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A Case of Identity - Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle · Classic Adventure Books - Daily

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Speaker 1: A case of identity, my dear fellow, said Sherlock Holmes,
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Speaker 1: as we sat on either side of the fire in
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Speaker 1: his lodgings at Baker Street. Life is infinitely stranger than
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Speaker 1: anything which the mind of man could invent. We would
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Speaker 1: not dare to conceive the things which are really mere
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Speaker 1: commonplaces of existence. If we could fly out of that
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Speaker 1: window hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently
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Speaker 1: remove the roofs, and peep in at the queer things
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Speaker 1: which are going on, the strange coincidences, the plannings, the
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Speaker 1: cross purposes, the wonderful chains of events working through generations
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Speaker 1: and leading to the most utra results. It would make
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Speaker 1: all fiction, with its conventionalities and foreseen conclusions, most stale
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Speaker 1: and unprofitable. And yet I am not convinced of it,
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Speaker 1: I answered. The cases which come to light in the
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Speaker 1: papers are, as a rule bald enough and vulgar enough.
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Speaker 1: We have in our police reports realism pushed to its
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Speaker 1: extreme limits, and yet the result is it must be
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Speaker 1: confessed neither fascinating nor artistic. A certain selection and discretion
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Speaker 1: must be used in producing a realistic effect. Remarked Holmes.
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Speaker 1: This is wanting in the police report, where more stress
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Speaker 1: is laid perhaps upon the platitudes of the magistrate, than
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Speaker 1: upon the details, which to an observer contain the vital
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Speaker 1: essence of the whole matter depend upon it. There is
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Speaker 1: nothing so unnatural as the commonplace. I smiled and shook
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Speaker 1: my head. I can quite understand your thinking, so I said.
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Speaker 1: Of course, in your position of unofficial adviser and helper
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Speaker 1: to everybody who is absolutely puzzled throughout the three continents,
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Speaker 1: you are brought in contact with all that is strange
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Speaker 1: and bizarre. But here I picked up the morning paper
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Speaker 1: from the ground. Let us put it to a practical test.
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Speaker 1: Here is the first heading upon which I come, A
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Speaker 1: husband's cruelty to his wife. There is half a column
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Speaker 1: of print, but I know without reading it that it
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Speaker 1: is all perfectly familiar to me. There is, of course
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Speaker 1: the other woman, the drink, the push, the blow, the bruise,
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Speaker 1: the sympathetic sister or landlady. The crudest of writers could
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Speaker 1: invent nothing more crude. Indeed, your example is an unfortunate
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Speaker 1: one for your argument, said Holmes, taking the paper and
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Speaker 1: glancing his eye down it. This is the dundass separation case.
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Speaker 1: And as it happens, I was engaged in clearing up
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Speaker 1: some small points in connection with it. The husband was
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Speaker 1: a teetotaler, and there was no other woman, And the
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Speaker 1: conduct complained of was that he had drifted into the
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Speaker 1: habit of winding up every meal by taking out his
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Speaker 1: false teeth and hurling them at his wife, which you
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Speaker 1: will allow is not an action likely to occur to
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Speaker 1: the imagination of the average story teller. Take a pinch
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Speaker 1: of snuff, doctor, and acknowledge that I have scored over
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Speaker 1: you in your example. He held out his snuff box
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Speaker 1: of old gold with a great amethyst in the center
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Speaker 1: of the lid. Its splendor was in such contrast to
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Speaker 1: his homely ways and simple life that I could not
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Speaker 1: help commenting upon it, Ah said he. I forgot that
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Speaker 1: I had not seen you for some weeks. It is
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Speaker 1: a little souvenir from the King of Bohemia, in return
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Speaker 1: for my assistance in the case of the irene Adler
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Speaker 1: papers and the ring. I asked, glancing at a remarkable
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Speaker 1: brilliant which sparkled upon his finger. It was from the
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Speaker 1: reigning family of Holland. Though the matter in which I
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Speaker 1: served them was of such delicacy that I cannot confide
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Speaker 1: it even to you, who have been good enough to
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Speaker 1: chronicle one or two of my little problems. And have
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Speaker 1: you any on hand just now? I asked, with interest,
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Speaker 1: some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature
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Speaker 1: of interest. They are important, you understand, without being interesting. Indeed,
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Speaker 1: I have found that it is usually in unimportant matters
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Speaker 1: that there is a field for the observation and for
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Speaker 1: the quick analysis of cause and effect, which gives the
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Speaker 1: charm to an investigation. The larger crimes are apt to
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Speaker 1: be the simpler, for the bigger the crime, the more obvious.
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Speaker 1: As a rule is the motive. In these cases. Save
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Speaker 1: for one rather intricate matter, which has been referred to
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Speaker 1: me from Marseilles, there is nothing which presents any features
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Speaker 1: of interest. It is possible, however, that I may have
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Speaker 1: something better before or very many minutes are over, for
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Speaker 1: this is one of my clients, or I am much mistaken.
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Speaker 1: He had risen from his chair and was standing between
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Speaker 1: the parted blinds, gazing down into the dull, neutral tinted
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Speaker 1: London street. Looking over his shoulder, I saw that on
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Speaker 1: the pavement opposite there stood a large woman with a
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Speaker 1: heavy fur boa round her neck and a large curling
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Speaker 1: red feather in a broad brimmed hat, which was tilted
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Speaker 1: in a coquettish Duchess of Devonshire fashion over her ear.
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Speaker 1: From under this great panoply, she peeped up in a nervous,
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Speaker 1: hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated backward
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Speaker 1: and forward, and her fingers fidgeted with her glove buttons. Suddenly,
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Speaker 1: with a plunge, as of the swimmer who leaves the bank,
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Speaker 1: she hurried across the road, and we heard the sharp
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Speaker 1: clang of the bell. I have seen those symptoms before,
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Speaker 1: said Holmes, throwing his cigarette into the fire. Oscillation upon
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Speaker 1: the pavement always means an affere de cours. She would
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Speaker 1: like advice, but she is not sure that the matter
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Speaker 1: is not too delicate for communication. And yet even here
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Speaker 1: we may discriminate. When a woman has been seriously wronged
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Speaker 1: by a man, she no longer oscillates, and the usual
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Speaker 1: symptom is a broken bell wire. Here we may take
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Speaker 1: it that there is a love matter, but that the
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Speaker 1: maiden is not so much angry as perplexed or grieved.
