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38a Wisteria Lodge (Part One) from His Last Bow Remi · Sherlock Holmes

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge by Arthur Conan Doyle one
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: the singular experience of mister John Scott Eccles. I find
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: it recorded in my note book that it was a
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: bleak and windy day towards the end of March in
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: the year eighteen ninety two. Holmes had received a telegram
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: while we sat at our lunch, and he had scribbled
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: a reply. He made no remark, but the matter remained
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: in his thoughts, for he stood in front of the
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: fire afterwards with a thoughtful face, smoking his pipe and
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: casting an occasional glance at the message. Suddenly he turned
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: upon me with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. I suppose, Watson,
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: we must look upon you as a man of letters,
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: said he. How do you define the word grotesque, strange, remarkable?
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: I suggested. He shook his head at my definition. There
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: is surely something more than that, said he, some underlying
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: suggestion of the tragic and the terrible. If you cast
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: your mind back to some of those narratives with which
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: you have afflicted a long suffering public, you will recognize
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: how often the grotesque has deepened into the criminal. Think
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: of that little affair of the red headed Men. That
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: was grotesque enough in the outset, and yet it ended
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  Speaker 1: in a desperate attempt at robbery. Or again there was
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: that most grotesque affair of the five Orange Pips, which
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: led straight to a murderous conspiracy. The word puts me
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  Speaker 1: on the alert. Have you it there? I asked? He
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: read the telegram aloud. I've just had the most incredible
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  Speaker 1: and grotesque experience. May I consult you? Scott Eccles, Post Office,
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  Speaker 1: Charing Cross? Man? Or woman? I asked? Oh? Man? Of course,
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  Speaker 1: no woman would ever send a reply paid telegram. She
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: would have come. Will you see him? My dear Watson,
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  Speaker 1: You know how bored I have been since we locked up,
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: Colonel Carruthers. My mind is like a racing engine, tearing
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: itself to pieces because it is not connected up with
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  Speaker 1: the work for which it was built. Life is commonplace.
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: The papers of sterile, audacity and romance seem to have
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: passed forever from the criminal world. Can you ask me, then,
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: whether I am ready to look into any new problem,
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: however trivial it may prove. But here, unless I am mistaken,
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: is our client. A measured step was heard upon the stairs,
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: and a moment later, a stout, tall, gray whiskered, and
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  Speaker 1: solemnly respectable person was ushered into the room. His life
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: history was written in his heavy features and pompous manner,
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: from his spats to his gold rimmed spectacles. He was
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  Speaker 1: a conservative, a churchman, a good citizen, orthodox and conventional
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: to the last degree. But some amazing experience had disturbed
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: his native composure and left its traces in his bristling hair,
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: his flushed, angry cheeks, and his flurried, excited manner. He
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: plunged instantly into his business. I have had a most
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: singular and unpleasant experience, mister Holmes said he. Never in
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: my life have I been placed in such a situation.
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  Speaker 1: It is most improper, most outrageous. I must insist upon
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  Speaker 1: some explanation. He swelled and puffed in his anger. Pray,
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: sit down, mister Scott Eckles, said Holmes, in a soothing voice.
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  Speaker 1: May I ask in the first place why you came
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: to me at all? Well, sir, it did not appear
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: to be a matter which concerned the police. And yet
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: when you have heard the facts, you must admit that
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: I could not leave it where it was. Private. Detectives
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: are a class with whom I have absolutely no sympathy,
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: but none the less having heard your name. Quite so.
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  Speaker 1: But in the second place, why did you not come
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  Speaker 1: at once? Holmes glanced at his watch. It is a
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: quarter past two, he said. You tell Graham was dispatched
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: about one. But no one can glance at your toilet
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  Speaker 1: and attire without seeing that your disturbance dates from the
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: moment of your waking. Our client smoothed down his unbrushed
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  Speaker 1: hair and felt his unshaven chin. You are right, mister Holmes,
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  Speaker 1: and never gave a thought to my toilet. I was
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: only too glad to get out of such a house.
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  Speaker 1: But I have been running round making inquiries before I
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  Speaker 1: came to you. I went to the house agents, you know,
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  Speaker 1: and they said that mister Garcia's rent was paid up
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  Speaker 1: all right, and that everything was in order at Wisteria Lodge.
