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24 The Final Problem from The Memoirs of Sherlock Ho · Sherlock Holmes

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Speaker 1: The adventure of the final problem. It is with a
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Speaker 1: heavy heart that I take up my pen to write
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Speaker 1: these the last words in which I shall ever record
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Speaker 1: the singular gifts by which my friend mister Sherlock Holmes
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Speaker 1: was distinguished in an incoherent and, as I deeply feel,
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Speaker 1: an entirely inadequate fashion. I have endeavored to give some
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Speaker 1: account of my strange experiences in his company, from the
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Speaker 1: chance which first brought us together at the period of
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Speaker 1: the study in Scarlet, up to the time of his
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Speaker 1: interference in the matter of the Naval Treaty, an interference
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Speaker 1: which had the unquestionable effect of preventing a serious international complication.
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Speaker 1: It was my intention to have stopped there and to
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Speaker 1: have said nothing of that event, which has created a
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Speaker 1: void in my life which the lapse of two years
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Speaker 1: has done little to fill. My hand has been forced, however,
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Speaker 1: by the recent letters in which Colonel James Moriarty defends
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Speaker 1: the memory of his brother, and I have no choice
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Speaker 1: but to lay the facts before the public exactly as
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Speaker 1: they occurred. I alone know the absolute truth of the matter,
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Speaker 1: and I am satisfied that the time has come when
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Speaker 1: no good purpose is to be served by its suppression.
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Speaker 1: As far as I know, there have been only three
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Speaker 1: accounts in the public press, that in the Journal de
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Speaker 1: Geneve upon May sixth, eighteen ninety one, the Reuters Dispatch
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Speaker 1: in the English papers upon May the seventh, and finally
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Speaker 1: the recent letters to which I have alluded. Of these,
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Speaker 1: the first and second were extremely condensed, while the last is,
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Speaker 1: as I shall now show, an absolute perversion of the facts.
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Speaker 1: It lies with me to tell for the first time
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Speaker 1: what really took place between Professor Mariati and mister Sherlock Holmes.
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Speaker 1: It may be remembered that after my marriage and my
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Speaker 1: subsequent start in private practice, the very intimate relations which
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Speaker 1: had existed between Homes and myself became, to some extent modified.
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Speaker 1: He still came to me from time to time when
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Speaker 1: he desired a companion in his investigations, but these occasions
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Speaker 1: grew more and more seldom, until I find that in
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Speaker 1: the year eighteen ninety there were only three cases of
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Speaker 1: which I retain any record. During the winter of that
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Speaker 1: year and the early spring of eighteen ninety one, I
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Speaker 1: saw in the papers that he had been engaged by
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Speaker 1: the French government upon a matter of supreme importance, and
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Speaker 1: I received two notes from homes dated from Nabonn and
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Speaker 1: from Nim, from which I gathered that his stay in
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Speaker 1: France was likely to be a long one. It was
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Speaker 1: with some surprise, therefore, that I saw him walk into
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Speaker 1: my consulting room upon the evening of the twenty fourth
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Speaker 1: of April. It struck me that he was looking even
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Speaker 1: paler and thinner than usual. Yes, I have been using
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Speaker 1: myself up rather too freely, he remarked, in answer to
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Speaker 1: my look, rather than to my words. I have been
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Speaker 1: a little pressed of late. Have you any objection to
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Speaker 1: my closing your shutters? The only light in the room
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Speaker 1: came from the lamp upon the table at which I
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Speaker 1: had been reading. Holmes edged his way round the wall, and,
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Speaker 1: flinging the shutters together, he bolted them securely. You are
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Speaker 1: afraid of something, I asked, Well, I am of what
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Speaker 1: of air guns? My dear Holmes, what do you mean?
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Speaker 1: I think that you know me well enough Watson to
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Speaker 1: understand that I am, by no means a nervous man.
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Speaker 1: At the same time, it is stupidity, rather than courage,
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Speaker 1: to refuse to recognize danger when it is close upon you.
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Speaker 1: Might I trouble you for a match, he drew in
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Speaker 1: the smoke of his cigarette, as if the soothing influence
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Speaker 1: was grateful to him. I must apologize for calling so late,
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Speaker 1: said he, And I must beg you to be so
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Speaker 1: unconventional as to allow me to leave your house presently
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Speaker 1: I scrambling over your back garden wall. But what does
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Speaker 1: it all mean? I asked. He held out his hand,
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Speaker 1: and I saw in the light of the lamp that
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Speaker 1: two of his knuckles were burst and bleeding. It is
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Speaker 1: not an airy nothing, you see, said he, smiling. On
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Speaker 1: the contrary, it is solid enough for a man to
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Speaker 1: break his hand. Over is missus Watson in she is
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Speaker 1: away upon a visit? Indeed, you are alone quite then
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Speaker 1: it makes it the easier for me to propose that
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Speaker 1: you should come away with me for a week. Aren't
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Speaker 1: the continent where, oh anywhere? It's all the same to me.
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Speaker 1: There was something very strange in all this. It was
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Speaker 1: not Holmes's nature to take an aimless holiday, and something
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Speaker 1: about his pale, worn face told me that his nerves
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Speaker 1: were at their highest tension. He saw the question in
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Speaker 1: my eyes, and putting his fingertips together and his elbows
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Speaker 1: upon his knees, he explained the situation. You have probably
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Speaker 1: never heard of Professor Moriarty said he never. Ay, there's
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Speaker 1: the genius and the wonder of the thing, he cried.
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Speaker 1: The man pervades London and no one has heard of him.
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Speaker 1: That's what puts him on a pinnacle in the records
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Speaker 1: of crime. I tell you, Watson, in all seriousness, that
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Speaker 1: if I could beat that man, if I could free
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Speaker 1: society of him, I shall feel that my own career
6:01
Speaker 1: had reached its summit, and I should be prepared to
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Speaker 1: turn to some more placid line in life between ourselves.
