The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

<v Speaker 1>The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet. Holmes said, I, as
<v Speaker 1>I stood one morning in our bow window looking down
<v Speaker 1>the street, here is a madman coming along. It seems
<v Speaker 1>rather sad that his relatives should allow him to come
<v Speaker 1>out alone. My friend rose lazily from his arm chair
<v Speaker 1>and stood with his hands in the pockets of his
<v Speaker 1>dressing gown, looking over my shoulder. It was a bright,
<v Speaker 1>crisp February morning, and the snow of the day before
<v Speaker 1>still lay deep upon the ground, shimmering brightly in the
<v Speaker 1>wintry sun. Down the center of Baker Street, it had
<v Speaker 1>been plowed into a brown, crumbly band by the traffic,
<v Speaker 1>but at either side, and on the heaped up edges
<v Speaker 1>of the foot paths, it still lay as white as
<v Speaker 1>when it fell. The gray pavement had been cleaned and scraped,
<v Speaker 1>but was still dangerously slippery, so that there were fewer
<v Speaker 1>passengers than usual. Indeed, from the direction of Metropolitan Station,
<v Speaker 1>no one was coming save the single gentleman whose eccentric
<v Speaker 1>conduct had drawn my attention. He was a man of
<v Speaker 1>about fifty tall, portly and imposing, with a massive, strongly
<v Speaker 1>marked face and commanding figure. He was dressed in a
<v Speaker 1>somber yet rich style, in black frock coat, shining hat,
<v Speaker 1>neat brown gaiters, and well cut pearl gray trousers. Yet
<v Speaker 1>his actions were an absurd contrast to the dignity of
<v Speaker 1>his dress and features, for he was running hard with
<v Speaker 1>occasional little springs, such as a weary man gives who
<v Speaker 1>is little accustomed to set any tax upon his legs.
<v Speaker 1>As he ran, he jacked his hands up and down,
<v Speaker 1>waggled his head, and writhed his face into the most
<v Speaker 1>extraordinary contortions. What on earth can be the matter with him?
<v Speaker 1>I asked? He is looking up at the numbers of
<v Speaker 1>the houses. I believe that he is coming here, said Holmes,
<v Speaker 1>rubbing his hands here. Yes, I rather think he is
<v Speaker 1>coming to consult me professionally. I think that I recognized
<v Speaker 1>the symptoms. Ha, did I not tell you? As he spoke,
<v Speaker 1>the man, puffing and blowing, rushed at our door and
<v Speaker 1>pulled at our bell until the whole house resounded with
<v Speaker 1>the clanging. A few moments later he was in our room,
<v Speaker 1>still puffing, still gesticulating, but with so fixed a look
<v Speaker 1>of grief and despair in his eye that our smiles
<v Speaker 1>were turned in an instant to horror and pity. For
<v Speaker 1>a while he could not get his words out, but
<v Speaker 1>swayed his body and plucked at his hair, like one
<v Speaker 1>who has been driven to the extreme limits of his reason. Then,
<v Speaker 1>suddenly springing to his feet, he beat his head against
<v Speaker 1>the wall with such force that we both rushed upon
<v Speaker 1>him and tore him away to the center of the room.
<v Speaker 1>Sharlock Holmes pushed him down into the easy chair, and,
<v Speaker 1>sitting beside him, patted his hand and chatted with him
<v Speaker 1>in the easy, soothing tones which he knew so well.
<v Speaker 1>How to employ You have come to tell me your story,
<v Speaker 1>have you not, said he? You are fatigued with your haste. Pray,
<v Speaker 1>wait until you have recovered yourself, and then I shall
<v Speaker 1>be most happy to look into any little problem which
<v Speaker 1>you may submit to me. The man sat for a
<v Speaker 1>minute or more with a heaving chest, fighting against his emotion.
<v Speaker 1>Then he passed his handkerchief over his brow, set his
<v Speaker 1>lips tight, and turned his face towards us. No doubt,
<v Speaker 1>ye think me mad, said he. I see that you
<v Speaker 1>have had some great trouble, responded Holmes. God knows I
<v Speaker 1>have a trouble which is enough to unseat my reason.
<v Speaker 1>So sudden and so terrible is it public disgrace I
<v Speaker 1>might have faced, although I am a man whose character
<v Speaker 1>has never yet borne a stain private affliction. All so
<v Speaker 1>is the lot of every man. But the two coming
<v Speaker 1>together and in so frightful a form, have been enough
<v Speaker 1>to shake my very soul. Besides, it is not I alone.
<v Speaker 1>The very noblest in the land may suffer unless some
<v Speaker 1>way be found out of this horrible affair. Pray compose yourself, sir,
<v Speaker 1>said Holmes, and let me have a clear account of
<v Speaker 1>who you are and what it is that has befallen you.
<v Speaker 1>My name, answered our visitor, is probably familiar to your ears.
<v Speaker 1>I am Alexander Holder of the bank firm of Holder,
<v Speaker 1>and Stephenson of Threadneedle Street. The name was indeed well
<v Speaker 1>known to us as belonging to the senior partner in
<v Speaker 1>the second largest private banking concern in the city of London.
<v Speaker 1>What could have happened then, to bring one of the
<v Speaker 1>foremost citizens of London to this most pitiable pass. We
<v Speaker 1>waited all curiosity until with another effort, he braced himself
<v Speaker 1>to tell his story. I feel the time is of value,
<v Speaker 1>said he. That is why I hastened here when the
<v Speaker 1>police inspector suggested that it should secure your corporation. I
<v Speaker 1>came to Baker Street by the underground and hurried from
<v Speaker 1>here on foot, for the cabs go slowly through this snow.
<v Speaker 1>That is why I was so out of breath, for
<v Speaker 1>I am a man who takes very little exercise. I
<v Speaker 1>feel better now and will put the facts before you
<v Speaker 1>as shortly and yet as clearly as I can. It
<v Speaker 1>is of course well known to you that in a
<v Speaker 1>successful banking business, as much depends upon our being able
<v Speaker 1>to find remunerative investments for our funds, as upon our
<v Speaker 1>increasing our connection and the number of our depositors. One
<v Speaker 1>of our most lucrative means of laying out money is
<v Speaker 1>in the shape of loans, where the security is unimpeachable.
<v Speaker 1>We have done a good deal in this direction during
<v Speaker 1>the last few years, and there are many noble families
<v Speaker 1>to whom we have advanced large sums upon the security
<v Speaker 1>of their pictures, libraries or plate. Yesterday morning, I was
<v Speaker 1>seated in my office at the bank when a card
<v Speaker 1>was brought to me by one of the clerks. I
<v Speaker 1>started when I saw the name, for it was that
<v Speaker 1>of none other than well perhaps even to you, I
<v Speaker 1>had better say no more than that it was a
<v Speaker 1>name which is a household word all over the earth,
<v Speaker 1>one of the highest, noblest, most exalted names in England.
<v Speaker 1>I was overwhelmed by the honor, and attempted when he
<v Speaker 1>entered to say so, But he plunged at once into business,
<v Speaker 1>with the air of a man who wishes to hurry
<v Speaker 1>quickly through a disagreeable task. Mister Holder said he, I
<v Speaker 1>have been informed that you are in the habit of
<v Speaker 1>advancing money. The firm does so when the security is good.
<v Speaker 1>I answered, it is absolutely essential to me, said he,
<v Speaker 1>that I should have fifty thousand pounds at once. I could,
<v Speaker 1>of course borrow so trifling a sum ten times over
<v Speaker 1>from my friends, but I much prefer to make it
<v Speaker 1>a matter of business, and so carry out that business myself.
<v Speaker 1>In my position, you can readily understand that it is
<v Speaker 1>unwise to place one's self under obligations. For How long?
