<v Speaker 1>a word, hand him in my hat, picked his own
<v Speaker 1>from the table, and followed Doctor Trevallian to the door.
<v Speaker 1>Within a quarter of an hour, we had been dropped
<v Speaker 1>at the door of the physician's residence in Brook Street,
<v Speaker 1>one of those somber, flat faced houses which one associates
<v Speaker 1>with the West End practice. A small page admitted us,
<v Speaker 1>and we began at once to ascend the broad well
<v Speaker 1>carpeted stare, but a singular interruption brought us to a standstill.
<v Speaker 1>The light at the top was suddenly whisked out, and
<v Speaker 1>from the darkness came a reedy, quivering voice. I have
<v Speaker 1>a pistol, it cried. I give you my word that
<v Speaker 1>I'll fire if you come any nearer. This really grows outrageous,
<v Speaker 1>mister Blessington, cried doctor Trevallian. Oh then it is you, doctor,
<v Speaker 1>said the voice, with a great heave of relief. But
<v Speaker 1>those other gentlemen, are they what they pretend to be?
<v Speaker 1>We were conscious of a long scrutiny out of the darkness. Yes, yes,
<v Speaker 1>it's all right, said the voice. At last, you can
<v Speaker 1>come up, and I am sorry if my precautions have
<v Speaker 1>annoyed you. He reel at the stair gas as he spoke,
<v Speaker 1>and we saw before us a singular looking man whose appearance,
<v Speaker 1>as well as his voice, testified to his jangled nerves.
<v Speaker 1>He was very fat, but had apparently at some time
<v Speaker 1>been much fatter, so that the skin hung about his
<v Speaker 1>face in loose pouches, like the cheeks of a bloodhound.
<v Speaker 1>He was of a sickly color, and his thin, sandy
<v Speaker 1>hair seemed to bristle up with the intensity of his emotion.
<v Speaker 1>In his hand he held a pistol, but he thrust
<v Speaker 1>it into his pocket as we advanced good evening, mister
<v Speaker 1>Holmes said he I am sure, I am very much
<v Speaker 1>obliged to you for coming round. No one ever needed
<v Speaker 1>your advice more than I do. I suppose that doctor
<v Speaker 1>Trevallian has told you of this most unwarrantable intrusion into
<v Speaker 1>my rooms. Quite so, said Holmes. Who are these two men,
<v Speaker 1>mister Blessington, and why do they wish to molest you? Well? Well,
<v Speaker 1>said the resident patient, in a nervous fashion. Of course,
<v Speaker 1>it is hard to say that. You can hardly expect
<v Speaker 1>me to answer that, mister Holmes, Do you mean that
<v Speaker 1>you don't know? Come in here, if you please, just
<v Speaker 1>have the kindness to step in here. He led the
<v Speaker 1>way into his bedroom, which was large and comfortably furnished.
<v Speaker 1>You see that said he, pointing to a big black
<v Speaker 1>box at the end of his bed. I have never
<v Speaker 1>been a very rich man, mister Holmes, never made but
<v Speaker 1>one investment in my life, as doctor Trevallian would tell you.
<v Speaker 1>But I don't believe in bankers. I would never trust
<v Speaker 1>a banker, mister Holmes. Between ourselves, what little I have
<v Speaker 1>is in that box. So you can understand what it
<v Speaker 1>means to me when unknown people forced themselves into my rooms.
<v Speaker 1>Holmes looked at Blessington in his questioning way and shook
<v Speaker 1>his head. I cannot possibly advise you if you try
<v Speaker 1>to deceive me, said he. But I have told you everything.
<v Speaker 1>Holmes turned on his heel with a gesture of disgust.
