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13 - Fixing The Nets · Sherlock Holmes

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  Speaker 1: Chapter thirteen of The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir
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  Speaker 1: Arthur Conan Doyle. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain.
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  Speaker 1: Chapter thirteen, fixing the nets. We're at close grips at last,
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  Speaker 1: said Holmes, as we walked together across the moor. What
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  Speaker 1: a nerve the fellow has. How he pulled himself together
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  Speaker 1: in the face of what must have been a paralyzing
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  Speaker 1: shock when he found that the wrong man had fallen
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  Speaker 1: a victim to his plot. I told you in London, Watson,
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  Speaker 1: and I tell you now again that we have never
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  Speaker 1: had a foe man more worthy of our steel. I'm
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  Speaker 1: sorry that he's seen you, and so was I at first,
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  Speaker 1: but there was no getting out of it. What effect
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  Speaker 1: do you think you will have upon his plans now
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  Speaker 1: that he knows you're here. It may cause him to
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  Speaker 1: be more cautious, or it may drive him to desperate
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  Speaker 1: measures at once. Like most clever criminals, he may be
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  Speaker 1: too confident in his own cleverness, and imagine that he
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  Speaker 1: has completely deceived us. Why should we not arrest him
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  Speaker 1: at once? My dear Watson, you were born to be
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  Speaker 1: a man of action. Your instinct is always to do
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  Speaker 1: something energetic. But supposing, for argument's sake, that we had
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  Speaker 1: him arrested tonight, what on earth the better off should
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  Speaker 1: we be? For that we could prove nothing against him.
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  Speaker 1: There's the devilish cunning of it. If he were acting
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  Speaker 1: through a human agent, we could get some evidence. But
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  Speaker 1: if we were to drag this great dog to the
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  Speaker 1: light of day, it would not help us in putting
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  Speaker 1: a rope around the neck of its master. Surely we
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  Speaker 1: have a case, not a shadow of a one, only
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  Speaker 1: surmise and conjecture. We should be laughed out of court
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  Speaker 1: if we came with such a story and such evidence.
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  Speaker 1: There is Sir Charles's death, found dead without a mark
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  Speaker 1: upon him. You and I know that he died of
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  Speaker 1: sheer fright, and we know also what frightened him. But
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  Speaker 1: how are we to get twelve stolid jurymen to know it?
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  Speaker 1: What signs are there of a hound? Where are the
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  Speaker 1: marks of the fangs? Of course we know that a
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  Speaker 1: hound does not bite a dead body, and that Sir
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  Speaker 1: Charles was dead before ever the brute overtook him. But
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  Speaker 1: we have to prove all this, and we are not
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  Speaker 1: in a position to do it. Well. Then to night
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  Speaker 1: we are not much better off to night. Again, there
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  Speaker 1: was no direct connection between the hound and the man's death.
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  Speaker 1: We never saw the hound. We heard it, but we
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  Speaker 1: could not prove that it was running upon this man's trail.
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  Speaker 1: There is a complete absence of motive. No, my dear fellow,
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  Speaker 1: we must reconcile ourselves to the fact that we have
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  Speaker 1: no case at present, and that it is worth our
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  Speaker 1: while to run any risk in order to establish one.
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  Speaker 1: And how do you propose to do so? I have
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  Speaker 1: great hopes of what missus law A Lyons may do
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  Speaker 1: for us when the position of affairs is made clear
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  Speaker 1: to her, and I have my own plan as well,
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  Speaker 1: sufficient for to morrow is the evil thereof, But I
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  Speaker 1: hope before the day is passed, to have the upper hand.