<v Speaker 1>May I ask? Do you want this sum? I asked,
<v Speaker 1>next Monday. I have a large sum due to me,
<v Speaker 1>and I shall then most certainly repay what you advance,
<v Speaker 1>with whatever interest you think is right to charge. But
<v Speaker 1>it is very essential to me that the money should
<v Speaker 1>be paid at once. I should be happy to advance
<v Speaker 1>it without further parley from my own private purse, said I,
<v Speaker 1>were it not that the strain would be rather more
<v Speaker 1>than I could bear. If, on the other hand, I
<v Speaker 1>am to do it in the name of the firm,
<v Speaker 1>then in justice to my partner, I must insist that,
<v Speaker 1>even in your case, every businesslike precaution should be taken.
<v Speaker 1>I should much prefer to have it, so, said he,
<v Speaker 1>raising up a square black Morocco case which he had
<v Speaker 1>laid beside his chair. You have doubtless heard of the
<v Speaker 1>Beryl coronet, one of the most precious public possessions of
<v Speaker 1>the Empire, said I precisely. He opened the case, and there,
<v Speaker 1>embedded in soft flesh colored velvet lay the magnificent piece
<v Speaker 1>of jewelry which he had named. There are thirty nine
<v Speaker 1>enormous beryls, said he. And the price of the gold
<v Speaker 1>chasing is incalculable. The lowest estimate would put the worse
<v Speaker 1>of the coronet at double the sum which I have asked.
<v Speaker 1>I am prepared to leave it with you as my security.
<v Speaker 1>I took the precious case into my hands and looked
<v Speaker 1>in some perplexity from it to my illustrious client. Ye
<v Speaker 1>doubt its value, he asked, not at all. I only
<v Speaker 1>doubt the propriety of my leaving it. You may set
<v Speaker 1>your mind at rest about that. I should not dream
<v Speaker 1>of doing so were it not absolutely certain that I
<v Speaker 1>should be able in four days to reclaim it. It
<v Speaker 1>is a pure matter of form. Is the security sufficient ample?
<v Speaker 1>You understand, mister holder, that I am giving you a
<v Speaker 1>strong proof of the confidence which I have in you,
<v Speaker 1>founded upon all that I have heard of you. I
<v Speaker 1>rely upon you not only to be discreet and to
<v Speaker 1>refrain from all gossip upon the matter, but above all,
<v Speaker 1>to preserve this coronet with every possible precaution, because I
<v Speaker 1>need not say that a great public scandal would be
<v Speaker 1>caused if any harm were to befall it. Any injury
<v Speaker 1>to it would be almost as serious as its complete loss,
<v Speaker 1>for there are no beryls in the world to match these,
<v Speaker 1>and it would be impossible to replace them. I leave
<v Speaker 1>it with you, however, with every confidence, and I shall
<v Speaker 1>call for it in person on Monday morning. Seeing that
<v Speaker 1>my client was anxious to leave, I said no more,
<v Speaker 1>but calling for my cashier, I ordered him to pay
<v Speaker 1>over fifty one thousand pound notes. When I was alone
<v Speaker 1>once more. However, with a precious case lying upon the
<v Speaker 1>table in front of me, I could not but think
<v Speaker 1>with some misgivings of the immense responsibility which it entailed
<v Speaker 1>upon me. There could be no doubt that, as it
<v Speaker 1>was a national possession, a horrible scandal would ensue if
<v Speaker 1>any misfortune should occur to it. I already regretted, having
<v Speaker 1>ever consented to take charge of it. However, it was
<v Speaker 1>too late to alter the matter now, so I locked
<v Speaker 1>it up in my private safe and turned once more
<v Speaker 1>to my work. When evening came, I felt that it
<v Speaker 1>would be an imprudence to leave so precious a thing
<v Speaker 1>in the behind me. Banker's safes had been forced before now,
<v Speaker 1>and why should not mine be. If so, how terrible
<v Speaker 1>would be the position in which I should find myself.
<v Speaker 1>I determined therefore, that for the next few days I
<v Speaker 1>would always carry the case backward and forward with me,
<v Speaker 1>so that it might never be really out of my reach.
<v Speaker 1>With this intention, I called a cab and drove out
<v Speaker 1>to my house at Stretham, carrying the jewel with me.
<v Speaker 1>I did not breathe freely until I had taken it
<v Speaker 1>upstairs and locked it in the bureau of my dressing room.
<v Speaker 1>And now a word as to my household, mister Holmes,
<v Speaker 1>for I wish you to thoroughly understand the situation. My
<v Speaker 1>groom and my page sleep out of the house and
<v Speaker 1>may be set aside. Altogether. I have three maid servants
<v Speaker 1>who have been with me a number of years, and
<v Speaker 1>whose absolute reliability is quite above suspicion. Another, Lucy Parr,
<v Speaker 1>the second waiting maid, has only been in my service
<v Speaker 1>a few months. She came with an excellent character, however,
<v Speaker 1>and has always given me satisfaction. She is a very
<v Speaker 1>pretty girl and has attracted admirers who have occasionally hung
<v Speaker 1>about the place. That is the only drawback which we
<v Speaker 1>have found to her. But we believe her to be
<v Speaker 1>a sorrowly good girl in every way. So much for
<v Speaker 1>the servants. My family itself is so small that it
<v Speaker 1>will not take me long to describe it. I am
<v Speaker 1>a widower and I have an only son, Arthur. He
<v Speaker 1>has been a disappointment to me, mister Holmes, a grievous disappointment.
<v Speaker 1>I have no doubt that I am myself to blame.
<v Speaker 1>People tell me that I have spoiled him very likely
<v Speaker 1>I have. When my dear wife died, I felt that
<v Speaker 1>he was all I had to love. I could not
<v Speaker 1>bear to see the smile fade, even for a moment
<v Speaker 1>from his face. I have never denied him a wish.
<v Speaker 1>Perhaps that would have been better for both of us
<v Speaker 1>had I been sterner, but I meant it for the best.
<v Speaker 1>It was naturally my intention that he should succeed me
<v Speaker 1>in my business. But he was not of a business turn.
<v Speaker 1>He was wild, wayward, and to speak the truth, I
<v Speaker 1>could not trust him in the handling of large sums
<v Speaker 1>of money. When he was young, he became a member
<v Speaker 1>of an aristocratic club, and there, having charming manners, he
<v Speaker 1>was soon the intimate of a number of men with
<v Speaker 1>long purses and expensive habits. He learned to play heavily
<v Speaker 1>at cards, and to squander money on the turf, until
<v Speaker 1>he had again and again to come to me and
<v Speaker 1>implore me to give him an advance upon his allowance,
<v Speaker 1>that he might settle his debts of honor. He tried
<v Speaker 1>more than once to break away from the dangerous company
<v Speaker 1>which he was keeping, but each time the influence of
<v Speaker 1>his friend, Sir George Burnwell was enough to draw him back. Again,
<v Speaker 1>And indeed I could not wonder that such a man
<v Speaker 1>as Sir George Banwell should gain an influence over him,
<v Speaker 1>for he has frequently brought him to my house, and
<v Speaker 1>I have found myself that I could hardly resist the
<v Speaker 1>fascination of his manner. He is older than Arthur, a
<v Speaker 1>man of the world to his finger tips, one who
<v Speaker 1>had been everywhere, seen everything, a brilliant talker, and a
<v Speaker 1>man of great personal beauty. Yet when I think of
<v Speaker 1>him in cold blood, far away from the glamor of
<v Speaker 1>his presence, I am convinced, from his cynical speech and
<v Speaker 1>the look which I may have caught in his eyes,
<v Speaker 1>that he is one who should be deeply distrusted. So
<v Speaker 1>I think, and so too thinks my little Mary, who
<v Speaker 1>has a woman's quick insight into character. And now there
<v Speaker 1>is only she to be described. She is my niece.