<v Speaker 1>Good Night, doctor Trevallion said he And no advice for me,
<v Speaker 1>cried Blessington in a breaking voice. My advice to you, sir,
<v Speaker 1>is to speak the truth. A minute later, we were
<v Speaker 1>in the street and walking for home. We had crossed
<v Speaker 1>Oxford Street and were half way down Harley Street before
<v Speaker 1>I could get a word from my companion. Sorry to
<v Speaker 1>bring you out on such a fool's errand Watson, he said,
<v Speaker 1>at last, it is an interesting case too. At the
<v Speaker 1>bottom of it, I can make little of it. I confessed, well,
<v Speaker 1>it is quite evident that there are two men more perhaps,
<v Speaker 1>but at least two who are determined for some reason
<v Speaker 1>to get at this fellow Blessington. I have no doubt
<v Speaker 1>in my mind that both on the first and on
<v Speaker 1>the second occasion, that young man penetrated to Blessington's room,
<v Speaker 1>while his confederate, by an ingenious device, kept the doctor
<v Speaker 1>from interfering, and the catalepsy a fraudulent imitation, Watson, though
<v Speaker 1>I should hardly dare to hint as much to our specialist,
<v Speaker 1>It is a very easy complaint to imitate. I have
<v Speaker 1>done it myself, And then, by the purest chance, Blessington
<v Speaker 1>was out on each occasion. Their reason for choosing so
<v Speaker 1>unusual an hour for a consultation was obviously to ensure
<v Speaker 1>that there should be no other patient in the waiting room.
<v Speaker 1>It just happened, however, that this hour coincided with Blessington's constitutional,
<v Speaker 1>which seems to show that they were not very well
<v Speaker 1>acquainted with his daily routine. Of course, if they had
<v Speaker 1>been merely after plunder, they would at least have made
<v Speaker 1>some attempt to search for it. Besides, I can read
<v Speaker 1>in a man's eye, when it is his own skin
<v Speaker 1>that he is frightened. For it is inconceivable that this
<v Speaker 1>fellow could have made two such vindictive enemies as these
<v Speaker 1>appear to be without knowing of it. I hold it, therefore,
<v Speaker 1>to be certain that he does know who these men are,
<v Speaker 1>and that, for reasons of his own, he suppresses it.
<v Speaker 1>It is just possible that to morrow may find him
<v Speaker 1>in a more communicative mood. Is there not one alternative?
<v Speaker 1>I suggested? Grotesquely improbable, no doubt, but still just conceivable.
<v Speaker 1>Might the whole story of the cataleptic Russian and his
<v Speaker 1>son be a concoction of doctor Trevallion's, who has, for
<v Speaker 1>his own purposes, been in Blessington's rooms. I saw in
<v Speaker 1>the gaslight that Holmes wore an amused smile at this
<v Speaker 1>brilliant departure of mine, my dear fellow, said he. It
<v Speaker 1>was one of the first solutions which occurred to me.
<v Speaker 1>But I was soon able to corroborate the doctor's tale.
<v Speaker 1>This young man has left Prince upon the stair carpet,
<v Speaker 1>which made it quite superfluous for me to ask to
<v Speaker 1>see those which he had made in the room. When
<v Speaker 1>I tell you that his shoes were square toed instead
<v Speaker 1>of being pointed like Blessington's, and were quite an inch
<v Speaker 1>and a third longer than the doctor's. You will acknowledge
<v Speaker 1>that there can be no doubt as to his individuality.
<v Speaker 1>But we may sleep on it now, for I shall
<v Speaker 1>be surprised if we do not hear something further from
<v Speaker 1>Brook Street in the morning. Sherlock Holmes's prophecy was soon fulfilled,
<v Speaker 1>and in a dramatic fashion. At half past seven next morning,
<v Speaker 1>in the first glimmer of daylight, I found him standing
<v Speaker 1>by my bedside in his dressing gown. There's a broughon
<v Speaker 1>waiting for us, Watson, said he. What's the matter? Then?
<v Speaker 1>The Brook Street business? Any fresh news? Tragic but ambiguous,
<v Speaker 1>said he, pulling up the blind. Look at this a
<v Speaker 1>sheet from a note book with for God's sake, come
<v Speaker 1>at once p. T. Scrawled upon it in pencil. Our friend,
<v Speaker 1>the doctor was hard put to it when he wrote this,
<v Speaker 1>come along, my dear fellow, for it's an urgent call.
