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40 The Bruce-Partington Plans from His Last Bow Remi · Sherlock Holmes

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Speaker 1: The Adventure of the Bruce Partington Plans by Sir Arthur
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Speaker 1: Conan Doyle. In the third week of November in the
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Speaker 1: year eighteen ninety five, a dense yellow fog settled down
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Speaker 1: upon London from the Monday to the Thursday. I doubt
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Speaker 1: whether it was ever possible from our windows in Baker
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Speaker 1: Street to see the loom of the opposite houses. The
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Speaker 1: first day Holmes had spent in cross indexing his huge
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Speaker 1: book of references. The second and third had been patiently
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Speaker 1: occupied upon a subject which he had recently made his hobby,
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Speaker 1: the music of the Middle Ages. But when, for the
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Speaker 1: fourth time, after pushing back our chairs from breakfast, we
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Speaker 1: saw the greasy, heavy brown swirls still drifting past us
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Speaker 1: and condensing in oily drops upon the window panes, my comrades,
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Speaker 1: impatient and active nature, could endure this drab existence no longer.
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Speaker 1: He paced restlessly about our sitting room and a fever
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Speaker 1: of suppressed energy, biting his nails, tapping the furniture, and
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Speaker 1: chafing against inaction. Nothing of interest in the paper, Watson,
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Speaker 1: he said, I was aware that by anything of interest
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Speaker 1: Holmes meant anything of criminal interest. There was the news
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Speaker 1: of a revolution, of a possible war, and of an
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Speaker 1: impending change of government. But these did not come within
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Speaker 1: the horizon of my companion. I could see nothing recorded
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Speaker 1: in the shape of crime which was not commonplace, and
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Speaker 1: futile Homes groaned and resumed his restless meanderings. The London
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Speaker 1: criminal is certainly a dull fellow, said he, in the
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Speaker 1: querulous voice of the sportsman whose game has failed him.
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Speaker 1: Look out this window, Watson, see how the figures loom up,
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Speaker 1: are dimly seen, and then blend once more into the
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Speaker 1: cloud bank. The thief or the murderer could roam London
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Speaker 1: on such a day as the tiger does the jungle,
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Speaker 1: unseen until he pounces, and then evident only to his victim.
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Speaker 1: There have said, I be numerous petty thefts, Homes snorted
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Speaker 1: his contempt. This great and somber stage is set for
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Speaker 1: something more worthy than that, said he. It is fortunate
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Speaker 1: for this community that I am not a criminal. It
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Speaker 1: is indeed, said I heartily suppose that I were Brooks
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Speaker 1: or Woodhouse, or any of the fifty men who have
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Speaker 1: good reason for taking my life, How long could I
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Speaker 1: survive against my own pursuit? The summons a Boger's appointment
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Speaker 1: and all would be over. It is well, they don't
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Speaker 1: have days of fog in the Latin countries. The countries
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Speaker 1: are assassination by Jove. Here comes something at last to
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Speaker 1: break our dead monotony. It was the maid with the telegram.
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Speaker 1: Holmes tore it open and burst out laughing. Well, well
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Speaker 1: what next, said he? My brother Micraft is coming round.
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Speaker 1: Why not? I asked, why not? It is as if
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Speaker 1: you met a tramp car coming down a country lane.
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Speaker 1: Micraft has his rails and he runs on them. His
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Speaker 1: Palmow lodgings, the Diogenes Club, Whitehall, that is his cycle.
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Speaker 1: Once and only once has he been here. What upheaval
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Speaker 1: can possibly have derailed him? Does he not? Explain? Holmes
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Speaker 1: handed me his brother's telegram, must see you over ca
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Speaker 1: Cadugan West coming at once my craft cadug and West.
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Speaker 1: I've heard the name. It recalls nothing to my mind
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Speaker 1: but that my craft should break out in this erratic fashion.
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Speaker 1: A planet might as well leave its orbit. By the way,
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Speaker 1: do you know what Micraft is? I had some vague
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Speaker 1: recollection of an explanation at the time of the adventure
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Speaker 1: of the Greek interpreter you told me that he had
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Speaker 1: some small office under the British government. Holmes chuckled, I
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Speaker 1: did not know you quite so well. In those days.
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Speaker 1: One has to be discreet when one talks of high
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Speaker 1: matters of state. You are right in thinking that he
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Speaker 1: is under the British government. You would also be right
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Speaker 1: in a sense if you said that occasionally he is
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Speaker 1: the British government. My dear Holmes, I thought I might
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Speaker 1: surprise you. My craft draws four hundred and fifty pounds
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Speaker 1: a year, remains a subordinate, has no ambitions of any kind,
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Speaker 1: will receive neither honor nor title, but remains the most
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Speaker 1: indispensable man in the country. But how well his position
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Speaker 1: is unique. He has made it for himself. There has
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Speaker 1: never been anything like it before, nor will be again.
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Speaker 1: He has the tidiest and most orderly brain, with the
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Speaker 1: greatest capacity for storing facts of any man living. The
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Speaker 1: same great powers which I have turned to the detection
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Speaker 1: of crime, he has used for this particular business. The
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Speaker 1: conclusions of every department are passed to him, and he
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Speaker 1: is the central exchange, the clearing house which makes out
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Speaker 1: the balance. All other men are specialists, but his specialism
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Speaker 1: is omniscience. We will suppose that a minister needs information
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Speaker 1: as to a point which involves the Navy, India, Canada
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Speaker 1: and the bimetallic question. He could get his separate advices
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Speaker 1: from various departments upon each but only my craft can
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Speaker 1: focus them all and say offhand how each factor would
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Speaker 1: affect the other. They began by using him as a
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Speaker 1: short cut, a convenience. Now he has made himself an
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Speaker 1: essential In that great brain of his, everything is pigeonholed
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Speaker 1: and can be handed out in an instant again and again.
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Speaker 1: His word has decided the national policy. He lives in it.
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Speaker 1: He thinks of nothing else, save when as an intellectual
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Speaker 1: exercise he unbends if I call upon him and ask
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Speaker 1: him to advise me on one of my little problems.
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Speaker 1: But Jupiter is descending to day. What on earth can
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Speaker 1: it mean? Who is cardug and West? And what is he?
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Speaker 1: To my craft? I have it? I cried, and plunged
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Speaker 1: among the litter of the papers upon the sofa. Yes, yes,
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Speaker 1: here he is sure enough. Cardug and West was the
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Speaker 1: young man who was found dead on the underground on
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Speaker 1: Tuesday morning. Holmes sat up at attention, his pipe half
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Speaker 1: way to his lips. This must be serious, Watson. A
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Speaker 1: death which has caused my brother to alter his habits
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Speaker 1: can be no ordinary one. What in the world can
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Speaker 1: he have to do with it? The case was featureless
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Speaker 1: as I remember it. The young man had apparently fallen
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Speaker 1: out of the train and killed himself. He had not
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Speaker 1: been robbed, and there was no particular reason to suspect violence.
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Speaker 1: Is that not so? There has been an inquest, said I,
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Speaker 1: and a good many fresh facts have come out. Looked
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Speaker 1: at more closely, I should certainly say that it was
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Speaker 1: a curious case. Judging by its effects upon my brother,
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Speaker 1: I should think it must be a most extraordinary one.