<v Speaker 1>But when my brother died five years ago and left
<v Speaker 1>her alone in the world, I adopted her and have
<v Speaker 1>looked upon her ever since as my daughter. She is
<v Speaker 1>a sunbeam in my house, sweet, loving, beautiful, a wonderful
<v Speaker 1>manager and housekeeper. Yet as tender and quiet and gentle
<v Speaker 1>as a woman could be. She is my right hand.
<v Speaker 1>I do not know what I could do without her.
<v Speaker 1>In only one matter has she ever gone against my wishes.
<v Speaker 1>Twice my boy has asked her to marry him, for
<v Speaker 1>he loves her devotedly, but each time she has refused him.
<v Speaker 1>I think that if any one could have drawn him
<v Speaker 1>into the right path, it would have been she, and
<v Speaker 1>that his marriage might have changed his whole life. But now,
<v Speaker 1>alas it is too late, forever too late. Now, mister Holmes,
<v Speaker 1>ye know the people he live under my roof, and
<v Speaker 1>I shall continue with my miserable story. When we were
<v Speaker 1>taking coffee in the drawing room that night after dinner,
<v Speaker 1>I told Arthur and Mary my experience and of the
<v Speaker 1>precious treasure which we had under our roof, suppressing only
<v Speaker 1>the name of my client, Lucy Parr, who had brought
<v Speaker 1>in the coffee. Had I am sure left the room,
<v Speaker 1>but I cannot swear that the door was closed. Mary
<v Speaker 1>and Arthur were much interested and wished to see the
<v Speaker 1>famous coronet, but I thought it better not to disturb it.
<v Speaker 1>Where have you put it? Asked Arthur in my own bureau. Well,
<v Speaker 1>I hope to goodness the house won't be burgled during
<v Speaker 1>the night, said he. It is locked up, I answered, Oh,
<v Speaker 1>any old key will fit that bureau. When I was
<v Speaker 1>a youngster, I have opened it myself with the key
<v Speaker 1>of the box room cupboard. He often had a wild
<v Speaker 1>way of talking, so that I thought little of what
<v Speaker 1>he said. He followed me to my room. However, that
<v Speaker 1>night with a very grave face. Look here, Dad said
<v Speaker 1>he with his eyes cast down. Can you let me
<v Speaker 1>have two hundred pounds? No I cannot, I answered sharply.
<v Speaker 1>I have been far too generous with you in money matter.
<v Speaker 1>You have been very kind, said he. But I must
<v Speaker 1>have this money or else I can never show my
<v Speaker 1>face inside the club again. And a very good thing too,
<v Speaker 1>I cried, yes, But YE would not have me leave it.
<v Speaker 1>A dishonored man said he. I could not bear the disgrace.
<v Speaker 1>I must raise the money in some way, and if
<v Speaker 1>you will not let me have it, then I must
<v Speaker 1>try other means. I was very angry, for this was
<v Speaker 1>the third demand during the month. You shall not have
<v Speaker 1>a farthing from me, I cried, on which he bowed
<v Speaker 1>and left the room without another word. When he was gone,
<v Speaker 1>I unlocked my bureau, made sure that my treasure was safe,
<v Speaker 1>and locked it again. Then I started to go round
<v Speaker 1>the house to see that all was secure, a duty
<v Speaker 1>which I normally leave to marry, but which I sought
<v Speaker 1>it well to perform myself. That night. As I came
<v Speaker 1>down the stairs, I saw Mary herself at the side
<v Speaker 1>window of the hall, which she closed and fastened. As
<v Speaker 1>I approached, Tell me, Dad, she said, looking, I thought
<v Speaker 1>a little disturbed. Did you give Lucy the maid leave
<v Speaker 1>to go out to night? Certainly not. She came in
<v Speaker 1>just now by the back door. I have no doubt
<v Speaker 1>that she has only been to the side gate to
<v Speaker 1>see some one. But I think that it is hardly
<v Speaker 1>safe and should be stopped. You must speak to her
<v Speaker 1>in the morning, or I will if you prefer it.
<v Speaker 1>Are you sure that everything is fastened? Quite sure, Dad?
<v Speaker 1>Then good night. I kissed her and went up to
<v Speaker 1>my bedroom again, where I was soon asleep. I am
<v Speaker 1>endeavoring to tell you everything, mister Holmes, which may have
<v Speaker 1>any bearing upon the case, But I beg that you
<v Speaker 1>will question me upon any point which I do not
<v Speaker 1>make clear. On the contrary, your statement is singularly lucid.
<v Speaker 1>I come to a part of my story now which
<v Speaker 1>I could wish to be particularly so. I am not
<v Speaker 1>a very heavy sleeper, and the anxiety in my mind
<v Speaker 1>tendered no doubt to make me even less so than usual.
<v Speaker 1>About two in the morning, then I was awakened by
<v Speaker 1>some sound in the house. It had ceased ere was
<v Speaker 1>wide awake, but it had left an impression behind, as
<v Speaker 1>though a window had gently closed somewhere. I lay listening
<v Speaker 1>with all my ears. Suddenly, to my horror, there was
<v Speaker 1>a distinct sound of footsteps moving softly in the next room.
<v Speaker 1>I slipped out of bed, all palpitating with fear, and
<v Speaker 1>peeped round the corner of my dressing room door. Arthur,
<v Speaker 1>I screamed, you villain, you thief, how dare you touch
<v Speaker 1>that coronet? The gas was half up as I had
<v Speaker 1>left it, and my unhappy boy, dressed only in his
<v Speaker 1>shirt and trousers, was standing beside the light, holding the
<v Speaker 1>coronet in his hands. He appeared to be wrenching at
<v Speaker 1>it or bending it with all his strength. At my cry,
<v Speaker 1>he dropped it from his grasp and turned as pale
<v Speaker 1>as death. I snatched it up and examined it. One
<v Speaker 1>of the gold corners with three of the beryls in
<v Speaker 1>it was missing, you, blackguard, I shouted, beside me with rage.
<v Speaker 1>You have destroyed it. You have dishonored me forever. Where
<v Speaker 1>are the jewels which you have stolen? Stolen? He cried, Yes, thief,
<v Speaker 1>I roared, shaking him by the shoulder. There are none missing.
<v Speaker 1>There cannot be any missing, said he. There are three missing,
<v Speaker 1>and you know where they are. Must I call you
<v Speaker 1>a liar as well as a thief. Did I not
<v Speaker 1>see you trying to tear off another piece? You have
<v Speaker 1>called me names? Enough, said he. I will not stand
<v Speaker 1>it any longer. I shall not say another word about
<v Speaker 1>this business. Since you have chosen to insult me. I
<v Speaker 1>will leave your house in the morning and make my
<v Speaker 1>own way in the world. You shall leave it in
<v Speaker 1>the hands of the police, I cried, half mad with
<v Speaker 1>grief and rage. I shall have this matter probed to
<v Speaker 1>the bottom. You shall learn nothing from me, said he,
<v Speaker 1>with a passion such as I should not have thought
<v Speaker 1>was in his nature. If you choose to call the police,
<v Speaker 1>let the police find what they can. By this time
<v Speaker 1>the whole house was astir, for I had raised my
<v Speaker 1>voice in my anger. Mary was the first to rush
<v Speaker 1>into my room, and at the sight of the coronet
<v Speaker 1>and of Arthur's face. She read the whole story, and
<v Speaker 1>with a scream, fell down senseless on the ground. I
<v Speaker 1>sent the housemaid for the police and put the investigation
<v Speaker 1>into their hands at once. When the inspector and a
<v Speaker 1>constable entered the house, Arthur, who had stood sullenly with
<v Speaker 1>his arms folded, asked me whether it was my intention
<v Speaker 1>to charge him with theft. I answered that it had
<v Speaker 1>ceased to be a private matter, but had become a
<v Speaker 1>public one, since the ruined coronet was national property. I
<v Speaker 1>was determined that the law should have its way in everything.
