Latest / Sherlock Holmes / 14 The Cardboard Box from The Memoirs of Sherlock Ho

Transcript

14 The Cardboard Box from The Memoirs of Sherlock Ho · Sherlock Holmes

0:01
Speaker 1: The Adventure of the Cardboard Box. In choosing a few
0:09
Speaker 1: typical cases which illustrate the remarkable mental qualities of my
0:13
Speaker 1: friend Sherlock Holmes, I have endeavored, as far as possible
0:17
Speaker 1: to select those which presented the minimum of sensationalism, while
0:22
Speaker 1: offering a fair field for his talents. It is, however,
0:26
Speaker 1: unfortunately impossible entirely to separate the sensational from the criminal,
0:32
Speaker 1: and a chronicler is left in the dilemma that he
0:35
Speaker 1: must either sacrifice details which are essential to his statement,
0:39
Speaker 1: and so give a false impression of the problem, or
0:42
Speaker 1: he must use matter which chance and not choice, has
0:46
Speaker 1: provided him with. With this short preface, I shall turn
0:51
Speaker 1: to my notes of what proved to be a strange,
0:55
Speaker 1: though a peculiarly terrible chain of events. It was a
1:00
Speaker 1: blazing hot day in August. Baker Street was like an oven,
1:04
Speaker 1: and the glare of the sunlight upon the yellow brickwork
1:07
Speaker 1: of the house across the road was painful to the eye.
1:11
Speaker 1: It was hard to believe that these were the same
1:13
Speaker 1: walls which loomed so gloomily through the fogs of winter.
1:17
Speaker 1: Our blinds were half drawn, and homes lay curled upon
1:21
Speaker 1: the sofa reading and re reading a letter which he
1:24
Speaker 1: had received by the morning post. For myself, my term
1:29
Speaker 1: of service in India had trained me to stand heat
1:32
Speaker 1: better than cold, and a thermometer at ninety was no hardship.
1:37
Speaker 1: But the morning paper was uninteresting. Parliament had risen, everybody
1:42
Speaker 1: was out of town, and I yearned for the glades
1:45
Speaker 1: of the new Forest or the shingle of South Sea.
1:49
Speaker 1: A depleted bank account had caused me to postpone my holiday.
1:53
Speaker 1: And as to my companion, neither the country nor the
1:56
Speaker 1: sea presented the slightest attraction to him. He loved to
1:59
Speaker 1: lie in the very center of five millions of people,
2:02
Speaker 1: with his filaments stretching out and running through them, responsive
2:06
Speaker 1: to every little rumor or suspicion of unsolved crime. Appreciation
2:11
Speaker 1: of nature found no place among his many gifts, and
2:15
Speaker 1: his only change was when he turned his mind from
2:18
Speaker 1: the evil doer of the town to track down his
2:21
Speaker 1: brother of the country. Finding that Holmes was too absorbed
2:25
Speaker 1: for conversation, I had tossed aside the barren paper, and
2:29
Speaker 1: leaning back in my chair, I fell into a brown study.
2:33
Speaker 1: Suddenly my companion's voice broke in upon my thoughts. You
2:37
Speaker 1: are right Watson said he it does seem a most
2:40
Speaker 1: preposterous way of settling a dispute. Most preposterous, I exclaimed,
2:46
Speaker 1: and then, suddenly realizing how he had echoed the inmost
2:50
Speaker 1: thought of my soul, I sat up in my chair
2:53
Speaker 1: and stared at him in blank amazement. What is this, Holmes,
2:57
Speaker 1: I cried, This is beyond anything which I could imagined.
3:01
Speaker 1: He laughed heartily at my perplexity. You remember, said he that,
3:06
Speaker 1: some little time ago, when I read you the passage
3:08
Speaker 1: in one of Poe's sketches in which a close reasoner
3:11
Speaker 1: follows the unspoken thoughts of his companion, you were inclined
3:15
Speaker 1: to treat the matter as a mere tour de force
3:18
Speaker 1: of the author. On my remarking that I was constantly
3:21
Speaker 1: in the habit of doing the same thing, you expressed incredulity.
3:26
Speaker 1: Oh no, perhaps not with your tongue, my dear Watson,
3:29
Speaker 1: but certainly with your eyebrows. So when I saw you
3:33
Speaker 1: throw down your paper and enter upon a train of thought,
3:36
Speaker 1: I was very happy to have the opportunity of reading
3:39
Speaker 1: it off, and eventually of breaking into it, as a
3:43
Speaker 1: proof that I had been in rapport with you. But
3:47
Speaker 1: I was still far from satisfied in the example which
3:50
Speaker 1: you read to me, said I. The reasoner drew his
3:54
Speaker 1: conclusions from the actions of the man whom he observed.
3:58
Speaker 1: If I remember right, he stumbled over a heap of stones,
4:01
Speaker 1: looked up at the stars, and so on. But I
4:04
Speaker 1: have been seated quietly in my chair, And what clues
4:08
Speaker 1: can I have given you? You do yourself an injustice.
4:13
Speaker 1: The features are given to man as the means by
4:16
Speaker 1: which he shall express his emotions, and yours are faithful servants.
4:21
Speaker 1: Do you mean to say that you read my train
4:23
Speaker 1: of thoughts from my features? Your features, and especially your eyes.
4:27
Speaker 1: Perhaps you cannot yourself recall how your reverie commenced. No
4:32
Speaker 1: I cannot. Then I will tell you. After throwing down
4:36
Speaker 1: your paper, which was the action which drew my attention
4:39
Speaker 1: to you, you sat for half a minute with a
4:42
Speaker 1: vacant expression. Then your eyes fixed themselves upon your newly
4:46
Speaker 1: framed picture of General Gordon, and I saw by the
4:50
Speaker 1: alteration in your face that a train of thought had
4:53
Speaker 1: been started, but it did not lead very far. Your
4:57
Speaker 1: eyes flashed across to the unframed portrait of Henry Ward Beecher,
5:01
Speaker 1: which stands upon the top of your books. Then you
5:04
Speaker 1: glanced up at the wall, and of course your meaning
5:07
Speaker 1: was obvious. You were thinking that if the portrait were framed,
5:11
Speaker 1: it would just cover that bare space and correspond with
5:14
Speaker 1: Gordon's picture. There you have followed me wonderfully, I exclaimed,
5:19
Speaker 1: so far I could hardly have gone astray. But now
5:23
Speaker 1: your thoughts went back to Beecher, and you looked hard across,
5:26
Speaker 1: as if you were studying the character in his features.