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  Speaker 1: Come come, sir, said Holmes, laughing. You are like my
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  Speaker 1: friend doctor Watson, who has a bad habit of telling
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  Speaker 1: his stories wrong. End foremost, please arrange your thoughts and
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: let me know, in their due sequence exactly what those
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: events are which have sent you out, unbrushed and unkempt,
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: with dress, boots and waistcoat buttoned awrye in search of
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  Speaker 1: advice and assistance. Our client looked down with a rueful
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: face at his own unconventional appearance. I'm sure it must
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: look very bad, mister Holmes, and I am not aware
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  Speaker 1: that in my whole life such a thing has ever
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  Speaker 1: happened before. But I will tell you the whole queer business,
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: and when I have done so, you will admit. I
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  Speaker 1: am sure that there has been enough to excuse me.
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: But his narrative was nipped in the bud. There was
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: a bustle outside, and Missus Hudson opened the door to
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: usher in two robust and official looking individuals, one of
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: whom was well known to us as Inspector Gregson of
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: Scotland Yard. An energetic gallant and within his limitations, a
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: capable officer. He shook hands with Holmes and introduced his
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: comrade as Inspector Baynes of the Surrey Constabulary. We are
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: hunting together, mister Holmes, and our trail lay in this direction.
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  Speaker 1: He turned his bulldog eyes upon our visitor. Are you
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  Speaker 1: mister John Scott Eccles of Popham House, Lee, I am.
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: We've been following you about all the morning. You traced
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: him through the telegram, no doubt, said Holmes. Exactly, mister Holmes,
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  Speaker 1: we picked up the scent at Charing Cross Post Office
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  Speaker 1: and came on here. But why do you follow me?
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  Speaker 1: What do you want? We wish a statement, mister Scott Echolls,
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  Speaker 1: as to the events which led up to the death
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  Speaker 1: last year of mister Aloysius Garcia of Wisteria Lodge near Esha.
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  Speaker 1: Our client had sat up with staring eyes and every
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: tinge of color struck from his astonished face. Dead. Did
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  Speaker 1: you say he was dead? Yes, sir, he is dead.
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  Speaker 1: But how an accident? Murder? If ever there was one
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  Speaker 1: upon earth? Good God, this is awful. You don't mean
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: you don't mean that. I am suspected. A letter of
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: yours was found in the dead man's pocket, and we
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  Speaker 1: know by it that you had planned to pass last
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  Speaker 1: night at his house. So I did? Oh you did?
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: Did you? Out? Came the official note book. Wait a bit, Gregson,
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: said Sherlock Holmes. All you desire is a plain statement,
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  Speaker 1: is it not? And it is my duty to warn
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  Speaker 1: mister Scott Eccles that it may be used against him.
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  Speaker 1: Mister Eccles was going to tell us about it. When
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: you entered the room. I think Watson a brandy and
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: soda would do him no harm. Now, sir, I suggest
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  Speaker 1: that you take no notice of this addition to your audience,
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  Speaker 1: and that you proceed with your narrative exactly as you
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  Speaker 1: would have done had you never been interrupted. Our visitor
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: had gulped off the brandy and color had returned to
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: his face. With a dubious glance at the inspector's note book,
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: he plunged at once into his extraordinary statement. I am
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: a bachelor, said he, and being of a sociable turn,
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: I cultivate a large number of friends. Among these are
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: the family of a retired brewer called Melville, living at
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  Speaker 1: Albemarle Mansion, Kensington. It was at his table that I
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  Speaker 1: met some weeks ago a young fellow named Garcia. He was,
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  Speaker 1: I understood, of Spanish descent, and connected in some way
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  Speaker 1: with the embassy. He spoke perfect English, was pleasing in
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  Speaker 1: his manners, and as good looking a man as ever
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  Speaker 1: I saw in my life. In some way we struck
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  Speaker 1: up quite a friendship, this young fellow and I. It
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  Speaker 1: seemed to take a fancy to me from the first
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  Speaker 1: and within two days of our meeting. He came to
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  Speaker 1: see me at Lee. One thing led to another, and
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  Speaker 1: it ended in his inviting me out to spend a
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  Speaker 1: few days at his house, Asteria Lodge, between Esher and Oxshot.
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  Speaker 1: Yesterday evening I went to Isha to fulfill this engagement.
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  Speaker 1: He had described his household to me before I went there.