6:09
Speaker 1: The recent cases in which I have been of assistance
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Speaker 1: to the Royal family of Scandinavia and to the French
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Speaker 1: Republic have left me in such a position that I
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Speaker 1: could continue to live in the quiet fashion which is
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Speaker 1: most congenial to me, and to concentrate my attention upon
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Speaker 1: my chemical researches. But I could not rest, Watson. I
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Speaker 1: could not sit quiet in my chair if I thought
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Speaker 1: that such a man as Professor Moriarty were walking the
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Speaker 1: streets of London unchallenged. What has he done? Then? His
6:41
Speaker 1: career has been an extraordinary one. He is a man
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Speaker 1: of good birth and excellent education. Endowed by nature with
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Speaker 1: a phenomenal mathematical faculty. At the age of twenty one,
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Speaker 1: he wrote a treatise upon the binomial theorem, which has
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Speaker 1: had a European vogue. On the strength of it, he
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Speaker 1: won the mathematical chair at one of our smaller universities,
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Speaker 1: and had, to all appearance, a most brilliant career before him.
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Speaker 1: But the man had hereditary tendencies of the most diabolical kind.
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Speaker 1: A criminal strain ran in his blood, which, instead of
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Speaker 1: being modified, was increased and rendered infinitely more dangerous by
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Speaker 1: his extraordinary mental powers. Dark rumors gathered round him in
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Speaker 1: the university town, and eventually he was compelled to resign
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Speaker 1: his chair and to come down to London, where he
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Speaker 1: set up as an army coach. So much is known
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Speaker 1: to the world, But what I am telling you now
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Speaker 1: is what I myself have discovered. As you are aware, Watson,
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Speaker 1: there is no one who knows the higher criminal world
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Speaker 1: of London so well as I do. For years past,
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Speaker 1: I have continually been conscious of some power behind the malefactor,
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Speaker 1: some deep organizing power which forever stands in the way
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Speaker 1: of the law and throws its shield over the wrongdoer.
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Speaker 1: Again and again in cases of the most varying sorts,
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Speaker 1: forgery cases, robberies, murders. I have felt the presence of
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Speaker 1: this force, and I have deduced its action in many
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Speaker 1: of those undiscovered crimes in which I have not been
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Speaker 1: personally consulted. For years, I have endeavored to break through
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Speaker 1: the veil which shrouded it. And at last the time
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Speaker 1: came when I seized my thread and followed it until
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Speaker 1: it led me after a thousand cunning windings to ex
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Speaker 1: Professor Moriarty of mathematical celebrity. He is the Napoleon of
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Speaker 1: crime Watson. He is the organizer of half that is evil,
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Speaker 1: and of nearly all that is undetected in this great city.
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Speaker 1: He is a genius, a philosopher, and an abstract thinker.
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Speaker 1: He has a brain of the first order. He sits motionless,
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Speaker 1: like a spider in the center of its web. But
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Speaker 1: that web has a thousand radiations, and he knows well
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Speaker 1: every quiver of each of them. It does little himself.
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Speaker 1: He only plans, but his agents are numerous and splendidly organized.
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Speaker 1: Is there a crime to be done, a paper to
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Speaker 1: be abstracted, we will say, a house to be rifled?
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Speaker 1: A man to be removed. The word is passed to
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Speaker 1: the Professor, the matter is organized and carried out. The
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Speaker 1: agent may be caught. In that case money is found
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Speaker 1: for his bail or his defense. But the central power
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Speaker 1: which uses the agent is never caught, never so much
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Speaker 1: as suspected. This was the organization which I deduced, Watson,
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Speaker 1: and which I devoted my whole energy to exposing and
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Speaker 1: breaking up. But the Professor was fenced round with safeguards
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Speaker 1: so cunningly devised that do what I would, It seemed
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Speaker 1: impossible to get evidence which could convict in a court
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Speaker 1: of law. You know my powers, my dear Watson. And
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Speaker 1: yet at the end of three months I was forced
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Speaker 1: to confess that I had at last met an antagonist
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Speaker 1: who was my intellectual equal. My horror at his crimes
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Speaker 1: was lost in my admiration at his skill. But at
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Speaker 1: last he made a trip, only a little, little trip,
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Speaker 1: but it was more than he could afford. When I
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Speaker 1: was so close upon him, I had my chance. And
10:24
Speaker 1: starting from that point I have woven my net round him,
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Speaker 1: until now it is all ready to close. In three days,
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Speaker 1: that is to say, on Monday next matters will be ripe,
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Speaker 1: and the Professor, with all the principal members of his gang,
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Speaker 1: will be in the hands of the police. Then will
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Speaker 1: come the greatest criminal trial of the century, the clearing
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Speaker 1: up of over forty mysteries, and the rope for all
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Speaker 1: of them. But if we move at all prematurely, you understand,
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Speaker 1: they may slip out of our hands, even at the
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Speaker 1: last moment. If I could have done this without the
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Speaker 1: knowledge of Professor Moriarty, all would have been well. But
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Speaker 1: he was too wily for that. He saw every step
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Speaker 1: which I took to draw my toils round him. Again
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Speaker 1: and again he strove to break away, but I as
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Speaker 1: often headed him off. I tell you, my friend, that
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Speaker 1: if a detailed account of that silent contest could be written,
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Speaker 1: it would take its place as the most brilliant bit
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Speaker 1: of thrust and pari work in the history of detection.
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Speaker 1: Never have I risen to such a height, and never
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Speaker 1: have I been so hard pressed by an opponent. He
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Speaker 1: cut deep, and yet I just undercut him. This morning,
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Speaker 1: the last steps were taken, and three days only were
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Speaker 1: wanted to complete the business. I was sitting in my
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Speaker 1: room thinking the matter over, when the door opened and
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Speaker 1: Professor MURRIARTI stood before me. My nerves are fairly proof, Watson.
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Speaker 1: But I must confess to a start. When I saw
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Speaker 1: the very man who had been so much in my
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Speaker 1: thoughts standing there on my threshold, his appearance was quite
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Speaker 1: familiar to me. He is extremely tall and thin. His
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Speaker 1: forehead domes out in a white curve, and his two
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Speaker 1: eyes are deeply sunken in his head. He is clean shaven, pale,
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Speaker 1: and ascetic looking, retaining something of the professor in his features.
12:28
Speaker 1: His shoulders a rounded from much study, and his face
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Speaker 1: protrudes forward and is forever slowly oscillating from side to
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Speaker 1: side in a curiously reptilian fashion. He peered at me
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Speaker 1: with great curiosity in his puckered eyes. You have less
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Speaker 1: frontal development than I should have expected, said he at last.