5:29
Speaker 1: Then your eyes ceased to pucker, but you continued to
5:32
Speaker 1: look across, and your face was thoughtful. You were recalling
5:36
Speaker 1: the incidents of Beecher's career. I was well aware that
5:40
Speaker 1: you could not do this without thinking of the mission
5:42
Speaker 1: which she undertook on behalf of the North at the
5:45
Speaker 1: time of the Civil War. For I remember your expressing
5:49
Speaker 1: your passionate indignation at the way in which he was
5:52
Speaker 1: received by the more turbulent of our people. You felt
5:56
Speaker 1: so strongly about it that I knew you could not
5:58
Speaker 1: think of Beecher without thinking of that. Also, when a
6:02
Speaker 1: moment later I saw your eyes wander away from the picture,
6:06
Speaker 1: I suspected that your mind had now turned to the
6:08
Speaker 1: Civil War. And when I observed that your lips set,
6:12
Speaker 1: your eyes sparkled, and your hands clenched. I was positive
6:16
Speaker 1: that you were indeed thinking of the gallantry which was
6:19
Speaker 1: shown by both sides in that desperate struggle. But then
6:23
Speaker 1: again your face grew sadder. You shook your head. You
6:27
Speaker 1: were dwelling upon the sadness and horror and useless waste
6:30
Speaker 1: of life. Your hand stole towards your old wound, and
6:35
Speaker 1: a smile quivered on your lips, which showed me that
6:38
Speaker 1: the ridiculous side of this method of settling international questions
6:42
Speaker 1: had forced itself upon your mind. At this point I
6:46
Speaker 1: agreed with you that it was preposterous, and was glad
6:49
Speaker 1: to find that all my deductions had been correct, absolutely,
6:54
Speaker 1: said I. And now that you have explained it, I
6:57
Speaker 1: confess that I am as amazed as before. It was
7:01
Speaker 1: very superficial, my dear Watson. I assure you I should
7:04
Speaker 1: not have intruded it upon your attention, had you not
7:07
Speaker 1: shown some incredulity the other day that I have in
7:11
Speaker 1: my hands here a little problem which may prove to
7:14
Speaker 1: be more difficult of solution than my small essay in
7:17
Speaker 1: fort reading. Have you observed in the paper a short
7:21
Speaker 1: paragraph referring to the remarkable contents of a packet sent
7:25
Speaker 1: through the post to Miscushing of Cross Street, Creyden. No
7:29
Speaker 1: I saw nothing. Ah, then you must have overlooked it.
7:34
Speaker 1: Just toss it over to me. Here it is under
7:37
Speaker 1: the financial column. Perhaps you would be good enough to
7:40
Speaker 1: read it aloud. I picked up the paper which he
7:44
Speaker 1: had thrown back to me and read the paragraph indicated
7:48
Speaker 1: it was headed a gruesome packet. Miss Susan Cushing, living
7:54
Speaker 1: at Cross Street, Croydon, has been made the victim of
7:58
Speaker 1: what must be regarded as a peculiarly revolting practical joke,
8:03
Speaker 1: unless some more sinister meaning should prove to be attached
8:06
Speaker 1: to the incident. At two o'clock yesterday afternoon, a small
8:09
Speaker 1: packet wrapped in brown paper was handed in by the postman.
8:14
Speaker 1: A cardboard box was inside, which was filled with coarse salt.
8:19
Speaker 1: On emptying this, Miss Cushion was horrified to find two
8:23
Speaker 1: human ears, apparently quite freshly severed. The box had been
8:28
Speaker 1: sent by parcel Post from Belfast upon the morning before.
8:33
Speaker 1: There is no indication as to the sender, and the
8:36
Speaker 1: matter is the more mysterious as Miss Cushing, who is
8:39
Speaker 1: a maiden lady of fifty, has led a most retired
8:42
Speaker 1: life and has so few acquaintances or correspondence that it
8:47
Speaker 1: is a rare event for her to receive anything through
8:49
Speaker 1: the post. Some years ago, however, when she resided at Penge,
8:54
Speaker 1: she led her apartments in her house to three young
8:57
Speaker 1: medical students, whom she was a blige edge to get
9:00
Speaker 1: rid of on account of their noisy and irregular habits.
9:04
Speaker 1: The police are of opinion that this outrage may have
9:07
Speaker 1: been perpetrated upon Miss Cushing by these youths, who owed
9:11
Speaker 1: her a grudge, and who hope to frighten her by
9:13
Speaker 1: sending her these relics of the dissecting rooms. Some probability
9:18
Speaker 1: is lent to the theory by the fact that one
9:20
Speaker 1: of these students came from the North of Ireland, and
9:23
Speaker 1: the best of Miss Cushing's belief, from Belfast. In the meantime,
9:27
Speaker 1: the matter is being actively investigated, mister Lestrade, one of
9:32
Speaker 1: the very smartest of our detective officers, being in charge
9:35
Speaker 1: of the case. So much for the Daily Chronicle, said Holmes,
9:39
Speaker 1: as I finished reading now for our friend Lestrade, I
9:43
Speaker 1: had a note from him this morning in which he says,
9:46
Speaker 1: I think that this case is very much in your line.
9:49
Speaker 1: We have every hope of clearing the matter up, but
9:51
Speaker 1: we find a little difficulty in getting anything to work upon.
9:55
Speaker 1: We have, of course wired to the Belfast post office,
9:58
Speaker 1: but a large number of parcels handed in upon that day,
10:01
Speaker 1: and they have no means of identifying this particular one
10:04
Speaker 1: or of remembering the sender. The box is a half
10:08
Speaker 1: pound box of honey dew tobacco and does not help
10:11
Speaker 1: us in any way. The medical student theory still appears
10:14
Speaker 1: to me to be the most feasible. But if you
10:17
Speaker 1: should have a few hours to spare, I should be
10:19
Speaker 1: very happy to see you out here. I shall be
10:21
Speaker 1: either at the house or in the police station all day.
10:24
Speaker 1: What say you, Watson? Can you rise superior to the
10:27
Speaker 1: heat and run down to Croydon with me on the
10:30
Speaker 1: off chance of a case for your annals. I was
10:33
Speaker 1: longing for something to do. You shall have it. Then
10:36
Speaker 1: ring for our boots and tell them to order a cab.
10:39
Speaker 1: I'll be back in a moment when I have changed
10:41
Speaker 1: my dressing gown and filled my cigar case. A shower
10:46
Speaker 1: of rain fell while we were in the train, and
10:49
Speaker 1: the heat was far less oppressive in Croydon than in town.
10:53
Speaker 1: Holmes had sent on a wire so that Lestrade, as wiry,
10:57
Speaker 1: as dapper, and as ferret like as ever, was waiting
11:00
Speaker 1: for us at the station. A walk of five minutes
11:03
Speaker 1: took us to cross street where Miss Cushing resided. It
11:08
Speaker 1: was a very long street of two story brick houses,
11:11
Speaker 1: neat and prim with whitened stone steps, and little groups
11:15
Speaker 1: of aproned women gossiping at the doors. Half Way down,
11:19
Speaker 1: Lestrade stopped and tapped at a door, which was opened
11:23
Speaker 1: by a small servant girl. Miss Cushing was sitting in
11:26
Speaker 1: the front room into which we were ushered. She was
11:29
Speaker 1: a placid faced woman with large, gentle eyes and grizzled
11:33
Speaker 1: hair curving down over her temples. On each side a
11:37
Speaker 1: worked anti macassa laying upon her lap, and a basket
11:41
Speaker 1: of colored silks stood upon a stool beside her. They
11:45
Speaker 1: are in the outhouse, those dreadful things, said she as
11:48
Speaker 1: Lestrade entered. I wish that you would take them away altogether,
11:53
Speaker 1: so I shall, Miss Cushing. I only kept them here
11:56
Speaker 1: until my friend mister Holmes should have seen them in
11:58
Speaker 1: your presence. Why in my presence, sir, in case he
12:02
Speaker 1: wished to ask any questions, what is the use of
12:05
Speaker 1: asking me questions when I tell you I know nothing
12:07
Speaker 1: whatever about it. Quite so, Madam, said Holmes, in his
12:11
Speaker 1: soothing way. I have no doubt that you have been
12:14
Speaker 1: annoyed more than enough already over this business. Indeed, I have, sir.
12:18
Speaker 1: I'm a quiet woman and live a retired life. It
12:22
Speaker 1: is something new for me to see my name in
12:23
Speaker 1: the papers and to find the police in my house.
12:27
Speaker 1: I won't have those things in here, mister Lestrade. If
12:30
Speaker 1: you wish to see them, you must go to the outhouse.