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Speaker 1: But here she comes in person to resolve our doubts.
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Speaker 1: As he spoke, there was a tap at the door,
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Speaker 1: and the boy in buttons entered to announce miss Mary Sutherland,
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Speaker 1: while the lady herself loomed behind his small black figure,
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Speaker 1: like a full sailed merchantman behind a tiny pilot boat.
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Speaker 1: Sherlock Holmes welcomed her with the easy courtesy for which
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Speaker 1: he was remarkable, and having closed the door and bowed
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Speaker 1: her into an arm chair, he looked her over in
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Speaker 1: the minute and yet abstracted fashion which was peculiar to him.
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Speaker 1: Do you not find? He said, that with your short sight,
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Speaker 1: it is a little trying to do so much typewriting.
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Speaker 1: I did it first, she answered, but now I know
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Speaker 1: where the letters are without looking. Then, suddenly realizing the
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Speaker 1: full purport of his words, she gave a violent start
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Speaker 1: and looked up with fear and astonishment upon her broad,
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Speaker 1: good humored face. You've heard about me, mister Holmes, she cried. Else,
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Speaker 1: how could you know all that? Never mind, said Holmes, laughing,
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Speaker 1: it is my business to know things. Perhaps I have
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Speaker 1: trained myself to see what others overlook. If not, why
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Speaker 1: should you come to consult me. I came to you, sir,
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Speaker 1: because I heard of you from missus Ethridge, whose husband
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Speaker 1: you found so easy when the police and ever one
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Speaker 1: had given him up for dead. Oh, mister Holmes, I
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Speaker 1: wish you would do as much for me. I'm not rich,
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Speaker 1: but still I have a hundred a year in my
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Speaker 1: own right, besides the little that I make by the machine,
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Speaker 1: and I would give it all to know what has
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Speaker 1: become of mister Hosmer Angel. Why did you come away
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Speaker 1: to consult me in such a hurry, asked Sherlock Holmes,
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Speaker 1: with his finger tips together and his eyes to the ceiling. Again,
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Speaker 1: A startled look came over the somewhat vacuous face of
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Speaker 1: Miss Mary Sutherland. Yes, I did bang out of the house,
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Speaker 1: she said, for it made me angry to see the
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Speaker 1: easy way in which mister Windebank, that is my father,
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Speaker 1: took it all. He would not go to the police,
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Speaker 1: and he would not go to you, and so at last,
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Speaker 1: as he would do nothing and kept on saying that
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Speaker 1: there was no harm done. It made me mad, and
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Speaker 1: I just on with my things and came right away
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Speaker 1: to you. Your father, said Holmes, your stepfather, surely, since
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Speaker 1: the name is different, Yes, my stepfather, I call him father,
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Speaker 1: though it sounds funny too, for he is only five
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Speaker 1: years and two months older than myself. And your mother
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Speaker 1: is alive. Oh, yes, mother is alive and well. I
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Speaker 1: wasn't best pleased mister Holmes when she married again so
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Speaker 1: soon after father's death, and a man who was nearly
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Speaker 1: fifteen years younger than herself. Father was a plumber in
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Speaker 1: the Tottenham Court Road, and he left a tidy business
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Speaker 1: behind him, which mother carried on with mister Hardy, the foreman.
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Speaker 1: But when mister Windebank came he made her sell the business,
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Speaker 1: for he was very superior, being a traveler in wines.
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Speaker 1: They got forty seven hundred pounds for the good will
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Speaker 1: and interest, which wasn't near as much as father could
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Speaker 1: have got if he had been alive. I had expected
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Speaker 1: to see Sherlock Holmes impatient under this rambling and inconsequential narrative,
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Speaker 1: but on the contrary, he had listened with the greatest
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Speaker 1: concentration of attention. Your own little income, he asked, does
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Speaker 1: it come out of the business. Oh no, sir, it
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Speaker 1: is quite separate and was left me by my uncle
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Speaker 1: ned in Auckland. It is in New Zealand, stock paying
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Speaker 1: four and a half percent. Two thousand, five hundred pounds
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Speaker 1: was the amount. But I can only touch the interest.
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Speaker 1: You interest me extremely, said Holmes. And since you draw
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Speaker 1: so large a sum as a hundred a year, with
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Speaker 1: what you earn into the bargain, you no doubt travel
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Speaker 1: a little and indulge yourself in every way. I believe
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Speaker 1: that a single lady can get on very nicely upon
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Speaker 1: an income of about sixty pounds. I could do with
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Speaker 1: much less than that, mister Holmes. But you understand that
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Speaker 1: as long as I live at home, I don't wish
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Speaker 1: to be a burden to them, and so they have
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Speaker 1: the use of the money just while I am staying
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Speaker 1: with them. Of course, that is only just for the time.
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Speaker 1: Mister Windebank draws my interest every quarter and pays it
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Speaker 1: over to mother. And I find that I can do
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Speaker 1: pretty well with what I earn at typewriting. It brings
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Speaker 1: me twopence a sheet, and I can often do from
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Speaker 1: fifteen to twenty sheets in a day. You have made
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Speaker 1: your position very clear to me, said Holmes. This is
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Speaker 1: my friend, doctor Watson, before whom you can speak as
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Speaker 1: freely as before myself. Kindly tell us now all about
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Speaker 1: your connection with mister Hosmer. Angel a flush stole over,
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Speaker 1: Miss Sutherland's face, and she picked nervously at the fringe
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Speaker 1: of her jacket. I met him first at the gas
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Speaker 1: Footer's ball. She said. They used to send Father tickets
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Speaker 1: when he was alive, and then afterwards they remembered us
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Speaker 1: and sent them to mother. Mister Windebank did not wish
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Speaker 1: us to go. He never did wish us to go anywhere.