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Speaker 1: It is a dangerous habit to finger loaded firearms in
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Speaker 1: the pocket of one's dressing gown. The fact is that
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Speaker 1: upon his entrance I had instantly read recognized the extreme
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Speaker 1: personal danger in which I lay. The only conceivable escape
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Speaker 1: for him lay in silence in my tongue. In an
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Speaker 1: instant I had slipped the revolver from the drawer into
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Speaker 1: my pocket and was covering him through the cloth. At
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Speaker 1: his remark, I drew the weapon out and laid it
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Speaker 1: cocked upon the table. He still smiled and blinked, but
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Speaker 1: there was something about his eyes which made me feel
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Speaker 1: very glad that I had it there. You evidently don't
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Speaker 1: know me, said he. On the contrary, I answered, I
13:33
Speaker 1: think it is fairly evident that I do pray. Take
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Speaker 1: a chair. I can spare you five minutes if you
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Speaker 1: have anything to say. All that I have to say
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Speaker 1: has already crossed your mind, said he. Then possibly my
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Speaker 1: answer has crossed yours, I replied, you stand fast. Absolutely.
13:53
Speaker 1: He clapped his hand into his pocket, and I raised
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Speaker 1: the pistol from the table. But he merely drew out
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Speaker 1: a memorandum book in which he had scribbled some dates.
14:02
Speaker 1: You crossed my path on the fourth of January, said he.
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Speaker 1: On the twenty third, you incommoded me. By the middle
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Speaker 1: of February, I was seriously inconvenienced by you. At the
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Speaker 1: end of March I was absolutely hampered in my plans.
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Speaker 1: And now at the close of April, I find myself
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Speaker 1: in such positions from your continual persecution that I am
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Speaker 1: in positive danger of losing my liperty. The situation is
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Speaker 1: becoming an impossible one. Have you any suggestion to make?
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Speaker 1: I asked, you must drop it, mister Holmes, said, he,
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Speaker 1: swaying his face about you really must you know after Monday,
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Speaker 1: said I. Tut tut, said he. I am quite sure
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Speaker 1: that a man of your intelligence will see that there
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Speaker 1: can be but one outcome to this affair. It is
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Speaker 1: necessary that you should withdraw. You have worked things in
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Speaker 1: such a fashion that we have only one resource left.
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Speaker 1: It has been an intellectual treat to me to see
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Speaker 1: the way in which you have grappled with this affair.
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Speaker 1: And I say, unaffectedly that it would be a grief
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Speaker 1: to me to be forced to take any extreme measure.
15:08
Speaker 1: You smile, sir, that I assure you that it really would.
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Speaker 1: Danger is part of my trade. I remarked. This is
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Speaker 1: not danger, said he, It is inevitable destruction. You stand
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Speaker 1: in the way not merely of an individual, but of
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Speaker 1: a mighty organization, the full extent of which you, with
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Speaker 1: all your cleverness, have been unable to realize. You must
15:31
Speaker 1: stand clear, mister Holmes, or be trodden under foot. I
15:35
Speaker 1: am afraid, said I, rising that in the pleasure of
15:39
Speaker 1: this conversation, I am neglecting business of importance which awaits
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Speaker 1: me elsewhere. He rose also and looked at me in silence,
15:47
Speaker 1: shaking his head sadly. Well, well, said he at last.
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Speaker 1: It seems a pity. But I have done what I could.
15:56
Speaker 1: I know every move of your game. You can do
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Speaker 1: nothing before Monday. It has been a duel between you
16:02
Speaker 1: and me. Mister Holmes. You hope to place me in
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Speaker 1: the dark. I tell you that I will never stand
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Speaker 1: in the dark. You hope to beat me. I tell
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Speaker 1: you that you will never beat me if you are
16:16
Speaker 1: clever enough to bring destruction upon me. Rest assured that
16:20
Speaker 1: I shall do as much to you. You have paid
16:23
Speaker 1: me several compliments, mister Moriati said, I let me pay
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Speaker 1: you one in return. When I say that, if I
16:30
Speaker 1: were assured of the former eventuality, I would, in the
16:34
Speaker 1: interests of the public, cheerfully accept the latter. I can
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Speaker 1: promise you the one, but not the other. He snarled,
16:42
Speaker 1: and so turned his rounded back upon me and went
16:45
Speaker 1: peering and blinking out of the room. That was my
16:49
Speaker 1: singular interview with Professor Moriaty. I confess that it left
16:54
Speaker 1: an unpleasant effect upon my mind. His soft, precise fashion
16:59
Speaker 1: of speech leaves a conviction of sincerity which a mere
17:02
Speaker 1: bully could not produce. Of course, you will say why
17:07
Speaker 1: not take police precautions against him? The reason is that
17:11
Speaker 1: I am well convinced that it is from his agents
17:15
Speaker 1: the blow would fall. I have the best of proofs
17:18
Speaker 1: that it would be. So you have already been assaulted,
17:22
Speaker 1: my dear Watson. Professor Murriarty is not a man who
17:25
Speaker 1: lets the grass grow under his feet. I went out
17:29
Speaker 1: about midday to transact some business in Oxford Street. As
17:33
Speaker 1: I passed the corner which leads from Bentinck Street on
17:37
Speaker 1: to the Wellbeck Street crossing, a two horse van furiously
17:40
Speaker 1: driven whizzed round and was on me like a flash.
17:43
Speaker 1: I sprang for the footpath and saved myself by the
17:46
Speaker 1: fraction of a second. The van dashed round by Marylybn
17:51
Speaker 1: Lane and was gone in an instant. I kept to
17:55
Speaker 1: the pavement after that, Watson. But as I walked down
17:58
Speaker 1: Via Street, a brick came down from the roof of
18:01
Speaker 1: one of the houses and was shattered to fragments at
18:03
Speaker 1: my feet. I called the police and had the place examined.