12:33
Speaker 1: It was a small shed in the narrow garden which
12:36
Speaker 1: ran behind the house. Lestrade went in and brought out
12:40
Speaker 1: a yellow cardboard box with a piece of brown paper
12:43
Speaker 1: and some string. There was a bench at the end
12:46
Speaker 1: of the path, and we all sat down while Holmes
12:49
Speaker 1: examined one by one the articles which Lestrade had handed him.
12:54
Speaker 1: The string is exceedingly interesting, he remarked, holding it up
12:58
Speaker 1: to the light and sniffing at it. What do you
13:01
Speaker 1: make of this string, Lestrade? It has been tard precisely.
13:06
Speaker 1: It is a piece of tarred twine. You have also
13:09
Speaker 1: no doubt remarked that miss Cushing has cut the cord
13:12
Speaker 1: with a scissors as can be seen by the double
13:15
Speaker 1: fray on each side. This is of importance. I cannot
13:19
Speaker 1: say the importance, said Lestrade. The importance lies in the
13:23
Speaker 1: fact that the knot is left intact, and that this
13:26
Speaker 1: knot is of a peculiar character. It is very neatly tied.
13:31
Speaker 1: I had already made a note of that effect, said
13:34
Speaker 1: Lestrade complacently. So much for the string, then, said Holmes, smiling.
13:39
Speaker 1: Now for the box wrapper, brown paper with a distinct
13:42
Speaker 1: smell of coffee. What did you not observe it? I
13:46
Speaker 1: think there can be no doubt of it. A dress
13:49
Speaker 1: printed in rather straggling characters, Miss s Cushing, Cross Street, Croyden,
13:55
Speaker 1: done with a broad pointed pen, probably a jay, and
13:59
Speaker 1: with very infare ink. The word Croydon has been originally
14:03
Speaker 1: spelled with an eye, which has been changed to why
14:08
Speaker 1: the parcel was directed then by a man. The printing
14:11
Speaker 1: is distinctly masculine, of limited education and unacquainted with the
14:15
Speaker 1: town of Croydon. So far, so good. The box is
14:19
Speaker 1: a yellow half pound honey dew box with nothing distinctive
14:23
Speaker 1: save two thumb marks at the left bottom corner. It
14:27
Speaker 1: is filled with rough salt after the quality used for
14:30
Speaker 1: preserving hides and other of the coarser commercial purposes, and
14:35
Speaker 1: embedded in it are these very singular enclosures. He took
14:40
Speaker 1: out the two ears as he spoke, and, laying a
14:43
Speaker 1: board across his knee, he examined them minutely, while Lestrade
14:49
Speaker 1: and I, bending forward on each side of him, glanced
14:53
Speaker 1: alternately at these dreadful relics and at the thoughtful, eager
14:57
Speaker 1: face of our companion. Finally, he returned them to the
15:01
Speaker 1: box once more, and sat for a while in deep meditation.
15:06
Speaker 1: You have observed, of course, said he at last, that
15:10
Speaker 1: the ears are not a pair. Yes, I have noticed that.
15:15
Speaker 1: But if this were the practical joke of some students
15:18
Speaker 1: from the dissecting rooms, it would be as easy for
15:22
Speaker 1: them to send two odd ears as a pair. Precisely.
15:26
Speaker 1: But this is not a practical joke, you are sure
15:30
Speaker 1: of it. The presumption is strongly against it. Bodies in
15:34
Speaker 1: the dissecting rooms are injected with preservative fluid. These ears
15:38
Speaker 1: bear no signs of this. They are fresh too. They
15:42
Speaker 1: have been cut off with a blunt instrument, which would
15:45
Speaker 1: hardly happen if a student had done it again. Carbolic
15:49
Speaker 1: or rectified spirits would be the preservatives which would suggest
15:52
Speaker 1: themselves to the medical mind, certainly not rough Salt. I
15:57
Speaker 1: repeat that there is no practical joke here, but that
16:01
Speaker 1: we are investigating a serious crime. A vague thrill ran
16:05
Speaker 1: through me as I listened to my companion's words and
16:09
Speaker 1: saw the stern gravity which had hardened his features. This
16:13
Speaker 1: brutal preliminary seemed to shadow forth some strange and inexplicable
16:18
Speaker 1: horror in the background. Lestrade, however, shook his head like
16:22
Speaker 1: a man who is only half convinced. There are objections
16:26
Speaker 1: to the joke theory, no doubt, said he, But there
16:30
Speaker 1: are much stronger reasons against the other. We know that
16:33
Speaker 1: this woman has led a most quiet and respectable life
16:36
Speaker 1: at Penge and here for the last twenty years. She
16:40
Speaker 1: has hardly been away from her home for a day
16:42
Speaker 1: during that time. Why on earth, then, should any criminal
16:46
Speaker 1: send her the proofs of his guilt, especially as unless
16:50
Speaker 1: she is a most consummate actress, she understands quite as
16:54
Speaker 1: little of the matter as we do. That is the
16:56
Speaker 1: problem which we have to solve, Holmes answered, And for
17:00
Speaker 1: my part, I shall set about it by presuming that
17:03
Speaker 1: my reasoning is correct, and that a double murder has
17:06
Speaker 1: been committed. One of these ears is a woman's small,
17:12
Speaker 1: finely formed and pierced for an earring. The other is
17:16
Speaker 1: a man's, sunburned, discolored, and also pierced for an earring.
17:20
Speaker 1: These two people are presumably dead, or we should have
17:23
Speaker 1: heard their story before. Now. Today is Friday. The packet
17:28
Speaker 1: was posted on Thursday morning. The tragedy then occurred on
17:32
Speaker 1: Wednesday or Tuesday or earlier. If the two people were murdered,
17:37
Speaker 1: who but their murderer would have sent this sign of
17:39
Speaker 1: his work to Miss Cushing. We may take it that
17:43
Speaker 1: the sender of the packet is the man whom we want.
17:46
Speaker 1: But he must have some strong reason for sending Miss
17:48
Speaker 1: Cushing this packet. What reason, then, it must have been
17:55
Speaker 1: to tell her that the deed was done, or to
17:57
Speaker 1: pain her perhaps, But in that case she knows who
18:01
Speaker 1: it is? Does she know? I doubt it. If she knew,
18:04
Speaker 1: why should she call the police in She might have
18:06
Speaker 1: buried the ears, and no one would have been the wiser.
18:10
Speaker 1: That is what she would have done if she had
18:12
Speaker 1: wished to shield the criminal. But if she does not
18:15
Speaker 1: wish to shield him, she would give his name. There
18:18
Speaker 1: is a tangle here which needs straightening out. He had
18:21
Speaker 1: been talking in a high, quick voice, staring blankly up
18:25
Speaker 1: over the garden fence, but now he sprang briskly to
18:28
Speaker 1: his feet and walked towards the house. I have a
18:32
Speaker 1: few questions to ask you, miss Cushing, said he. In
18:36
Speaker 1: that case, I may leave you here, said Lestrade, for
18:39
Speaker 1: I have another small business on hand. I think that
18:42
Speaker 1: I have nothing further to learn from Miss Cushing. You
18:45
Speaker 1: will find me at the police station. We shall look
18:48
Speaker 1: in on our way to the train, answered Holmes. A
18:51
Speaker 1: moment later, he and I were back in the front room,
18:54
Speaker 1: where the impassive lady was still quietly working away at
18:57
Speaker 1: her Auntie Macassa. She put it down on her lap
19:00
Speaker 1: as we entered, and looked at us with her frank,
19:03
Speaker 1: searching blue eyes. I am convinced, sir. She said that
19:08
Speaker 1: this matter is a mistake, and that the parcel was
19:11
Speaker 1: never meant for me at all. I have said this
19:14
Speaker 1: several times to the gentleman from Scotland Yard, but he
19:17
Speaker 1: simply laughs at me. I have not an enemy in
19:20
Speaker 1: the world as far as I know, so why should
19:23
Speaker 1: any one play me such a trick? I am coming
19:25
Speaker 1: to be of the same opinion, Miss Cushing, said Holmes,
19:28
Speaker 1: taking a seat beside her. I think that it is
19:32
Speaker 1: more than probable. He paused, and I was surprised on
19:36
Speaker 1: glancing round to see that he was staring with singular
19:40
Speaker 1: intentness at the lady's profile. Surprise and satisfaction were both
19:46
Speaker 1: for an instant to be read upon his eager face,
19:49
Speaker 1: though when she glanced round to find out the cause
19:51
Speaker 1: of his silence, he had become as demure as ever.