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Speaker 1: He would get quite mad if I wanted so much
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Speaker 1: as to join a Sunday school treat. But this time
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Speaker 1: I was set on going, and I would go. For
12:20
Speaker 1: what right had he to prevent? He said the folk
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Speaker 1: were not fit for us to know when all father's
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Speaker 1: friends were to be there. And he said that I
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Speaker 1: had nothing fit to wear when I had my purple plush,
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Speaker 1: that I had never so much as taken out of
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Speaker 1: the drawer. At last, when nothing else would do, he
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Speaker 1: went off to France upon the business of the firm.
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Speaker 1: But we went, Mother and I with mister Hardy, who
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Speaker 1: used to be our foreman, and it was there I
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Speaker 1: met mister Hosmer angel. I suppose, said Holmes, that when
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Speaker 1: mister Windebank came back from France, he was very annoyed
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Speaker 1: at your having gone to the oh well, he was
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Speaker 1: very good about it. He laughed, I remembered, and shrugged
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Speaker 1: his shoulders and said, there was no use denying anything
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Speaker 1: to a woman, for she would have her way. I see. Then,
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Speaker 1: at the Gasford's ball, you met, as I understand, a
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Speaker 1: gentleman called mister Hosmer Angel. Yes, sir, I met him
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Speaker 1: that night, and he called next day to ask if
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Speaker 1: we had got home all safe. And after that we
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Speaker 1: had met him, that is to say, mister Holmes, I
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Speaker 1: met him twice for walks. But after that Father came
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Speaker 1: back again, and mister Hosmer Angel could not come to
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Speaker 1: the house any more. No, Well, you know, Father didn't
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Speaker 1: like anything of the sort. He wouldn't have any visitors
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Speaker 1: if he could help it. And he used to say
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Speaker 1: that a woman should be happy in her own family circle.
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Speaker 1: But then, as I used to say to mother, a
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Speaker 1: woman wants her own circle to begin with, and I
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Speaker 1: had not got mine yet. But how about mister Hosmer Angel.
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Speaker 1: Did he make no attempt to see you? Well? Father
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Speaker 1: was going off to France again in a week, and
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Speaker 1: Hosmer wrote and said that it would be safer and
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Speaker 1: better not to see each other until he had gone.
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Speaker 1: We could write in the meantime, and he used to
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Speaker 1: write every day. I took the letters in in the morning,
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Speaker 1: so there was no need for father to know. Were
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Speaker 1: you engaged to the gentleman at this time? Oh, yes,
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Speaker 1: mister Holmes, we were engaged after the first walk that
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Speaker 1: we took, Holsmer. Mister Angel was a cashier in an
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Speaker 1: office in Leadenhall Street. And what office. That's the worst
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Speaker 1: of it, mister Holmes. I don't know where did he live?
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Speaker 1: Then he slept on the premises, and you don't know
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Speaker 1: his address, no, except that it was Leadenhall Street. Where
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Speaker 1: did you address your letters? Then to the Luddenhall Street
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Speaker 1: post Office to be left till called for. He said
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Speaker 1: that if they were sent to the office, he would
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Speaker 1: be chafed by all the other clerks about having letters
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Speaker 1: from a lady. So I offered to typewrite them like
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Speaker 1: he did his, but he wouldn't have that, for he
15:18
Speaker 1: said that when I wrote them they seemed to come
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Speaker 1: from me, but when they were typewritten, he always felt
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Speaker 1: that the machine had come between us. That will just
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Speaker 1: show you how fond he was of me, mister Holmes,
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Speaker 1: and the little things that he would think of it
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Speaker 1: was most suggestive, said Holmes. It has long been an
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Speaker 1: axiom of mine that the little things are infinitely the
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Speaker 1: most important. Can you remember any other little things about
15:45
Speaker 1: mister Hosmer Angel. He was a very shy man, mister Holmes.
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Speaker 1: He would rather walk with me in the evening than
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Speaker 1: in the daylight, for he said that he hated to
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Speaker 1: be conspicuous, very retiring, and gentlemanly. He won even his
16:01
Speaker 1: voice was gentle. He'd had the quinsy and swollen glands
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Speaker 1: when he was young, he told me, and it had
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Speaker 1: left him with a weak throat and a hesitating, whispering
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Speaker 1: fashion of speech. He was always well dressed, very neat
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Speaker 1: and plain, but his eyes were weak, just as mine are,
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Speaker 1: and he wore tinted glasses against the glare. Well, and
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Speaker 1: what happened when mister Windebank, your stepfather returned to France.
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Speaker 1: Mister Hosmer Angel came to the house again and proposed
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Speaker 1: that we should marry before father came back. He was
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Speaker 1: in dreadful earnest and made me swear with my hands
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Speaker 1: on the testament that whatever happened, I would always be
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Speaker 1: true to him. Mother said he was quite right to
16:47
Speaker 1: make me swear, and that it was a sign of
16:50
Speaker 1: his passion. Mother was all in his favor from the
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Speaker 1: first and was even fonder of him than I was. Then,
16:58
Speaker 1: when they talked of marrying within the week, I began
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Speaker 1: to ask about Father, but they both said never to
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Speaker 1: mind about Father, but just to tell him afterwards, and
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Speaker 1: Mother said she would make it all right with him.
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Speaker 1: I didn't quite like that, mister Holmes. It seemed funny
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Speaker 1: that I should ask his leave, as he was only
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Speaker 1: a few years older than me. But I didn't want
17:20
Speaker 1: to do anything on the sly, so I wrote to
17:23
Speaker 1: Father at Bordeaux, where the company has its French offices.
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Speaker 1: But the letter came back to me on the very
17:29
Speaker 1: morning of the wedding. It missed him, then, yes, sir,
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Speaker 1: for he had started to England just before it arrived. Huh,
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Speaker 1: that was unfortunate. Your wedding was arranged then for the Friday.
