Pasadena City College Sherlock Holmes Solves the Ridling Thorpe Manor Mystery Essay

The Adventure of the Dancing Men
Arthur Conan Doyle
This text is provided to you ?as-is? without any warranty. No warranties of any kind, expressed or implied, are made to you as to the
text or any medium it may be on, including but not limited to warranties of merchantablity or fitness for a particular purpose.
This text was formatted from various free ASCII and HTML variants. See http://sherlock-holm.es for an electronic form of this text
and additional information about it.
Pictures for ?The Adventure of the Dancing Men? were taken from a 1915 edition of ?The Return of Sherlock Holmes? by Smith,
Elder & Co. of London.
This text comes from the collection?s version 3.1.
H
olmes had been seated for some hours
in silence with his long, thin back curved
over a chemical vessel in which he was
brewing a particularly malodorous product. His head was sunk upon his breast, and he
looked from my point of view like a strange, lank
bird, with dull grey plumage and a black top-knot.
and you have not asked for the key. 6. You do not
propose to invest your money in this manner.?
?How absurdly simple!? I cried.
?Quite so!? said he, a little nettled. ?Every
problem becomes very childish when once it is
explained to you. Here is an unexplained one. See
what you can make of that, friend Watson.? He
tossed a sheet of paper upon the table and turned
once more to his chemical analysis.
?So, Watson,? said he, suddenly, ?you do not
propose to invest in South African securities??
I gave a start of astonishment. Accustomed as I
was to Holmes?s curious faculties, this sudden intrusion into my most intimate thoughts was utterly
inexplicable.
I looked with amazement at the absurd hieroglyphics upon the paper.
?Why, Holmes, it is a child?s drawing,? I cried.
?Oh, that?s your idea!?
?How on earth do you know that?? I asked.
?What else should it be??
He wheeled round upon his stool, with a steaming test-tube in his hand and a gleam of amusement
in his deep-set eyes.
?That is what Mr. Hilton Cubitt, of Ridling
Thorpe Manor, Norfolk, is very anxious to know.
This little conundrum came by the first post, and he
was to follow by the next train. There?s a ring at the
bell, Watson. I should not be very much surprised
if this were he.?
?Now, Watson, confess yourself utterly taken
aback,? said he.
?I am.?
A heavy step was heard upon the stairs, and
an instant later there entered a tall, ruddy, cleanshaven gentleman, whose clear eyes and florid
cheeks told of a life led far from the fogs of Baker
Street. He seemed to bring a whiff of his strong,
fresh, bracing, east-coast air with him as he entered. Having shaken hands with each of us, he
was about to sit down when his eye rested upon
the paper with the curious markings, which I had
just examined and left upon the table.
?I ought to make you sign a paper to that effect.?
?Why??
?Because in five minutes you will say that it is
all so absurdly simple.?
?I am sure that I shall say nothing of the kind.?
?You see, my dear Watson??he propped his
test-tube in the rack and began to lecture with the
air of a professor addressing his class??it is not really difficult to construct a series of inferences, each
dependent upon its predecessor and each simple in
itself. If, after doing so, one simply knocks out all
the central inferences and presents one?s audience
with the starting-point and the conclusion, one may
produce a startling, though possibly a meretricious,
effect. Now, it was not really difficult, by an inspection of the groove between your left forefinger
and thumb, to feel sure that you did not propose to
invest your small capital in the goldfields.?
?Well, Mr. Holmes, what do you make of these??
he cried. ?They told me that you were fond of queer
mysteries, and I don?t think you can find a queerer
one than that. I sent the paper on ahead so that
you might have time to study it before I came.?
?It is certainly rather a curious production,? said
Holmes. ?At first sight it would appear to be some
childish prank. It consists of a number of absurd
little figures dancing across the paper upon which
they are drawn. Why should you attribute any
importance to so grotesque an object??
?I see no connection.?
?I never should, Mr. Holmes. But my wife does.
It is frightening her to death. She says nothing, but
I can see terror in her eyes. That?s why I want to
sift the matter to the bottom.?