19:55
Speaker 1: I stared hard myself at her flat, grizzled hair, her
19:59
Speaker 1: trim cap, her little gilt ear rings, her placid features.
20:03
Speaker 1: But I could see nothing which could account for my
20:05
Speaker 1: companion's evident excitement. There were one or two questions. Oh,
20:10
Speaker 1: I am weary of questions, cried Miss Cushing impatiently. You
20:14
Speaker 1: have two sisters, I believe. How could you know that?
20:19
Speaker 1: I observed the very instant that I entered the room,
20:21
Speaker 1: that you have a portrait group of three ladies upon
20:24
Speaker 1: the mantelpiece, one of whom is undoubtedly yourself, while the
20:28
Speaker 1: others are so exceedingly like you that there could be
20:31
Speaker 1: no doubt of the relationship. Yes, you are quite right.
20:34
Speaker 1: Those are my sisters, Sarah and Mary. And here at
20:38
Speaker 1: my elbow is another portrait taken at Liverpool of your
20:42
Speaker 1: younger sister, in the company of a man who appears
20:45
Speaker 1: to be a steward by his uniform. I observe that
20:48
Speaker 1: she was unmarried at the time. You are very quick
20:52
Speaker 1: at observing, that is my trade. Well, you are quite right.
20:57
Speaker 1: But she was married to mister Browner a few days afterwards.
21:01
Speaker 1: He was on the South American line when that was taken.
21:04
Speaker 1: But he was so fond of her that he couldn't
21:06
Speaker 1: abide to leave her for so long, and he got
21:09
Speaker 1: into the Liverpool and London boats. Ah the conqueror, perhaps
21:14
Speaker 1: no the May day when last I heard Jim came
21:18
Speaker 1: down here to see me once. That was before he
21:21
Speaker 1: broke the pledge. But afterwards he would always take drink
21:24
Speaker 1: when he was ashore, and a little drink would send
21:27
Speaker 1: him stocks tearing mad Ah. It was a bad day
21:31
Speaker 1: that ever, he took a glass in his hand again.
21:34
Speaker 1: First he dropped me, Then he quarreled with Sarah. And
21:38
Speaker 1: now that Mary has stopped writing, we don't know how
21:40
Speaker 1: things are going with them. It was evident that miss
21:44
Speaker 1: Cushing had come upon a subject on which she felt
21:46
Speaker 1: very deeply like most people who lead a lonely life.
21:51
Speaker 1: She was shy at first, but ended by becoming extremely communicative.
21:56
Speaker 1: She told us many details about her brother in law,
21:59
Speaker 1: the Steward, and then wandering off on the subject of
22:02
Speaker 1: her former lodgers, the medical students. She gave us a
22:05
Speaker 1: long account of their delinquencies, with their names and those
22:09
Speaker 1: of their hospitals. Holmes listened attentively to everything, throwing in
22:13
Speaker 1: a question from time to time about your second sister,
22:17
Speaker 1: Sarah said he I wonder, since you are both maiden ladies,
22:22
Speaker 1: that you do not keep house together. Ah, you don't
22:25
Speaker 1: know Sarah's temper, or you would wonder no more. I
22:29
Speaker 1: tried it when I came to Croydon, and we kept
22:31
Speaker 1: on until about two months ago when we had to part.
22:35
Speaker 1: I don't want to say a word against my own sister,
22:38
Speaker 1: but she was always meddlesome and hard to please. For Sarah,
22:42
Speaker 1: you say that she quarreled with your Liverpool relations, Yes,
22:46
Speaker 1: and they were the best of friends at one time.
22:49
Speaker 1: Why she went up to live there in order to
22:51
Speaker 1: be near them? And now she has no word hard
22:54
Speaker 1: enough for Jim Browner. The last six months that she
22:58
Speaker 1: was here, she would speak of nothing at his drinking
23:00
Speaker 1: and his ways. He had caught her meddling, I suspect
23:04
Speaker 1: and given her a bit of his mind, and that
23:07
Speaker 1: was the start of it. Thank you, miss Cushing, said Holmes,
23:12
Speaker 1: rising and bowing your sister, Sarah Lives, I think you
23:15
Speaker 1: said at New Street, Wallington, good bye, and I am
23:20
Speaker 1: very sorry that you should have been troubled over a
23:22
Speaker 1: case with which, as you say, you have nothing whatever
23:26
Speaker 1: to do. There was a cab passing as we came out,
23:30
Speaker 1: and Holmes hailed it halfar to Wallington. He asked, hurry
23:34
Speaker 1: about a mile, sir, very good jump in Watson. We
23:38
Speaker 1: must strike while the iron is hot. Simple as the
23:41
Speaker 1: case is, there have been one or two very instructive
23:44
Speaker 1: details in connection with it. Just pull up at a
23:48
Speaker 1: telegraph office as you pass Cabby. Holmes sent off a
23:52
Speaker 1: short wire and for the rest of the drive lay
23:54
Speaker 1: back in the cab with his hat tilted over his
23:57
Speaker 1: nose to keep the sun from his face. Our drive
24:01
Speaker 1: pulled up at a house which was not unlike the
24:03
Speaker 1: one which we had just quitted. My companion ordered him
24:07
Speaker 1: to wait and had his hand upon the knocker. When
24:10
Speaker 1: the door opened, and a grave young gentleman in black
24:13
Speaker 1: with a very shiny hat appeared on the step. Is
24:17
Speaker 1: miss Cushing at home? Asked Holmes. Nss Sarah Cushing is
24:21
Speaker 1: extremely ill, said he. She has been suffering since yesterday
24:26
Speaker 1: from brain symptoms of great severity. As her medical adviser
24:31
Speaker 1: cannot possibly take the responsibility of allowing any one to
24:34
Speaker 1: see her, I should recommend you to call again in
24:37
Speaker 1: ten days. He drew on his gloves, closed the door
24:42
Speaker 1: and marched off down the street. Well, if we can't,
24:45
Speaker 1: we can't, said Holmes cheerfully. Perhaps she could not or
24:49
Speaker 1: would not have told you much. I do not wish
24:52
Speaker 1: her to tell me anything. I only wanted to look
24:55
Speaker 1: at her. However, I think that I have got all
24:58
Speaker 1: that I want. Drive us to some decent hotel Cabby,
25:02
Speaker 1: where we may have some lunch, and afterwards we shall
25:06
Speaker 1: drop down upon friend Lestrade at the police station. We
25:10
Speaker 1: had a pleasant little meal together, during which Holmes would
25:13
Speaker 1: talk about nothing but violins, narrating with great exultation how
25:18
Speaker 1: he had purchased his own stratavarius, which was worth at
25:21
Speaker 1: least five hundred guineas, at a dew broker's in Tottenham
25:25
Speaker 1: Court Road for fifty five shillings. This led him to Paganini,
25:31
Speaker 1: and we sat for an hour over a bottle of
25:33
Speaker 1: claret while he told me anecdote after anecdote of that
25:37
Speaker 1: extraordinary man. The afternoon was far advanced and the hot
25:42
Speaker 1: glare had softened into a mellow glow before we found
25:46
Speaker 1: ourselves at the police station. Lestrade was waiting for us
25:50
Speaker 1: at the door. A telegram for you, mister Holmes said,
25:53
Speaker 1: he ha, it is the answer. He tore it open,
25:57
Speaker 1: glanced his eyes over it, and crumpled it into his pocket.