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Speaker 1: He snuggled down in his armchair. Now, Watson, let us
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Speaker 1: have the facts. The man's name was Arthur Cadugan west
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Speaker 1: He was twenty seven years of age, unmarried, and a
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Speaker 1: clerk at Woolich Arsenal Government employ behold the link with
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Speaker 1: brother Micraft. He left Woolwich suddenly on Monday night. Was
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Speaker 1: last seen by his fiancee, Miss Violet Westbury, whom he
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Speaker 1: left abruptly in the fog about seven point thirty that evening.
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Speaker 1: There was no quarrel between them, and she can give
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Speaker 1: no motive for his action. The next thing heard of
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Speaker 1: him was when his dead body was discovered by a
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Speaker 1: plate layer named Mason, just outside Oldgate station on the
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Speaker 1: underground system in London. When the body was found at
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Speaker 1: six on Tuesday morning, it was lying wide of the metals,
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Speaker 1: upon the left hand of the track as one goes
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Speaker 1: eye eastward, at a point close to the station where
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Speaker 1: the line emerges from the tunnel in which it runs.
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Speaker 1: The head was badly crushed, an injury which might well
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Speaker 1: have been caused by a fall from the train. The
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Speaker 1: body could only have come on the line in that
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Speaker 1: way had it been carried down from any neighboring street.
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Speaker 1: It must have passed the station barriers where a collector
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Speaker 1: is always standing. This point is absolutely certain, very good.
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Speaker 1: The case is definite enough. The man dead or alive,
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Speaker 1: either fell or was precipitated from a train, so much
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Speaker 1: is clear to me. Continue. The trains which traverse the
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Speaker 1: lines of rail beside which the body was found are
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Speaker 1: those which run from west to east, some being purely Metropolitan,
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Speaker 1: and some from Willesden and outlying junctions. It can be
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Speaker 1: stated for certain that this young man, when he met
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Speaker 1: his death, was traveling in this direction at some late
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Speaker 1: hour of the night. But at what point he entered
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Speaker 1: the train? It is impossible to state his ticket, of course,
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Speaker 1: would show that there was no ticket in his pockets.
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Speaker 1: No ticket, dear me, Watson, this is really very singular.
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Speaker 1: According to my experience, it is not possible to reach
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Speaker 1: the platform of a metropolitan train without exhibiting one's ticket.
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Speaker 1: Presumably then the young man had one. Was it taken
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Speaker 1: from him in order to conceal the station from which
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Speaker 1: he came? It is possible. Or did he drop it
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Speaker 1: in the carriage? That is also possible, But the point
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Speaker 1: is of curious interest. I understand there was no sign
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Speaker 1: of robbery. Apparently not. There is a list here of
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Speaker 1: his possessions. His purse contained two pounds fifteen. He had
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Speaker 1: also a check book on the Woolwich branch of the
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Speaker 1: Capitol and County's Bank. Through this his identity was established.
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Speaker 1: There were also two dress circle tickets for the Woolwich Theatre,
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Speaker 1: dated for that very evening, also a small packet of
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Speaker 1: technical papers. Holmes gave an exclamation of satisfaction. There we
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Speaker 1: have it at last, Watson, British Government, Wolich Arsenal technical papers.
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Speaker 1: Brother Micraft. The chain is complete. But here he comes,
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Speaker 1: if I am not mistaken to speak for himself. A
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Speaker 1: moment later, the tall and portly form of Micraft Homes
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Speaker 1: was ushered into the room. Heavily built and massive. There
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Speaker 1: was a suggestion of uncouth physical inertia in the figure.
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Speaker 1: But above this unwieldy frame there was perched a head
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Speaker 1: so masterful in its brow, so alert in its steel gray,
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Speaker 1: deep set eyes, so firm in its lips, and so
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Speaker 1: subtle in its play of expression, that after the first
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Speaker 1: glance one forgot the gross body and remembered only the
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Speaker 1: dominant mind. At his heels came our old friend, Lestrade
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Speaker 1: of Scotland, yard thin and austere. The gravity of both
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Speaker 1: their faces foretold some weighty quest. The detective shook hands
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Speaker 1: without a word. My Craft Homes, struggled out of his
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Speaker 1: overcoat and subsided into an arm chair. A most annoying business.
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Speaker 1: Sherlock said, he I extremely dislike altering my habits, but
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Speaker 1: the powers that be would take no denial. In the
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Speaker 1: present state of Siam, it is most awkward that I
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Speaker 1: should be away from the office, but it is a
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Speaker 1: real crisis. I have never seen the prime minister so
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Speaker 1: upset as to the Admiralty. It is buzzing like an
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Speaker 1: overturned beehive. Have you read up the case we have
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Speaker 1: just done. So what were the technical papers? Ah, there's
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Speaker 1: the point. Fortunately it has not come out. The press
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Speaker 1: would be furious if it did. The papers which this
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Speaker 1: wretched use had in his pocket were the plans of
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Speaker 1: the Bruce Partington submarine Microft Holmes spoke with a solemnity
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Speaker 1: which showed his sense of the importance of the subject.
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Speaker 1: His brother and I sat expectant. Surely you have heard
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Speaker 1: of it. I thought every one had heard of it
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Speaker 1: only as a name. Its importance can hardly be exaggerated.
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Speaker 1: It has been the most jealously guarded of all government secrets.
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Speaker 1: You may take it from me that naval warfare becomes
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Speaker 1: impossible within the radius of a Bruce Partington's operation. Two
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Speaker 1: years ago a very large sum was smuggled through the
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Speaker 1: estimates and was expended in acquiring a monopoly of the invention.
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Speaker 1: Every effort has been made to keep the secret. The plans,
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Speaker 1: which are exceedingly intricate, comprising some thirty separate patents, each
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Speaker 1: essential to the working of the whole, are kept in
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Speaker 1: an elaborate safe in a confidential office adjoining the arsenal
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Speaker 1: with burglar proof doors and windows. Under no conceivable circumstances
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Speaker 1: were the plans to be taken from the office if
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Speaker 1: the Chief Constructor of the Navy desired to consult them,
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Speaker 1: even he was forced to go to the Woolwich office
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Speaker 1: for the purpose. And yet here we find them in
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Speaker 1: the pocket of a dead junior clerk in the heart
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Speaker 1: of London. From an official point of view, it's simply awful.
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Speaker 1: But you have recovered them, no, Sherlock, know that's the
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Speaker 1: pinch we have. Not ten papers were taken from Woolwich.
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Speaker 1: There were seven in the pocket of Cadugan West. The
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Speaker 1: three most essential are gone, stolen, vanished. You must drop everything, Sherlock.
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Speaker 1: Never mind your usual petty puzzles of the police court.
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Speaker 1: It's a vital international problem that you have to solve.
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Speaker 1: Why did Cadogan West take the papers? Where are the
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Speaker 1: missing ones? How did he die? How came his body
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Speaker 1: where it was found? How can the evil be set right?