?Very likely not; but I can quickly show you a
close connection. Here are the missing links of the
very simple chain: 1. You had chalk between your
left finger and thumb when you returned from the
club last night. 2. You put chalk there when you
play billiards to steady the cue. 3. You never play
billiards except with Thurston. 4. You told me four
weeks ago that Thurston had an option on some
South African property which would expire in a
month, and which he desired you to share with
him. 5. Your cheque-book is locked in my drawer,
Holmes held up the paper so that the sunlight
shone full upon it. It was a page torn from a notebook. The markings were done in pencil, and ran
in this way:?
1
Holmes examined it for some time, and then,
folding it carefully up, he placed it in his pocketbook.
I made none, for a promise is a promise; but she
has never known an easy hour from that moment.
There is always a look of fear upon her face?a look
as if she were waiting and expecting. She would
do better to trust me. She would find that I was her
best friend. But until she speaks I can say nothing.
Mind you, she is a truthful woman, Mr. Holmes,
and whatever trouble there may have been in her
past life it has been no fault of hers. I am only a
simple Norfolk squire, but there is not a man in
England who ranks his family honour more highly
than I do. She knows it well, and she knew it well
before she married me. She would never bring any
stain upon it?of that I am sure.
?This promises to be a most interesting and unusual case,? said he. ?You gave me a few particulars
in your letter, Mr. Hilton Cubitt, but I should be
very much obliged if you would kindly go over it
all again for the benefit of my friend, Dr. Watson.?
?I?m not much of a story-teller,? said our visitor, nervously clasping and unclasping his great,
strong hands. ?You?ll just ask me anything that I
don?t make clear. I?ll begin at the time of my marriage last year; but I want to say first of all that,
though I?m not a rich man, my people have been at
Ridling Thorpe for a matter of five centuries, and
there is no better known family in the County of
Norfolk. Last year I came up to London for the
Jubilee, and I stopped at a boarding-house in Russell Square, because Parker, the vicar of our parish,
was staying in it. There was an American young
lady there?Patrick was the name?Elsie Patrick.
In some way we became friends, until before my
month was up I was as much in love as a man
could be. We were quietly married at a registry
office, and we returned to Norfolk a wedded couple. You?ll think it very mad, Mr. Holmes, that a
man of a good old family should marry a wife in
this fashion, knowing nothing of her past or of her
people; but if you saw her and knew her it would
help you to understand.
?Well, now I come to the queer part of my
story. About a week ago?it was the Tuesday of
last week?I found on one of the window-sills a
number of absurd little dancing figures, like these
upon the paper. They were scrawled with chalk. I
thought that it was the stable-boy who had drawn
them, but the lad swore he knew nothing about it.
Anyhow, they had come there during the night. I
had them washed out, and I only mentioned the
matter to my wife afterwards. To my surprise she
took it very seriously, and begged me if any more
came to let her see them. None did come for a
week, and then yesterday morning I found this paper lying on the sun-dial in the garden. I showed
it to Elsie, and down she dropped in a dead faint.
Since then she has looked like a woman in a dream,
half dazed, and with terror always lurking in her
eyes. It was then that I wrote and sent the paper
to you, Mr. Holmes. It was not a thing that I could
take to the police, for they would have laughed at
me, but you will tell me what to do. I am not a
rich man; but if there is any danger threatening
my little woman I would spend my last copper to
shield her.?
?She was very straight about it, was Elsie. I can?t
say that she did not give me every chance of getting
out of it if I wished to do so. ?I have had some very
disagreeable associations in my life,? said she; ?I
wish to forget all about them. I would rather never
allude to the past, for it is very painful to me. If you
take me, Hilton, you will take a woman who has
nothing that she need be personally ashamed of;
but you will have to be content with my word for
it, and to allow me to be silent as to all that passed
up to the time when I became yours. If these conditions are too hard, then go back to Norfolk and
leave me to the lonely life in which you found me.?
It was only the day before our wedding that she
said those very words to me. I told her that I was
content to take her on her own terms, and I have
been as good as my word.