26:01
Speaker 1: That's all right, said he. Have you found out anything?
26:05
Speaker 1: I have found out everything. What Lestrade stared at him
26:09
Speaker 1: in amazement. You are joking. I was never more serious
26:12
Speaker 1: in my life. A shocking crime has been committed, and
26:16
Speaker 1: I think I have now laid bare every detail of
26:19
Speaker 1: it and the criminal. Holmes scribbled a few words upon
26:23
Speaker 1: the back of one of his visiting cards and threw
26:26
Speaker 1: it over to Lestrade. That is the name, he said.
26:30
Speaker 1: You cannot effect an arrest until tomorrow night at the earliest.
26:34
Speaker 1: I should prefer that you do not mention my name
26:37
Speaker 1: at all in connection with the case, as I choose
26:40
Speaker 1: to be only associated with those crimes which present some
26:43
Speaker 1: difficulty in their solution. Come on, Watson. We strode off
26:48
Speaker 1: together to the station, leaving Lestrade still staring with a
26:52
Speaker 1: delighted face at the card which Holmes had thrown him.
26:57
Speaker 1: The case, said Sherlock Holmes, as we check over our
27:00
Speaker 1: cigars that night in our rooms at Baker Street, is one.
27:04
Speaker 1: Where as in the investigations which you have chronicled, under
27:07
Speaker 1: the names of a study in scarlet and of the
27:11
Speaker 1: sign of far, we have been compelled to reason backward
27:15
Speaker 1: from effects to causes. I have written to Lestrade asking
27:20
Speaker 1: him to supply us with the details which are now wanting,
27:23
Speaker 1: and which he will only get after he had secured
27:26
Speaker 1: his man that he may be safely trusted to do.
27:30
Speaker 1: For although he is absolutely devoid of reason, he is
27:34
Speaker 1: as tenacious as a bulldog when he once understands what
27:37
Speaker 1: he has to do. And indeed it is just this
27:40
Speaker 1: tenacity which has brought him to the top that Scotland yard.
27:44
Speaker 1: Your case is not complete, then, I asked, It is
27:47
Speaker 1: fairly complete in essentils we know who the author of
27:51
Speaker 1: the revolting business is, although one of the victims still
27:54
Speaker 1: escapes us. Of course, you have formed your own conclusions.
27:59
Speaker 1: I presume that this Jim Browner, the steward of a
28:02
Speaker 1: Liverpool boat, is the man whom you suspect. Oh, it
28:05
Speaker 1: is more than a suspicion, And yet I cannot see
28:08
Speaker 1: anything save very vague indications. On the contrary to my mind,
28:13
Speaker 1: nothing could be more clear. Let me run over the
28:16
Speaker 1: principal steps. We approached the case, you remember, with an
28:20
Speaker 1: absolutely blank mind, which is always an advantage. We had
28:24
Speaker 1: formed no theories. We were simply there to observe and
28:28
Speaker 1: to draw inferences from our observations. What did we see?
28:31
Speaker 1: First a very placid and respectable lady who seemed quite
28:35
Speaker 1: innocent of any secret, and a portrait which showed me
28:39
Speaker 1: that she had two younger sisters. It instantly flashed across
28:43
Speaker 1: my mind that the box might have been meant for
28:45
Speaker 1: one of these. I set the idea aside as one
28:49
Speaker 1: which could be disproved or confirmed at our leisure. Then
28:52
Speaker 1: we went to the garden, as you remember, and we
28:55
Speaker 1: saw the very singular contents of the little yellow box.
28:59
Speaker 1: The string was of the quality which is used by
29:01
Speaker 1: sail makers aboard ship, and at once a whiff of
29:05
Speaker 1: the sea was perceptible in our investigation. When I observed
29:09
Speaker 1: that the knot was one which is popular with sailors,
29:12
Speaker 1: that the parcel had been posted at a port, and
29:14
Speaker 1: that the male ear was pierced for an ear ring,
29:16
Speaker 1: which is so much more common among sailors than landsmen,
29:20
Speaker 1: I was quite certain that all the actors in the
29:22
Speaker 1: tragedy were to be found among our seafaring classes. When
29:26
Speaker 1: I came to examine the address of the packet, I
29:29
Speaker 1: observed that it was to Miss s Cushing. Now, the
29:33
Speaker 1: oldest sister would of course be Miscushing, and although her
29:36
Speaker 1: initial was S, it might belong to one of the
29:40
Speaker 1: others as well. In that case, we should have to
29:43
Speaker 1: commence our investigation from a fresh basis altogether. I therefore
29:47
Speaker 1: went into the house with the intention of clearing up
29:49
Speaker 1: this point. I was about to assure Miss Cushing that
29:52
Speaker 1: I was convinced that a mistake had been made. When
29:55
Speaker 1: you may remember that I came suddenly to a stop.
29:59
Speaker 1: The fact was that I had just seen something which
30:02
Speaker 1: filled me with surprise and at the same time narrowed
30:05
Speaker 1: the field of our inquiry immensely. As a medical man,
30:09
Speaker 1: you are aware, Watson, that there is no part of
30:12
Speaker 1: the body which varies so much as the human ear.
30:16
Speaker 1: Each ear is as a rule quite distinctive and differs
30:20
Speaker 1: from all other ones. In last year's Anthropological Journal you
30:24
Speaker 1: will find two short monographs from my pen upon the subject.
30:29
Speaker 1: I had therefore examined the ears in the box with
30:32
Speaker 1: the eyes of an expert, and had carefully noted their
30:34
Speaker 1: anatomical peculiarities. Imagine my surprise, then, when, on looking at
30:39
Speaker 1: miss Cushing, I perceived that her ear corresponded exactly with
30:44
Speaker 1: the female ear which I had just inspected. The matter
30:48
Speaker 1: was entirely beyond coincidence. There was the same shortening of
30:52
Speaker 1: the pinner, the same broad curve of the upper lobe,
30:56
Speaker 1: the same convolution in the inner cartilage. In all essentials,
31:01
Speaker 1: it was the same ear. In the first place, her
31:04
Speaker 1: sister's name was Sarah, and her address had until recently
31:08
Speaker 1: been the same, so that it was quite obvious how
31:11
Speaker 1: the mistake had occurred and for whom the packet was meant.