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  Speaker 1: He lived with a faithful servant, a countryman of his own,
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  Speaker 1: who looked after all his needs. This fellow could speak
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  Speaker 1: English and did his housekeeping for him. Then there was
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  Speaker 1: a wonderful cook, he said, a half breed whom he
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: had picked up in his travels, who could serve an
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  Speaker 1: excellent dinner. I remember that he remarked what a queer
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  Speaker 1: household it was to find in the heart of Surrey,
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  Speaker 1: and that I agreed with him, though it has proved
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  Speaker 1: a good deal queerer than I thought. I drove to
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  Speaker 1: the place, about two miles on the south side of Esha.
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  Speaker 1: The house was a fair sized one, standing back from
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  Speaker 1: the road with a curving drive which was banked with
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  Speaker 1: high evergreen shrubs. It was an old, tumble down building
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  Speaker 1: in a crazy state of disrepair. When the trap pulled
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  Speaker 1: up on the grass grown drive in front of the
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  Speaker 1: blotched and weather stained door. I had my doubts as
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  Speaker 1: to my wisdom in visiting a man whom I knew
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  Speaker 1: so slightly. He opened the door himself, however, and greeted
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  Speaker 1: me with a great show of cordiality. I was handed
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  Speaker 1: over to the man servant, a melancholy swore. The individual
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  Speaker 1: who led the way my bag in his hand to
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  Speaker 1: my bedroom. The old place was depressing. Our dinner was
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  Speaker 1: tete a tate, and though my host did his best
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  Speaker 1: to be entertaining, his thoughts seemed to continually wonder, and
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  Speaker 1: he talked so vaguely and wildly that I could hardly
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  Speaker 1: understand him. He continually drummed his fingers on the table,
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  Speaker 1: gnawed his nails, and gave other signs of nervous impatience.
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  Speaker 1: The dinner itself was neither well served nor well cooked,
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  Speaker 1: and the gloomy presence of the taciturn servant did not
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  Speaker 1: help to enliven us. I can assure you that many
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  Speaker 1: times in the course of the evening I wished that
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  Speaker 1: I could invent some excuse which would take me back
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  Speaker 1: to Lee. One thing comes back to my memory, which
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  Speaker 1: may have a bearing upon the business that you two
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  Speaker 1: gentlemen are investigating. I thought nothing of it at the time.
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  Speaker 1: Near the end of the dinner, a note was handed
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  Speaker 1: in by the servant. I noticed that after my host
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  Speaker 1: had read it, he seemed even more distray and strange
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  Speaker 1: than before. He gave up all pretend conversation and sat
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: smoking endless cigarettes, lost in his own thoughts, but he
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  Speaker 1: made no remarkers to the contents About eleven, I was
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  Speaker 1: glad to go to bed. Some time later, Garcia looked
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: in at my door. The room was dark at the time,
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: and asked me if I had rung. I said that
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  Speaker 1: I had not. He apologized for having disturbed me so late,
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  Speaker 1: saying that it was nearly one o'clock. I dropped off
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: after this and slept soundly all night. And now I
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: come to the amazing part of my tale. When I woke,
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: it was broad daylight. I glanced at my watch and
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: the time was nearly nine. I had particularly asked to
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: be called at eight, so I was very much astonished
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  Speaker 1: at this forgetfulness. I sprang up and rang for the servant.
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  Speaker 1: There was no response. I rang again and again, with
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: the same result. Then I came to the conclusion that
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: the bell was out of order. I huddled on my
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: clothes and hurried downstairs in an exceedingly bad temper, to
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: order some hot water. You can imagine my surprise when
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: I found that there was no one there. I shouted
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: in the hall. There was no answer. Then I ran
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: from room to rum. All were deserted. My host had
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  Speaker 1: shown me which was his bedroom the night before, so
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: I knocked at the door. No reply. I turned the
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  Speaker 1: handle and walked in. The room was empty, and the
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: bed had never been slept in. He had gone with
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  Speaker 1: the rest, the foreign host, the foreign footman, the foreign cook.
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  Speaker 1: All had vanished in the night. That was the end
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: of my visit to Wisteria Lodge. Sherlock Holmes was rubbing
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: his hands and chuckling as he added this bizarre incident
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  Speaker 1: to his collection of Strange Episodes. Your experiences, so far
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  Speaker 1: as I know, perfectly unique, said he may I ask, sir,
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  Speaker 1: what you did? Then? I was furious. My first idea
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: was that I had been the victim of some absurd
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: practical joke. I packed my things, banged the hall door
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: behind me, and set off for Esher with my bag
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: in my hand. I called at Allan Brothers, the chief
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: land Agents in the village and found that it was
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: from this firm that the villa had been rented. It
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: struck me that the whole proceeding could hardly be for
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: the purpose of making a fool of me, and that
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: the main object must be to get out of the rent.