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Speaker 1: Was it to be in church, Yes, sir, but very quietly.
17:47
Speaker 1: It was to be at Saint Savior's near King's Cross,
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Speaker 1: and we were to have breakfast afterwards at the Saint
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Speaker 1: Pancras hotel. Hosmer came for us in a hansom, but
17:58
Speaker 1: as there were two of us. He put us both
18:01
Speaker 1: into it and stepped himself into a four wheeler, which
18:04
Speaker 1: happened to be the only other cab in the street.
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Speaker 1: We got to the church first, and when the four
18:10
Speaker 1: wheeler drove up, we waited for him to step out,
18:14
Speaker 1: but he never did, and when the cabman got down
18:17
Speaker 1: from the box and looked, there was no one there.
18:20
Speaker 1: The cabman said that he could not imagine what had
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Speaker 1: become of him, for he had seen him get in
18:26
Speaker 1: with his own eyes. That was last Friday, mister Holmes,
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Speaker 1: and I have never seen or heard anything since then
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Speaker 1: to throw any light upon what became of him. It
18:37
Speaker 1: seems to me that you have been very shamefully treated,
18:40
Speaker 1: said Holmes. Oh no, sir, he was too good and
18:44
Speaker 1: kind to leave me. So why all the morning he
18:48
Speaker 1: was saying to me that whatever happened I was to
18:51
Speaker 1: be true, and that even if something quite unforeseen occurred
18:56
Speaker 1: to separate us, I was always to remember that I
18:59
Speaker 1: was pledged to him, and that he would claim his
19:02
Speaker 1: pledge sooner or later. It seemed strange talk for a
19:06
Speaker 1: wedding morning, But what has happened since gives a meaning
19:10
Speaker 1: to it. Most certainly it does your own opinion is
19:15
Speaker 1: then that some unforeseen catastrophe has occurred to him? Yes, sir,
19:20
Speaker 1: I believe that he foresaw some danger, or else he
19:24
Speaker 1: would not have talked so. And then I think that
19:27
Speaker 1: what he foresaw happened, But you have no notion as
19:31
Speaker 1: to what it could have been? None. One more question?
19:36
Speaker 1: How did your mother take the matter? She was angry
19:40
Speaker 1: and said that I was never to speak of the
19:41
Speaker 1: matter again. And your father did you tell him? Yes?
19:47
Speaker 1: And he seemed to think with me that something had happened,
19:51
Speaker 1: and that I should hear of Hosmer again, as he said,
19:55
Speaker 1: what interest could anyone have in bringing me to the
19:57
Speaker 1: doors of the church and then leaving? Now, if he
20:01
Speaker 1: had borrowed my money, or if he had married me
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Speaker 1: and got my money settled on him, there might be
20:07
Speaker 1: some reason. But Hosemer was very independent about money, and
20:11
Speaker 1: never would look at a shilling of mine. And yet
20:14
Speaker 1: what could have happened? And why could he not write? Oh?
20:18
Speaker 1: It drives me half mad to think of it, and
20:21
Speaker 1: I can't sleep a wink at night. She pulled a
20:24
Speaker 1: little handkerchief out of her muff and began to sob
20:27
Speaker 1: heavily into it. I shall glance into the case for you,
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Speaker 1: said Holmes, rising, and I have no doubt that we
20:35
Speaker 1: shall reach some definite result. Let the weight of the
20:38
Speaker 1: matter rest upon me now, and do not let your
20:41
Speaker 1: mind dwell upon it. Further, above all, try to let
20:45
Speaker 1: mister Hosmer Angel vanish from your memory as he has
20:49
Speaker 1: done from your life. Then you don't think I'll see
20:52
Speaker 1: him again? I fear not. Then what has happened to him?
20:58
Speaker 1: You will leave that question in my hand. I should
21:01
Speaker 1: like an accurate description of him, and any letters of
21:04
Speaker 1: his which you can spare. I advertised for him in
21:08
Speaker 1: last Saturday's chronicle, said she Here is the slip, and
21:12
Speaker 1: here are four letters from him. Thank you, and your
21:16
Speaker 1: address thirty one Lyons Place, Camberwell, mister Angel's address you
21:22
Speaker 1: never had. I understand. Where is your father's place of business?
21:27
Speaker 1: He travels for Westhouse and Marbank, the Great Claret importers
21:32
Speaker 1: of Fenchurch Street. Thank you. You have made your statement
21:36
Speaker 1: very clearly. You will leave the papers here and remember
21:40
Speaker 1: the advice which I have given you. Let the whole
21:43
Speaker 1: incident be a sealed book and do not allow it
21:46
Speaker 1: to affect your life. You are very kind mister Holmes.
21:50
Speaker 1: But I cannot do that. I shall be true to Hosmer.
21:54
Speaker 1: He shall find me ready when he comes back. For
21:58
Speaker 1: all the preposterous and the vacuous face, there was something
22:03
Speaker 1: noble in the simple faith of our visitor which compelled
22:07
Speaker 1: our respect. She laid her little bundle of papers upon
22:11
Speaker 1: the table and went her way, with a promise to
22:14
Speaker 1: come again whenever she might be summoned. Sherlock Holmes sat
22:19
Speaker 1: silent for a few minutes, with his finger tips still
22:23
Speaker 1: pressed together, his legs stretched out in front of him,
22:27
Speaker 1: and his gaze directed upward to the ceiling. Then he
22:30
Speaker 1: took down from the rack the old and oily clay pipe,
22:34
Speaker 1: which was to him as a counselor, and having lit it,
22:39
Speaker 1: he leaned back in his chair, with the thick blue
22:42
Speaker 1: cloud wreathed spinning up from him, and a look of
22:46
Speaker 1: infinite languor upon his face. Quite an interesting study that maiden,
22:51
Speaker 1: he observed. I found her more interesting than her little problem,
22:56
Speaker 1: which by the way, is rather a trite one. You
22:59
Speaker 1: will find parallel cases if you consult my index in
23:03
Speaker 1: andover in seventy seven, and there was something of the
23:07
Speaker 1: sort at the Hague last year, old as is the idea. However,
23:12
Speaker 1: there were one or two details which were new to me.