31:15
Speaker 1: Then we heard of this Steward married to the third sister,
31:19
Speaker 1: and learned that he had at one time been so
31:21
Speaker 1: intimate with Miss Sarah that she had actually gone up
31:24
Speaker 1: to Liverpool to be near the Browners. But a quarrel
31:27
Speaker 1: had afterwards divided them. This quarrel had put a stop
31:31
Speaker 1: to all communications for some months, so that if Browner
31:35
Speaker 1: had occasion to address a packet to Miss Sarah, he
31:38
Speaker 1: would undoubtedly have done so to her old address. And
31:43
Speaker 1: now the matter had begun to straighten itself out. Wonderfully
31:46
Speaker 1: we had learned of the existence of this Steward, an
31:49
Speaker 1: impulsive man of strong passions. You remember that he threw
31:53
Speaker 1: up what must have been a very superior birth in
31:56
Speaker 1: order to be nearer to his wife, subject too to
31:59
Speaker 1: a kasional fits of hard drinking, we had reason to
32:03
Speaker 1: believe that his wife had been murdered, and that a man,
32:06
Speaker 1: presumably a seafaring man, had been murdered at the same time. Jealousy,
32:11
Speaker 1: of course, at once suggests itself as the motive for
32:14
Speaker 1: the crime. And why should these proofs of the deed
32:17
Speaker 1: be sent to Miss Sarah Cushing? Probably because during her
32:22
Speaker 1: residence in Liverpool she had some hand in bringing about
32:25
Speaker 1: the events which led to the tragedy. You will observe
32:28
Speaker 1: that this line of boats called at Belfast, Dublin and Waterford,
32:33
Speaker 1: So that, presuming that Browner had committed the deed and
32:37
Speaker 1: had embarked at once upon his steamer. The may day,
32:40
Speaker 1: Belfast would be the first place at which he could
32:43
Speaker 1: post his terrible packet. A second solution was at this
32:47
Speaker 1: stage obviously possible, and although I thought it exceedingly unlikely,
32:52
Speaker 1: I was determined to elucidate it before going further. An
32:57
Speaker 1: unsuccessful lover might have killed mister and Missus Browner, and
33:01
Speaker 1: the male ear might have belonged to the husband. There
33:05
Speaker 1: were many grave objections to this theory, but it was conceivable.
33:09
Speaker 1: I therefore sent off a telegram to my friend Algar
33:12
Speaker 1: of the Liverpool Force, and asked him to find out
33:16
Speaker 1: if Missus Browner were at home, and if Browner had
33:19
Speaker 1: departed in the May day. Then we went on to
33:23
Speaker 1: Wallington to visit Miss Sarah. I was curious in the
33:27
Speaker 1: first place to see how far the family ear had
33:29
Speaker 1: been reproduced in her. Then, of course she might give
33:33
Speaker 1: us very important information, but I was not sanguine that
33:37
Speaker 1: she would. She must have heard of the business the
33:40
Speaker 1: day before, since all Croydon was ringing with it, and
33:44
Speaker 1: she alone could have understood for whom the packet was meant.
33:48
Speaker 1: If she had been willing to help justice, she would
33:50
Speaker 1: probably have communicated with the police already. However, it was
33:55
Speaker 1: clearly our duty to see her, so we went. We
33:58
Speaker 1: found that the news of the arrif full of the
34:00
Speaker 1: packet for her illness, dated from that time, had such
34:04
Speaker 1: an effect upon her as to bring on brain fever.
34:08
Speaker 1: It was clearer than ever that she understood its full significance,
34:13
Speaker 1: but equally clear that we should have to wait some
34:15
Speaker 1: time for any assistance from her. However, we were really
34:19
Speaker 1: independent of her help. Our answers were waiting for us
34:24
Speaker 1: at the police station, where I had directed Alga to
34:27
Speaker 1: send them. Nothing could be more conclusive. Missus. Browner's house
34:32
Speaker 1: had been closed for more than three days, and the
34:35
Speaker 1: neighbors were of opinion that she had gone south to
34:38
Speaker 1: see her relatives. It had been ascertained at the shipping
34:41
Speaker 1: offices that Browner had left aboard of the May day,
34:44
Speaker 1: and I calculate that she is due in the Thames
34:47
Speaker 1: tomorrow night. When he arrives, he will be met by
34:50
Speaker 1: the obtuse but resolute Lestrade, and I have no doubt
34:54
Speaker 1: that we shall have all our details filled in Sherlock.
34:59
Speaker 1: Holmes was not disappointed in his expectations. Two days later,
35:03
Speaker 1: he received a bulky envelope which contained a short note
35:07
Speaker 1: from the detective and a typewritten document which covered several
35:11
Speaker 1: pages of Fool's cap Lestrade has got him all right,
35:16
Speaker 1: said Holmes, glancing up at me. Perhaps it would interest
35:19
Speaker 1: you to hear what he says, my dear mister Holmes,
35:23
Speaker 1: in accordance with the scheme which we had formed in
35:26
Speaker 1: order to test our theories. The WII is rather fine, Watson,
35:30
Speaker 1: is it not. I went down to the Albert Dock
35:33
Speaker 1: yesterday at six pm and boarded the S S. May Day,
35:38
Speaker 1: belonging to the Liverpool, Dublin and London Steam Packet Company.
35:43
Speaker 1: On inquiry I found that there was a steward on
35:46
Speaker 1: board of the name of James Browner, and that he
35:49
Speaker 1: had acted during the voyage in such an extraordinary manner
35:52
Speaker 1: that the captain had been compelled to relieve him of
35:55
Speaker 1: his duties. On descending to his birth I found him
35:59
Speaker 1: seated upon a chest, with his head sunk upon his hands,
36:03
Speaker 1: rocking himself to and fro. He is a big, powerful chap,
36:07
Speaker 1: clean shaven and very swarthy, something like Aldridge who helped
36:12
Speaker 1: us in the Bogus laundry affair. He jumped up when
36:16
Speaker 1: he hurted my business, and I had my whistle to
36:18
Speaker 1: my lips to call a couple of river police who
36:21
Speaker 1: were around the corner. But he seemed to have no
36:24
Speaker 1: heart in him, and he held out his hands quietly
36:27
Speaker 1: enough for the darbies. We brought him along to the
36:30
Speaker 1: cells and his box as well, for we thought there
36:33
Speaker 1: might be something incriminating. But bar a big sharp knife
36:37
Speaker 1: such as most sailors have, we got nothing for our trouble. However,
36:42
Speaker 1: we find that we shall want no more evidence for
36:45
Speaker 1: on being brought before the inspector at the station, he
36:48
Speaker 1: asked leave to make a statement, which was of course
36:50
Speaker 1: taken down just as he made it by our short
36:53
Speaker 1: hand man. We had three copies, type written, one of
36:58
Speaker 1: which I enclose. The affair proves, as I always thought
37:02
Speaker 1: it would, to be an extremely simple one. But I
37:06
Speaker 1: am obliged to you for assisting me in my investigation.
37:09
Speaker 1: With kind regards yours, very truly, g Lestrade Hm. The
37:16
Speaker 1: investigation really was a very simple one, remarked Holmes. But
37:20
Speaker 1: I don't think it struck him in that light when
37:23
Speaker 1: he first called us in. However, let us see what
37:26
Speaker 1: Jim Browner has to say for himself. This is his
37:30
Speaker 1: statement as made before Inspector Montgomery at the Shadwell Police Station,
37:35
Speaker 1: and it has the advantage of being verbeat him. Have
37:40
Speaker 1: I anything to say? Yes, I have a deal to say.
37:46
Speaker 1: I have to make a clean breast of it all.
37:49
Speaker 1: You can hang me or you can leave me alone.
37:53
Speaker 1: I don't care a plug which you do. I'll tell
37:56
Speaker 1: you I've not shut an eye in sleep since I did.
37:58
Speaker 1: It't believe I ever will again until I get past
38:02
Speaker 1: all waking. Sometimes it's his face, but most generally it's hers.
38:10
Speaker 1: I'm never without one or the other before me. He
38:15
Speaker 1: looks frowning and black like if she has a kind
38:19
Speaker 1: of surprise upon her face, either white lamb. She might
38:25
Speaker 1: well be surprised when she read death on a face
38:27
Speaker 1: that had seldom looked anything but love upon her before.