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  Speaker 1: At last, I could draw nothing further from him, and
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  Speaker 1: he walked lost in thought. As far as the Baskerville gates,
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  Speaker 1: are you coming up? Yes? I see no reason for
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  Speaker 1: further concealment. But one last word, Watson, say nothing of
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  Speaker 1: the hound to Sir Henry. Let him think that Selden's
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  Speaker 1: death was as Stapleton would have us. Believe he will
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  Speaker 1: have a better nerve for the ordeal which he will
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  Speaker 1: have to undergo to morrow when he is engaged. If
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  Speaker 1: I remember your reporter right to dine with these people,
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  Speaker 1: and so am I, then you must excuse yourself and
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  Speaker 1: he must go alone. That will be easily arranged. And
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  Speaker 1: now if we are too late for dinner, I think
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  Speaker 1: as we are both ready for our suppers. Sir Henry
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  Speaker 1: is more pleased and surprise to see Sherlock Holmes, for
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  Speaker 1: he had for some days been expecting that recent events
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  Speaker 1: would bring him down from London. He did raise his eyebrows, however,
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  Speaker 1: when he found that my friend had neither any luggage
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  Speaker 1: nor any explanations for its absence. Between us, we soon
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  Speaker 1: supplied his wants, and then, over a belated supper, we
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  Speaker 1: explained to the Baronet as much of our experience as
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  Speaker 1: it seemed desirable that he should know. But first I
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  Speaker 1: had the unpleasant duty of breaking the news to Barrymore
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  Speaker 1: and his wife. To him, it may have been an
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  Speaker 1: unmitigated relief, but she wept bitterly in her apron To
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  Speaker 1: all the world he was the man of violence, half
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  Speaker 1: animal and half demon. But to her he has always
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  Speaker 1: remained the little wilful boy of her own girlhood, the
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  Speaker 1: child who had clung to her hand evil indeed, as
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  Speaker 1: the man who was not one woman to mourn him.
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  Speaker 1: I've I've been moping in the house all day since
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  Speaker 1: Watson went off in the morning, said the baronet. I
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  Speaker 1: guess I should have some credit, for I have kept
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  Speaker 1: my promise. If I hadn't sworn not to go about alone,
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  Speaker 1: I might have had a more lively evening, for I
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  Speaker 1: had a message from Stapleton asking me over there. I
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  Speaker 1: have no doubt that you would have had a more
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  Speaker 1: lively evening, said Holmes dryly. By the way, I don't
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  Speaker 1: suppose you appreciate that we have been mourning over you
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  Speaker 1: as having broken your neck. Sir Henry opened his eyes.
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  Speaker 1: How was that this poor wretch was dressed in your clothes?
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  Speaker 1: I fear your servant who gave them to him may
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  Speaker 1: get into trouble with the police. That is unlikely. There
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  Speaker 1: was no mark on any of them, as far as
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  Speaker 1: I know. That's lucky for him. In fact, it's lucky
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  Speaker 1: for all of you, since you are all on the
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  Speaker 1: wrong side of the law in this matter. I am
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  Speaker 1: not sure that as a conscientious detective, my first duty
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  Speaker 1: is not to arrest the whole household Watson's reports are
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  Speaker 1: most incriminating documents. But how about the case asked the baronet?
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  Speaker 1: Have you made anything out of the tangle? I don't
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  Speaker 1: know that Watson and I are much the wiser since
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  Speaker 1: we came down. I think that I shall be in
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  Speaker 1: a position to make the situation rather more clear to
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  Speaker 1: you before long. It has been an exceedingly difficult and
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  Speaker 1: most complicated business. There are several points upon which we
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  Speaker 1: still want light, but it is coming all the same.
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  Speaker 1: We've had one experience, as Watson has no doubt told
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  Speaker 1: you we heard the hound on the moor, so I
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  Speaker 1: can swear that it is not all empty superstition. I
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  Speaker 1: had something to do with dogs when I was out west,
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  Speaker 1: and I know one when I hear one. If you
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  Speaker 1: can muzzle that one and put him on a chain,
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  Speaker 1: I'll be ready to swear you are the greatest detective
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  Speaker 1: of all time. I think I will muzzle him and
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  Speaker 1: chain him all right. If you will give me your help.
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  Speaker 1: Whatever you tell me to do, I will do very good.
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  Speaker 1: And I will ask you also to do it blindly,
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  Speaker 1: without always asking the reason, just as you like. If
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  Speaker 1: you will do this, I think the chances are that
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  Speaker 1: our little problem will soon be solved. I have no doubt.