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Speaker 1: Find an answer to all these questions, and you will
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Speaker 1: have done good service for your country. Why do you
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Speaker 1: not solve it yourself? Micraft? You can see as far
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Speaker 1: as I possibly, Sherlock. But it is a question of
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Speaker 1: getting details. Give me your details, and from an arm
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Speaker 1: chair I will return you an excellent expert opinion. But
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Speaker 1: to run here and run there, to cross question railway guards,
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Speaker 1: and lie on my face with a lens to my eye,
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Speaker 1: it is not my metier. No, you are the one
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Speaker 1: man who can clear the matter up. If you fancy
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Speaker 1: to see your name in the next honors list. My
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Speaker 1: friend smiled and shook his head. I play the game
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Speaker 1: for the game's own sake, said he. But the problem
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Speaker 1: certainly presents some points of interest, and I shall be
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Speaker 1: very pleased to look into it. Some more facts, please,
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Speaker 1: I have jotted down the more essential ones upon this
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Speaker 1: sh sheet of paper, together with a few addresses, which
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Speaker 1: you will find of service. The actual official guardian of
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Speaker 1: the papers is the famous government expert Sir James Walter,
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Speaker 1: whose decorations and subtitles filled two lines of a book
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Speaker 1: of reference. He has grown gray in the service. Is
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Speaker 1: a gentleman, a favored guest in the most exalted houses,
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Speaker 1: and above all a man whose patriotism is beyond suspicion.
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Speaker 1: He is one of two who have a key of
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Speaker 1: the safe. I may add that the papers were undoubtedly
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Speaker 1: in the office during working hours on Monday, and that
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Speaker 1: Sir James left for London about three o'clock, taking his
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Speaker 1: key with him. He was at the house of Admiral
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Speaker 1: Sinclair at Barclay Square during the whole of the evening
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Speaker 1: when this incident occurred. Has the fact been verified? Yes,
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Speaker 1: His brother, Colonel Valentine Walter, has testified to his departure
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Speaker 1: from Woolwich and Admiral Sinclair to his arrival in London.
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Speaker 1: So Sir James is no longer a direct factor in
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Speaker 1: the problem. Who was the other man with a key?
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Speaker 1: The senior clerk and draftsman, mister Sidney Johnson. He is
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Speaker 1: a man of forty married with five children. He is
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Speaker 1: a silent, morose man, but he has, on the whole
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Speaker 1: an excellent record in the public service. He is unpopular
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Speaker 1: with his colleagues, but a hard worker. According to his
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Speaker 1: own account, corroborated only by the word of his wife,
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Speaker 1: he was at home the whole of Monday evening after
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Speaker 1: office hours, and his key has never left the watch
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Speaker 1: chain upon which it hangs. Tell us about Cadugan West,
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Speaker 1: he has been ten years in the service and has
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Speaker 1: done good work. He has the reputation of being hot
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Speaker 1: headed and imperious, but a straight honest man. We have
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Speaker 1: nothing against him. He was next Sidney Johnson in the office.
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Speaker 1: His duties brought him into daily personal contact with the plans.
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Speaker 1: No one else had the handling of them. Who locked
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Speaker 1: up the plans that night? Mister Sidney Johnson, the senior
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Speaker 1: clerk will it is surely perfectly clear who took them away?
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Speaker 1: They're actually found upon the person of this junior clerk,
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Speaker 1: Cadugan West. That seems final, does it not? It does, Sherlock,
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Speaker 1: And yet it leaves so much unexplained in the first place,
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Speaker 1: Why did he take them? I presume they were of value.
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Speaker 1: He could have got several thousands for them very easily.
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Speaker 1: Can you suggest any possible motive for taking the papers
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Speaker 1: to London except to sell them? No? I cannot. Then
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Speaker 1: we must take that as our working hypothesis. Young West
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Speaker 1: took the papers. Now, this could only be done by
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Speaker 1: having a false key, several false keys. He had to
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Speaker 1: open the building and the room. He had, then several
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Speaker 1: false keys. He took the papers to London to sell
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Speaker 1: the secret, intending no doubt to have the plans themselves
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Speaker 1: back in the safe next morning before they were missed.
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Speaker 1: While in London on this treasonable mission he met his end.
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Speaker 1: How we will suppose that he was traveling back to
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Speaker 1: Woolwich when he was killed and thrown out of the compartment. Aldgate,
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Speaker 1: where the body was found, is considerably past the station
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Speaker 1: London Bridge, which would be his route to Woolwich. Many
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Speaker 1: circumstances could be imagined under which he would pass London Bridge.
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Speaker 1: There was someone in the carriage, for example, with whom
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Speaker 1: he was having an absorbing interview. This interview led to
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Speaker 1: a violent scene in which he lost his life. Possibly
18:32
Speaker 1: he tried to leave the carriage, fell out on the
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Speaker 1: line and so met his end. The other closed the door.
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Speaker 1: There was a thick fog, and nothing could be seen.
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Speaker 1: No better explanation can be given with our present knowledge.
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Speaker 1: And yet, consider Sherlock, how much you leave untouched. We
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Speaker 1: will suppose, for argument's sake that young Cadugan West had
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Speaker 1: determined to convey these papers to London. He would naturally
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Speaker 1: have made an appointment with the Foreign Air and kept
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Speaker 1: his evening clear. Instead of that, he took two tickets
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Speaker 1: for the theater, escorted his fiance half way there, and
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Speaker 1: then suddenly disappeared a blind said Lestrade, who had sat
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Speaker 1: listening with some impatience to the conversation, A very singular one,
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Speaker 1: that is objection number one, objection number two. We will
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Speaker 1: suppose that he reaches London and sees the foreign agent.
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Speaker 1: He must bring back the papers before morning, or the
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Speaker 1: loss will be discovered. He took away ten, only seven
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Speaker 1: were in his pocket. What had become of the other three?
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Speaker 1: He certainly would not leave them of his own free will.
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Speaker 1: Then again, whereas the price of his treason, one would
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Speaker 1: have expected to find a large sum of money in
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Speaker 1: his pocket. It seems to me perfectly clear, said Lestrade.
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Speaker 1: I have no doubt at all as to what occurred.
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Speaker 1: He took the papers to sell them, he saw the agent.
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Speaker 1: They not agree as to price. He started home again,
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Speaker 1: but the agent went with him. In the trying, the
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Speaker 1: agent murdered him, took the more essential papers, and threw
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Speaker 1: his body from the carriage. Now would account for everything,
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Speaker 1: would it not? Why had he no ticket? The ticket
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Speaker 1: would have shown which station was nearest the agent's house.
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Speaker 1: Therefore he took it from the murdered man's pocket. Good, Lestrade,
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Speaker 1: Very good, said Holmes. Your theory holds together. But if
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Speaker 1: this is true, then the case is at an end.
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Speaker 1: On the other hand, the traitor is dead. On the
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Speaker 1: other the plans of the Bruce Partington submarine are presumably
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Speaker 1: already on the continent. What is there for us to do?
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Speaker 1: To act? Sherlock, to act, cried Mycraft, springing to his feet.
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Speaker 1: All my instincts are against this explanation. Use your powers.
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Speaker 1: Go to the scene of the crime, see the people concerned.
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Speaker 1: Leave no stone unturned. In all your career, you have
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Speaker 1: never had so great a chance of serving your country.