He was a fine creature, this man of the old English soil, simple, straight, and gentle, with his
great, earnest blue eyes and broad, comely face.
His love for his wife and his trust in her shone in
his features. Holmes had listened to his story with
the utmost attention, and now he sat for some time
in silent thought.
?Don?t you think, Mr. Cubitt,? said he, at last,
?that your best plan would be to make a direct appeal to your wife, and to ask her to share her secret
with you??
?Well, we have been married now for a year,
and very happy we have been. But about a month
ago, at the end of June, I saw for the first time signs
of trouble. One day my wife received a letter from
America. I saw the American stamp. She turned
deadly white, read the letter, and threw it into the
fire. She made no allusion to it afterwards, and
Hilton Cubitt shook his massive head.
?A promise is a promise, Mr. Holmes. If Elsie
wished to tell me she would. If not, it is not for me
to force her confidence. But I am justified in taking
my own line?and I will.?
2
?Then I will help you with all my heart. In the
first place, have you heard of any strangers being
seen in your neighbourhood??
wife by inches, then it becomes as much as flesh
and blood can endure. She?s wearing away under
it?just wearing away before my eyes.?
?Has she said anything yet??
?No, Mr. Holmes, she has not. And yet there
have been times when the poor girl has wanted to
speak, and yet could not quite bring herself to take
the plunge. I have tried to help her; but I dare say I
did it clumsily, and scared her off from it. She has
spoken about my old family, and our reputation in
the county, and our pride in our unsullied honour,
and I always felt it was leading to the point; but
somehow it turned off before we got there.?
?But you have found out something for yourself??
?A good deal, Mr. Holmes. I have several fresh
dancing men pictures for you to examine, and,
what is more important, I have seen the fellow.?
?What, the man who draws them??
?Yes, I saw him at his work. But I will tell you
everything in order. When I got back after my visit
to you, the very first thing I saw next morning was
a fresh crop of dancing men. They had been drawn
in chalk upon the black wooden door of the toolhouse, which stands beside the lawn in full view of
the front windows. I took an exact copy, and here it
is.? He unfolded a paper and laid it upon the table.
Here is a copy of the hieroglyphics:?
?No.?
?I presume that it is a very quiet place. Any
fresh face would cause comment??
?In the immediate neighbourhood, yes. But
we have several small watering-places not very far
away. And the farmers take in lodgers.?
?These hieroglyphics have evidently a meaning.
If it is a purely arbitrary one it may be impossible
for us to solve it. If, on the other hand, it is systematic, I have no doubt that we shall get to the bottom
of it. But this particular sample is so short that I can
do nothing, and the facts which you have brought
me are so indefinite that we have no basis for an
investigation. I would suggest that you return to
Norfolk, that you keep a keen look-out, and that
you take an exact copy of any fresh dancing men
which may appear. It is a thousand pities that we
have not a reproduction of those which were done
in chalk upon the window-sill. Make a discreet inquiry also as to any strangers in the neighbourhood.
When you have collected some fresh evidence come
to me again. That is the best advice which I can
give you, Mr. Hilton Cubitt. If there are any pressing fresh developments I shall be always ready to
run down and see you in your Norfolk home.?
The interview left Sherlock Holmes very
thoughtful, and several times in the next few days
I saw him take his slip of paper from his note-book
and look long and earnestly at the curious figures
inscribed upon it. He made no allusion to the affair,
however, until one afternoon a fortnight or so later.
I was going out when he called me back.
?Excellent!? said Holmes. ?Excellent! Pray continue.?
?When I had taken the copy I rubbed out the
marks; but two mornings later a fresh inscription
had appeared. I have a copy of it here?:?
?You had better stay here, Watson.?
?Why??
?Because I had a wire from Hilton Cubitt this
morning?you remember Hilton Cubitt, of the
dancing men? He was to reach Liverpool Street
at one-twenty. He may be here at any moment. I
gather from his wire that there have been some new
incidents of importance.?
Holmes rubbed his hands and chuckled with
delight.
?Our material is rapidly accumulating,? said he.