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  Speaker 1: He stopped suddenly and stared fixedly up over my head
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  Speaker 1: into the air. The lamp beat upon his face, and
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  Speaker 1: so intent was it, and so still that it might
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  Speaker 1: have been that of a clear cut classical statue, a
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  Speaker 1: personification of alertness and expectation. What is it? We both cried.
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  Speaker 1: I could see, as he looked down that he was
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  Speaker 1: repressing some internal emotion. His features were still composed, but
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  Speaker 1: his eyes shone with amused exultation. Excuse the admiration of
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  Speaker 1: a connoisseur, said he as he waved his hand towards
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  Speaker 1: the line of portraits which covered the opposite wall. Watson
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  Speaker 1: won't allow that I know anything of art, but that
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  Speaker 1: is mere jealousy, because our views upon the subject differ. Now,
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  Speaker 1: these are a really very fine series of portraits. Well,
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  Speaker 1: I'm glad to hear you say so, said Sir Henry,
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  Speaker 1: glancing with some surprise at my friend. I don't pretend
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  Speaker 1: to know much about these things, and I'd be a
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  Speaker 1: better judge of a horse or a steer than of
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  Speaker 1: a picture. I didn't know that you found time for
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  Speaker 1: such things. I know what is good when I see it.
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  Speaker 1: And I see it now, that's Annella. I'll swear that
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  Speaker 1: lady in the blue silk over Yonder, and the stout
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  Speaker 1: gentleman with the wig ought to be a Reynolds. They
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  Speaker 1: are all family portraits, I presume every one. Do you
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  Speaker 1: know the names? Barrymore has been coaching me in them,
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  Speaker 1: and I think I can say my lessons fairly well.
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  Speaker 1: Who is the gentleman with the telescope. That is Rear
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  Speaker 1: Admiral Baskerville, who served under Rodney in the West Indies.
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  Speaker 1: The man with the blue coat and the roll of
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  Speaker 1: paper is Sir William Baskerville, who is the Chairman of
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  Speaker 1: Committees of the House of Commons under Pitt. And this
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  Speaker 1: cavalier opposite to me, the one with the black velvet
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  Speaker 1: and the lace, ah, you have a right to know
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  Speaker 1: about him. That is the cause of all the mischief,
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  Speaker 1: the wicked Hugo who started the Hound of the Baskervilles.
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  Speaker 1: We're not likely to forget him. I gazed with interest,
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  Speaker 1: and some surprised upon the portrait, dear me, said Holmes.
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  Speaker 1: He seems a quiet, meek mannered man enough, but I
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  Speaker 1: dare say that there was a lurking devil in his eyes.
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  Speaker 1: I had pictured him as a more robust and ruffianly person.
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  Speaker 1: There's no doubt about the authenticity, for the name and
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  Speaker 1: the date sixteen forty seven are on the back of
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  Speaker 1: the canvas. Holmes said little more, but the picture of
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  Speaker 1: the old Roysterer seemed to have a fascination for him,
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  Speaker 1: and his eyes were continually fixed upon it during supper.
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  Speaker 1: It was not until later, when Sir Henry had gone
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  Speaker 1: to his room, that I was able to follow the
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  Speaker 1: trend of his thoughts. He led me back into the
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  Speaker 1: banqueting hall, his bedroom candle in his hand, and he
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  Speaker 1: held it up against the time stained portrait on the wall.
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  Speaker 1: Do you see anything there? I looked at the broad
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  Speaker 1: plumed hat, the curling love locks, the white lace collar,
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  Speaker 1: and the straight, severe face which was framed between them.