18:08
Speaker 1: There were slates and bricks piled upon the roof preparatory
18:11
Speaker 1: to some repairs, and they would have me believe that
18:15
Speaker 1: the wind had toppled over one of these. Of course
18:19
Speaker 1: I knew better, but I could prove nothing. I took
18:22
Speaker 1: a cab after that and reached my brother's rooms in
18:25
Speaker 1: paw Maw, where I spent the day. Now I have
18:29
Speaker 1: come round to you, and on my way I was
18:32
Speaker 1: attacked by a ruff with a bludgeon. I knocked him down,
18:35
Speaker 1: and the police have him in custody. That I can
18:38
Speaker 1: tell you with the most absolute confidence that no possible
18:41
Speaker 1: connection will ever be traced between the gentlemen upon whose
18:44
Speaker 1: front teeth I have barked my knuckles and the retiring
18:48
Speaker 1: mathematical coach who is I dare say, working out problems
18:52
Speaker 1: upon a blackboard ten miles away. You will not wonder, Watson,
18:56
Speaker 1: that my first act on entering your rooms was to
18:59
Speaker 1: close your shutters, and that I have been compelled to
19:02
Speaker 1: ask your permission to leave the house by some less
19:05
Speaker 1: conspicuous exit than the front door. I had often admired
19:10
Speaker 1: my friend's courage, but never more than now, as he
19:15
Speaker 1: sat quietly checking off a series of incidents which must
19:18
Speaker 1: have combined to make up a day of horror, you
19:22
Speaker 1: will spend the night here, I said, no, my friend,
19:25
Speaker 1: you might find me a dangerous guest. I have my
19:28
Speaker 1: plans laid and all will be well. Matters have gone
19:32
Speaker 1: so far now that they can move without my help
19:34
Speaker 1: as far as the arrest goes. Though my presence is
19:38
Speaker 1: necessary for a conviction. It is obvious therefore that I
19:41
Speaker 1: cannot do better than get away for the few days
19:44
Speaker 1: which remain before the police are at liberty to act.
19:48
Speaker 1: It would be a great pleasure to me. Therefore, if
19:51
Speaker 1: you could come on to the continent with me. The
19:54
Speaker 1: practice is quiet, said I, and I have an accommodating neighbor.
19:59
Speaker 1: I should be glad to come and to start tomorrow
20:02
Speaker 1: morning if necessary. Oh, yes, it is most necessary. Then
20:08
Speaker 1: these are your instructions, and I beg my dear Watson,
20:10
Speaker 1: that you will obey them to the letter, for you
20:13
Speaker 1: are now playing a double handed game with me against
20:16
Speaker 1: the cleverest rogue and the most powerful syndicate of criminals
20:19
Speaker 1: in Europe. Now listen, you will dispatch whatever luggage you
20:24
Speaker 1: intend to take by a trusty messenger unaddressed to Victoria
20:29
Speaker 1: to night. In the morning you will send for a
20:32
Speaker 1: hansom desiring your man to take neither the first nor
20:35
Speaker 1: the second, which may present itself into this hansom. You
20:38
Speaker 1: will jump, and you will drive to the strand end
20:42
Speaker 1: of the louther arcade, handing the address to the cabman
20:45
Speaker 1: upon a slip of paper, with a request that he
20:48
Speaker 1: will not throw it away. Have your fare ready, and
20:52
Speaker 1: the instant that your cab stops. Dashed through the arcade,
20:56
Speaker 1: timing yourself to reach the other side. At a quarter
20:59
Speaker 1: past nine, you will find a small broom waiting close
21:02
Speaker 1: to the curb, driven by a fellow with a heavy
21:05
Speaker 1: black cloak tipped at the collar with red. Into this
21:08
Speaker 1: you will step, and you will reach Victoria in time
21:11
Speaker 1: for the Continental Express. Where shall I meet you at
21:15
Speaker 1: the station? The second first class carriage from the front
21:18
Speaker 1: will be reserved for us. The carriage is our rendezvous. Then, yes,
21:24
Speaker 1: it was in vain that I asked Holmes to remain
21:26
Speaker 1: for the evening. It was evident to me that he
21:29
Speaker 1: thought he might bring trouble to the roof he was under,
21:32
Speaker 1: and that that was the motive which impelled him to go.
21:36
Speaker 1: With a few hurried words as to our plans for
21:38
Speaker 1: the morrow, he rose and came out with me into
21:41
Speaker 1: the garden, clambering over the wall which leads into Mortimer Street,
21:45
Speaker 1: and immediately whistling for a hansom, in which I heard
21:48
Speaker 1: him drive away. In the morning, I obeyed Holmes's injunctions
21:53
Speaker 1: to the letter. A hansom was procured with such precautions
21:57
Speaker 1: as would prevent its being one which was placed ready
22:00
Speaker 1: for us, and I drove immediately after breakfast to the
22:03
Speaker 1: louther arcade, through which I hurried at the top of
22:06
Speaker 1: my speed. A broom was waiting with a very massive
22:10
Speaker 1: driver wrapped in a dark cloak, who the instant that
22:14
Speaker 1: I had stepped in, whipped up the horse and rattled
22:17
Speaker 1: off to Victoria's station. On my alighting there, he turned
22:20
Speaker 1: the carriage and dashed away again without so much as
22:24
Speaker 1: a look in my direction. So far all had gone admirably.
22:29
Speaker 1: My luggage was waiting for me, and I had no
22:31
Speaker 1: difficulty in finding the carriage, which Homes had indicated, the
22:35
Speaker 1: less so as it was the only one in the
22:37
Speaker 1: train which was marked engaged. My only source of anxiety
22:42
Speaker 1: now was the non appearance of Homes. The station clock
22:46
Speaker 1: marked only seven minutes from the time when we were
22:48
Speaker 1: due to start in Vain. I searched among the groups
22:52
Speaker 1: of travelers and leave takers. For the lithe figure of
22:56
Speaker 1: my friend, there was no sign of him. I sped
23:00
Speaker 1: a few minutes in assisting a venerable Italian priest who
23:03
Speaker 1: was endeavoring to make a porter understand in his broken
23:06
Speaker 1: English that his luggage was to be booked through to Paris. Then,
23:11
Speaker 1: having taken another look around, I returned to my carriage,
23:15
Speaker 1: where I found that the porter, in spite of the ticket,
23:18
Speaker 1: had given me my decrepit Italian friend as a traveling companion.