?Three days later a message was left scrawled
upon paper, and placed under a pebble upon the
sun-dial. Here it is. The characters are, as you see,
exactly the same as the last one. After that I determined to lie in wait; so I got out my revolver and I
sat up in my study, which overlooks the lawn and
garden. About two in the morning I was seated by
the window, all being dark save for the moonlight
outside, when I heard steps behind me, and there
was my wife in her dressing-gown. She implored
me to come to bed. I told her frankly that I wished
to see who it was who played such absurd tricks
We had not long to wait, for our Norfolk squire
came straight from the station as fast as a hansom
could bring him. He was looking worried and
depressed, with tired eyes and a lined forehead.
?It?s getting on my nerves, this business, Mr.
Holmes,? said he, as he sank, like a wearied man,
into an arm-chair. ?It?s bad enough to feel that
you are surrounded by unseen, unknown folk, who
have some kind of design upon you; but when, in
addition to that, you know that it is just killing your
3
upon us. She answered that it was some senseless
practical joke, and that I should not take any notice
of it.
come to harm. For an instant it had crossed my
mind that perhaps what she really feared was that
he might come to harm, for I could not doubt that
she knew who this man was and what he meant
by these strange signals. But there is a tone in my
wife?s voice, Mr. Holmes, and a look in her eyes
which forbid doubt, and I am sure that it was indeed my own safety that was in her mind. There?s
the whole case, and now I want your advice as to
what I ought to do. My own inclination is to put
half-a-dozen of my farm lads in the shrubbery, and
when this fellow comes again to give him such a
hiding that he will leave us in peace for the future.?
?I fear it is too deep a case for such simple
remedies,? said Holmes. ?How long can you stay
in London??
?I must go back to-day. I would not leave my
wife alone all night for anything. She is very nervous and begged me to come back.?
?I dare say you are right. But if you could have
stopped I might possibly have been able to return
with you in a day or two. Meanwhile you will leave
me these papers, and I think that it is very likely
that I shall be able to pay you a visit shortly and to
throw some light upon your case.?
Sherlock Holmes preserved his calm professional manner until our visitor had left us, although
it was easy for me, who knew him so well, to
see that he was profoundly excited. The moment
that Hilton Cubitt?s broad back had disappeared
through the door my comrade rushed to the table,
laid out all the slips of paper containing dancing
men in front of him, and threw himself into an
intricate and elaborate calculation. For two hours
I watched him as he covered sheet after sheet of
paper with figures and letters, so completely absorbed in his task that he had evidently forgotten
my presence. Sometimes he was making progress
and whistled and sang at his work; sometimes he
was puzzled, and would sit for long spells with a
furrowed brow and a vacant eye. Finally he sprang
from his chair with a cry of satisfaction, and walked
up and down the room rubbing his hands together.
Then he wrote a long telegram upon a cable form.
?If my answer to this is as I hope, you will have
a very pretty case to add to your collection, Watson,? said he. ?I expect that we shall be able to
go down to Norfolk to-morrow, and to take our
friend some very definite news as to the secret of
his annoyance.?
I confess that I was filled with curiosity, but I
was aware that Holmes liked to make his disclosures at his own time and in his own way; so I
waited until it should suit him to take me into his
confidence.
? ?If it really annoys you, Hilton, we might go
and travel, you and I, and so avoid this nuisance.?
? ?What, be driven out of our own house by a
practical joker?? said I. ?Why, we should have the
whole county laughing at us.?
? ?Well, come to bed,? said she, ?and we can
discuss it in the morning.?
?Suddenly, as she spoke, I saw her white face
grow whiter yet in the moonlight, and her hand
tightened upon my shoulder. Something was moving in the shadow of the tool-house. I saw a dark,
creeping figure which crawled round the corner
and squatted in front of the door. Seizing my pistol
I was rushing out, when my wife threw her arms
round me and held me with convulsive strength.