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Speaker 1: Well well, said Holmes, shrugging his shoulders. Come Watson and you, Lestrade,
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Speaker 1: could you favor us with your company for an hour
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Speaker 1: or two? We will begin our investigation by a visit
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Speaker 1: to Oldgate Station. Good Bye, my Craft. I shall let
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Speaker 1: you have a report before evening, but I warn you
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Speaker 1: in advance that you have little to expect. An hour later, Holmes,
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Speaker 1: Lestrade and I stood upon the underground railroad at the
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Speaker 1: point where it emerges from the tunnel immediately before Oldgate Station.
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Speaker 1: A courteous, red faced old gentleman represented the railway company.
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Speaker 1: This is where the young man's body lay, said he,
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Speaker 1: indicating a spot about three feet from the metals. It
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Speaker 1: could not have fallen from above, for these, as you see,
21:48
Speaker 1: are all blank walls. Therefore, it could only have come
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Speaker 1: from a train, and that train, and so far as
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Speaker 1: we can trace, it must have passed about midnight on Monday.
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Speaker 1: Have the carriages been examined for any sign of violence.
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Speaker 1: There are no such signs, and no ticket has been found,
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Speaker 1: no record of a door being found open. None. We've
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Speaker 1: had some fresh evidence this morning, said Lestrade. A passenger
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Speaker 1: who passed Oldgate in an ordinary Metropolitan train about eleven
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Speaker 1: forty on Monday night, declares that he heard a heavy
22:22
Speaker 1: thud as of a body strike in the line just
22:25
Speaker 1: before the train reached the station. There was dense fog, however,
22:29
Speaker 1: and nothing could be seen. He made no report of
22:33
Speaker 1: it at the time. Why whatever is the matter with
22:36
Speaker 1: mister Olmes. My friend was standing with an expression of
22:40
Speaker 1: strained intensity upon his face, staring at the railway metals
22:45
Speaker 1: where they curved out of the tunnel. Oldgate is a junction,
22:49
Speaker 1: and there was a network of points on these. His
22:52
Speaker 1: eager questioning eyes were fixed, and I saw on his
22:56
Speaker 1: keen alert face, that tightening of the lips, that quiver
23:00
Speaker 1: of the nostrils, and concentration of the heavy tufted brows,
23:05
Speaker 1: which I knew so well. Points, he muttered, the points.
23:10
Speaker 1: What of it? What do you mean? I suppose there
23:13
Speaker 1: are no great number of points on a system such
23:16
Speaker 1: as this. No, they are very few, and a curve too, points,
23:21
Speaker 1: and a curve, by jove, if it were only so?
23:25
Speaker 1: What is it, mister Olmes? Have you a clue, an idea,
23:29
Speaker 1: an indication? No more? But the case certainly grows in interest, unique,
23:35
Speaker 1: perfectly unique, And yet why not? I do not see
23:39
Speaker 1: any indications of bleeding on the line. There were hardly any.
23:43
Speaker 1: But I understand that there was a considerable wound. The
23:47
Speaker 1: bone was crushed, but there was no great external injury,
23:50
Speaker 1: and yet one would have expected some bleeding. Would it
23:54
Speaker 1: be possible for me to inspect the train which contained
23:56
Speaker 1: the passenger who heard the thud of a fall in
23:59
Speaker 1: the fog? I fear not, mister Holmes. The train has
24:03
Speaker 1: been broken up before now, and the carriages redistributed. I
24:07
Speaker 1: can assure you, mister Holmes, said lestrade, that every carriage
24:11
Speaker 1: has been carefully examined. I saw to it myself. It
24:15
Speaker 1: was one of my friend's most obvious weaknesses that he
24:18
Speaker 1: was impatient with less alert intelligences than his own. Very likely,
24:23
Speaker 1: said he, turning away. As it happens, it was not
24:27
Speaker 1: the carriages which I desired to examine, Watson. We have
24:31
Speaker 1: done all we can here. We need not trouble you
24:33
Speaker 1: any further, mister Lestrade. I think our investigations must now
24:38
Speaker 1: carry us to Woolwich. At London Bridge, Holmes wrote a
24:42
Speaker 1: telegram to his brother, which he handed to me before
24:46
Speaker 1: dispatching it. It ran, thus, see some light in the darkness,
24:51
Speaker 1: but it may possibly flicker out. Meanwhile, please send by
24:55
Speaker 1: messenger to await return at Baker Street, a completely list
25:00
Speaker 1: of all foreign spies or international agents known to be
25:03
Speaker 1: in England, with full address Sherlock. That should be helpful, Watson,
25:09
Speaker 1: he remarked, as we took our seats in the Woolwich train,
25:12
Speaker 1: we suddenly owe brother Micraft a debt for having introduced
25:16
Speaker 1: us to our promises to be a really very remarkable case.
25:21
Speaker 1: His eager face still wore that expression of intense and
25:24
Speaker 1: high strung energy, which showed me that some novel and
25:27
Speaker 1: suggestive circumstance had opened up a stimulating line of thought.
25:32
Speaker 1: See the foxhound with hanging ears and drooping tail as
25:36
Speaker 1: it lolls about the kennels, and compare it with the
25:40
Speaker 1: same hound, as with gleaming eyes and straining muscles it
25:43
Speaker 1: runs upon a breast high scent. Such was the change
25:47
Speaker 1: in homes since the morning. He was a different man
25:50
Speaker 1: from the limp and lounging figure in the mouse colored
25:53
Speaker 1: dressing gown, who had prowled so restlessly only a few
25:57
Speaker 1: hours before round the fog girt room. There is material here,
26:03
Speaker 1: there is scope, said he. I am dull, indeed not
26:09
Speaker 1: to have understood its possibilities. Even now they are dark
26:13
Speaker 1: to me. The end is dark to me also, But
26:16
Speaker 1: I have hold of one idea which may lead us far.
26:20
Speaker 1: The man met his death elsewhere, and his body was
26:24
Speaker 1: on the roof of a carriage. On the roof remarkable,
26:29
Speaker 1: is it not? But consider the facts. Is it a
26:34
Speaker 1: coincidence that it is found at the very point where
26:38
Speaker 1: the train pitches and sways as it comes round on
26:41
Speaker 1: the points? Is not that the place where an object
26:45
Speaker 1: upon the roof might be expected to fall off the
26:49
Speaker 1: points would affect no object inside the train either. The
26:52
Speaker 1: body fell from the roof, or a very curious coincidence
26:57
Speaker 1: has occurred. But now consider the question of the blood.
27:00
Speaker 1: Of course, there was no bleeding on the line. If
27:03
Speaker 1: the body had bled elsewhere, each fact is suggestive in itself.
27:09
Speaker 1: Together they have a cumulative force, and a ticket too,
27:14
Speaker 1: I cried, exactly, we could not explain the absence of
27:17
Speaker 1: a ticket. This would explain it. Everything fits together. But
27:22
Speaker 1: suppose it were so, we are still as far as
27:25
Speaker 1: ever from unraveling the mystery of his death. Indeed, it
27:28
Speaker 1: becomes not simpler but stranger. Perhaps, said Holmes thoughtfully. Perhaps
27:34
Speaker 1: he relapsed into a silent reverie, which lasted until the
27:38
Speaker 1: slow train drew up at last in Woolwich station. There
27:42
Speaker 1: he called a cab and drew Mycroft's paper from his pocket.