38:32
Speaker 1: But it was Sarah's fault and made the curse of
38:36
Speaker 1: a broken man, put a blight on her and set
38:39
Speaker 1: the blood rotting in her veins. It's not that I
38:43
Speaker 1: want to clear myself. I know that I went back
38:46
Speaker 1: to drink like the beast that I was. But she
38:50
Speaker 1: would have forgiven me. She would have stuck as close
38:53
Speaker 1: to me as a rope to a block. If that
38:55
Speaker 1: woman had never darkened our door. For Sarah Cushing love me.
39:01
Speaker 1: That's the root of the business. She loved me until
39:04
Speaker 1: all her love turned to poisonous hate when she knew
39:08
Speaker 1: that I thought more of my wife's footmark in the
39:10
Speaker 1: mud than I did of her whole body and soul.
39:16
Speaker 1: There were three sisters all together. The old one was
39:20
Speaker 1: just a good woman, the second was a devil, and
39:23
Speaker 1: the third was an angel. Sarah was thirty three and
39:28
Speaker 1: Mary was twenty nine. When I married. We were just
39:32
Speaker 1: as happy as the day was long when we set
39:34
Speaker 1: up ours together, and in all Liverpool there was no
39:37
Speaker 1: better woman than my Mary. And then we asked Sarah
39:42
Speaker 1: up for a week, and the week grew into a month,
39:47
Speaker 1: and one thing led to another, until she was just
39:52
Speaker 1: one of ourselves. I was blue ribbon at that time,
39:57
Speaker 1: and we were putting a little money by, and all
40:00
Speaker 1: was as bright as a new dollar. My God, whoever
40:03
Speaker 1: would have thought that it could have come to this,
40:06
Speaker 1: whoever would have dreamed it. I used to be home
40:10
Speaker 1: for the weekends very often, and sometimes if the ship
40:14
Speaker 1: were held back for cargo, I would have a whole
40:16
Speaker 1: week at a time, And in this way I saw
40:20
Speaker 1: a deal of my sister in law, Sarah. She was
40:24
Speaker 1: a fine tall woman, black and quick and fierce, with
40:29
Speaker 1: a proud way of carrying her head, and a glint
40:32
Speaker 1: from her eye like a spark from a flint. But
40:36
Speaker 1: when little Mary was there, I had never a thought
40:39
Speaker 1: of her, And that I swear, as I hope for
40:43
Speaker 1: God's mercy. It seemed to me sometimes that she liked
40:46
Speaker 1: to be alone with me, or to coax me out
40:50
Speaker 1: for a walk with her. But I had never thought
40:53
Speaker 1: anything of that. But one evening my eyes were opened,
41:00
Speaker 1: come up from the ship and found my wife out,
41:03
Speaker 1: but Sarah at home. Where's Mary? I asked, Oh, she's
41:08
Speaker 1: gone to pay some accounts. I was impatient, paced up
41:12
Speaker 1: and down the room. Can't you be happy for five
41:15
Speaker 1: minutes with a Mary, Jim says she. It's a bad
41:18
Speaker 1: compliment to me that you can't be contented with my
41:21
Speaker 1: society for so short a time. That's all right, my lass, said,
41:26
Speaker 1: I putting out my hand towards her in a kindly way.
41:30
Speaker 1: She had it in both hers in an instant, and
41:33
Speaker 1: they burned as if they were in a fever. I
41:36
Speaker 1: looked into her eyes and I read it all there.
41:40
Speaker 1: There was no need for her to speak, nor for
41:42
Speaker 1: me either. I frowned and drew my hand away. Then
41:47
Speaker 1: she stood by my side in silence for a bit,
41:50
Speaker 1: and then put up her hand and patted me on
41:53
Speaker 1: the shoulder. Steady, old Jim, said she, and with a
41:59
Speaker 1: kind of fucking laugh, she ran out of the room. Well,
42:04
Speaker 1: from that time Sarah hated me with her whole heart
42:06
Speaker 1: and soul, and she is a woman who can hate too.
42:11
Speaker 1: I was a fool to let her go on biding
42:13
Speaker 1: with us, a besotted fool. But I never said a
42:17
Speaker 1: word to Mary, for I knew it would grieve her.
42:21
Speaker 1: Things went on much as before, But after a time
42:25
Speaker 1: I began to find that there was a bit of
42:27
Speaker 1: a change in Mary herself. She had always been so
42:31
Speaker 1: trusting and so innocent, and now she became queer and suspicious,
42:36
Speaker 1: wanting to know where I had been, and what I
42:38
Speaker 1: had been doing, and who my letters were from, and
42:41
Speaker 1: what I had in my pockets, and a thousand such follies.
42:46
Speaker 1: Day by day she grew queerer and more irritable, and
42:49
Speaker 1: we had ceaseless rowse about nothing. I was fairly puzzled
42:53
Speaker 1: by it all. Sarah avoided me now, but she and
42:58
Speaker 1: Mary were just inseparable. I can see now how she
43:02
Speaker 1: was plotting and scheming and poisoning my wife's mind against me.
43:08
Speaker 1: That I was such a blind beetle that I could
43:10
Speaker 1: not understand it at the time. Then I broke my
43:13
Speaker 1: blue ribbon and began to drink again. But I think
43:18
Speaker 1: I should not have done it if Mary had been
43:20
Speaker 1: the same as ever, she had some reason to be
43:24
Speaker 1: disgusted with me now, and the gap between us began
43:27
Speaker 1: to be wider and wider. And then this Alec Fairburn
43:31
Speaker 1: chipped in and things became a thousand times blacker. It
43:36
Speaker 1: was to see Sarah that he came to my house first,
43:40
Speaker 1: but soon it was to see us. For he was
43:43
Speaker 1: a man with winning ways, and he made friends wherever
43:46
Speaker 1: he went. He was a dashing, swaggering chap, smart and
43:51
Speaker 1: curled who had seen half the world and could talk
43:54
Speaker 1: of what he had seen. He was good company, I
43:57
Speaker 1: won't deny it. And he had wonderful ways with him
44:00
Speaker 1: for a sailorman, so that I think there must have
44:03
Speaker 1: been a time when he knew more of the poop
44:06
Speaker 1: than the forecastle. For a month he was in and
44:09
Speaker 1: out of my house, and never once did it cross
44:12
Speaker 1: my mind that harm might come of his soft, tricky ways.
44:17
Speaker 1: And then at last something made me suspect, and from
44:21
Speaker 1: that day my peace was gone forever. It was only
44:25
Speaker 1: a little thing too. I had come into the parlor unexpected,
44:30
Speaker 1: and as I walked in at the door, I saw
44:32
Speaker 1: a light of welcome on my wife's face. But as
44:37
Speaker 1: she saw who it was, it faded again, and she
44:42
Speaker 1: turned away with a look of disappointment. That was enough
44:47
Speaker 1: for me. There was no one but Alec fair Ben,
44:52
Speaker 1: whose steps she could have mistaken for mine. If I
44:55
Speaker 1: could have seen him, then I should have killed him,
44:58
Speaker 1: for I've always been like a madman when my temper
45:00
Speaker 1: gets loose. Mary saw the devil's light in my eyes,
45:04
Speaker 1: and she ran forward with her hands on my sleeve. Don't, Jim, don't,
45:08
Speaker 1: says she. Where's Sarah? I asked in the kitchen, says she,
45:13
Speaker 1: Sarah says I, as I went in. This man Fairburn
45:16
Speaker 1: is never to darken my door again. Why not, says she?