23:15
Speaker 1: But the maiden herself was most instructive. You appeared to
23:20
Speaker 1: read a good deal upon her, which was quite invisible
23:23
Speaker 1: to me, I remarked, not invisible but unnoticed. Watson, you
23:29
Speaker 1: did not know where to look, and so you missed
23:31
Speaker 1: all that was important. I can never bring you to
23:34
Speaker 1: realize the importance of sleeves, the suggestiveness of thumbnails, or
23:39
Speaker 1: the great issues that may hang from a bootlace. Now
23:43
Speaker 1: what did you gather from that woman's appearance? Describe it well?
23:48
Speaker 1: She had a slate colored, broad brimmed straw hat with
23:52
Speaker 1: a feather of a brickish red. Her jacket was black,
23:56
Speaker 1: with black beads sewn upon it and a fringe of
24:00
Speaker 1: little black jet ornaments. Her dress was brown, rather darker
24:04
Speaker 1: than coffee color, with a little purple plush at the
24:08
Speaker 1: neck and sleeves. Her gloves were grayish and were worn
24:12
Speaker 1: through at the right forefinger. Her boots I didn't observe.
24:16
Speaker 1: She had small, round hanging gold earrings, and her general
24:20
Speaker 1: air of being fairly well to do in a vulgar, comfortable,
24:25
Speaker 1: easy going way. Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together
24:30
Speaker 1: and chuckled upon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully.
24:35
Speaker 1: You have really done very well. Indeed, it is true
24:38
Speaker 1: that you have missed everything of importance, but you have
24:41
Speaker 1: hit upon the method, and you have a quick eye
24:43
Speaker 1: for color. Never trust to general impressions, my boy, but
24:48
Speaker 1: concentrate yourself upon details. My first glance is always at
24:53
Speaker 1: a woman's sleeve. In a man, it is perhaps better
24:57
Speaker 1: first to take the knee of the trouser. As you observe,
25:01
Speaker 1: this woman had plushed upon her sleeves, which is a
25:04
Speaker 1: most useful material for showing traces. The double line a
25:09
Speaker 1: little above the wrist where the typewritist presses against the
25:12
Speaker 1: table was beautifully defined. The sewing machine of the hand
25:17
Speaker 1: type leaves a similar mark, put only on the left
25:20
Speaker 1: arm and on the right of it farthest from the thumb,
25:24
Speaker 1: instead of being right across the broadest part. As this was,
25:29
Speaker 1: I then glanced at her face, and, observing the dint
25:32
Speaker 1: of a pince nez at either side of her nose,
25:36
Speaker 1: I ventured a remark upon short sight and typewriting, which
25:40
Speaker 1: seemed to surprise her. It surprised me, but surely it
25:44
Speaker 1: was obvious. I was then much surprised and interested on
25:49
Speaker 1: glancing down to observe that, though the boots which she
25:52
Speaker 1: was wearing were not unlike each other, they were really
25:55
Speaker 1: odd ones, the one having a slightly decorated toe cap
26:00
Speaker 1: and the other a plain one. One was buttoned only
26:04
Speaker 1: in the two lower buttons out of five, and the
26:07
Speaker 1: other at the first, third and fifth. Now, when you
26:11
Speaker 1: see that a young lady, otherwise neatly dressed, has come
26:14
Speaker 1: away from home with odd boots half buttoned, it is
26:18
Speaker 1: no great deduction to say that she came away in
26:21
Speaker 1: a hurry. And what else? I asked, keenly interested as
26:26
Speaker 1: I always was, by my friend's incisive reasoning. I noted
26:31
Speaker 1: in passing that she had written a note before leaving home.
26:35
Speaker 1: But after being fully dressed, you observed that her right
26:38
Speaker 1: glove was torn at the forefinger. But you did not
26:41
Speaker 1: apparently see that both glove and finger were stained with
26:46
Speaker 1: violet ink. She had written in a hurry and dipped
26:49
Speaker 1: her pen too deep. It must have been this morning,
26:53
Speaker 1: or the mark would not remain clear upon the finger.
26:57
Speaker 1: All this is amusing, though rather alimentary, But I must
27:01
Speaker 1: go back to business. Watson, would you mind reading me
27:04
Speaker 1: the advertised description of mister Hosmer Angel. I held the
27:09
Speaker 1: little printed slip to the light, missing it said, on
27:14
Speaker 1: the morning of the fourteenth a gentleman named Hosmer Angel,
27:18
Speaker 1: about five feet seven inches in height, strongly built, sallow complexion,
27:24
Speaker 1: black hair, a little bald in the center, bushy black side,
27:29
Speaker 1: whiskers and mustache, tinted glasses, slight infirmity of speech was
27:35
Speaker 1: dressed when last scene in black frock coat faced with silk,
27:40
Speaker 1: black waistcoat, gold Albert chain and gray Harris tweed trousers
27:46
Speaker 1: with brown gaiters over a last excited boots known to
27:50
Speaker 1: have been employed in an office in Leadenhall Street. Anybody
27:55
Speaker 1: bringing that will do, said Holmes. As to the letters,
27:59
Speaker 1: he canntinued glancing over them. They are a very commonplace.
28:03
Speaker 1: Absolutely no clue in them to mister Angel, say that
28:07
Speaker 1: he quotes Balzac once. There is a remarkable point, however,
28:11
Speaker 1: which will no doubt strike you. They are typewritten, I remarked.