I tried to throw her off, but she clung to me most
desperately. At last I got clear, but by the time I
had opened the door and reached the house the
creature was gone. He had left a trace of his presence, however, for there on the door was the very
same arrangement of dancing men which had already twice appeared, and which I have copied on
that paper. There was no other sign of the fellow
anywhere, though I ran all over the grounds. And
yet the amazing thing is that he must have been
there all the time, for when I examined the door
again in the morning he had scrawled some more
of his pictures under the line which I had already
seen.?
?Have you that fresh drawing??
?Yes; it is very short, but I made a copy of it,
and here it is.?
Again he produced a paper. The new dance was
in this form:?
?Tell me,? said Holmes?and I could see by his
eyes that he was much excited??was this a mere
addition to the first, or did it appear to be entirely
separate??
?It was on a different panel of the door.?
?Excellent! This is far the most important of all
for our purpose. It fills me with hopes. Now, Mr.
Hilton Cubitt, please continue your most interesting statement.?
?I have nothing more to say, Mr. Holmes, except
that I was angry with my wife that night for having
held me back when I might have caught the skulking rascal. She said that she feared that I might
4
But there was a delay in that answering telegram, and two days of impatience followed, during
which Holmes pricked up his ears at every ring
of the bell. On the evening of the second there
came a letter from Hilton Cubitt. All was quiet
with him, save that a long inscription had appeared
that morning upon the pedestal of the sun-dial. He
inclosed a copy of it, which is here reproduced:?
?It?s a terrible business,? said the station-master.
?They are shot, both Mr. Hilton Cubitt and his wife.
She shot him and then herself?so the servants say.
He?s dead and her life is despaired of. Dear, dear,
one of the oldest families in the County of Norfolk,
and one of the most honoured.?
Without a word Holmes hurried to a carriage,
and during the long seven miles? drive he never
opened his mouth. Seldom have I seen him so utterly despondent. He had been uneasy during all
our journey from town, and I had observed that
he had turned over the morning papers with anxious attention; but now this sudden realization of
his worst fears left him in a blank melancholy. He
leaned back in his seat, lost in gloomy speculation.
Yet there was much around to interest us, for we
were passing through as singular a country-side as
any in England, where a few scattered cottages represented the population of to-day, while on every
hand enormous square-towered churches bristled
up from the flat, green landscape and told of the
glory and prosperity of old East Anglia. At last
the violet rim of the German Ocean appeared over
the green edge of the Norfolk coast, and the driver
pointed with his whip to two old brick and timber gables which projected from a grove of trees.
?That?s Ridling Thorpe Manor,? said he.
Holmes bent over this grotesque frieze for some
minutes, and then suddenly sprang to his feet with
an exclamation of surprise and dismay. His face
was haggard with anxiety.
?We have let this affair go far enough,? said he.
?Is there a train to North Walsham to-night??
I turned up the time-table. The last had just
gone.
?Then we shall breakfast early and take the
very first in the morning,? said Holmes. ?Our presence is most urgently needed. Ah! here is our
expected cablegram. One moment, Mrs. Hudson;
there may be an answer. No, that is quite as I expected. This message makes it even more essential
that we should not lose an hour in letting Hilton
Cubitt know how matters stand, for it is a singular
and a dangerous web in which our simple Norfolk
squire is entangled.?
So, indeed, it proved, and as I come to the dark
conclusion of a story which had seemed to me to be
only childish and bizarre I experience once again
the dismay and horror with which I was filled.
Would that I had some brighter ending to communicate to my readers, but these are the chronicles
of fact, and I must follow to their dark crisis the
strange chain of events which for some days made
Ridling Thorpe Manor a household word through
the length and breadth of England.
We had hardly alighted at North Walsham, and
mentioned the name of our destination, when the
station-master hurried towards us. ?I suppose that
you are the detectives from London?? said he.
A look of annoyance passed over Holmes?s face.
?What makes you think such a thing??
?Because Inspector Martin from Norwich has
just passed through. But maybe you are the surgeons. She?s not dead?or wasn?t by last accounts.
You may be in time to save her yet?though it be
for the gallows.?
Holmes?s brow was dark with anxiety.