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  Speaker 1: It was not a brutal countenance, but it was prim
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  Speaker 1: hard and stern, with a firm set, thin lipped mouth,
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  Speaker 1: and a coldly intolerant eye. Is it like any one
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  Speaker 1: you know? There is something of Sir Henry about the jaw,
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  Speaker 1: just a suggestion, perhaps, But wait an instant. He stood
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  Speaker 1: upon a chair, and, holding up the light in his
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  Speaker 1: left hand, he curved his right arm, over the broad
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  Speaker 1: hat and round the long ringlets. Good heavens, I cried
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  Speaker 1: in amazement. The face of Stapleton had sprung out of
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  Speaker 1: the canvas. Ha you see it now. My eyes have
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  Speaker 1: been trained to examine faces and not their trimmings. It
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  Speaker 1: is the first quality of a criminal investigator that he
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  Speaker 1: should see through a disguise. But this is marvelous. It
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  Speaker 1: might be his portrait. Yes, it is an interesting instance
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  Speaker 1: of a throwback which appears to be both physical and spiritual.
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  Speaker 1: A study of family portraits is enough to convert a
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  Speaker 1: man to the doctrine of reincarnation. The fellow is a
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  Speaker 1: baskerville that is evident with designs upon the succession. Exactly.
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  Speaker 1: This chance of the picture has supplied us with one
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  Speaker 1: of our most obvious missing links. We have him, Watson,
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  Speaker 1: We have him, and I dare swear that before to
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  Speaker 1: morrow night he will be flow in our net, as
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  Speaker 1: helpless as one of his own butterflies, A pin, a cork,
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  Speaker 1: and a card, and we add him to the Baker
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  Speaker 1: Street collection. He burst into one of his rare fits
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  Speaker 1: of laughter as he turned away from the picture. I've
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  Speaker 1: not heard him laugh often, and it has always boded
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  Speaker 1: ill to somebody. I was up betimes in the morning,
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  Speaker 1: but Holmes was afoot earlier still, for I saw him
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  Speaker 1: as I dressed, coming up the drive. Yes, we should
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  Speaker 1: have a full day to day, he remarked, and he
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  Speaker 1: rubbed his hands with the joy of action. The nets
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  Speaker 1: are all in place and the drag is about to begin.
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  Speaker 1: We'll know before the day is out whether we have
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  Speaker 1: caught our big, lean jawed pike or whether he has
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  Speaker 1: got through the meshes. Have you been on the moor already?
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  Speaker 1: I have sent a report from Grimpen to Princetown as
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  Speaker 1: to the death of Selden. I think I can promise
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  Speaker 1: that none of you will be troubled in the matter.
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  Speaker 1: And I have also communicated with my faithful Cartwright, who
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  Speaker 1: would certainly have pined away at the door of my
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  Speaker 1: hut as a dog does at his master's grave, if
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  Speaker 1: I had not set his mind at rest about my safety.
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  Speaker 1: What is the next move to see, Sir Henry? Ah,
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  Speaker 1: here he is. Good morning, Holmes, said the baronet. You
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: look like a general who is planning a battle with
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  Speaker 1: his chief of the staff. That is the exact situation.
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  Speaker 1: Watson was asking for orders, and so do I very
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: good you are engaged, as I understand, to dine with
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  Speaker 1: our friends, the Stapletons to night. I hope that you
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: will come also. They are very hospitable people, and I
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: am sure that they would be very glad to see you.
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  Speaker 1: I fear that Watson and I must go to London.
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  Speaker 1: To London, yes, I think that we should be more
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: useful there at the present juncture. The Baronet's face perceptibly lengthened.
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  Speaker 1: I hope that you are going to see me through
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  Speaker 1: this business. The hall and the moor are not very
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  Speaker 1: pleasant places when one is alone. My dear fellow, you
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  Speaker 1: must trust me implicitly and do exactly what I tell you.
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  Speaker 1: You can tell your friends that we should have been
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: happy to come with you, but that urgent business required
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: us to be in town. We hope very soon to
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: return to Devonshire. Will you remember to give them that message?
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: If you insist upon it. There is no alternative, I
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: assure you. I saw by the baronet's clouded brow that
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: he was deeply hurt by what he regarded as our desertion.