28:16
Speaker 1: Not only that, but the signature is typewritten. Look at
28:20
Speaker 1: the neat little Hosmer Angel. At the bottom there is
28:23
Speaker 1: a date you see, but no superscription except Leadenhall Street
28:28
Speaker 1: which is rather vague. The point about the signature is
28:31
Speaker 1: very suggestive. In fact, we may call it conclusive. Of what,
28:37
Speaker 1: my dear fellow, is it possible you do not see
28:40
Speaker 1: how strongly it bears upon the case. I cannot say
28:43
Speaker 1: that I do unless it were that he wished to
28:46
Speaker 1: be able to deny signature if an action for breach
28:49
Speaker 1: of promise were instituted. No, that was not the point. However,
28:55
Speaker 1: I shall write two letters which should settle the matter.
28:59
Speaker 1: One is to affirm in the city, the others to
29:02
Speaker 1: the young lady's stepfather, mister Windebank, asking him whether he
29:06
Speaker 1: can meet us here at six o'clock to morrow evening.
29:09
Speaker 1: It is just as well that we should do business
29:11
Speaker 1: with the male relatives, and now, doctor, we can do
29:15
Speaker 1: nothing until the answers to those letters come, so we
29:18
Speaker 1: may put our little problem upon the shelf for the interim.
29:23
Speaker 1: I had had so many reasons to believe in my
29:25
Speaker 1: friends subtle powers of reasoning and extraordinary energy and action,
29:30
Speaker 1: that I felt that he must have some solid grounds
29:33
Speaker 1: for the assured and easy demeanor with which he treated
29:37
Speaker 1: the singular mystery which he had been called upon to
29:40
Speaker 1: fathom once. Only had I known him to fail in
29:45
Speaker 1: the case of the King of Bohemia and of the
29:48
Speaker 1: Irene Adler photograph. But when I looked back to the
29:52
Speaker 1: weird business of the Sign of four, and the extraordinary
29:55
Speaker 1: circumstances connected with the study in Scarlet, I felt the
30:00
Speaker 1: it would be a strange tangle, indeed, which he could
30:02
Speaker 1: not unravel. I left him then, still puffing at his
30:07
Speaker 1: black clay pipe, with the conviction that when I came
30:10
Speaker 1: again on the next evening, I would find that he
30:13
Speaker 1: held in his hands all the clues which would lead
30:17
Speaker 1: up to the identity of the disappearing bridegroom of Miss
30:21
Speaker 1: Mary Sutherland. A professional case of great gravity was engaging
30:27
Speaker 1: my own attention at the time, and the whole of
30:30
Speaker 1: next day I was busy at the bedside of the sufferer.
30:34
Speaker 1: It was not until close upon six o'clock that I
30:37
Speaker 1: found myself free and was able to spring into a
30:40
Speaker 1: hansom and drive to Baker Street, half afraid that I
30:44
Speaker 1: might be too late to assist at the denoument of
30:47
Speaker 1: the little mystery, I found Sherlock Holmes alone, however, half asleep,
30:53
Speaker 1: with his long, thin form curled up in the recesses
30:57
Speaker 1: of his arm chair. A formidable ray of bottles and
31:01
Speaker 1: test tubes with the pungent, cleanly smell of hydrochloric acid.
31:06
Speaker 1: Told me that he had spent his day in the
31:08
Speaker 1: chemical work which was so dear to him. Well have
31:13
Speaker 1: you solved it, I asked as I entered. Yes, it
31:17
Speaker 1: was the bisulfate of Burta. No. No, the mystery, I cried,
31:23
Speaker 1: Oh that I thought of the salt that I have
31:26
Speaker 1: been working upon. There was never any mystery in the matter, though,
31:30
Speaker 1: as I said yesterday, some of the details are of interest.
31:34
Speaker 1: The only drawback is that there is no law I
31:37
Speaker 1: fear that can touch the scoundrel. Who was he then?
31:41
Speaker 1: And what was his object in deserting miss Sutherland? The
31:45
Speaker 1: question was hardly out of my mouth, and Holmes had
31:48
Speaker 1: not yet opened his lips to reply when we heard
31:52
Speaker 1: a heavy footfall in the passage and a tap at
31:55
Speaker 1: the door. This is the girl's stepfather, mister James Windeby,
32:00
Speaker 1: said Holmes. He has written to me to say that
32:03
Speaker 1: he would be here at six. Come in. The man
32:07
Speaker 1: who entered was a sturdy, middle sized fellow, some thirty
32:11
Speaker 1: years of age, clean shaven and sallow skin, with a
32:15
Speaker 1: bland insinuating manner and a pair of wonderfully sharp and
32:19
Speaker 1: penetrating gray eyes. He shot a questioning glance at each
32:23
Speaker 1: of us, placed his shiny top hat upon the sideboard,
32:27
Speaker 1: and with a slight bow, sidled down into the nearest chair.
32:32
Speaker 1: Good evening, mister James Windebank, said Holmes. I think that
32:36
Speaker 1: this typewritten letter is from you, in which you made
32:38
Speaker 1: an appointment with me for six o'clock. Yes, sir, I
32:43
Speaker 1: am afraid that I am a little late, but I
32:45
Speaker 1: am not quite my own master, you know. I am
32:48
Speaker 1: sorry that miss Sutherland has troubled you about this little matter,
32:52
Speaker 1: for I think it is far better not to wash
32:54
Speaker 1: Linden of the sort in public. It was quite against
32:58
Speaker 1: my wishes that she came, but she is a very excitable,
33:02
Speaker 1: impulsive girl, as you may have noticed, and she is
33:06
Speaker 1: not easily controlled when she has made up her mind.
33:09
Speaker 1: On a point of course, I did not mind you
33:12
Speaker 1: so much as you are not connected with the official police.
33:16
Speaker 1: But it is not pleasant to have a family misfortune
33:19
Speaker 1: like this noised abroad. Besides, it is a useless expense,
33:24
Speaker 1: for how could you possibly find this hosemer Angel. On
33:28
Speaker 1: the contrary, said Holmes quietly, I have every reason to
33:32
Speaker 1: believe that I will succeed in discovering mister Hosemer Angel.
33:38
Speaker 1: Mister Windebank gave a violent start and dropped his gloves.