<v Speaker 1>At least, he said, you will not have me arrested
<v Speaker 1>at once. It would be to your advantage as well
<v Speaker 1>as mine if I might leave the house for five minutes,
<v Speaker 1>that you may get away, or perhaps that you may
<v Speaker 1>conceal what you have stolen, said I, and then, realizing
<v Speaker 1>the dreadful position in which I was placed, I implored
<v Speaker 1>him to remember that not only my honor, but that
<v Speaker 1>of one who was far greater than I, was at stake,
<v Speaker 1>and that he threatened to raise the scandal which would
<v Speaker 1>convulse the nation. He might avert it all if you
<v Speaker 1>would but tell me what he had done with the
<v Speaker 1>three missing stones. You may as well face the matter,
<v Speaker 1>said I. You have been caught in the act, and
<v Speaker 1>no confession could make you guilt more heinous. If you
<v Speaker 1>but make such reparation as is in your power by
<v Speaker 1>telling us where the beryls are, all shall be forgiven
<v Speaker 1>and forgotten. Keep your forgiveness for those who ask for it,
<v Speaker 1>he answered, turning away from me with a sneer. I
<v Speaker 1>saw that he was too hardened for any words of
<v Speaker 1>mind to influence him. There was but one way for it.
<v Speaker 1>I called in the inspector and gave him into custody.
<v Speaker 1>As such was made at once, not only of his person,
<v Speaker 1>but of his room, and of every portion of the
<v Speaker 1>house where he could possibly have concealed the gems. But
<v Speaker 1>no trace of them could be found, Nor would the
<v Speaker 1>wretched boy open his mouth. For all our persuasions and
<v Speaker 1>our threats. This morning he was removed to a cell,
<v Speaker 1>and I, after going through all the police formalities, have
<v Speaker 1>hurried round to you to implore you to use your
<v Speaker 1>skill in unraveling the matter. The police have openly confessed
<v Speaker 1>that they can at present make nothing of it. You
<v Speaker 1>may go to any expense which you think necessary. I
<v Speaker 1>have already offered a reward of one thousand pounds. My god,
<v Speaker 1>what shall I do? I have lost my honor, my gems,
<v Speaker 1>and my son in one night. Oh what shall I do?
<v Speaker 1>He put a hand on either side of his head
<v Speaker 1>and rocked himself to and fro, droning to himself like
<v Speaker 1>a child whose grief has got beyond words. Sharlock Holmes
<v Speaker 1>sat silent for some few minutes, with his brows knitted
<v Speaker 1>and his eyes fixed upon the fire. Do you receive
<v Speaker 1>much company? He asked, None save my partner with his family,
<v Speaker 1>and an occasional friend of Arthur's, Sir George Bernwill, has
<v Speaker 1>been several times lately. No one else, I think. Do
<v Speaker 1>you go out much in society? Arthur? Does Mary? And
<v Speaker 1>I stay at home? We neither of us care for it.
<v Speaker 1>That is unusual in a young girl. She is of
<v Speaker 1>a quiet nature. Besides, she is not so very young.
<v Speaker 1>She is four and twenty. This matter, from what you say,
<v Speaker 1>seems to have been a shock to her. Also terrible.
<v Speaker 1>She is even more affected than I. You have neither
<v Speaker 1>of you any doubt as to your son's guilt. How
<v Speaker 1>can we have? When I saw him with my own eyes,
<v Speaker 1>with the coronet in his hands, I hardly consider that
<v Speaker 1>a conclusive proof. Was the remainder of the coronet at
<v Speaker 1>all injured? Yes, it was twisted. Do you not think
<v Speaker 1>then that you might have been trying to straighten it?
<v Speaker 1>God bless you. You are doing what you can for
<v Speaker 1>him and for me, But it is too heavy a task.
<v Speaker 1>What was he doing there at all? If his purpose
<v Speaker 1>were innocent, why did he not say so precisely? And
<v Speaker 1>if he were guilty, why did he not invent a lie?
<v Speaker 1>His silence appears to me to cut both ways. There
<v Speaker 1>are several singular points about the case. What did the
<v Speaker 1>police think of the noise which awoke you from your sleep?
<v Speaker 1>They considered that it might be caused by Arthur's closing
<v Speaker 1>his bedroom door, a likely story, as if a man
<v Speaker 1>bent on felony would slam his door so as to
<v Speaker 1>wake a household. What did they say, then, of the
<v Speaker 1>disappearance of these gems. They are still sounding the planking
<v Speaker 1>and probing the furniture in the hope of finding them.
<v Speaker 1>Have they sort of looking outside the house? Yes, they
<v Speaker 1>have shown extraordinary energy. The whole garden has already been
<v Speaker 1>minutely examined. Now, my dear sir, said Holmes. It is
<v Speaker 1>not obvious to you now that this matter really strikes
<v Speaker 1>very much deeper than either you or the police were
<v Speaker 1>at first inclined to think. It appeared to you to
<v Speaker 1>be a simple case. To me, it seems exceedingly complex.
<v Speaker 1>Consider what is involved by your theory. You suppose that
<v Speaker 1>your son came down from his bed, went at great
<v Speaker 1>risk to your dressing room, opened your bureau, took out
<v Speaker 1>your coronet, broke off by main force a small portion
<v Speaker 1>of it, went off to some other place, concealed three
<v Speaker 1>gems out of the thirty nine with such skill that
<v Speaker 1>nobody can find them, and then returned with the other
<v Speaker 1>thirty six into the room in which he exposed himself
<v Speaker 1>to the greatest danger of being discovered. I ask you, now,
<v Speaker 1>is such a theory tenable? But what other is there?
<v Speaker 1>Cried the banker, with a gesture of despair. If his
<v Speaker 1>motives were innocent, why does he not explain them? It
<v Speaker 1>is our task to find that out, replied Holmes. So now,
<v Speaker 1>if you please, mister Holder, we will set off for
<v Speaker 1>Stresthen together and devote an hour to glancing a little
<v Speaker 1>more closely into details. My friend insisted upon my accompanying
<v Speaker 1>them in their expedition, which I was eager enough to do,
<v Speaker 1>for my curiosity and sympathy were deeply stirred by the
<v Speaker 1>story to which we had listened. I confess that the
<v Speaker 1>guilt of the banker's son appeared to me to be
<v Speaker 1>as obvious as it did to his unhappy father, but
<v Speaker 1>still had such faith in Holmes's judgment that I felt
<v Speaker 1>that there must be some grounds for hope as long
<v Speaker 1>as he was dissatisfied with the accepted explanation. He hardly
<v Speaker 1>spoke a word the whole way out to the southern suburb,
<v Speaker 1>but sat with his chin upon his breast and his
<v Speaker 1>heart drawn over his eyes, sunk in the deepest thought.
<v Speaker 1>Our client appeared to have taken fresh heart at the
<v Speaker 1>little glimpse of hope which had been presented to him,
<v Speaker 1>and he even broke into a desultory chat with me
<v Speaker 1>over his business affairs. A short railway journey and a
<v Speaker 1>shorter walk brought us to Fairbank. The modest residence of
<v Speaker 1>the great financier Fairbank was a good sized square house
<v Speaker 1>of white stone, standing back a little from the road.
<v Speaker 1>A double carriage sweep with a snow clad lawn stretched
<v Speaker 1>down in front of two large iron gates which closed
<v Speaker 1>the entrance. On the right side was a small wooden
<v Speaker 1>thicket which led into a narrow path between two neat hedges,
<v Speaker 1>stretching from the road to the kitchen door and forming
<v Speaker 1>the trademan's entrance. On the left ran a lane which
<v Speaker 1>led to the stables, and was not itself within the
<v Speaker 1>grounds at all, being a public so little used soroughfare.