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: When do you desire to go, he asked coldly. Immediately
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: after breakfast, we will drive into Coombe. Tracy. But Watson
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: will leave his things as a pledge that he will
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  Speaker 1: come back to you. Watson, you will send a note
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  Speaker 1: to Stapleton to tell him that you regret that you
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: cannot come. I have a good mind to go to
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  Speaker 1: London with you, said the Baronet. Why should I stay
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: here alone? Because it is your post of duty. Because
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: you gave me your word that you would do as
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: you were told, and I tell you to stay all right,
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: then I'll stay one more direction. I wish you to
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: drive to Merripit House, send back your trap, however, and
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: let them know that you intend to walk home, to
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: walk across the moor. Yes, but that is the very
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  Speaker 1: thing which you have so often cautioned me not to do.
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  Speaker 1: This time you may do it with safety. If I
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: had not every confidence in your nerve and courage, I
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: would not suggest it. But it is essential that you
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: should do it. Then I will do it. And as
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: you value your life, do not go across the moor
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: in any direction save along the straight path which leads
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: from Merripit House to the Grimpen Road and is your
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: natural way home. I will do just what you say.
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  Speaker 1: Very good. I should be glad to get away as
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: soon after breakfast as possible, so as to reach London
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: in the afternoon. I was much astounded by this program,
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: though I remembered that Holmes had said to Stapleton on
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: the night before that his visit would terminate next day.
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  Speaker 1: It had not crossed my mind, however, that he would
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: wish me to go with him, Nor could I understand
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: how he could both be absent at a moment which
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: he himself declared to be critical. There was nothing for it, however,
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: but implicit obedience. So we bade goodbye to our rueful friend,
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: and a couple of hours afterwards we were at the
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: station of Coombe Tracy, and had dispatched the trap. Upon
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: its return journey, a small boy was waiting upon the platform.
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  Speaker 1: Any orders, sir, you will take this train to town Cartwright.
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: The moment you arrive, you will send a wire to
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: Sir Henry Baskerville in my name, to say that if
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: he finds the pocket book which I have dropped, he
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: is to send it by registered post to Baker's Street. Yes, sir,
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: and ask at the station office if there is a
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: message for me. The boy returned with a telegram which
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: Holmes handed to me. It ran a wire received coming
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: down with unsigned warrant arrive five forty Lestrade. That is
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: in answer to mine of this morning. He is the
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: best of the professionals, I think, and we may need
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: his assistance now, Watson, I think that we cannot employ
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: our time better than by calling upon your acquaintance, Missus
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: Laura Lyons. His plan of campaign was beginning to be evident.
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: He would use the baronet in order to convince the
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: Stapletons that we were really gone, while we should actually
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: return at the instant when we were likely to be needed.
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: That telegram from London, if mentioned by Sir Henry to
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: the Stapletons, must remove the last suspicions from their minds.
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: Already I seemed to see our nets drawing closer around
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: that Dean George Pike. Missus Laura Lyons was in her
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: office and Sherlock Holmes opened his interview with a frankness
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: and directness which considerably amazed her. I am investigating the
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: circumstances which attended the death of the late Sir Charles Baskerville,
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: said he, my friend here, doctor Watson, has informed me
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: of what you have communicated and also of what you
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: have withheld in connection with that matter. What have I withheld,
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: she asked defiantly. You have confessed that you asked Sir
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: Charles to be at the gate at ten o'clock. We
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: know that that was the place and hour of his death.
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: You have withheld what the connection is between these events?
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: There is no connection in that case. The coincidence must
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: indeed be an extraordinary one. But I think that we
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: shall succeed in establishing a connection. After all, I wish
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: to be perfectly frank with you, Missus Lyons. Regard this
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: case as one of murder, and the evidence may implicate
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: not only your friend, mister Stapleton, but his wife as well.
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: The lady sprang from her chair. His wife, she cried.
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: The fact is no longer a secret. The person who
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: has passed for his sister is really his wife. Missus
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: Lyons had resumed her seat. Her hands were grasping the
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: arms of her chair, and I saw that the pink
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: nails had turned white with the pressure of her grip.
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: His wife, she said again, his wife. He is not
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: a married man. Sherlock Holmes shrugged his shoulders. Prove it
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: to me, Prove it to me, and if you can
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: do so, the fierce flash of her eyes said more
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: than any words. I have come prepared to do so,
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: said Holmes, drawing several papers from his pocket. Here is
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: a photograph of the couple, taken in York four years ago.