23:23
Speaker 1: It was useless for me to explain to him that
23:25
Speaker 1: his presence was an intrusion, for my Italian was even
23:28
Speaker 1: more limited than his English. So I shrugged my shoulders resignedly,
23:32
Speaker 1: and continued to look out anxiously for my friend. A
23:36
Speaker 1: chill of fear had come over me, as I thought
23:39
Speaker 1: that his absence might mean that some blow had fallen
23:42
Speaker 1: during the night. Already the doors had all been shut
23:46
Speaker 1: and the whistle blown. When my dear Watson said a
23:50
Speaker 1: voice you have not even condescended to say good morning.
23:55
Speaker 1: I turned in incontrollable astonishment. The aged Ecclesiastick had turned
24:00
Speaker 1: his face towards me for an instant. The wrinkles were
24:03
Speaker 1: smoothed away, the nose drew away from the chin, the
24:07
Speaker 1: lower lip ceased to protrude down, the mouth to mumble.
24:10
Speaker 1: The dull eyes regained their fire. The drooping figure expanded.
24:15
Speaker 1: The next the whole frame collapsed again, and Holmes had
24:19
Speaker 1: gone as quickly as he had come. Good Heavens, I cried,
24:23
Speaker 1: how you startled me. Every precaution is still necessary, he whispered.
24:28
Speaker 1: I have reason to think that they are hot upon
24:30
Speaker 1: our trail. Ah, there is moriarti himself. The train had
24:35
Speaker 1: already begun to move. As Homes spoke. Glancing back, I
24:39
Speaker 1: saw a tall man pushing his way furiously through the crowd,
24:43
Speaker 1: and waving his hand as if he desired to have
24:45
Speaker 1: the train stopped. It was too late, however, for we
24:50
Speaker 1: were rapidly gathering momentum, and an instant later had shot
24:54
Speaker 1: clear of the station. With all our precautions. You see
24:58
Speaker 1: that we have cut it rather fine, said her Holmes, laughing.
25:01
Speaker 1: He rose, and throwing off the black cassock and hat
25:04
Speaker 1: which had formed his disguise. He packed them away in
25:07
Speaker 1: a handbag. Have you seen the morning paper, Watson? No,
25:12
Speaker 1: you haven't seen about Baker Street then Baker Street. They
25:16
Speaker 1: set fire to our rooms last night. No great harm
25:19
Speaker 1: was done. Good Heavens Holmes. This is intolerable. They must
25:23
Speaker 1: have lost my track completely after their bludgeon man was arrested.
25:28
Speaker 1: Otherwise they could not have imagined that I had returned
25:30
Speaker 1: to my rooms. They have evidently taken the precaution of
25:34
Speaker 1: watching you, however, and that is what has brought Moriarty
25:37
Speaker 1: to Victoria. You could not have made any slip in coming.
25:42
Speaker 1: I did exactly what you advised. Did you find your broom, Yes,
25:46
Speaker 1: it was waiting. Did you recognize your coachman, No, it
25:50
Speaker 1: was my brother Micraft. It is an advantage to get
25:53
Speaker 1: about in such a case without taking a mercenary into
25:57
Speaker 1: your confidence. But we must plan what we are to
26:00
Speaker 1: do about Mariati now. As this is an express and
26:04
Speaker 1: as the boat runs in connection with it, I should
26:07
Speaker 1: think we have shaken him off very effectively. My dear Watson,
26:10
Speaker 1: you evidently did not realize my meaning when I said
26:13
Speaker 1: that this man may be taken as being quite on
26:16
Speaker 1: the same intellectual plane as myself. You do not imagine
26:19
Speaker 1: that if I were the pursuer, I should allow myself
26:22
Speaker 1: to be baffled by so slight an obstacle, Why then
26:25
Speaker 1: should you think so meanly of him? What will he do?
26:29
Speaker 1: What I should do? What would you do? Then? Engage
26:33
Speaker 1: a special But it must be late by no means.
26:36
Speaker 1: This train stops at Canterbury, and there is always at
26:39
Speaker 1: least a quarter of an hour's delay at the boat.
26:42
Speaker 1: He will catch us there. One would think that we
26:44
Speaker 1: were the criminals. Let us have him arrested on his arrival.
26:48
Speaker 1: It would be to ruin the work of three months.
26:51
Speaker 1: We should get the big fish, but the smaller would
26:54
Speaker 1: dart right and left out of the net on Monday.
26:58
Speaker 1: We should have them all. No, an arrest is inadmissible.
27:01
Speaker 1: What then we shall get out at Canterbury. And then well,
27:06
Speaker 1: then we must make a cross country journey to new
27:08
Speaker 1: Haven and so over to d'epp Moriarty will again do
27:12
Speaker 1: what I should do. He will get on to Paris,
27:15
Speaker 1: mark down our luggage and wait for two days at
27:18
Speaker 1: the depot. In the meantime, we shall treat ourselves to
27:21
Speaker 1: a couple of carpet bags, encourage the manufactures of the
27:24
Speaker 1: countries through which we travel, and make our way at
27:28
Speaker 1: our leisure into Switzerland via Luxembourg and bal I am
27:33
Speaker 1: too old a traveler to allow myself to be seriously
27:36
Speaker 1: inconvenienced by the loss of my luggage. But I confess
27:40
Speaker 1: that I was annoyed at the idea of being forced
27:42
Speaker 1: to dodge and hide before a man whose record was
27:45
Speaker 1: black with unutterable infamies. It was evident, however, that Holmes
27:50
Speaker 1: understood the situation more clearly than I did at Canterbury. Therefore,
27:54
Speaker 1: we are lighted, only to find that we should have
27:57
Speaker 1: to wait an hour before we could get a train
27:59
Speaker 1: to New Haven. I was still looking rather ruefully after
28:03
Speaker 1: the rapidly disappearing luggage van which contained my wardrobe, when
28:07
Speaker 1: Holmes pulled my sleeve and pointed up the line. Already
28:12
Speaker 1: you see, said he. Far away among the Kentish woods,
28:16
Speaker 1: there rose a thin spray of smoke. A minute later
28:19
Speaker 1: a carriage and engine could be seen flying along the
28:22
Speaker 1: open curve which leads to the station. We had hardly
28:26
Speaker 1: time to take our places behind a pile of luggage
28:29
Speaker 1: when it passed with a rattle and a roar, beating
28:33
Speaker 1: a blast of hot air into our faces. There he goes,
28:36
Speaker 1: said Holmes, as we watched the carriage swing and rock
28:40
Speaker 1: over the points. There are limits, you see, to our
28:43
Speaker 1: friend's intelligence. It would have been a coup de metre
28:47
Speaker 1: had he deduced what I would deduce and acted accordingly.