33:42
Speaker 1: I am delighted to hear it, he said. It is
33:46
Speaker 1: a curious thing, remarked Holmes, that a typewriter has really
33:50
Speaker 1: quite as much individuality as a man's handwriting. Unless they
33:55
Speaker 1: are quite new. No two of them write exactly alike.
33:59
Speaker 1: Some letters get more worn than others, and somewhere only
34:03
Speaker 1: on one side. Now you remark in this note of yours,
34:06
Speaker 1: mister Windebank, that in every case there is some little
34:10
Speaker 1: slurring over of the e and a slight defect in
34:14
Speaker 1: the tale of the R. There are fourteen other characteristics,
34:18
Speaker 1: but those are the most obvious. We do all our
34:22
Speaker 1: correspondence with this machine at the office, and no doubt
34:25
Speaker 1: it is a little worn, our visitor answered, glancing keenly
34:29
Speaker 1: at Holmes with his bright little eyes. And now I
34:34
Speaker 1: will show you what is really a very interesting study,
34:37
Speaker 1: mister Windebank. Holmes continued, I think of writing another little
34:42
Speaker 1: monograph some of these days, and the typewriter and its
34:45
Speaker 1: relation to crime. It is a subject to which I
34:49
Speaker 1: have devoted some little attention. I have here four letters
34:53
Speaker 1: which purpet to come from the missing man. They are
34:56
Speaker 1: all type written in each case not allly are the
35:00
Speaker 1: ease slurred and the r's tail less. But you will observe,
35:05
Speaker 1: if you care to use my magnifying lens, that the
35:08
Speaker 1: other fourteen characteristics to which I have alluded are there
35:12
Speaker 1: as well. Mister Windebank sprang out of his chair and
35:16
Speaker 1: picked up his hat. I cannot waste time over this
35:19
Speaker 1: sort of fantastic talk, mister Holmes, he said. If you
35:23
Speaker 1: can catch the man, catch him, then let me know
35:25
Speaker 1: when you have done it. Certainly, said Holmes, stepping over
35:30
Speaker 1: and turning the key in the door. I let you
35:32
Speaker 1: know then that I have caught him. What where, shouted
35:37
Speaker 1: mister Windebank, turning white to his lips and glancing about
35:41
Speaker 1: him like a rat in a trap. Oh it won't do, really,
35:45
Speaker 1: it won't, said Holmes suavely. There is no possible getting
35:50
Speaker 1: out of it, mister Windebank. It is quite too transparent.
35:54
Speaker 1: And it was a very bad compliment when you said
35:57
Speaker 1: that it was impossible for me to solve so simple
35:59
Speaker 1: a question. That's right, Sit down and let us talk
36:03
Speaker 1: it over. Our visitor collapsed into a chair with a
36:07
Speaker 1: ghastly face and a glitter of moisture on his brow.
36:11
Speaker 1: It's it's not actionable, he stammered. I am very much
36:15
Speaker 1: afraid that it is not. But between ourselves, Windebank, it
36:19
Speaker 1: was as cruel and selfish and heartless a trick in
36:23
Speaker 1: a petty way as ever came before me. Now let
36:27
Speaker 1: me just run over the course of events, and you
36:29
Speaker 1: will contradict me if I go wrong. The man sat
36:33
Speaker 1: huddled up in his chair with his head sunk upon
36:36
Speaker 1: his breast, like one who was utterly crushed. Holmes stuck
36:41
Speaker 1: his feet up on the corner of the mantelpiece, and,
36:44
Speaker 1: leaning back, with his hands in his pockets, began talking
36:48
Speaker 1: rather to himself, as it seemed, than to us. The
36:53
Speaker 1: man married a woman very much older than himself for
36:56
Speaker 1: her money, said he, and he enjoyed the use of
36:59
Speaker 1: the money of the daughter as long as she lived
37:01
Speaker 1: with them. It was a considerable sum for people in
37:05
Speaker 1: their position, and the loss of it would have made
37:08
Speaker 1: a serious difference. It was worth an effort to preserve it.
37:13
Speaker 1: The daughter was of a good, amiable disposition, but affectionate
37:17
Speaker 1: and warm hearted in her ways, so that it was
37:20
Speaker 1: evident that, with her fair personal advantages and her little income,
37:25
Speaker 1: she would not be allowed to remain single long. Now
37:29
Speaker 1: her marriage would mean, of course, the loss of a
37:32
Speaker 1: hundred a year. So what does her stepfather do to
37:35
Speaker 1: prevent it? He takes the obvious course of keeping her
37:38
Speaker 1: at home and forbidding her to seek the company of
37:41
Speaker 1: people her own age. But soon he found that that
37:45
Speaker 1: would not answer forever. She became restive, insisted upon her rights,
37:50
Speaker 1: and finally announced her positive intention of going to a
37:54
Speaker 1: certain ball. What does her clever stepfather do? Then, he
37:58
Speaker 1: conceives an idea more creditable to his head than to
38:02
Speaker 1: his heart. With the connivance and assistance of his wife,
38:06
Speaker 1: he disguised himself, covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses,
38:11
Speaker 1: masked the face with a mustache, and a pair of
38:14
Speaker 1: bushy whiskers, sunk that clear voice into an insinuating whisper,
38:19
Speaker 1: and doubly secure on account of the girl's short sight,
38:23
Speaker 1: he appears as mister Hosmer Angel and keeps off other
38:27
Speaker 1: lovers by making love himself. It was only a joke
38:31
Speaker 1: at first, groaned our visitor. We never thought that she
38:35
Speaker 1: would have been so carried away. Very likely not, However,
38:39
Speaker 1: that may be the young lady was very decidedly carried away,
38:43
Speaker 1: and having quite made up her mind that her stepfather
38:47
Speaker 1: was in France, the suspicion of treachery never for an
38:50
Speaker 1: instant entered her mind. She was flattered by the gentleman's attentions,
38:56
Speaker 1: and the effect was increased by the loudly expressed admir
39:00
Speaker 1: of her mother. Then mister Angel began to call for
39:05
Speaker 1: it was obvious that the matter should be pushed as
39:08
Speaker 1: far as it would go if a real effect were
39:10
Speaker 1: to be produced. There were meetings and an engagement which
39:15
Speaker 1: would finally secure the girl's affections from turning towards any
39:19
Speaker 1: one else. But the deception could not be kept up forever.