45:20
Speaker 1: Because I order it, oh, says she. If my friends
45:23
Speaker 1: are not good enough for this house, then I am
45:25
Speaker 1: not good enough for it either. You can do what
45:28
Speaker 1: you like, says I. But if fair Ben shows his
45:31
Speaker 1: face here again. I'll send you one of his ears
45:34
Speaker 1: for a keepsake. She was frightened by my face, I think,
45:39
Speaker 1: for she never answered a word. And the same evening
45:43
Speaker 1: she left my house. Well, I don't know now whether
45:47
Speaker 1: it was pure devilry on the part of this woman,
45:51
Speaker 1: or whether she thought that she could turn me against
45:53
Speaker 1: my wife by encouraging her to misbehave. Anyway, she took
45:58
Speaker 1: her house just two streets off and let lodgings to sailors.
46:03
Speaker 1: Fair Ben used to stay there, and Mary would go
46:06
Speaker 1: around to have tea with her sister and him. How
46:09
Speaker 1: often she went I don't know, but I followed her
46:11
Speaker 1: one day, and as I broke in at the door,
46:14
Speaker 1: fair Ben got away over the back garden wall, like
46:17
Speaker 1: the cowardly skunk that he was. I swore to my
46:20
Speaker 1: wife that I would kill her if I found her
46:23
Speaker 1: in his company again. And I led her back with
46:26
Speaker 1: me sobbing and trembling, and as white as a piece
46:29
Speaker 1: of paper. There was no trace of love between us
46:32
Speaker 1: any longer. I could see that she hated me and
46:35
Speaker 1: feared me, And when the thought of it drove me
46:37
Speaker 1: to drink, then she despised me as well well. Sarah
46:43
Speaker 1: found that she could not make a living in Liverpool,
46:46
Speaker 1: so she went back, as I understand, to living with
46:49
Speaker 1: her sister in Croydon. And things jogged on much the
46:53
Speaker 1: same as ever at home, and then came this week
46:57
Speaker 1: and all the misery and ruin. It was in this way.
47:02
Speaker 1: We had gone on the May Day for a round
47:04
Speaker 1: voyage of seven days, but a hogshead got loose and
47:08
Speaker 1: started one of our plates, so that we had to
47:11
Speaker 1: put back into port for twelve hours. I left the
47:14
Speaker 1: ship and came home, thinking what a surprise it would
47:17
Speaker 1: be for my wife, and hoping that maybe she would
47:21
Speaker 1: be glad to see me so soon. The thought was
47:24
Speaker 1: in my head as I turned into my own street,
47:26
Speaker 1: and at that moment a cab passed me, and there
47:30
Speaker 1: she was sitting by the side of fair Ben, the
47:34
Speaker 1: two chatting and laughing, with never a thought for me,
47:38
Speaker 1: as I stood watching them from the footpath. I'll tell you,
47:42
Speaker 1: and I'll give you my word for it, that from
47:45
Speaker 1: that moment I was not my own master. And it
47:48
Speaker 1: is all like a dim dream when I look back
47:50
Speaker 1: on it. I had been drinking hard of late, and
47:54
Speaker 1: the two things together fairly turned my brain. There's something
47:59
Speaker 1: throbbing in my head now like a docker's hammer, But
48:03
Speaker 1: that morning I seemed to have all niagara whizzing and
48:07
Speaker 1: buzzing in my ears. Well, I took to my heels
48:11
Speaker 1: and I ran after the cab. I had a heavy
48:14
Speaker 1: oak stick in my hand, and I tell you I
48:16
Speaker 1: saw red from the first But as I ran, I
48:19
Speaker 1: got cunning too and hung back a little to see
48:21
Speaker 1: them without being seen. They pulled up soon at the
48:24
Speaker 1: railway station. There was a good crowd around the booking office,
48:28
Speaker 1: so I got quite close to them without being seen.
48:32
Speaker 1: They took tickets for New Brighton, so did I, but
48:36
Speaker 1: I got in three carriages behind them. When we reached it,
48:40
Speaker 1: they walked along the parade, and I was never more
48:42
Speaker 1: than one hundred yards from them. At last I saw
48:46
Speaker 1: them hire a boat and start for a row, for
48:49
Speaker 1: it was a very hot day, and they thought no
48:52
Speaker 1: doubt that it would be cooler on the water. It
48:55
Speaker 1: was just as if they had been given into my hands.
48:59
Speaker 1: There was a bit of a haze, and you could
49:01
Speaker 1: not see more than a few hundred yards. I hired
49:05
Speaker 1: a boat for myself and I pulled after them. I
49:08
Speaker 1: could see the blur of their craft but they were
49:11
Speaker 1: going nearly as fast as I, and they must have
49:14
Speaker 1: been a long mile from the shore before I caught
49:16
Speaker 1: them up. The haze was like a curtain all round us.
49:21
Speaker 1: There were we three in the middle of it. My god,
49:27
Speaker 1: did iither get Their faces were like a madman, and
49:30
Speaker 1: jabbed at me with an awe, for he must have
49:32
Speaker 1: seen death in my eyes. I got past it and
49:35
Speaker 1: got one in with my stick that crushed his head
49:38
Speaker 1: like an egg. I would have spared per perhaps for
49:41
Speaker 1: all my madness. She threw her arms around him, crying
49:45
Speaker 1: out to him and calling him alick. I struck again,
49:49
Speaker 1: and she lay stretched beside him. I was like a
49:53
Speaker 1: wild beast then that had tasted blood. If Sarah had
49:58
Speaker 1: been there, by the Lord, she should have joined. I
50:01
Speaker 1: pulled out my knife, and well, there I've said enough.
50:08
Speaker 1: It gave me a kind of savage joy when I
50:10
Speaker 1: thought how Sarah would feel, and she had such signs
50:14
Speaker 1: as these of what a meddling had brought about. Then
50:18
Speaker 1: I tied the bodies into the boat, stove a plank,
50:23
Speaker 1: and stood by until they had sunk. I knew very
50:26
Speaker 1: well that the owner would think that they had lost
50:28
Speaker 1: their bearings in the haze and had drifted off out
50:31
Speaker 1: to sea. I cleaned myself up, got back to land,
50:36
Speaker 1: and joined my ship without a soul. Having a suspicion
50:38
Speaker 1: of what had passed that night, I made up the
50:42
Speaker 1: packet for Sarah Cushing. The next day I sent it
50:46
Speaker 1: from Belfast. There you have the old truth of it.
50:51
Speaker 1: You can hang me or do what you like with me,
50:54
Speaker 1: but you cannot punish me as I have been punished already.
50:58
Speaker 1: I cannot shut my eyes, but I see those two
51:01
Speaker 1: faces staring at me, staring at me as they stared
51:05
Speaker 1: when my boat broke through the haze. I killed them
51:09
Speaker 1: quick that they are killing me slow. And if I
51:14
Speaker 1: have another night of it, I shall be either mad
51:17
Speaker 1: or dead before morning. You won't put me alone into
51:21
Speaker 1: a cell, sir, for pity's sake, don't. And may you
51:25
Speaker 1: be treated in your day of agony as you treat me. Now,
51:32
Speaker 1: What is the meaning of it? Watson, said Holmes solemnly,
51:36
Speaker 1: as he laid down the paper. What object is served
51:41
Speaker 1: by this circle of misery and violence and fear? It
51:48
Speaker 1: must tend to some end or else our universes ruled
51:53
Speaker 1: by chance, which is unthinkable. But what end there is?
52:00
Speaker 1: The great standing perennial problem, to which human reason is
52:05
Speaker 1: as far from an answer as ever. That is the
52:15
Speaker 1: end of the Adventure of the Cardboard Box. From His
52:21
Speaker 1: Last Bow by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, read by Greg
52:25
Speaker 1: Wagland for Magpie Audio twenty seventeen.