28:52
Speaker 1: And what would he have done had he overtaken us?
28:55
Speaker 1: There cannot be the least doubt that he would have
28:57
Speaker 1: made a murderous attack upon me. It is, however, a
29:01
Speaker 1: game at which two may play. The question now is
29:04
Speaker 1: whether we should take a premature lunch here or run
29:07
Speaker 1: our chance of starving. Before we reached the buffet at
29:11
Speaker 1: new Haven, we made our way to Brussels that night
29:16
Speaker 1: and spent two days there, moving upon the third day
29:19
Speaker 1: as far as Strasbourg. On the Monday morning Holmes had
29:23
Speaker 1: telegraphed to the London police, and in the evening we
29:26
Speaker 1: found a reply waiting for us at our hotel home.
29:30
Speaker 1: Store it open, and then, with a bitter curse, hurled
29:33
Speaker 1: it into the grate. I might have known it, he groaned.
29:37
Speaker 1: He has escaped Mariarty. They have secured the whole gang,
29:42
Speaker 1: with the exception of him. He has given them the slip.
29:46
Speaker 1: Of course, when I had left the country there was
29:49
Speaker 1: no one to cope with him. But I did think
29:52
Speaker 1: that I had put the game in their hands. I
29:55
Speaker 1: think that you had better return to England, Watson, Why
29:59
Speaker 1: because you will find me a dangerous companion. Now this
30:03
Speaker 1: man's occupation is gone. He is lost if he returns
30:06
Speaker 1: to London. If I read his character right, he will
30:09
Speaker 1: devote his whole energies to revenging himself upon me. He
30:13
Speaker 1: said as much in our short interview, and I fancy
30:16
Speaker 1: that he meant it. I should certainly recommend you to
30:19
Speaker 1: return to your practice. It was hardly an appeal to
30:23
Speaker 1: be successful with one who was an old campaigner as
30:27
Speaker 1: well as an old friend. We sat in the Strasbourg
30:30
Speaker 1: Salamonnges arguing the question for half an hour. But the
30:34
Speaker 1: same night we had resumed our journey and were well
30:37
Speaker 1: on our way to Geneva for a charming week. We
30:42
Speaker 1: wandered up the valley of the Rhone, and then branching
30:45
Speaker 1: off at Luke, we made our way over the Jemmy Pass,
30:49
Speaker 1: still deep in snow, and so by way of Interlaken
30:53
Speaker 1: to Mehringen. It was a lovely trip, the dainty green
30:58
Speaker 1: of the spring below, the virgin white of the winter above.
31:03
Speaker 1: But it was clear to me that never for one
31:05
Speaker 1: instant did Holmes forget the shadow which lay across him.
31:09
Speaker 1: In the homely alpine villages or in the lonely mountain passes,
31:13
Speaker 1: I could still tell, by his quick glancing eyes and
31:16
Speaker 1: his sharp scrutiny of every face that passed us, that
31:19
Speaker 1: he was well convinced that walk where we would, we
31:22
Speaker 1: could not walk ourselves clear of the danger which was
31:25
Speaker 1: dogging our footsteps. Once I remember, as we passed over
31:30
Speaker 1: the Gemmy and walked along the border of the melancholy Dobenzeh,
31:35
Speaker 1: a large rock which had been dislodged from the ridge
31:37
Speaker 1: upon our right, clattered down and roared into the lake
31:41
Speaker 1: behind us. In an instant, Holmes had raced up on
31:45
Speaker 1: to the ridge, and, standing upon a lofty pinnacle, craned
31:49
Speaker 1: his neck in every direction. It was in vain that
31:53
Speaker 1: our guide assured him that a fall of stones was
31:56
Speaker 1: a common chance in the springtime at that spot. He
31:59
Speaker 1: said nothing, but he smiled at me with the air
32:02
Speaker 1: of a man who sees the fulfillment of that which
32:05
Speaker 1: he had expected. And yet for all his watchfulness, he
32:09
Speaker 1: was never depressed. On the contrary, I can never recollect
32:13
Speaker 1: having seen him in such exuberant spirits. Again and again
32:17
Speaker 1: he recurred to the fact that if he could be
32:19
Speaker 1: assured that society was freed from Professor Moriarty, he would
32:23
Speaker 1: cheerfully bring his own career to a conclusion. I think
32:27
Speaker 1: that I may go so far as to say, Watson,
32:30
Speaker 1: that I have not lived wholly in vain. He remarked.
32:34
Speaker 1: If my record were closed to night, I could still
32:36
Speaker 1: survey it with equanimity. The air of London is the
32:40
Speaker 1: sweeter for my presence in over a thousand cases. I
32:45
Speaker 1: am not aware that I have ever used my powers
32:47
Speaker 1: upon the wrong side of late. I have been tempted
32:51
Speaker 1: to look into the problems furnished by nature, rather than
32:54
Speaker 1: those more superficial ones for which our artificial state of
32:58
Speaker 1: society is responsible. Your memoirs will draw to an end, Watson,
33:03
Speaker 1: upon the day that I crown my career by the
33:05
Speaker 1: capture or extinction of the most dangerous and capable criminal
33:10
Speaker 1: in Europe. I shall be brief and yet exact in
33:15
Speaker 1: the little which remains for me to tell. It is
33:18
Speaker 1: not a subject on which I would willingly dwell, and
33:21
Speaker 1: yet I am conscious that a duty devolves upon me
33:24
Speaker 1: to omit no detail. It was upon the third of
33:28
Speaker 1: May that we reached the little village of Merringen, where
33:31
Speaker 1: we put up at the Englisherhoff, then kept by Peter Steiler,
33:35
Speaker 1: the elder. Our landlord was an intelligent man and spoke
33:40
Speaker 1: excellent English, having served for three years as waiter at
33:44
Speaker 1: the Grosvenor Hotel in London. At his advice, upon the
33:48
Speaker 1: afternoon of the fourth we set off together with the
33:51
Speaker 1: intention of crossing the hills and spending the night at
33:54
Speaker 1: the hamlet of Rosenlau. We had strict injunctions. However, on
33:59
Speaker 1: Noah cant to pass the falls of Reichenbach, which are
34:02
Speaker 1: about halfway up the hill, without making a small day
34:06
Speaker 1: tour to see them. It is indeed a fearful place.