27:47
Speaker 1: We have quite a little round of afternoon calls to make,
27:50
Speaker 1: said he. I think that, Sir James Walter claims our
27:53
Speaker 1: first attention. The house of the famous official was a
27:57
Speaker 1: fine villa with green lawns stretching down to the Thames.
28:02
Speaker 1: As we reached it, the fog was lifting and a thin,
28:05
Speaker 1: watery sunshine was breaking through. A butler answered our ring,
28:11
Speaker 1: Sir James. Sir said he with solemn face. Sir James
28:16
Speaker 1: died this morning. Good heavens, cried Holmes, in amazement. How
28:21
Speaker 1: did he die? Perhaps you would care to step in,
28:24
Speaker 1: sir and see his brother, Colonel Valentine. Yes, we had
28:29
Speaker 1: best do so. We were ushered into a dim lit
28:32
Speaker 1: drawing room, where an instant later we were joined by
28:36
Speaker 1: a very tall, handsome, light bearded man of fifty, the
28:41
Speaker 1: younger brother of the dead scientist. His wild eyes, stained cheeks,
28:46
Speaker 1: and unkempt hair all spoke of the sudden blow which
28:51
Speaker 1: had fallen upon the household. He was hardly articulate as
28:55
Speaker 1: he spoke of it. It was this horrible scoundal, said he,
28:59
Speaker 1: My brother, Sir James, was a man of very sensitive honor,
29:03
Speaker 1: and he could not survive such an affair. It broke
29:06
Speaker 1: his heart. He was always so proud of the efficiency
29:10
Speaker 1: of his department, and this was a crushing blow. We
29:14
Speaker 1: had hoped that he might have given us some indications
29:17
Speaker 1: which would have helped us to clear the matter up.
29:20
Speaker 1: I assure you that it was all a mystery to him,
29:23
Speaker 1: as it is to you and to all of us.
29:25
Speaker 1: He had already put all his knowledge at the disposal
29:28
Speaker 1: of the police naturally, he had no doubt that Cadugan
29:32
Speaker 1: West was guilty, but all the rest was inconceivable. You
29:37
Speaker 1: cannot throw any new light upon the affair. I know
29:41
Speaker 1: nothing myself save what I have read or heard. I
29:45
Speaker 1: have no desire to be discourteous. But you can understand,
29:49
Speaker 1: mister Holmes, that we are much disturbed at present, and
29:53
Speaker 1: I must ask you to hasten this interview to an end.
29:57
Speaker 1: This is indeed an unexpected development, said my friend, when
30:02
Speaker 1: we had regained the cab. I wonder if the death
30:05
Speaker 1: was natural, or whether the poor old fellow killed himself.
30:10
Speaker 1: If the latter, may it be taken as some sign
30:13
Speaker 1: of self reproach for duty neglected. We must leave that
30:18
Speaker 1: question to the future. Now we shall turn to the
30:21
Speaker 1: Caddugan Wests. A small but well kept house in the
30:25
Speaker 1: outskirts of the town sheltered the bereaved mother. The old
30:31
Speaker 1: lady was too dazed with grief to be of any
30:33
Speaker 1: use to usk, But at her side was a white
30:36
Speaker 1: faced young lady who introduced herself as Misviolet Westbury, the
30:42
Speaker 1: fiancee of the dead man and the last to see
30:45
Speaker 1: him upon that fatal night. I cannot explain it, mister Holmes,
30:50
Speaker 1: She said, I have not shut an eye since the tragedy, thinking, thinking, thinking,
30:55
Speaker 1: night and day what the true meaning of it can be?
31:00
Speaker 1: Was the most single minded, chivalrous, patriotic man upon earth.
31:05
Speaker 1: He would have cut his right hand off before he
31:07
Speaker 1: would sell a state secret confided to his keeping. It
31:12
Speaker 1: is absurd, impossible, preposterous to anyone who knew him. But
31:17
Speaker 1: the facts, Miss Westbury, Yes, yes, I admit I cannot
31:20
Speaker 1: explain them. Was he in any want of money? No,
31:25
Speaker 1: his needs were very simple and his salary ample. He
31:29
Speaker 1: had saved a few hundreds, and we were to marry
31:32
Speaker 1: at the new year. No signs of any mental excitement come,
31:37
Speaker 1: Miss Westbury, be absolutely frank with us. The quick eye
31:42
Speaker 1: of my companion had noted some change in her manner.
31:45
Speaker 1: She colored and hesitated. Yes, she said at last, I
31:51
Speaker 1: had a feeling that there was something on his mind
31:54
Speaker 1: for long. Only for the last week or so, he
31:58
Speaker 1: was thoughtful and worried. Once I pressed him about it,
32:04
Speaker 1: he admitted that there was something, and that it was
32:07
Speaker 1: concerned with his official life. It is too serious for
32:11
Speaker 1: me to speak about even to you, said he. I
32:15
Speaker 1: could get nothing more. Holmes looked grave. Go on, Miss Westbury,
32:21
Speaker 1: even if it seems to tell against him, go on.
32:24
Speaker 1: We cannot say what it may lead to. Indeed, I
32:29
Speaker 1: have nothing more to tell. Once or twice it seemed
32:32
Speaker 1: to me that he was on the point of telling
32:33
Speaker 1: me something. He spoke one evening of the importance of
32:37
Speaker 1: the secret, and I have some recollection that he said that,
32:41
Speaker 1: no doubt foreign spies would pay a great deal to
32:44
Speaker 1: have it. My friend's face grew grave as till anything else.
32:51
Speaker 1: He said that we were slack about such matters, that
32:55
Speaker 1: it would be easy for a traitor to get the plans.
32:59
Speaker 1: Was it only recent that he made such remarks? Yes,
33:03
Speaker 1: quite recently. Now tell us of that last evening we
33:08
Speaker 1: were to go to the theater. The fog was so
33:11
Speaker 1: thick that a cab was useless. We walked, and our
33:16
Speaker 1: way took us close to the office. Suddenly he darted
33:20
Speaker 1: away into the fog without a word. He gave an exclamation.
33:25
Speaker 1: That was all I waited. That he never returned. Then
33:30
Speaker 1: I walked home. Next morning, after the office opened, they
33:35
Speaker 1: came to inquire. About twelve o'clock we heard the terrible news. Oh,
33:42
Speaker 1: mister Holmes, if you could only only save his honor.
33:46
Speaker 1: It was so much to him. Holmes shook his head sadly. Come,
33:51
Speaker 1: Watson said he our ways lie elsewhere. Our next station
33:56
Speaker 1: must be the office from which the papers were taken.
34:00
Speaker 1: It was black enough before against this young man, but
34:04
Speaker 1: our inquiries make it blacker, he remarked, as the cab
34:08
Speaker 1: lumbered off. His coming marriage gives a motive for the crime.
34:12
Speaker 1: He naturally wanted money. The idea was in his head
34:16
Speaker 1: since he spoke about it. He nearly made the girl
34:19
Speaker 1: an accomplice in the treason by telling her his plans.
34:23
Speaker 1: It is all very bad, but surely holmes character goes
34:27
Speaker 1: for something. Then again, why should he leave the girl
34:30
Speaker 1: in the street and dart away to commit a felony? Exactly?