<v Speaker 1>In a quarter of an hour or so we were
<v Speaker 1>back at the physician's house. He came running out to
<v Speaker 1>meet us with a face of horror. Oh, such a business,
<v Speaker 1>he cried, with his hands to his temples. What then,
<v Speaker 1>Blessington has committed suicide? Holmes whistled, Yes, he hanged himself
<v Speaker 1>during the night we had entered, and the doctor had
<v Speaker 1>preceded us into what was evidently his waiting room. I
<v Speaker 1>really hardly know what I'm doing, he cried. The police
<v Speaker 1>are already upstairs. It has shaken me most dreadfully. When
<v Speaker 1>did you find out he has a cup of tea
<v Speaker 1>taken into him early every morning? When the maid entered
<v Speaker 1>about seven there the unfortunate fellow was hanging in the
<v Speaker 1>middle of the room. He had tied his cord to
<v Speaker 1>the hook on which the heavy lamp used to hang,
<v Speaker 1>and he had jumped off from the top of the
<v Speaker 1>very box that he showed us yesterday. Holmes stood for
<v Speaker 1>a moment in deep thought. With your permission, said he
<v Speaker 1>at last, I should like to go upstairs and look
<v Speaker 1>into the matter. We both ascended, followed by the doctor.
<v Speaker 1>It was a dreadful sight which met us as we
<v Speaker 1>entered the bedroom door. I have spoken of the impression
<v Speaker 1>of flabbiness which this man Blessington conveyed as he dangled
<v Speaker 1>from the hook. It was exaggerated and intensified until he
<v Speaker 1>was scarce human in his appearance. The neck was drawn
<v Speaker 1>out like a plucked chicken's, making the rest of him
<v Speaker 1>seem the more obese and unnatural. By contrast, he was
<v Speaker 1>clad only in his long night dress, and his swollen
<v Speaker 1>ankles and ungainly feet protruded starkly from beneath it. Beside
<v Speaker 1>him stood a smart looking police inspector who was taking
<v Speaker 1>notes in a pocket book. Ah, mister Elmes, said he
<v Speaker 1>heartily as my friend entered. I am delighted to I
<v Speaker 1>see you. Good morning, Leanna answered Holmes. You won't think
<v Speaker 1>me an intruder. I am sure. Have you heard of
<v Speaker 1>the events which led up to this affair? Yeah, I
<v Speaker 1>heard something of them. Have you formed any opinion? As
<v Speaker 1>far as I can see, the man has been driven
<v Speaker 1>out of his senses by fright. The bed has been
<v Speaker 1>well slept in. You see, there's his impression deep enough.
<v Speaker 1>It's about five in the morning. You know that suicides
<v Speaker 1>are most common. That would be about his time for
<v Speaker 1>hanging himself. It seems to have been a very deliberate affair.
<v Speaker 1>I should say that he has been dead about three hours,
<v Speaker 1>judging by the rigidity of the muscles, said, I noticed
<v Speaker 1>anything peculiar about the room, asked Holmes found a screwdriver
<v Speaker 1>and some screws on the washhand stand. Seems to have
<v Speaker 1>smoked heavily during the night too. Here are four cigar
<v Speaker 1>ends that I've picked out of the fireplace, hm said Holmes.
<v Speaker 1>Have you got his cigar holder? No, I have, say none,
<v Speaker 1>his cigar case? Then, yes, it was in his coat pocket.
<v Speaker 1>Holmes opened it and smelled the single cigar which it contained. Oh,
<v Speaker 1>this is an Havana and these others are cigars of
<v Speaker 1>the peculiar sort, which are imported by the Dutch from
<v Speaker 1>their East Indian colonies. They are usually wrapped in straw,
<v Speaker 1>you know, and are thinner for their length than any
<v Speaker 1>other brand. He picked up the four ends and examined
<v Speaker 1>them with his pocket lens. Two of these have been
<v Speaker 1>smoked from a holder and two without, said he. Two
<v Speaker 1>have been cut by a not very sharp knife, and
<v Speaker 1>two have had the ends bitten off by a set
<v Speaker 1>of excellent teeth. This is no suicide, mister Leanna. It
<v Speaker 1>is a very deeply planned and cold blooded murder. Impossible,
<v Speaker 1>cried the inspector. And why why should any one murder
<v Speaker 1>a man? In so clumsy a fashion as by hanging him.
<v Speaker 1>That is what we have to find out. How could
<v Speaker 1>thy gain through the front door? It was barred in
<v Speaker 1>the morning, then it was barred after them. How do
<v Speaker 1>you know I saw their traces. Excuse me a moment,
<v Speaker 1>and I may be able to give you some further
<v Speaker 1>information about it. He went over to the door, and
<v Speaker 1>turning the lock, he examined it in his methodical way.