<v Speaker 1>Holmes left us standing at the door and walked slowly
<v Speaker 1>all round the house, across the front, down the tradesman's path,
<v Speaker 1>and so round by the garden behind into the stable.
<v Speaker 1>So long was he that mister Holder and I went
<v Speaker 1>into the dining room and waited by the fire until
<v Speaker 1>he should return. We were sitting there in silence when
<v Speaker 1>the door opened and the young lady came in. She
<v Speaker 1>was rather above the middle height, slim, with dark hair
<v Speaker 1>and eyes which seemed the darker against the absolute pallor
<v Speaker 1>of her skin. I do not think that I have
<v Speaker 1>ever seen such deadly paleness in a woman's face. Her lips, too,
<v Speaker 1>were bloodless, but her eyes were flushed with crying. As
<v Speaker 1>she swept silently into the room. She impressed me with
<v Speaker 1>a greater sense of grief than the banker had done
<v Speaker 1>in the morning, and it was the more striking in
<v Speaker 1>her as she was evidently a woman of strong character
<v Speaker 1>with immense capacity for self restraint. Disregarding my presence, she
<v Speaker 1>went straight to her uncle and passed her hand over
<v Speaker 1>his head with a sweet womanly caress. You have given
<v Speaker 1>orders that Arthur should be liberated, have you not dared?
<v Speaker 1>She asked? No, No, my girl, The matter must be
<v Speaker 1>probed to the bottom. But I am so sure that
<v Speaker 1>he is innocent. You know what woman's instincts are. I
<v Speaker 1>know that he has done no harm and that you
<v Speaker 1>will be sorry for having acted so harshly. Why is
<v Speaker 1>he silent then, if he is innocent? Who knows? Perhaps
<v Speaker 1>because he was so angry that you should suspect him.
<v Speaker 1>How could I help suspecting him when I actually saw
<v Speaker 1>him with a coronet in his hand. Oh, but he
<v Speaker 1>had only picked it up to look at it. Oh,
<v Speaker 1>do do take my word for it that he is innocent.
<v Speaker 1>Let the matter drop and say no more. It is
<v Speaker 1>so dreadful to think of our dear Arthur in prison.
<v Speaker 1>I shall never let it drop until the gems are found.
<v Speaker 1>Never marry. Your affection for Arthur blinds you as to
<v Speaker 1>the awful consequences to me. Far from hushing the thing up,
<v Speaker 1>I have brought gentlemen down from London to inquire more
<v Speaker 1>deeply into it. This gentleman, she asked, facing round to me. No,
<v Speaker 1>his friend. He wished us to leave him alone. He
<v Speaker 1>is round in the stable lane. Now the stable lane,
<v Speaker 1>she raised her dark eyebrows. What can he hope to
<v Speaker 1>find there? Ah, this I suppose is he. I trust, sir,
<v Speaker 1>that you will succeed in proving what I feel sure
<v Speaker 1>is the truth that my cousin Arthur is innocent of
<v Speaker 1>his crime. I fully share your opinion, and I trust
<v Speaker 1>with you that we may prove it, returned Holmes, going
<v Speaker 1>back to the match to knock the snow from his shoes.
<v Speaker 1>I believe I have the honor of addressing Miss Mary Holder.
<v Speaker 1>May I ask you a question or two? Pray do, sir,
<v Speaker 1>if it may help you, if it may help to
<v Speaker 1>clear this horrible affair up. You heard nothing yourself last night,
<v Speaker 1>nothing until my uncle here began to speak loudly. I
<v Speaker 1>heard that, and I came down. You shut up the
<v Speaker 1>windows and doors the night before? Did you fasten all
<v Speaker 1>the windows? Yes? Were they all fastened this morning. Yes,
<v Speaker 1>you have a maid who has a sweetheart. I think
<v Speaker 1>that you remarked to your uncle last night that you
<v Speaker 1>had been out to see him. Yes, and she was
<v Speaker 1>the girl who waited in the drawing room, and who
<v Speaker 1>may have heard Uncle's remarks about the coronet. I see
<v Speaker 1>you infer that she may have gone out to tell
<v Speaker 1>her sweetheart, and that the two may have planned the robbery.
<v Speaker 1>But what is the good of all these vague theories,
<v Speaker 1>cried the banker impatiently, when I have told you that
<v Speaker 1>I saw Arthur with a coronet in his hands. Wait
<v Speaker 1>a little, mister Holder, We must come back to that.
<v Speaker 1>About this girl, Miss Holder, you saw her return by
<v Speaker 1>the king door, I presume yes. When I went to
<v Speaker 1>see if the door was fastened for the night, I
<v Speaker 1>met her slipping in. I saw the man too, in
<v Speaker 1>the gloom. Do you know him? Oh? Yes, he is
<v Speaker 1>the greengrocer who brings our vegetable friend. His name is
<v Speaker 1>Francis Prosper. He stood, said Holmes, to the left of
<v Speaker 1>the door, that is to say, farther up the path
<v Speaker 1>than is necessary to reach the door. Yes he did,
<v Speaker 1>And he is a man with a wooden leg something
<v Speaker 1>like fear sprang up in the lady's expressive black eyes.
<v Speaker 1>Why you are like a magician, said she. How do
<v Speaker 1>you know that? She smiled, but there was no answering
<v Speaker 1>smile in Holmes's thin, eager face. I should be very
<v Speaker 1>glad now to go upstairs, said he. I shall probably
<v Speaker 1>wish to go over to the outside of the house again.
<v Speaker 1>Perhaps I had better take a look at the lower
<v Speaker 1>window before I go up. He walked swiftly round from
<v Speaker 1>one to the other, pausing only at a large one
<v Speaker 1>which looked from the hall into the stable lane. This
<v Speaker 1>he opened and made a very careful examination of the
<v Speaker 1>sill with his powerful magnifying lens. Now we shall go upstairs,
<v Speaker 1>said he. At last. The banker's dressing room was a
<v Speaker 1>plainly furnished little chamber with a gray carpet, a large bureau,
<v Speaker 1>and a long mirror. Holmes went to the bureau first
<v Speaker 1>and looked hard at the lock which key was used
<v Speaker 1>to open it. He asked, that which my son himself
<v Speaker 1>indicated that of the cupboard of the lumber room. Have
<v Speaker 1>you it here? That is it on the dressing table,
<v Speaker 1>Sharlock Holmes took it up and opened the bureau. It
<v Speaker 1>is a noiseless lock, said he. It is no wonder
<v Speaker 1>that it did not wake you. This case, I presume
<v Speaker 1>can hains the coronet. We must have a look at it.
<v Speaker 1>He opened the case, and taking out the diadem, he
<v Speaker 1>laid it upon the table. It was a magnificent specimen
<v Speaker 1>of the jeweler's art, and the thirty six stones were
<v Speaker 1>the finest that I have ever seen. At one side
<v Speaker 1>of the coronet was a cracked edge, where a corner
<v Speaker 1>holding three gems had been torn away. Now, mister Holder,
<v Speaker 1>said Holmes, here is the corner which corresponds to that
<v Speaker 1>which has been so unfortunately lost. Might I beg that
<v Speaker 1>you will break it off? The banker recoiled in horror.
<v Speaker 1>I should not dream of trying it, said he. Then
<v Speaker 1>I will. Holmes suddenly bent his strength upon it, but
<v Speaker 1>without result. I feel it give a little, said he.
<v Speaker 1>But though I am exceptionally strong in the fingers, it
<v Speaker 1>would take me all my time to break it. An
<v Speaker 1>ordinary man could not do it. Now, what do you
<v Speaker 1>think would happen if I did break it, mister Holder?
<v Speaker 1>There would be a noise like a pistol shot. Do
<v Speaker 1>you tell me that all this happened within a few
<v Speaker 1>yards of your bed, and that you had nothing of it.