34:35
Speaker 1: There are certainly objections, but it is a formidable case
34:38
Speaker 1: which they have to meet. Mister Sidney Johnson, the senior
34:43
Speaker 1: clerk met us at the office and received us with
34:47
Speaker 1: that respect which my companion's card always commanded. He was
34:51
Speaker 1: a thin, gruff, bespectacled man of middle age, his cheeks haggard,
34:57
Speaker 1: and his hands twitching from the nervous strain to which
35:00
Speaker 1: he had been subjected. It is bad, mister Holmes, very bad.
35:05
Speaker 1: Have you heard of the death of the chief. We
35:08
Speaker 1: have just come from his house. The place is disorganized,
35:12
Speaker 1: the chief dead, cadug and West dead now of papers stolen.
35:16
Speaker 1: And yet when we closed our door on Monday evening
35:19
Speaker 1: we were as efficient an office as any in the
35:22
Speaker 1: government service. Good God, it's dreadful to think of that West,
35:28
Speaker 1: of all men, should have done such a thing. You
35:31
Speaker 1: are sure of his guilt. Then I can see no
35:33
Speaker 1: other way out of it. And yet I would have
35:36
Speaker 1: trusted him as I trust myself. At what hour was
35:39
Speaker 1: the office closed on Monday? At five? Did you close it?
35:44
Speaker 1: I'm always the last man out. Where were the plans
35:48
Speaker 1: in that safe? I put them there myself. Is there
35:51
Speaker 1: no watchman to the building? There is, but he has
35:54
Speaker 1: other departments to look after as well. He is an
35:57
Speaker 1: old soldier and a most trustworthy man. He saw nothing
36:00
Speaker 1: that evening. Of course, the fog was very thick. Suppose
36:05
Speaker 1: that caurdug and West wished to make his way into
36:08
Speaker 1: the building after hours. He would need three keys, would
36:11
Speaker 1: he not, before he could reach the papers? Yes, he
36:14
Speaker 1: would the key of the outer door, the key of
36:17
Speaker 1: the office, and the key of the safe. Only sir
36:20
Speaker 1: James Walter, and you had those keys. I had no
36:24
Speaker 1: keys of the doors, only of the safe. Was Sir
36:28
Speaker 1: James a man who was orderly in his habits, Yes,
36:31
Speaker 1: I think he was. I know that, so far as
36:34
Speaker 1: those three keys are concerned. He kept them on the
36:37
Speaker 1: same ring. I've often seen them there, and that ring
36:41
Speaker 1: went with him to London. He said, so, and your
36:45
Speaker 1: key never left your possession. Never. Then, West, if he
36:49
Speaker 1: is the culprit, must have had a duplicate, and yet
36:54
Speaker 1: none was found upon his body. One other point, if
36:57
Speaker 1: a clerk in this office desired to sell the plans,
37:00
Speaker 1: would it not be simpler to copy the plans for
37:02
Speaker 1: himself than to take the originals as was actually done.
37:07
Speaker 1: It would take considerable technical knowledge to copy the plans
37:10
Speaker 1: in an effective way. But I suppose either Sir James
37:14
Speaker 1: or you or West has that technical knowledge. No doubt
37:18
Speaker 1: we had. But I beg you won't try to drag
37:20
Speaker 1: me into the matter, mister Holmes. What is the use
37:23
Speaker 1: of our speculating in this way when the original plans
37:26
Speaker 1: were actually found on West Well? It is certainly singular
37:31
Speaker 1: that he should run the risk of taking originals if
37:33
Speaker 1: he could safely have taken copies which would have equally
37:37
Speaker 1: served his turn singular, no doubt, and yet he did so.
37:42
Speaker 1: Every inquiry in this case reveals something inexplicable. Now there
37:47
Speaker 1: are three papers still missing. They are, as I understand,
37:52
Speaker 1: the vital ones. Yes, that is so. You mean to
37:55
Speaker 1: say that anyone holding these three papers and without the
37:59
Speaker 1: seven others, could construct a Bruce Partington submarine. I reported
38:05
Speaker 1: to that effect to the Admiralty. But today I have
38:09
Speaker 1: been over the drawings again, and I am not so
38:11
Speaker 1: sure of it. The double valves with the automatic self
38:15
Speaker 1: adjusting slots are drawn in one of the papers which
38:18
Speaker 1: have been returned. Until the foreigners had invented that for themselves,
38:23
Speaker 1: they could not make the boat. Of course they might
38:26
Speaker 1: soon get over the difficulty. But the three missing drawings
38:31
Speaker 1: are the most important. Undoubtedly, I think, with your permission,
38:35
Speaker 1: I will now take a stroll round the premises. I
38:39
Speaker 1: do not recall any other question which I desired to ask.
38:43
Speaker 1: He examined the lock of the safe, the door of
38:46
Speaker 1: the room, and finally the iron shutters of the window.
38:50
Speaker 1: It was only when we were on the lawn outside
38:53
Speaker 1: that his interest was strongly excited. There was a Laurel
38:57
Speaker 1: bush outside the window, and several of the branches bore
39:01
Speaker 1: signs of having been twisted or snapped. He examined them
39:06
Speaker 1: carefully with his lens, and then some dim and vague
39:10
Speaker 1: marks upon the earth beneath. Finally, he asked the chief
39:14
Speaker 1: clerk to close the iron shutters, and he pointed out
39:18
Speaker 1: to me that they hardly met in the center, and
39:21
Speaker 1: that it would be possible for any one outside to
39:24
Speaker 1: see what was going on within the room. The indications
39:28
Speaker 1: are ruined by three days delay. They may mean something
39:32
Speaker 1: or nothing. Well, Watson, I do not think that Woolwich
39:36
Speaker 1: can help us further. It is a small crop which
39:40
Speaker 1: we have gathered. Let us see if we can do
39:42
Speaker 1: better in London. Yet we added one more sheaf to
39:46
Speaker 1: our harvest before we left Woolwich station. The clerk in
39:50
Speaker 1: the ticket office was able to say with confidence that
39:53
Speaker 1: he saw caddug and West, whom he knew well by sight,
39:57
Speaker 1: upon the Monday night, and that he went to London
40:00
Speaker 1: by the eight fifteen to London Bridge. It was alone
40:04
Speaker 1: and took a single third class ticket. The clerk was
40:08
Speaker 1: struck at the time by his excited and nervous manner,
40:12
Speaker 1: so shaky was he that he could hardly pick up
40:15
Speaker 1: his change, and the clerk had helped him with it.
40:18
Speaker 1: A reference to the timetable showed that the eight fifteen
40:22
Speaker 1: was the first train which it was possible for West
40:24
Speaker 1: to take after he had left the lady about seven
40:27
Speaker 1: point thirty. Let us reconstruct, Watson, said Holmes, after half
40:32
Speaker 1: an hour of silence. I am not aware that in
40:35
Speaker 1: all our joint researches we have ever had a case
40:39
Speaker 1: which was more difficult to get at. Every fresh advance
40:43
Speaker 1: which we make only reveals a fresh ridge beyond. And
40:49
Speaker 1: yet we have surely made some appreciable progress. The effect
40:53
Speaker 1: of our inquiries at Woolwich has in the main been
40:56
Speaker 1: against young Cadugan West, But the indications at the window
41:01
Speaker 1: would lend themselves to a more favorable hypothesis. Let us suppose,
41:05
Speaker 1: for example, that he had been approached by some foreign agent.