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: It is late in March, so quarter days at hand,
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: but this theory would not work. The agent was obliged
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: to me for my warning, but told me that the
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: rent had been paid in advance. Then I made my
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: way to town and called at the Spanish embassy. The
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: man was unknown. There After this I went to see Melville,
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: at whose house I had first met Garcia, but I
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: found that he really knew rather less about him than
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: I did. Finally, when I got your reply to my wire,
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: I came out to you, since I gathered that you
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: were a person who gives advice in difficult cases. But now,
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: mister inspector, I understand from what you said when you
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: entered the room that you can carry the story on,
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: and that some tragedy had occurred. I can assure you
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: that every word I have said is the truth, and
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: that outside of what I have told you, I know
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: absolutely nothing about the fate of this man. My only
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: desire is to help the law in every possible way.
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: I'm sure of it, mister Scott Eckles. I am sure
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: of it, said Inspector Gregson in a very amiable tone.
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: I am bound to say that everything which you have
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: said agrees very closely with the facts as they have
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: come to our notice. For example, there was that note
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: which arrived during dinner. Did you chance to observe what
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: became of it? Yes? I did. Garcia rolled it up
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: and threw it into the fire. What do you say
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: to that, mister Baines. The Country Detective was a stout,
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: puffy red man whose face was only redeemed from grossness
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: by too extraordinarily bright eyes, almost hidden behind the heavy
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: creases of cheek and brow. With a slow smile, he
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: drew a folded and discolored scrap of paper from his pocket.
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: It was a dark grate, mister Holmes, and he overpitched it.
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: I picked this out, unburned, from the back of it,
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: Holmes smiled his appreciation. You must have examined the house
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: very carefully to find a single pillet of paper. I did,
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: mister Holmes. It's my way. Shall I read it? Mister Gregson,
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: the Londoner nodded. The note is written upon ordinary cream
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: laid paper without water mark. It is a quarter sheet.
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: The paper is cut off in two snips with the
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: short bladed scissors. It has been folded over three times
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: and sealed with purple wax, put on hurriedly, and pressed
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: down with some flat oval object. It is addressed to
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: mister Garcia Wisteria large. It says our own colors green
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: and white, green, open, white, shut mainstair, first corridor, seventh right, green, baize,
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: God's spind d. It is a woman's writing, done with
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: a sharp pointed pen, but the address is either done
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: with another pen or by someone else. It is thicker
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: and bolder as you see. A very remarkable note, said Holmes,
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: glancing it over. I must compliment you, mister Baines, upon
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: your attention to detail in your examination of it. A
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: few trifling points might perhaps be added. The oval seal
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: is undoubtedly a plain sleeve link. What else is of
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: such a shape. The scissors were bent nail scissors. Short
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: as the two snips are, you can distinctly see the
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: same slight curve in each. The country detective chuckled, I
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: thought I had squeezed all the juice out of it,
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: but I see there was a little over, he said.
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: I'm bound to say that I make nothing of the
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: note except that there was something on hand, and that
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: a woman, as usual, was at the bottom of it.
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: Mister Scott eccles had fidgeted in his seat during this conversation.
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: I'm glad you found the note, since it corroborates my story,
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: said he. But I beg to point out that I
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: have not yet heard what has happened to mister Garcia,
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: nor what has become of his household. As to Garcia,
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: said Gregson, that is easily answered. He was found dead
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: this morning upon ox Shock Common, nearly a mile from
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: his home. His head had been smashed to pulp by
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: heavy blows of a sandbag or some such instrument, which
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: had crushed rather than wounded. It is a lonely corner
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: and there is no house within a quarter of a
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: mile of the spot. He had apparently been struck down
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: first from behind, but his assailant had gone on beating
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: him long after he was dead, and was a most
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: furious assault. There are no footsteps nor any clues to
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: the criminals robbed. No, there was no attempt at robbery.