<v Speaker 1>I do not know what to think. It is all
<v Speaker 1>dark to me, but perhaps it may grow lighter as
<v Speaker 1>we go. What do you think, miss Holder? I confess
<v Speaker 1>that I still share my uncle's perplexity. Your son had
<v Speaker 1>no shoes or slippers on when you saw him. He
<v Speaker 1>had nothing on save only his trousers and shirt. Thank you.
<v Speaker 1>We have certainly been favored with extraordinary luck during this inquiry,
<v Speaker 1>and it will be entirely our own fault if we
<v Speaker 1>do not succeed in clearing this matter up. With your permission,
<v Speaker 1>mister Holder, I shall now continue my investigations outside. He
<v Speaker 1>went alone, at his own request, for he explained that
<v Speaker 1>any unnecessary footmarks might make his task more difficult. For
<v Speaker 1>an hour or more he was at work, returning at
<v Speaker 1>last with his feet heavy with snow and his features
<v Speaker 1>as inscrutable as ever. I think that I have seen
<v Speaker 1>now all there is to see, mister Holder said he.
<v Speaker 1>I can serve you best by returning to my rooms.
<v Speaker 1>But the gems, mister Holmes, where are they? I cannot tell?
<v Speaker 1>The banker wrung his hands. I shall never see them again,
<v Speaker 1>he cried, And my son you give me hopes my
<v Speaker 1>opinion is in no way altered. Then, for God's sake,
<v Speaker 1>what was this dark business which was acted in my
<v Speaker 1>house last night? If you can call upon me at
<v Speaker 1>my Baker Street rooms to morrow morning between nine and ten,
<v Speaker 1>I shall be happy to do what I can to
<v Speaker 1>make it clearer. I understand that you give me carte
<v Speaker 1>blanche to act for you, provided only that I get
<v Speaker 1>back the gems, and that you place no limit on
<v Speaker 1>the summer draw. I would give my fortune to have
<v Speaker 1>them back. Very good. I shall look into the matter
<v Speaker 1>between this and then good bye. It is just possible
<v Speaker 1>that I may have to come over here again before evening.
<v Speaker 1>It was obvious to me that my companion's mind was
<v Speaker 1>now made up about the case, although what his conclusions
<v Speaker 1>were was no more than I could even dimly imagine.
<v Speaker 1>Several times during our homeward journey I endeavored to sound
<v Speaker 1>him upon the point, but he always glided away to
<v Speaker 1>some other topic, until at last I gave it over
<v Speaker 1>in despair. It was not yet three when we found
<v Speaker 1>ourselves in our rooms once more. He hurried to his
<v Speaker 1>chamber and was down again in a few minutes, dressed
<v Speaker 1>as a common loafer, with his collar turned up, his shiny,
<v Speaker 1>seedy coat, his red cravat, and his worn boots. He
<v Speaker 1>was a perfect sample of the class. I think that
<v Speaker 1>this should do, said he, glancing into the glow above
<v Speaker 1>the fireplace. I only wish that you could come with me, Watson,
<v Speaker 1>but a fear that it won't do. I may be
<v Speaker 1>on my trail in this matter, or I may be
<v Speaker 1>following a will o the wisp, but I shall soon
<v Speaker 1>know which it is. I hope that I may be
<v Speaker 1>back in a few hours. He cut a slice of
<v Speaker 1>beef from the joint upon the sideboard, sandwiched it between
<v Speaker 1>two rounds of bread, and thrusting this rude meal into
<v Speaker 1>his pocket, he started off upon his expedition. I had
<v Speaker 1>just finished my tea when he returned, evidently in excellent spirits.
<v Speaker 1>Swinging an old elastic sided boot in his hand, he
<v Speaker 1>chucked it down into a corner and helped himself to
<v Speaker 1>a cup of tea. I only looked in as I passed,
<v Speaker 1>said he. I am going right on where too, Oh,
<v Speaker 1>to the other side of the west end. It may
<v Speaker 1>be some time before I get back. Don't wait up
<v Speaker 1>for me in case I should be late. How are
<v Speaker 1>you getting on? Oh so, so nothing to complain of.
<v Speaker 1>I have been out to Strestham since I saw you last,
<v Speaker 1>but I did not call at the house. It is
<v Speaker 1>a very sweet little problem, and I would not have
<v Speaker 1>missed it for a good deal. However, I must not
<v Speaker 1>sit gossiping here, but must get these disreputable clothes off
<v Speaker 1>and return to my highly respectable self. I could see
<v Speaker 1>by his manner that he had stronger reasons for satisfaction
<v Speaker 1>than his words alone would imply. His eyes twinkled and
<v Speaker 1>there was even a touch of color upon his sallow cheeks.
<v Speaker 1>He hastened upstairs, and a few minutes later I heard
<v Speaker 1>the slam of the hall door, which told me that
<v Speaker 1>he was off once more upon his congenial hunt. I
<v Speaker 1>waited until midnight, but there was no sign of his return,
<v Speaker 1>so I retired to my room. It was no uncommon
<v Speaker 1>thing for him to be away for days and nights
<v Speaker 1>on end when he was hot upon ascent, so that
<v Speaker 1>his lateness caused me no surprise. I do not know
<v Speaker 1>at what hour he came in, but when I came
<v Speaker 1>down to breakfast in the morning, there he was, with
<v Speaker 1>a cup of coffee in one hand and the paper
<v Speaker 1>in the other as fresh and trim as possible. You
<v Speaker 1>will excuse my beginning without you, Watson said he. But
<v Speaker 1>you remember that our client has rather an early appointment
<v Speaker 1>this morning. Why it is after nine now, I answered,
<v Speaker 1>I should not be surprised if that were he. I
<v Speaker 1>thought I heard a ring. It was indeed, our friend,
<v Speaker 1>the financier. I was shocked by the change which had
<v Speaker 1>come over him, for his face, which was naturally of
<v Speaker 1>a broad and massive mold, was now pinched and fallen in,
<v Speaker 1>while his hair seemed to me at least a shade whiter.
<v Speaker 1>He entered with a weariness and lethargy which was even
<v Speaker 1>more painful than his violence of the morning before, and
<v Speaker 1>he dropped heavily into the arm chair, which I pushed
<v Speaker 1>forward for him. I do not know what I have
<v Speaker 1>done to be so severely tried, said he. Only two
<v Speaker 1>days ago I was a happy and prosperous man, without
<v Speaker 1>a care in the world. Now I am left to
<v Speaker 1>a lonely and dishonored age. One sorrow comes close upon
<v Speaker 1>the heels of another. My niece Mary has deserted me,
<v Speaker 1>deserted you. Yes, her bed this morning had not been
<v Speaker 1>slept in her room was empty, and a note for
<v Speaker 1>me lay upon the hall table. I had said to
<v Speaker 1>her last night, in sorrow and not in anger, that
<v Speaker 1>if she had married my boy, all might have been
<v Speaker 1>well with him. Perhaps it was thoughtless of me to
<v Speaker 1>say so. It is to that remark that she refers
<v Speaker 1>in this note. My dearest uncle, I feel that I
<v Speaker 1>have brought trouble upon you, and that if I had
<v Speaker 1>acted differently, this terrible misfortune might never have occurred. I cannot,
<v Speaker 1>with this thought in my mind ever again be happy
<v Speaker 1>under your roof, and I feel that I must leave
<v Speaker 1>you forever. Do not worry about my future, for that
<v Speaker 1>is provided for. And above all, do not search for me,
<v Speaker 1>for it will be fruitless labor and an ill service
<v Speaker 1>to me in life or in death. I am, ever,
<v Speaker 1>your loving Mary. What could she mean by that note,
<v Speaker 1>mister Holmes? Do you think it points to suicide? No? No,
<v Speaker 1>nothing of the kind. It is perhaps the best possible solution.