41:10
Speaker 1: It might have been done under such pledges as would
41:12
Speaker 1: have prevented him from speaking of it, and yet would
41:15
Speaker 1: have affected his thoughts in the direction indicated by his
41:19
Speaker 1: remarks to his fiancee very good. We will now suppose
41:23
Speaker 1: that as he went to the theater with the young lady,
41:25
Speaker 1: he suddenly in the fog caught a glimpse of this
41:28
Speaker 1: same agent going in the direction of the office. He
41:32
Speaker 1: was an impetuous man, quick in his decisions. Everything gave
41:37
Speaker 1: way to his duty. He followed the man, reached the window,
41:41
Speaker 1: saw the abstraction of the documents, and pursued the thief.
41:45
Speaker 1: In this way we get over the objection that no
41:47
Speaker 1: one would take originals when he could make copies. This
41:51
Speaker 1: outsider had to take originals. So far it holds together.
41:55
Speaker 1: What is the next step? Then we come into difficulties.
42:00
Speaker 1: Could imagine that under such circumstances the first act of
42:03
Speaker 1: young cadug and West would be to seize the villain
42:06
Speaker 1: and raise the alarm. Why did he not do so?
42:10
Speaker 1: Could it have been an official superior who took the
42:13
Speaker 1: papers that would explain West's conduct? Or could the chief
42:18
Speaker 1: have given West the slip in the fog? And West
42:21
Speaker 1: started at once to London to head him off from
42:24
Speaker 1: his own rooms, resuming that he knew where the rooms were.
42:28
Speaker 1: The call must have been very pressing, since he left
42:31
Speaker 1: his girl standing in the fog and made no effort
42:34
Speaker 1: to communicate with her. Our scent runs cold here, and
42:38
Speaker 1: there is a vast gap between either hypothesis and the
42:42
Speaker 1: laying of West's body with seven papers in his pocket,
42:46
Speaker 1: on the roof of a metropolitan train. My instinct now
42:50
Speaker 1: is to work from the other end. If my craft
42:53
Speaker 1: has given us the list of addresses, we may be
42:55
Speaker 1: able to pick our man and follow two tracks instead
42:59
Speaker 1: of one. Surely enough, a note awaited us at Baker Street.
43:03
Speaker 1: A government messenger had brought it post haste. Holmes glanced
43:08
Speaker 1: at it and threw it over to me. There are
43:11
Speaker 1: numerous small fry, but few who would handle so big
43:15
Speaker 1: an affair. The only men worth considering our Adolph Mayer
43:20
Speaker 1: of thirteen Great George Street, Westminster, Luis de Routhier of
43:24
Speaker 1: Camden Mansions, notting Hill, and Hugo Oberstein thirteen Caulfield Gardens, Kensington.
43:32
Speaker 1: The latter was known to be in town on Monday,
43:34
Speaker 1: and is now reported as having left glad to hear
43:38
Speaker 1: you have seen some lights. The Cabinet awaits your final
43:42
Speaker 1: report with the utmost anxiety. Urgent representations have arrived from
43:47
Speaker 1: the very highest quarter. The whole force of the state
43:50
Speaker 1: is at your back if you should need it. My Craft,
43:55
Speaker 1: I'm afraid, said Holmes, smiling that all the Queen's horses,
43:59
Speaker 1: and all the Queen's men cannot avail in this matter.
44:03
Speaker 1: He had spread out his big map of London and
44:05
Speaker 1: leaned eagerly over it. Well, well, said he presently, with
44:09
Speaker 1: an exclamation of satisfaction. Things are turning a little in
44:12
Speaker 1: our direction. At last, Why, Watson, I do honestly believe
44:16
Speaker 1: that we are going to pull it off? After all?
44:20
Speaker 1: He slapped me on the shoulder with a sudden burst
44:22
Speaker 1: of hilarity. I am going out now. It is only
44:25
Speaker 1: a reconnaissance. I will do nothing serious without my trusted
44:28
Speaker 1: comrade and biographer at my elbow. Do you stay here,
44:33
Speaker 1: and the odds are that you will see me again
44:35
Speaker 1: in an hour or two. If time hangs heavy, get
44:38
Speaker 1: full scap and a pen, and begin your narrative of
44:42
Speaker 1: how we saved the state. I felt some reflection of
44:46
Speaker 1: his elation in my own mind, for I knew well
44:50
Speaker 1: that he would not depart so far from his usual
44:52
Speaker 1: austerity of demeanor unless there was good cause for exultation.
44:58
Speaker 1: All the long November evening I waited, filled with impatience
45:02
Speaker 1: for his return. At last, shortly after nine o'clock there
45:07
Speaker 1: arrived a messenger with a note am dining at Gouldini's Restaurant,
45:11
Speaker 1: Gloucester Road, Kensington. Please come at once and join me there.
45:15
Speaker 1: Bring with you a jemmy, a dark lantern, a chisel,
45:19
Speaker 1: and a revolver sh It was a nice equipment for
45:24
Speaker 1: a respectable citizen to carry through the dim, fog draped streets.
45:29
Speaker 1: I stowed them all discreetly away in my overcoat and
45:33
Speaker 1: drove straight to the address given. There sat my friend
45:37
Speaker 1: and a little round table near the door of the
45:40
Speaker 1: Gearish Italian restaurant. Have you had something to eat? Then
45:45
Speaker 1: join me in a coffee and curossao. Try one of
45:48
Speaker 1: the proprietor's cigars. They are less poisonous than one would expect.
45:53
Speaker 1: Have you the tools? They're here in my overcoat. Excellent.
45:58
Speaker 1: Let me give you a short sketch of what I
46:00
Speaker 1: have done, with some indication of what we are about
46:03
Speaker 1: to do. Now. It must be evident to you, Watson,
46:07
Speaker 1: that this young man's body was placed on the roof
46:10
Speaker 1: of the train. That was clear from the instant that
46:13
Speaker 1: I determined, the fact that it was from the roof
46:16
Speaker 1: and not from a carriage that he had fallen. Could
46:20
Speaker 1: it not have been dropped from a bridge? I should
46:23
Speaker 1: say it was impossible. If you examined the roofs, you
46:27
Speaker 1: will find that they are slightly rounded and there is
46:31
Speaker 1: no railing round them. Therefore, we can say for certain
46:34
Speaker 1: that young Cadugan West was placed on it. How could
46:38
Speaker 1: he be placed there? That was the question which we
46:40
Speaker 1: had to answer. There is only one possible way. You
46:45
Speaker 1: are aware that the underground runs clear of tunnels at
46:48
Speaker 1: some points in the West End. I had a vague
46:51
Speaker 1: memory that as I have traveled by it, I have
46:54
Speaker 1: occasionally seen windows just above my head. Now suppose that
46:58
Speaker 1: a train halted under such a window. Would there be
47:03
Speaker 1: any difficulty in laying a body upon the roof? It
47:06
Speaker 1: seems most improbable. We must fall back upon the old
47:09
Speaker 1: axiom that when all other contingencies fail, whatever remains, however improbable,
47:16
Speaker 1: must be the truth. Here all other contingencies have failed.