<v Speaker 1>Then he took out the key, which was on the inside,
<v Speaker 1>and inspected that. Also the bed, the carpet, the chairs,
<v Speaker 1>the mantel piece, the dead body, and the rope were
<v Speaker 1>each in turn examined, until at last he professed himself satisfied, and,
<v Speaker 1>with my aid and that of the inspector, cut down
<v Speaker 1>the wretched object and laid it reverently under a sheet.
<v Speaker 1>How about this rope, he asked, It is cut off,
<v Speaker 1>This said doctor Trevillian, drawing a large coil from under
<v Speaker 1>the bed. He was morbidly of fire, and always kept
<v Speaker 1>this beside him so that he might escape by the
<v Speaker 1>window in case the stairs were burning. That must have
<v Speaker 1>saved them trouble, said Holmes thoughtfully. Yes, the actual facts
<v Speaker 1>are very plain, and I shall be surprised if by
<v Speaker 1>the afternoon I cannot give you the reasons for them
<v Speaker 1>as well. I will take this photograph of Blessington, which
<v Speaker 1>I see upon the mantelpiece, as it may help me
<v Speaker 1>in my inquiries. But you have told us nothing, cried
<v Speaker 1>the doctor. Oh, there can be no doubt as to
<v Speaker 1>the sequence of events, said Holmes. There were three of
<v Speaker 1>them in it, the young man, the old man, and
<v Speaker 1>a third to whose identity I have no clue. The
<v Speaker 1>first two, I need hardly remark, are the same who
<v Speaker 1>masqueraded as the Russian count and his son, so we
<v Speaker 1>can give a very full description of them. They were
<v Speaker 1>admitted by a confederate inside the house. If I might
<v Speaker 1>offer you a word of advice, Specter, it would be
<v Speaker 1>to arrest the page, who, as I understand, has only
<v Speaker 1>recently come into your service. Doctor. The young imp cannot
<v Speaker 1>be found, said Doctor Trevallion. The maid and the cook
<v Speaker 1>have just been searching for him. Holmes shrugged his shoulders.
<v Speaker 1>He has played a not unimportant part in this drama,
<v Speaker 1>said he. The three men having ascended the stairs, which
<v Speaker 1>they did on tiptoe, the elder man first, the younger
<v Speaker 1>man second, and the unknown man in the rear, My
<v Speaker 1>dear Holmes, I ejaculated. Oh, there could be no question
<v Speaker 1>as to the superimposing of the footmarks. I had the
<v Speaker 1>advantage of learning which was which last night. They ascended
<v Speaker 1>then to mister Blessington's room, the door of which they
<v Speaker 1>found to be locked. With the help of a wire. However,
<v Speaker 1>they forced round the quay even without the lens. You
<v Speaker 1>will perceive by the scratches on this ward where the
<v Speaker 1>pressure was applied on entering the room. Their first proceeding
<v Speaker 1>must have been to gag mister Blessington. He may have
<v Speaker 1>been asleep, or he may have been so paralyzed with
<v Speaker 1>terror as to have been unable to cry out. These
<v Speaker 1>walls are thick, and it is conceivable that his shriek,
<v Speaker 1>if he had time to utter one, was unheard. Having
<v Speaker 1>secured him, it is evident to me that a consultation
<v Speaker 1>of some sort was held. Probably it was something in
<v Speaker 1>the nature of a judicial proceeding. It must have lasted
<v Speaker 1>for some time, for it was then that these cigars
<v Speaker 1>were smoked. The older man sat in that wicker chair.
<v Speaker 1>It was he who used the cigar holder. The younger
<v Speaker 1>man sat over yonder. He knocked his ash off against
<v Speaker 1>the chest of drawers. The third fellow paced up and down.
<v Speaker 1>Blessington I think sat upright in the bed, but of
<v Speaker 1>that I cannot be absolutely certain. Well it ended by
<v Speaker 1>their taking Blessington and hanging him. The matter was so
<v Speaker 1>prearranged that it is my belief that they brought with
<v Speaker 1>them some sort of block or pulley which might serve
<v Speaker 1>as a gallows. That screwdriver and those screws were, as
<v Speaker 1>I conceive, for fixing it up. Seeing the hook, however,
<v Speaker 1>they naturally saved themselves the trouble. Having finished their work,
<v Speaker 1>they made off, and the door was barred behind them
<v Speaker 1>by their confederate. We had all listened with the deepest
<v Speaker 1>interest to this sketch of the night's doings, which Holmes
<v Speaker 1>had deduced from signs so subtle and minute that even
<v Speaker 1>when he had pointed them out to us, we could
<v Speaker 1>scarcely follow him in his reasoning. The inspector hurried away
<v Speaker 1>on the instant to make inquiries about the page, while
<v Speaker 1>Holmes and I returned to Baker Street for breakfast. I'll
<v Speaker 1>be back by three, said he, when we'd finished our meal.