<v Speaker 1>I trust, mister Holder, that you are nearing the end
<v Speaker 1>of your troubles. Ha you say so, you have heard something,
<v Speaker 1>mister Holmes, You have learned something. Where are the gems?
<v Speaker 1>You would not think one thousand pounds apiece an excessive
<v Speaker 1>sum for them. I would pay ten, that would be unnecessary.
<v Speaker 1>Three thousand will cover the matter, and there is a
<v Speaker 1>little reward. I fancy have you your check book? There
<v Speaker 1>is a pen. Better make it out for four thousand pounds.
<v Speaker 1>With a dazed face, the banker made out the required check.
<v Speaker 1>Holmes walked over to his desk, took out a little
<v Speaker 1>triangular piece of gold with three gems in it, and
<v Speaker 1>threw it down upon the table with a shriek of joy.
<v Speaker 1>Our client clutched it up. You have it, he gasped.
<v Speaker 1>I am saved, I am saved. The reaction of joy
<v Speaker 1>was as passionate as his grief had been, and he
<v Speaker 1>hugged his recovered gems to his bosom. There is one
<v Speaker 1>other thing you owe, mister holder, said Sherlock Holmes, rather sternly.
<v Speaker 1>Oh he caught up a pen. Name the sum, and
<v Speaker 1>I will pay it. No, the debt is not to me.
<v Speaker 1>You owe a very humble apology to that noble lad,
<v Speaker 1>your son, who has carried himself in this matter, as
<v Speaker 1>I should be proud to see my own son do,
<v Speaker 1>should I ever chance to have one. Then it was
<v Speaker 1>not Arthur who took them. I told you yesterday, and
<v Speaker 1>I repeat to day that it was not. You are
<v Speaker 1>sure of it. Then let us hurry to him at
<v Speaker 1>once to let him know that the truth is known.
<v Speaker 1>He knows it already. When I had cleared it up,
<v Speaker 1>I had an interview with him, and, finding that he
<v Speaker 1>would not tell me the story, I told it to him,
<v Speaker 1>on which he had to confess that I was right,
<v Speaker 1>and to add the very few details which were not
<v Speaker 1>yet quite clear to me. Your news of this morning, however,
<v Speaker 1>may open his lips. For Heaven's sake, Tell me then,
<v Speaker 1>what is this extraordinary mystery? I will do so, and
<v Speaker 1>I will show you the steps by which I reached it.
<v Speaker 1>And let me say to you first that which it
<v Speaker 1>is hardest for me to say and for you to hear.
<v Speaker 1>There has been an understanding between Sir George and euniece Mary.
<v Speaker 1>They have now fled together, My Mary. Impossible, It is
<v Speaker 1>unfortunately more than possible. It is certain neither you nor
<v Speaker 1>your son knew the true character of this man when
<v Speaker 1>you admitted him into your family circle. He is one
<v Speaker 1>of the most dangerous men in England, a ruined gambler,
<v Speaker 1>an absolutely desperate villain, a man without heart or conscience.
<v Speaker 1>Your niece knew nothing of such men. When he breathed
<v Speaker 1>his vows to her, as he had done to a
<v Speaker 1>hundred before her, she flattered herself that she alone had
<v Speaker 1>touched his heart. The devil knows best what he said,
<v Speaker 1>but at least she became his tool, and was in
<v Speaker 1>the habit of seeing him nearly every evening. I cannot
<v Speaker 1>and I will not believe it, cried the banker with
<v Speaker 1>an ashen face. I will tell you then, what occurred
<v Speaker 1>in your house last night, Your niece, when you had,
<v Speaker 1>as she thought, gone to your room, slipped down and
<v Speaker 1>talked to her lover through the window which leads into
<v Speaker 1>the stable lane. His footmarks had pressed right through the snow,
<v Speaker 1>so long had he stood there. She told him of
<v Speaker 1>the coronet. His wicket lust for gold kindled at the news,
<v Speaker 1>and he bent her to his will. I have no
<v Speaker 1>doubt that she loved you. But there are women in
<v Speaker 1>whom the love of a lover extinguishes all other loves,
<v Speaker 1>and I think that she must have been one. She
<v Speaker 1>had hardly listened to his instructions when she saw you
<v Speaker 1>coming downstairs, on which she closed the window rapidly and
<v Speaker 1>told you about one of the servants escapade with her
<v Speaker 1>wooden legged lover, which was all perfectly true. Your boy
<v Speaker 1>Arthur went to bed after his interview with you, but
<v Speaker 1>he slept badly on account of his uneasiness his club debts.
<v Speaker 1>In the middle of the night, he heard a soft
<v Speaker 1>tread pass his door, so he rose, and, looking out,
<v Speaker 1>was surprised to see his cousin walking very stealthily along
<v Speaker 1>the passage, until she disappeared into your dressing room. Petrified
<v Speaker 1>with astonishment, the lad slipped on some clothes and waited
<v Speaker 1>there in the dark to see what would come of
<v Speaker 1>this strange affair. Presently she emerged from the room again,
<v Speaker 1>and in the light of the passage lamp, your son
<v Speaker 1>saw that she carried the precious coronet in her hands.
<v Speaker 1>She passed down the stairs, and he, thrilling with horror,
<v Speaker 1>ran along and slipped behind the curtain near your door,
<v Speaker 1>whence he could see what passed in the hall beneath.
<v Speaker 1>He saw her stealthily open the window, hand out the
<v Speaker 1>coronet to someone in the gloom, and then closing it
<v Speaker 1>once more, hurry back to her room, passing quite close
<v Speaker 1>to way he stood. Hid behind the curtain as long
<v Speaker 1>as she was on the scene. He could not take
<v Speaker 1>any action without a horrible exposure of the woman whom
<v Speaker 1>he loved. But the instant that she was gone, he
<v Speaker 1>realized how crushing a misfortune this would be for you,
<v Speaker 1>and how all important it was to set it right.
<v Speaker 1>He rushed down, just as he was in his bare feet,
<v Speaker 1>opened the window, sprang out into the snow, and ran
<v Speaker 1>down the lane, where he could see a dark figure
<v Speaker 1>in the moonlight. Sir George Banwell. Tried to get away,
<v Speaker 1>but Arthur caught him, and there was a struggle between them,
<v Speaker 1>your lad tugging at one side of the coronet and
<v Speaker 1>his opponent at the other. In the scuffle, your son
<v Speaker 1>struck Sir George and cut him over the eye. Then
<v Speaker 1>something suddenly snapped, and your son, finding that he had
<v Speaker 1>the coronet in his hands, rushed back, closed the window,
<v Speaker 1>ascended to your room, and had just observed that the
<v Speaker 1>coronet had been twisted in the struggle, and was endeavoring
<v Speaker 1>to straighten it when you appeared upon the scene. Is
<v Speaker 1>it possible, gasped the banker. You then roused his anger
<v Speaker 1>by calling him names at a moment when he felt
<v Speaker 1>that he had deserved your warmest thanks, he could not
<v Speaker 1>explain the true state of affairs without betraying one who
<v Speaker 1>certainly deserved little enough consideration at his hands. He took
<v Speaker 1>the more chivalrous view, however, and preserved her secret. And
<v Speaker 1>that was why she shrieked and fainted when she saw
<v Speaker 1>the coronet. Cried mister holder, O, my god, what a
<v Speaker 1>blind fool I have been, and his asking to be
<v Speaker 1>allowed to go out for five minutes. The dear fellow
<v Speaker 1>wanted to see if the missing peace were at the
<v Speaker 1>scene of the struggle. How cruelly I have misjudged him.
<v Speaker 1>When I arrived at the house, continued homes. I at
<v Speaker 1>once went very carefully round it to observe if there
<v Speaker 1>were any traces in the snow which might help me.