?We are going to Ridling Thorpe Manor,? said
he, ?but we have heard nothing of what has passed
there.?
As we drove up to the porticoed front door I
observed in front of it, beside the tennis lawn, the
black tool-house and the pedestalled sun-dial with
which we had such strange associations. A dapper
little man, with a quick, alert manner and a waxed
moustache, had just descended from a high dogcart. He introduced himself as Inspector Martin,
of the Norfolk Constabulary, and he was considerably astonished when he heard the name of my
companion.
?Why, Mr. Holmes, the crime was only committed at three this morning. How could you hear of
it in London and get to the spot as soon as I??
?I anticipated it. I came in the hope of preventing it.?
?Then you must have important evidence of
which we are ignorant, for they were said to be a
most united couple.?
?I have only the evidence of the dancing men,?
said Holmes. ?I will explain the matter to you
later. Meanwhile, since it is too late to prevent
this tragedy, I am very anxious that I should use
the knowledge which I possess in order to ensure
that justice be done. Will you associate me in your
investigation, or will you prefer that I should act
independently??
5
?I should be proud to feel that we were acting
together, Mr. Holmes,? said the inspector, earnestly.
Martin, the old, grey-headed country doctor, myself, and a stolid village policeman made up the
rest of that strange company.
?In that case I should be glad to hear the evidence and to examine the premises without an
instant of unnecessary delay.?
The two women told their story clearly enough.
They had been aroused from their sleep by the
sound of an explosion, which had been followed
a minute later by a second one. They slept in adjoining rooms, and Mrs. King had rushed in to
Saunders. Together they had descended the stairs.
The door of the study was open and a candle was
burning upon the table. Their master lay upon
his face in the centre of the room. He was quite
dead. Near the window his wife was crouching,
her head leaning against the wall. She was horribly
wounded, and the side of her face was red with
blood. She breathed heavily, but was incapable of
saying anything. The passage, as well as the room,
was full of smoke and the smell of powder. The
window was certainly shut and fastened upon the
inside. Both women were positive upon the point.
They had at once sent for the doctor and for the
constable. Then, with the aid of the groom and
the stable-boy, they had conveyed their injured mistress to her room. Both she and her husband had
occupied the bed. She was clad in her dress?he in
his dressing-gown, over his night clothes. Nothing
had been moved in the study. So far as they knew
there had never been any quarrel between husband
and wife. They had always looked upon them as a
very united couple.
Inspector Martin had the good sense to allow
my friend to do things in his own fashion, and
contented himself with carefully noting the results.
The local surgeon, an old, white-haired man, had
just come down from Mrs. Hilton Cubitt?s room,
and he reported that her injuries were serious, but
not necessarily fatal. The bullet had passed through
the front of her brain, and it would probably be
some time before she could regain consciousness.
On the question of whether she had been shot or
had shot herself he would not venture to express
any decided opinion. Certainly the bullet had been
discharged at very close quarters. There was only
the one pistol found in the room, two barrels of
which had been emptied. Mr. Hilton Cubitt had
been shot through the heart. It was equally conceivable that he had shot her and then himself, or
that she had been the criminal, for the revolver lay
upon the floor midway between them.
?Has he been moved?? asked Holmes.
?We have moved nothing except the lady. We
could not leave her lying wounded upon the floor.?
?How long have you been here, doctor??
?Since four o?clock.?
?Anyone else??
These were the main points of the servants? evidence. In answer to Inspector Martin they were
clear that every door was fastened upon the inside,
and that no one could have escaped from the house.
In answer to Holmes they both remembered that
they were conscious of the smell of powder from
the moment that they ran out of their rooms upon
the top floor. ?I commend that fact very carefully
to your attention,? said Holmes to his professional
colleague. ?And now I think that we are in a position to undertake a thorough examination of the
room.?
?Yes, the constable here.?
?And you have touched nothing??
?Nothing.?
?You have acted with great discretion. Who sent
for you??
?The housemaid, Saunders.?
?Was it she who gave the alarm??
?She and Mrs. King, the cook.?
?Where are they now??