34:11
Speaker 1: The torrent, swollen by the melting snow, plunges into a
34:15
Speaker 1: tremendous abyss, from which the spray rolls up like the
34:19
Speaker 1: smoke from a burning house. The shaft into which the
34:23
Speaker 1: river hurls itself is an immense chasm, lined by glistening coal,
34:28
Speaker 1: black rock, and narrowing into a creaming, boiling pit of
34:33
Speaker 1: incalculable depth, which brims over and shoots the stream onward
34:38
Speaker 1: over its jagged lip. The long sweep of green water
34:43
Speaker 1: roaring forever down, and the thick, flickering curtain of spray,
34:47
Speaker 1: hissing forever upwards, turn a man giddy with their constant
34:52
Speaker 1: whirl and clamor. We stood near the edge, peering down
34:57
Speaker 1: at the gleam of the breaking water far below us,
34:59
Speaker 1: against the black rocks, and listening to the half human
35:03
Speaker 1: shout which came booming up with the spray out of
35:07
Speaker 1: the abyss. The path has been cut halfway round the
35:11
Speaker 1: fall to afford a complete view, but it ends abruptly,
35:16
Speaker 1: and the traveler has to return as he came. We
35:20
Speaker 1: had turned to do so when we saw a Swiss
35:22
Speaker 1: lad come running along it with a letter in his hand.
35:26
Speaker 1: It bore the mark of the hotel which we had
35:28
Speaker 1: just left, and was addressed to me by the landlord.
35:32
Speaker 1: It appeared that within a very few minutes of our leaving,
35:35
Speaker 1: an English lady had arrived, who was in the last
35:38
Speaker 1: stage of consumption. She had wintered at Davos Platz and
35:43
Speaker 1: was journeying now to join her friends at Lucerne. When
35:47
Speaker 1: a sudden hemorrhage had overtaken her. It was thought that
35:50
Speaker 1: she could hardly live a few hours, but it would
35:53
Speaker 1: be a great consolation to her to see an English doctor,
35:57
Speaker 1: and if I would only return, etc. Etc. The good
36:01
Speaker 1: Stuyler assured me in a PostScript that he would himself
36:05
Speaker 1: look upon my compliance as a very great favor, since
36:09
Speaker 1: the lady absolutely refused to see a Swiss physician, and
36:13
Speaker 1: he could not but feel that he was incurring a
36:15
Speaker 1: great responsibility. The appeal was one which could not be ignored.
36:21
Speaker 1: It was impossible to refuse the request of a fellow
36:23
Speaker 1: countrywoman dying in a strange land, yet I had my
36:27
Speaker 1: scruples about leaving homes. It was finally agreed, however, that
36:32
Speaker 1: he should retain the young Swiss messenger with him as
36:35
Speaker 1: guide and companion while I returned to Merringen. My friend
36:40
Speaker 1: would stay some little time at the fall, he said,
36:43
Speaker 1: and would then walk slowly over the hill to Rosenlau,
36:47
Speaker 1: where I was to rejoin him in the evening. As
36:50
Speaker 1: I turned away, I saw Holmes with his back against
36:54
Speaker 1: a rock and his arms folded, gazing down at the
36:57
Speaker 1: rush of waters. It was the last that I was
37:00
Speaker 1: ever destined to see of him in this world. When
37:04
Speaker 1: I was near the bottom of the descent, I looked back.
37:08
Speaker 1: It was impossible from that position to see the fall,
37:12
Speaker 1: but I could see the curving path which winds over
37:14
Speaker 1: the shoulder of the hill and leads to it. Along
37:18
Speaker 1: this a man was, I remember, walking very rapidly. I
37:23
Speaker 1: could see his black figure clearly outlined against the green
37:26
Speaker 1: behind him. I noted him and the energy with which
37:30
Speaker 1: he walked, but he passed from my mind again as
37:34
Speaker 1: I hurried on upon my errand it may have been
37:38
Speaker 1: a little over an hour before I reached Meringen. Old
37:42
Speaker 1: Stuyler was standing at the porch of his hotel. Well,
37:45
Speaker 1: said I, as I came hurrying up. I trust that
37:48
Speaker 1: she is no worse. A look of surprise passed over
37:52
Speaker 1: his face, and at the first quiver of his eyebrows,
37:56
Speaker 1: my heart turned to lead in my breast. You did
37:59
Speaker 1: not write this, I said, pulling the letter from my pocket.
38:04
Speaker 1: There is no sick english woman in the hotel. Certainly not,
38:08
Speaker 1: he cried. But it does the hotel mark upon it. Ah,
38:12
Speaker 1: it must have been written by that tall englishman who
38:14
Speaker 1: came in after you had gone, he said. But I
38:18
Speaker 1: waited for none of the landlord's explanations. In a tingle
38:22
Speaker 1: of fear, I was already running down the village street
38:25
Speaker 1: and making for the path which I had so lately descended.