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: This is very painful, very painful and terrible, said mister
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: Scott Eccles in a querulous voice. But it is really
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: uncommonly hard on me. I had nothing to do with
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: my host going off on a nocturnal excursion and meet
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: itself sad an end. How do I come to be
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: mixed up with the case? Very simply, Sir, Inspector Baines answered.
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: The only document found in the pocket of the deceased
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: was a letter from you saying that you would be
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: with him on the night of his death. It was
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: the envelope of this letter which gave us the dead
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: man's name and address. It was after nine this morning
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: when we reached his house and find neither you nor
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: anyone else inside it. I wired to mister Gregson to
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: run you down in London while I examined wisteria large.
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: Then I came into town, joined mister Gregson, and here
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: we are, I think now, said Gregson, rising, we had
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: best put this matter into an official shape. You will
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: come round with us to the station, mister Scott Eccles,
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: and let us have your statement in writing. Certainly I
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: will come at once, but I retain your services mister Holmes,
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: I desire you to spare no expense and no pains
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: to get at the truth. My friend turned to the
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: country inspector. I suppose that you have no objection to
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: my collaborating with you, mister Baynes, Highly honored sir, I
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: am sure you appear to have been very prompt and
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: business like in all that you have done. Was there
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: any clue? May I ask as to the exact hour
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: that the man met his death? He had been there
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: since one o'clerk. There was rain about that time, and
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: his death had certainly been before the rain, For that
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: is perfectly impossible, mister Baynes, cried our client. His voice
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: is unmistakable. I could swear to it that it was
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: he who addressed me in my bedroom at that very hour. Remarkable,
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: but by no means impossible, said Holmes, smiling. You have
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: a clue, asked Gregson. On the face of it, the
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: case is not a very complex one, though it certainly
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: presents some novel and interesting features. A further knowledge of
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: facts is necessary before I would venture to give a
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: final and definite opinion. By the way, mister Baines, did
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: you find anything remarkable besides this note? In your examination
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: of the house. The detective looked at my friend in
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: a singular way. There were, said he, one or two
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: very remarkable things. Perhaps, when I have finished at the
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: police station, you would care to come out and give
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: me your opinion of them. I am entirely at your service,
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: said Sherlock Holmes, ringing the bell. You will show these
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: gentlemen out, missus Hudson, and kindly send the boy with
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: this telegram. He is to pay a five shilling reply.
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: We sat for some time in silence after our visitors
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: had left. Holmes smoked hard, with his brows drawn down
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: over his keen eyes, and his head thrust forward in
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: the eager way characteristic of the man Will Watson, he asked,
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: turning suddenly upon me, what do you make of it?
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: I can make nothing of this mystification of scott Echoles.
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: But the crime well taken. With the disappearance of the
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: man's companions, I should say that they were in some
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: way concerned in the murder and had fled from justice.
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: That is certainly a possible point of view on the
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: face of it. You must admit, however, that it is
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: very strange that his two servants should have been in
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: a conspiracy against him, and should have attacked him on
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: the one night when he had a guest. They had
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: him alone at their mercy every other night of the week.
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: Then why did they fly? Quite so, why did they fly?
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: There is a big fact. Another big fact is the
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: remarkable experience of our client, Scot Eckles. Now, my dear Watson,
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: is it beyond the limits of human ingenuity to furnish
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: and explanation which would cover both of these big facts?
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: If it were one which would also admit of the
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: mysterious note with its very curious phraseology, why then it
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: would be worth accepting as a temporary hypothesis. If the
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: fresh facts which come to our knowledge will fit themselves
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: into the scheme, then our hypothesis may gradually become a solution.
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: But what is our hypothesis? Holmes leaned back in his
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: chair with half closed eyes. You must admit, my dear Watson,
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: that the idea of a joke is impossible. There were
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: grave events afoot, as the sequel showed, and the coaxing
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: of Scott Eckels to Wisteria Lodge had some connection with them.
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: But what possible connection? Let us take it link by link.
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: There is on the face of it, something unnatural about
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: this strange and sudden friendship between the young Spaniard and
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: Scott Eckles. It was the former who forced the pace.
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: He called upon Echols at the other end of London
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: on the very death after he first met him, and
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: kept in close touch with him until he got him
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: down to ischa? Now? What did he want with Eccles?
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: What could Eckels supply? I see no charm in the man.