<v Speaker 1>I knew that none had fallen since the evening before,
<v Speaker 1>and also that there had been a strong frost. To
<v Speaker 1>preserve impressions. I passed along the tradesman's path, but found
<v Speaker 1>it all trampled down and indistinguishable. Just beyond, however, at
<v Speaker 1>the far side of the kitchen door, a woman had
<v Speaker 1>stood and talked with a man whose round impressions on
<v Speaker 1>one side showed that he had a wooden leg. I
<v Speaker 1>could even tell that he had been disturbed, for the
<v Speaker 1>woman had run back swiftly to the door, as was
<v Speaker 1>shown by the deep toe and light heel marks, while
<v Speaker 1>wooden leg had waited a little and then had gone away.
<v Speaker 1>I thought at the time that this might be the
<v Speaker 1>maid and her sweetheart, of whom he had already spoken
<v Speaker 1>to me, and inquiry showed it was so. I passed
<v Speaker 1>round the garden without seeing anything more than random tracks,
<v Speaker 1>which I took to be the police. But when I
<v Speaker 1>got into the stable lane, a very long and complex
<v Speaker 1>story was written in the snow. In front of me.
<v Speaker 1>There was a double line of tracks of a booted man,
<v Speaker 1>and a second double line, which I saw with delight,
<v Speaker 1>belonged to a man with naked feet. I was at
<v Speaker 1>once convinced from what he had told me that the
<v Speaker 1>latter was your son. The first had walked both ways,
<v Speaker 1>but the other had run swiftly, and as his tread
<v Speaker 1>was marked in places over the depression of the boot,
<v Speaker 1>it was obvious that he had passed after the other.
<v Speaker 1>I followed them up and found they led to the
<v Speaker 1>hall window, where boots had worn all the snow away
<v Speaker 1>while waiting. Then I walked to the other end, which
<v Speaker 1>was a hundred yards or more down the lane, I
<v Speaker 1>saw where boots had faced round, where the snow was
<v Speaker 1>cut up as though there had been a struggle, and
<v Speaker 1>finally where a few drops of blood had fallen, to
<v Speaker 1>show me that I was not mistaken. Boots had then
<v Speaker 1>run down the lane, and another little smudge of blood
<v Speaker 1>showed that it was he who had been hurt. When
<v Speaker 1>he came to the high road. At the other end,
<v Speaker 1>I found that the pavement had been cleared, so there
<v Speaker 1>was an end to that clue. On entering the house, however,
<v Speaker 1>I examined, as you remember, the sill and framework of
<v Speaker 1>the hall window with my lents, and I could at
<v Speaker 1>once see that some one had passed out. I could
<v Speaker 1>distinguish the outline of an instep where the wet foot
<v Speaker 1>had been placed in coming in. I was then beginning
<v Speaker 1>to be able to form an opinion as to what
<v Speaker 1>had occurred. A man had waited outside the window. Some
<v Speaker 1>one had brought the gems. The deed had been overseen
<v Speaker 1>by your son. He had pursued the thief, had struggled
<v Speaker 1>with him. They had each tugged at the coronet, their
<v Speaker 1>united strength, causing injuries which neither alone could have effected.
<v Speaker 1>He had returned with a prize, but had left a
<v Speaker 1>fragment in the grasp of his opponent. So far I
<v Speaker 1>was clear. The question now was who was the man
<v Speaker 1>and who was it brought him the coronet? It is
<v Speaker 1>an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded
<v Speaker 1>the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.
<v Speaker 1>Now I knew that it was not you who had
<v Speaker 1>brought it down, So there only remained your niece and
<v Speaker 1>the maids. And if it were the maids, why should
<v Speaker 1>your son allow himself to be accused in their place?
<v Speaker 1>There could be no possible reason, as he loved his cousin. However,
<v Speaker 1>there was an excellent explanation why he should retain her secret,
<v Speaker 1>the more so as the secret was a disgraceful one.
<v Speaker 1>Whenever remembered that you had seen her at that window,
<v Speaker 1>and how she had fainted on seeing the coronet again,
<v Speaker 1>my conjecture became a certainty. And who could it be?
<v Speaker 1>Who was her confederate? A lover? Evidently? For who else
<v Speaker 1>could outweigh the love and gratitude which she must feel
<v Speaker 1>for you. I knew that you went out little, and
<v Speaker 1>that your circle of friends was a very limited one,
<v Speaker 1>But among them was Sir George Burnwell. I had heard
<v Speaker 1>of him before as a man of evil reputation among women.
<v Speaker 1>It must have been he who wore those boots and
<v Speaker 1>retained the missing gems. Even though he knew that Arthur
<v Speaker 1>had discovered him, he might still flatter himself that he
<v Speaker 1>was safe, For the lad could not say a word
<v Speaker 1>without compromising his own family. Well, your own good sense
<v Speaker 1>will suggest what measures I took. Next. I went in
<v Speaker 1>the shape of a loafer to Sir George's house, managed
<v Speaker 1>to pick up an acquaintance with his valet, learned that
<v Speaker 1>his master had cut his head the night before, and finally,
<v Speaker 1>at the expense of six shillings, made all sure by
<v Speaker 1>buying a pair of his cast off shoes. With these
<v Speaker 1>I journeyed down to Stretham and saw that they exactly
<v Speaker 1>fitted the tracks. I saw an ill dressed vagabund on
<v Speaker 1>the lane yesterday evening, said mister Holder. Precisely it was I.
<v Speaker 1>I found that I had my man, so I came
<v Speaker 1>home and changed my clothes. It was a delicate part
<v Speaker 1>which I had to play then, for I saw that
<v Speaker 1>prosecution must be avoided to avat scandal, and I knew
<v Speaker 1>that so astute a villain would see that our hands
<v Speaker 1>were tied in the matter. I went and saw him.
<v Speaker 1>At first, of course he denied everything, but when I
<v Speaker 1>gave him every particular that had occurred, he tried to
<v Speaker 1>bluster and took down a life preserver from the wall.
<v Speaker 1>I knew my man, however, and I clapped a pistol
<v Speaker 1>to his head before he could strike. Then he became
<v Speaker 1>a little more reasonable. I told him that we would
<v Speaker 1>give him a price for the stones. He held one
<v Speaker 1>thousand pounds apiece. That brought out the first signs of
<v Speaker 1>grief that he had shown. Why dash it all? Said
<v Speaker 1>he I have let them go at six hundred for
<v Speaker 1>the three. I soon managed to get the address of
<v Speaker 1>the receiver who had them on, promising him that there
<v Speaker 1>would be no prosecution. Off, I said to him, and
<v Speaker 1>after much chaffering, I got our stones at one thousand
<v Speaker 1>pounds apiece. Then I looked in upon your son, told
<v Speaker 1>him that all was right, and eventually got to my
<v Speaker 1>bed at about two o'clock, after what I may call
<v Speaker 1>a really hard day's work, a day which has saved
<v Speaker 1>England from a great public scandal. Said the banker, rising, Sir,
<v Speaker 1>I cannot find words to thank you, but you shall
<v Speaker 1>not find me ungrateful for what you have done. Your
<v Speaker 1>skill has indeed exceeded all that I have heard of,
<v Speaker 1>And now I must fly to my dear boy to
<v Speaker 1>apologize to him for the wrong which I have done him.
<v Speaker 1>As to what you tell me of poor Mary, it
<v Speaker 1>goes to my very heart not even your skill can
<v Speaker 1>inform me where she is now. I think that we
<v Speaker 1>may safely say, returned Holmes, that she is wherever Sir
<v Speaker 1>George Burnwell is. It is equally certain too, that whatever
<v Speaker 1>her sins are, they will soon receive a more than
<v Speaker 1>sufficient punishment. And of the Beryl coronet,