The study proved to be a small chamber, lined
on three sides with books, and with a writing-table
facing an ordinary window, which looked out upon
the garden. Our first attention was given to the
body of the unfortunate squire, whose huge frame
lay stretched across the room. His disordered dress
showed that he had been hastily aroused from sleep.
The bullet had been fired at him from the front,
and had remained in his body after penetrating the
heart. His death had certainly been instantaneous
and painless. There was no powder-marking either
?In the kitchen, I believe.?
?Then I think we had better hear their story at
once.?
The old hall, oak-panelled and high-windowed,
had been turned into a court of investigation.
Holmes sat in a great, old-fashioned chair, his inexorable eyes gleaming out of his haggard face. I
could read in them a set purpose to devote his life
to this quest until the client whom he had failed to
save should at last be avenged. The trim Inspector
6
upon his dressing-gown or on his hands. According to the country surgeon the lady had stains upon
her face, but none upon her hand.
outside this opening and fired through it. Any shot
directed at this person might hit the sash. I looked,
and there, sure enough, was the bullet mark!?
?But how came the window to be shut and fastened??
?The woman?s first instinct would be to shut
and fasten the window. But, halloa! what is this??
It was a lady?s hand-bag which stood upon the
study table?a trim little hand-bag of crocodile-skin
and silver. Holmes opened it and turned the contents out. There were twenty fifty-pound notes of
the Bank of England, held together by an indiarubber band?nothing else.
?This must be preserved, for it will figure in
the trial,? said Holmes, as he handed the bag with
its contents to the inspector. ?It is now necessary
that we should try to throw some light upon this
third bullet, which has clearly, from the splintering
of the wood, been fired from inside the room. I
should like to see Mrs. King, the cook, again. You
said, Mrs. King, that you were awakened by a loud
explosion. When you said that, did you mean that
it seemed to you to be louder than the second one??
?Well, sir, it wakened me from my sleep, and so
it is hard to judge. But it did seem very loud.?
?You don?t think that it might have been two
shots fired almost at the same instant??
?I am sure I couldn?t say, sir.?
?I believe that it was undoubtedly so. I rather
think, Inspector Martin, that we have now exhausted all that this room can teach us. If you
will kindly step round with me, we shall see what
fresh evidence the garden has to offer.?
A flower-bed extended up to the study window,
and we all broke into an exclamation as we approached it. The flowers were trampled down, and
the soft soil was imprinted all over with footmarks.
Large, masculine feet they were, with peculiarly
long, sharp toes. Holmes hunted about among the
grass and leaves like a retriever after a wounded
bird. Then, with a cry of satisfaction, he bent forward and picked up a little brazen cylinder.
?I thought so,? said he; ?the revolver had an
ejector, and here is the third cartridge. I really think,
Inspector Martin, that our case is almost complete.?
The country inspector?s face had shown his
intense amazement at the rapid and masterful
progress of Holmes?s investigation. At first he had
shown some disposition to assert his own position;
but now he was overcome with admiration and
ready to follow without question wherever Holmes
led.
?Whom do you suspect?? he asked.
?The absence of the latter means nothing,
though its presence may mean everything,? said
Holmes. ?Unless the powder from a badly-fitting
cartridge happens to spurt backwards, one may fire
many shots without leaving a sign. I would suggest that Mr. Cubitt?s body may now be removed. I
suppose, doctor, you have not recovered the bullet
which wounded the lady??
?A serious operation will be necessary before
that can be done. But there are still four cartridges
in the revolver. Two have been fired and two
wounds inflicted, so that each bullet can be accounted for.?
?So it would seem,? said Holmes. ?Perhaps
you can account also for the bullet which has so
obviously struck the edge of the window??
He had turned suddenly, and his long, thin finger was pointing to a hole which had been drilled
right through the lower window-sash about an inch
above the bottom.
?By George!? cried the inspector. ?How ever
did you see that??
?Because I looked for it.?
?Wonderful!? said the country doctor. ?You
are certainly right, sir. Then a third shot has been
fired, and therefore a third person must have been
present. But who could that ha