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: He is not particularly intelligent, not a man likely to
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: be congenial to a quick witted Latin. Why then, was
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: he picked out from all the other people whom Garcia
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: met as particularly suited to his purpose? Has he any
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: one outstanding quality? I say that he has. He is
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: the very type of conventional British respectability, and the very
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: man as a witness to impress another Britain. You saw yourself,
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: how neither of the inspectors dreamed of questioning his statement,
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: extraordinary as it was. But what was he to witness? Nothing?
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: As things turned out, but everything had they gone another way,
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: that is how I read the matter. I see he
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: might have proved an alibi exactly, my dear Watson. He
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: might have proved an alibi. We will suppose, for argument's
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: sake that the household of Wisteria Lodge are confederates in
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: some design. The attempt, whatever it may be, is to
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: come off, we will say, before one o'clock, by some
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: juggling of the clocks. It is quite possible that they
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: may have got Scott Eccles to bed earlier than he thought.
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: But in any case, it is likely that when Garcia
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: went out of his way to tell him that it
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: was one, it was really not more than twelve. If
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: Garcia could do whatever he had to do and be
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: back by the hour mentioned, he had evidently a powerful
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: reply to any accusation. Here was this irreproachable Englishman ready
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: to swear in any court of law that the accused
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: was in the house all the time. It was an
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: insurance against the worst. Yes, yes, I see that, But
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: how about the disappearance of the others. I have not
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: all my facts yet, but I do not think there
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: are any insuperable difffficulties. Still, it is an error to
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: argue in front of your data. You find yourself insensibly
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: twisting them round to fit your theories and the message.
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: How did it run? Our own colors? Green and white
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: sounds like racing green open, white shut. That is clearly
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: a signal. Mainstair, first corridor, seventh right, green bays. This
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: is an assignation. We may find a jealous husband at
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: the bottom of it all. It was clearly a dangerous quest.
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: She would not have said God's speed had it not
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: been so d That should be a guide. The man
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: was a Spaniard. I suggest that Day stands for Dolores,
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: a common female name in Spain. Good Watson, very good,
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: but quite inadmissible. A Spaniard would write to a Spaniard
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: in Spanish. The writer of this note is certainly English. Well,
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: we can only possess our soul in patience until this
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: excellent inspector come back for us. Meanwhile, we can thank
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: our lucky fate, which has rescued us for a few
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: short hours from the insufferable fatigues of idleness. An answer
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: had arrived to Holmes's telegram before our Surrey officer had returned.
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: Holmes read it and was about to place it in
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: his note book when he caught a glimpse of my
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: expectant face. He tossed it across with a laugh. We
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: are moving in exalted circles, said he. The telegram was
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: a list of names and addresses. Lord Harringby the Dingle,
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: Sir George Folliot, ox Shot Towers, Mister Hines, Hines, J. P.
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: Purdley Place, Mister James Baker, Williams Forton Old Hall, Mister
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: Henderson High Gable, Reverend Joshua Stone, never Walsling. This is
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: a very obvious way of limiting our field of operations,
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: said Holmes. No doubt Banes, with his methodical mind, has
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: already adopted some similar plan. I don't quite understand well,
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: my dear fellow. We have already arrived at the conclusion
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: that the message received by Garcia at dinner was an
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: appointment or an assignation. Now, if the obvious reading of
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: it is correct, and in order to keep the tryst,
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: one has to ascend a main stair and seek the
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: seventh door in a corridor. It is perfectly clear that
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: the house is a very large one. It is equally
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: certain that this house cannot be more than a mile
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: or two from Oxshot, since Garcia was walking in that
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: direction and hoped, according to my reading of the facts,
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: to be back in Wisteria Lodge in time to avail
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: himself of an alibi, which would only be valid up
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: to one o'clock. As the number of large houses close
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: to Oxshot must be limited, I adopted the obvious method
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: of sending to the agents mentioned by Scott Eccles and
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: obtaining a list of them. Here they are in this telegram,
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: and the other end of our tangled skein must lie
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: among them. It was nearly six o'clock before we found
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: ourselves in the pretty Surrey village of Esha, with Inspector
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: Banes as our companion. Holmes and I had taken things
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: for the night and found comfortable quarters at the ball.
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: Finally we set out in the company of the detective
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: on our visit a wisteria lodge. It was a cold,
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: dark march evening, with a sharp wind and a fine
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: rain beating upon our faces, a fit setting for the
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: wild common over which our road passed and the tragic
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: goal to which it led us.