38:29
Speaker 1: It had taken me an hour to come down. For
38:32
Speaker 1: all my efforts, Two more had passed before I found
38:35
Speaker 1: myself at the fall of Reichenbach. Once more, there was
38:40
Speaker 1: Holmes's alpine stock, still leaning against the rock by which
38:43
Speaker 1: I had left him. But there was no sign of him,
38:47
Speaker 1: And it was in vain that I shouted. My only
38:51
Speaker 1: answer was my own voice, reverberating in a rolling echo
38:54
Speaker 1: from the cliffs around me. It was the sight of
38:59
Speaker 1: that alpine st which turned me cold and sick. He
39:03
Speaker 1: had not gone to Rosenlaud. Then. He had remained on
39:07
Speaker 1: that three foot path, with sheer wall on one side
39:10
Speaker 1: and sheer drop upon the other, until his enemy had
39:14
Speaker 1: overtaken him. The young Swiss had gone too. He had
39:19
Speaker 1: probably been in the pay of Mariati and had left
39:23
Speaker 1: the two men together. And then what had happened? Who
39:27
Speaker 1: was to tell us what had happened? Then I stood
39:31
Speaker 1: for a minute or two to collect myself, for I
39:34
Speaker 1: was dazed with the horror of the thing. Then I
39:37
Speaker 1: began to think of Holmes's own methods and to try
39:40
Speaker 1: to practice them in reading this tragedy. It was alas
39:45
Speaker 1: only too easy to do. During our conversation. We had
39:50
Speaker 1: not gone to the end of the path, and the
39:52
Speaker 1: alpine stock marked the place where we had stood. The
39:56
Speaker 1: blackish soil is kept forever soft by the incessant drift
40:00
Speaker 1: of spray, and a bird would leave its tread upon it.
40:05
Speaker 1: Two lines of footmarks were clearly marked along the farther
40:08
Speaker 1: end of the path, both leading away from me. There
40:13
Speaker 1: were none returning. A few yards from the end, the
40:17
Speaker 1: soil was all plowed up into a patch of mud,
40:20
Speaker 1: and the brambles and ferns which fringed the chasm were
40:24
Speaker 1: torn and bedraggled. I lay upon my face and peered over,
40:29
Speaker 1: with the spray spouting up all around me. It had
40:33
Speaker 1: darkened since I left, and now I could only see
40:36
Speaker 1: here and there the glistening of moisture upon the black walls,
40:40
Speaker 1: and far away, down at the end of the shaft,
40:44
Speaker 1: the gleam of the broken water. I shouted, but only
40:49
Speaker 1: that same half human cry of the fall was borne
40:53
Speaker 1: back to my ears. But it was destined that I
40:57
Speaker 1: should after all have a last word of greeting from
41:00
Speaker 1: my friend and comrade. I have said that his alpine
41:04
Speaker 1: stock had been left leaning against a rock which jutted
41:08
Speaker 1: onto the path from the top of this boulder. The
41:11
Speaker 1: gleam of something bright caught my eye, and raising my hand,
41:15
Speaker 1: I found that it came from the silver cigarette case
41:18
Speaker 1: which he used to carry. As I took it up,
41:21
Speaker 1: a small square of paper upon which it had lain
41:25
Speaker 1: fluttered down onto the ground. Unfolding it, I found that
41:29
Speaker 1: it consisted of three pages torn from his notebook and
41:33
Speaker 1: addressed to me. It was characteristic of the man that
41:38
Speaker 1: the direction was as precise, and the writing as firm
41:41
Speaker 1: and clear, as though it had been written in his study.
41:48
Speaker 1: My dear Watson, he said, I write these few lines
41:52
Speaker 1: through the courtesy of mister Moriarty, who awaits my convenience
41:56
Speaker 1: for the final discussion of those questions which lie between us.
42:01
Speaker 1: He has been giving me a sketch of the methods
42:03
Speaker 1: by which he avoided the English police and kept himself
42:07
Speaker 1: informed of our movements. They certainly confirmed the very high
42:11
Speaker 1: opinion which I had formed of his abilities. I am
42:14
Speaker 1: pleased to think that I shall be able to free
42:17
Speaker 1: society from any further effects of his presence, though I
42:21
Speaker 1: fear that it is at a cost which will give
42:24
Speaker 1: pain to my friends, and especially my dear Watson to you.
42:32
Speaker 1: I have already explained to you, however, that my career
42:35
Speaker 1: had in any case reached its crisis, and that no
42:39
Speaker 1: possible conclusion to it could be more congenial to me
42:43
Speaker 1: than this. Indeed, if I may make a full confession
42:46
Speaker 1: to you, I was quite convinced that the letter from
42:49
Speaker 1: Merringen was a hoax, and I allowed you to depart
42:54
Speaker 1: on that errand, under the persuasion that some development of
42:58
Speaker 1: this sort would follow. Tell Inspector Patterson that the papers
43:02
Speaker 1: which he needs to convict the gang are in Pigeonhole,
43:06
Speaker 1: m done up in a blue envelope and inscribed Moriarty.
43:11
Speaker 1: I made every disposition of my property before leaving England,
43:15
Speaker 1: and handed it to my brother Micraft. Pray give my
43:19
Speaker 1: greetings to missus Watson, and believe me to be my
43:23
Speaker 1: dear fellow. Very sincerely, yours, Sherlock Holmes. A few words
43:32
Speaker 1: may suffice to tell the little that remains. An examination
43:37
Speaker 1: by experts leaves little doubt that a personal contest between
43:41
Speaker 1: the two men ended, as it could hardly fail to
43:44
Speaker 1: end in such a situation. In their reeling over locked
43:48
Speaker 1: in each other's arms, any attempt at recovering the bodies
43:52
Speaker 1: was absolutely hopeless, and there, deep down in that dreadful
43:56
Speaker 1: cauldron of swirling water and seething foam, will lie for
44:00
Speaker 1: all time the most dangerous criminal and the foremost champion
44:06
Speaker 1: of the law of their generation. The Swiss youth was
44:10
Speaker 1: never found again, and there can be no doubt that
44:14
Speaker 1: he was one of the numerous agents whom Moriarty kept
44:17
Speaker 1: in his employ. As to the gang, it will be
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Speaker 1: within the memory of the public how completely the evidence
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Speaker 1: which Holmes had accumulated exposed their organization, and how heavily
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Speaker 1: the hand of the dead man weighed upon them of
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Speaker 1: their terrible chief. Few details came out during the proceedings,
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Speaker 1: And if I have now been compelled to make a
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Speaker 1: clear statement of his career, it is due to those
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Speaker 1: injudicious champions who have endeavored to clear his memory by
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Speaker 1: attacks upon him, whom I shall ever regard as the
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Speaker 1: best and the wisest man whom I have ever known.
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Speaker 1: That is the end of the adventure of the Final Problem.
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Speaker 1: From the Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle,
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Speaker 1: read by Greg Wagland for Magpie Audio, twenty sixteen.