<v Speaker 1>Both the inspector and the doctor will meet me here
<v Speaker 1>at that hour, and I hope by that time to
<v Speaker 1>have cleared up any little obscurity which the case may
<v Speaker 1>still present. Our visitors arrived at the appointed time, but
<v Speaker 1>it was a quarter to four before my friend put
<v Speaker 1>in an appearance. From his expression as he entered, however,
<v Speaker 1>I could see that all had gone well with him.
<v Speaker 1>Any news, Inspector. We've got the boy, sir, excellent, and
<v Speaker 1>I have got the men. You have got them, we
<v Speaker 1>cried all three. Well, at least I have got their identity.
<v Speaker 1>This so called Blessington is, as I expected, well known
<v Speaker 1>at headquarters, and so are his assailants. Their names are Biddle,
<v Speaker 1>Haywood and moffat the Worthingdon Bank gang, cried the inspector. Precisely,
<v Speaker 1>said Holmes. Then Blessington must have been sattin exactly, said Holmes.
<v Speaker 1>Why that makes it as clear as crystal, said the inspector.
<v Speaker 1>But Trevellion and I looked at each other in bewilderment.
<v Speaker 1>You must surely remember the great Worthingdon Bank business, said Holmes.
<v Speaker 1>Five men were in it, these four and a fifth
<v Speaker 1>called Cartwright. Tobin. The caretaker was murdered, and the thieves
<v Speaker 1>got away with seven thousand pounds. This was in eighteen
<v Speaker 1>seventy five. They were all five arrested, but the evidence
<v Speaker 1>against them was by no means conclusive. This Blessington or Sutton,
<v Speaker 1>who was the worst of the gang, turned informer on
<v Speaker 1>his evidence. Cartwright was hanged and the other three got
<v Speaker 1>fifteen years apiece. When they got out the other day,
<v Speaker 1>which was some years before their full term, they set themselves,
<v Speaker 1>as you perceive, to hunt down the traitor and to
<v Speaker 1>avenge the death of their comrade upon him. Twice they
<v Speaker 1>tried to get at him and failed. A third time,
<v Speaker 1>you see it came off. Is there anything further which
<v Speaker 1>I can explain, Doctor Trevallian? I think you've made it
<v Speaker 1>all remarkably clear, the doctor, no doubt. The day on
<v Speaker 1>which he was perturbed was the day when he had
<v Speaker 1>seen of their release in the newspapers. Quite so, his
<v Speaker 1>talk about a burglary was the merest blind. But why
<v Speaker 1>could he not tell you this? Well, my dear sir,
<v Speaker 1>knowing the vindictive character of his old associates, he was
<v Speaker 1>trying to hide his own identity from everybody as long
<v Speaker 1>as he could. His secret was a shameful one, and
<v Speaker 1>he could not bring himself to divulge it. However, wretch
<v Speaker 1>as he was, he was still living under the shield
<v Speaker 1>of British law. And I have no doubt, Inspector, that
<v Speaker 1>you will see that though that shield might fail to guard,
<v Speaker 1>the sword of justice is still there to avenge. Such
<v Speaker 1>were the singular circumstances in connection with the Resident Patient
<v Speaker 1>and the brook Street doctor. From that night. Nothing has
<v Speaker 1>been seen of the three murderers by the police, and
<v Speaker 1>it is surmised at Scotland Yard that they were among
<v Speaker 1>them passengers of the ill fated steamer Norah Creina, which
<v Speaker 1>was lost some years ago with all hands upon the
<v Speaker 1>Portuguese coast, some leagues to the north of a Porto.
<v Speaker 1>The proceedings against the page broke down for want of evidence,
<v Speaker 1>and the brook Street mystery, as it was called, has
<v Speaker 1>never until now been fully dealt with in any public print.
<v Speaker 1>End of the Resident Patient