39:24
Speaker 1: These pretended journeys to France were rather cumbrous. The thing
39:28
Speaker 1: to do was clearly to bring the business to an
39:30
Speaker 1: end in such a dramatic manner that it would leave
39:34
Speaker 1: a permanent impression upon the young lady's mind and prevent
39:38
Speaker 1: her from looking upon any other suitor for some time
39:41
Speaker 1: to come. Hence those vows of fidelity exacted upon a testament,
39:47
Speaker 1: and hence also the allusions to a possibility of something happening.
39:52
Speaker 1: On the very morning of the wedding. James Windebank wished
39:56
Speaker 1: miss Sutherland to be so bound to Hosmer Angel, and
40:00
Speaker 1: so uncertain as to his fate, that for ten years
40:04
Speaker 1: to come, at any rate, she would not listen to
40:07
Speaker 1: another man. As far as the church door he brought her,
40:11
Speaker 1: and then as he could go no farther he conveniently
40:15
Speaker 1: vanished away by the old trick of stepping in at
40:18
Speaker 1: one door of a four wheeler and out at the other.
40:22
Speaker 1: I think that was the chain of events. Mister Windebank,
40:26
Speaker 1: our visitor had recovered something of his assurance while Holmes
40:29
Speaker 1: had been talking, and he rose from his chair now
40:32
Speaker 1: with a cold sneer upon his pale face. It may
40:36
Speaker 1: be so, or it may not, mister Holmes, said he.
40:41
Speaker 1: But if you are so very sharp, you ought to
40:43
Speaker 1: be sharp enough to know that it is you who
40:46
Speaker 1: are breaking the law now and not me. I have
40:49
Speaker 1: done nothing actionable from the first. But as long as
40:53
Speaker 1: you keep that door locked, you lay yourself open to
40:56
Speaker 1: an action for assault and illegal constraint. The law cannot,
41:02
Speaker 1: as you say, touch you, said Holmes, unlocking and throwing
41:05
Speaker 1: open the door. Yet there never was a man who
41:08
Speaker 1: deserved punishment more. If the young lady has a brother
41:12
Speaker 1: or a friend, he ought to lay a whip across
41:15
Speaker 1: your shoulders. By jove, he continued, flushing up at the
41:19
Speaker 1: sight the bitter sneer upon the man's face. It is
41:23
Speaker 1: not part of my duties to my client. But here's
41:26
Speaker 1: a hunting crop handy, and I think I shall just
41:29
Speaker 1: treat myself to He took two swift steps to the whip,
41:34
Speaker 1: but before he could grasp it, there was a wild
41:36
Speaker 1: clatter of steps upon the stairs. The heavy hall door banged,
41:41
Speaker 1: and from the window we could see mister James Windebank
41:45
Speaker 1: running at the top of his speed down the road.
41:48
Speaker 1: There's a cold blooded scoundrel, said Holmes, laughing as he
41:52
Speaker 1: threw himself down into his chair once more. That fellow
41:56
Speaker 1: will rise from crime to crime until he does something very,
42:00
Speaker 1: very bad and ends on a gallows. The case has,
42:04
Speaker 1: in some respects been not entirely devoid of interest. I
42:08
Speaker 1: cannot now entirely see all the steps of your reasoning,
42:12
Speaker 1: I remarked, Well, of course, it was obvious from the
42:16
Speaker 1: first that this mister Hosmer Angel must have some strong
42:20
Speaker 1: object for his curious conduct, and it was equally clear
42:24
Speaker 1: that the only man who really profited by the incident,
42:27
Speaker 1: as far as we could see, was the stepfather. Then,
42:31
Speaker 1: the fact that the two men were never together, but
42:35
Speaker 1: that the one always appeared when the other was away,
42:38
Speaker 1: was suggestive. So were the tinted spectacles and the curious voice,
42:43
Speaker 1: which both hinted at a disguise, as did the bushy whiskers.
42:47
Speaker 1: My suspicions were all confirmed by his peculiar action in
42:51
Speaker 1: typewriting his signature, which of course inferred that his handwriting
42:56
Speaker 1: was so familiar to her that she would recognize even
42:59
Speaker 1: the smallest sample of it. You see, all these isolated facts,
43:04
Speaker 1: together with many minor ones, all pointed in the same direction,
43:09
Speaker 1: And how did you verify them? Having once spotted my man,
43:13
Speaker 1: it was easy to get corroboration. I knew the firm
43:17
Speaker 1: for which this man worked. Having taken the printed description,
43:21
Speaker 1: I eliminated everything from it which could be the result
43:24
Speaker 1: of disguise, the whiskers, the glasses, the voice, and I
43:28
Speaker 1: sent it to the firm with a request that they
43:30
Speaker 1: would inform me whether it answered to the description of
43:34
Speaker 1: any of their travelers. I had already noticed the peculiarities
43:38
Speaker 1: of the typewriter, and I wrote to the man himself
43:41
Speaker 1: at his business address, asking him if he would come
43:45
Speaker 1: here as I expected. His reply was typewritten and revealed
43:50
Speaker 1: the same trivial but characteristic defects. The same post brought
43:55
Speaker 1: me a letter from west House and Marbank of Fenchurch Street,
43:59
Speaker 1: to say that the description tallied in every respect with
44:02
Speaker 1: that of their employee, James Windebank. Voila tout and Miss Sutherland,
44:09
Speaker 1: if I tell her, she will not believe me. You
44:12
Speaker 1: may remember the old Persian saying there is danger for
44:16
Speaker 1: him who taketh the tiger cub, and danger also for
44:20
Speaker 1: whoso snatches a delusion from a woman. There is as
44:25
Speaker 1: much sense in Hafiz as in Horace, and as much
44:29
Speaker 1: knowledge of the world.