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: It is endorsed mister and Missus van de Leur. But
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: you will have no difficulty in recognizing him and her
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: also if you know her by sight. Here are three
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: written descriptions by trustworthy witnesses of mister and Missus van
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: de Leur, who at that time kept Saint Oliver's private school.
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: Read them and see if you can doubt the identity
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: of these people. She glanced at them, and then looked
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: up at us with the set, rigid face of a
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: desperate woman. Mister Holmes, she said, this man had offered
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: me marriage on condition that I could get a divorce
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: from my husband. He has lied to me, the villain,
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: in every conceivable way. Not one word of truth has
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: he ever told me. And why why I imagined that
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: all was for my own sake? But now I see
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: that I was never anything but a tool in his hands.
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: Why should I preserve faith with him who never kept
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: any with me? Why should I try to shield him
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: from the consequences of his own will mak it acts.
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: Ask me what you like, and there is nothing which
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: I shall hold back. One thing I swear to you,
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: and that is that when I wrote the letter, I
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: never dreamed of any harm to the old gentleman who
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: had been my kindest friend. I entirely believe you, madam,
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: said Sherlock Holmes. The recital of these events must be
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: very painful to you, and perhaps it will make it
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: easier if I tell you what occurred, and you can
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: check me if I make any material mistake. The sending
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: of this letter was suggested to you by Stapleton, He
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: dictated it. I presume that the reason he gave was
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: that you would receive help from Sir Charles for the
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: legal expenses connected with your divorce exactly. And then after
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: you had sent the letter, he dissuaded you from keeping
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: the appointment. He told me that it would hurt his
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: self respect that any other man should find the money
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: for such an object, and that though he was a
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: poor man himself, he would devote his last penny to
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: removing the obstacles which divided us. He appears to be
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: a very consistent character. And then you heard nothing until
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: you read the reports of the death in the paper. No,
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: and he made you swear to say nothing about your
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: appointment with Sir Charles. He did. He said that the
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: death was a very mysterious one, and that I should
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: certainly be suspected if the facts came out. He frightened
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: me into remaining silent. Quite so, But you had your suspicions.
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: She hesitated and looked down. I knew him, she said,
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: But if he had kept faith with me, I should
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: always have done so with him. I think that on
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: the whole you have had a fortunate escape, said Sherlock Holmes.
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: You have had him in your power, and he knew it.
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: And yet you are alive. You have been walking for
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: some months very near to the edge of a precipice.
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: We must wish you good morning now, missus Lyons, and
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: it is probable that you will very shortly hear from
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: us again. Our case becomes rounded off, and difficulty after
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: difficulty thins away in front of us, said Holmes, as
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: we stood waiting for the arrival of the express from town.
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: I shall soon be in the position of being able
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: to put into a single connected narrative one of the
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: most singular and sensational crimes of modern times. Students of
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: criminology will remember the analogous incidents in god know in
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: Little Russia in the year sixty six, and of course
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: there are the Anderson murders in North Carolina. But this
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: case possesses some features which are entirely its own. Even
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: now we have no clear case against this very wily man.
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: But I shall be very much surprised if it is
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: not clear enough. Before we go to bed this night,
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: the London Express came roaring to the station, and a small,
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: wiry bulldog of a man had sprung from a first
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: class carriage. We all three shook hands, and I saw
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: at once from the reverential way in which Lestrade gazed
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: at my companion, that he had learned a good deal
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: since the days when they had first worked together. I
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: could well remember the scorn which the theories of the
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: reasoner used then to excite in the practical man. Anything good,
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: he asked, the biggest thing for years, said Holmes. We
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: have two hours before we need think of starting. I
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: think we might employ it in getting some dinner, And then, Lestrade,
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: we will take the London fog out of your throat
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: by giving you a breath of the pure night air
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: of Dartmoor. Never been there. Ah well, I don't suppose
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: you will forget your first visit. End of chapter thirteen.