47:22
Speaker 1: When I found that the leading international agent who had
47:25
Speaker 1: just left London lived in a row of houses which
47:28
Speaker 1: are butted upon the underground, I was so pleased that
47:32
Speaker 1: you were a little astonished at my sudden frivolity. Oh,
47:37
Speaker 1: that was it? Was it? Yes, that was it. Mister
47:41
Speaker 1: Hugo Oberstein of thirteen Caulfield Gardens had become my objective.
47:48
Speaker 1: I began my operations at Gloucester Road Station, where a
47:51
Speaker 1: very helpful official walked me along the track and allowed
47:54
Speaker 1: me to satisfy myself not only that the back stair
47:56
Speaker 1: windows of Caulfield Gardens open on the line, but the
48:00
Speaker 1: even more a central fact that, owing to the intersection
48:03
Speaker 1: of one of the larger railways, the underground trains are
48:06
Speaker 1: frequently held motionless for some minutes at that very spot.
48:11
Speaker 1: Splendid homes. You have got it. So far, So far, Watson,
48:16
Speaker 1: we advance, but the goal is afar well. Having seen
48:20
Speaker 1: the back of Caulfield Gardens, I visited the front and
48:23
Speaker 1: satisfied myself that the bird was indeed flown. It is
48:27
Speaker 1: a considerable house, unfurnished so far as I could judge
48:30
Speaker 1: in the upper rooms. Oberstein lived there with a single valet,
48:35
Speaker 1: who was probably a confederate, entirely in his confidence. We
48:39
Speaker 1: must bear in mind that Oberstein has gone to the
48:42
Speaker 1: continent to dispose of his booty, but not with any
48:45
Speaker 1: idea of flight, for he had no reason to fear
48:48
Speaker 1: a warrant, and the idea of an amateur domicillary visit
48:53
Speaker 1: would certainly never occur to him. Yet that is precisely
48:57
Speaker 1: what we are about to make. We not get a
49:01
Speaker 1: warrant and legalize it hardly on the evidence. What can
49:04
Speaker 1: we hope to do. We cannot tell what correspondence may
49:08
Speaker 1: be there. I don't like it, Holmes, my dear fellow.
49:11
Speaker 1: You shall keep watch in the street. I'll do the
49:14
Speaker 1: criminal part. It's not a time to stick at trifles.
49:17
Speaker 1: Think of Mycroft's note of the Admiralty, the Cabinet, the
49:21
Speaker 1: exalted person who waits for news. We are bound to go.
49:26
Speaker 1: My answer was to rise from the table. You are right, Holmes,
49:30
Speaker 1: we are bound to go. He sprang up and shook
49:34
Speaker 1: me by the hand. I knew you would not shrink
49:37
Speaker 1: at the last, said he, And for a moment I
49:40
Speaker 1: saw something in his eyes which was nearer to tenderness
49:43
Speaker 1: than I had ever seen. The next instant he was
49:47
Speaker 1: his masterful, practical self once more. It is nearly half
49:51
Speaker 1: a mile, but there is no hurry. Let us walk,
49:54
Speaker 1: said he. Don't drop the instruments. I beg your arrest
49:59
Speaker 1: as a suspicious character would be a most unfortunate complication.
50:05
Speaker 1: Caulfield Gardens was one of those lines of flat faced,
50:08
Speaker 1: pillared and porticoed houses which are so prominent a product
50:13
Speaker 1: of the Middle Victorian epoch in the West end of London.
50:17
Speaker 1: Next door there appeared to be a children's party for
50:21
Speaker 1: the merry. Buzz of young voices and the clatter of
50:24
Speaker 1: a piano resounded through the night. The fog still hung
50:28
Speaker 1: about and screened us with its friendly shade. Homes heard
50:33
Speaker 1: Letty's lantern and flashed it upon the massive door. This
50:38
Speaker 1: is a serious proposition, said he. It is certainly bolted
50:42
Speaker 1: as well as locked. We would do better in the area.
50:47
Speaker 1: There is an excellent archway down yonder. In case the
50:50
Speaker 1: two zealous policemen should intrude, give me a hound, Watson,
50:54
Speaker 1: and I'll do the same for you. A minute later
50:57
Speaker 1: we were both in the area. Hardly we reached the
51:00
Speaker 1: dark shadows, for the step of the policeman was heard
51:04
Speaker 1: in the fog above. As its soft rhythm died away.
51:09
Speaker 1: Homes set to work upon the lower door. I saw
51:12
Speaker 1: him stoop and strain, until with a sharp crash, it
51:16
Speaker 1: flew open. We sprang through into the dark passage, closing
51:21
Speaker 1: the area door behind us. Homes led the way up
51:25
Speaker 1: the curving, uncarpeted stair, and his little fan of yellow
51:29
Speaker 1: light shone upon a low window. Here we are, Watson,
51:33
Speaker 1: this must be the one. He threw it open, and
51:37
Speaker 1: as he did so, there was a low, harsh murmur,
51:40
Speaker 1: growing steadily into a loud roar. As a train dashed
51:44
Speaker 1: past us in the darkness, Homes swept his light along
51:48
Speaker 1: the window sill. It was thickly coated with soot from
51:52
Speaker 1: the passing engines, but the black surface was blurred and
51:56
Speaker 1: rubbed in places. You can see where they rested the body. Hello, Watson,
52:02
Speaker 1: what is this? There can be no doubt that it
52:05
Speaker 1: is a blood mark? He was pointing to faint discolorations
52:09
Speaker 1: along the woodwork of the window. Here it is on
52:12
Speaker 1: the stone of the stair. Also, this demonstration is complete.
52:17
Speaker 1: Let us stay here until a train stops. We had
52:21
Speaker 1: not long to wait. The very next train roared from
52:24
Speaker 1: the tunnel as before, but slowed in the open, and then,
52:28
Speaker 1: with a creaking of brakes, pulled up immediately beneath us.
52:33
Speaker 1: It was not four feet from the window ledge to
52:36
Speaker 1: the roof of the carriages. Home softly closed the window.
52:42
Speaker 1: So far we are justified, said he, What do you
52:45
Speaker 1: think of it? Watson? A masterpiece you have never risen
52:50
Speaker 1: to a greater height. I cannot agree with you there
52:54
Speaker 1: from the moment that I conceived the idea of the
52:57
Speaker 1: body being upon the roof, which surely was not a
53:00
Speaker 1: very abtruse one or the rest was inevitable. If it
53:05
Speaker 1: were not for the grave interests involved, the affair up
53:09
Speaker 1: to this point would be insignificant. Our difficulties are still
53:13
Speaker 1: before us, but perhaps we may find something here which
53:17
Speaker 1: may help us. We had ascended the kitchen stair and
53:21
Speaker 1: entered the suite of rooms upon the first floor. One
53:25
Speaker 1: was a dining room, severely furnished and containing nothing of interest.
53:29
Speaker 1: A second was a bedroom, which also drew blank. The
53:33
Speaker 1: remaining room appeared more promising, and my companion settled down
53:38
Speaker 1: to a systematic examination. It was littered with books and papers,
53:43
Speaker 1: and was evidently used as a study. Swiftly and methodically
53:47
Speaker 1: homes turned over the contents of draw after draw and
53:51
Speaker 1: cupboard after cupboard, but no gleam of success came to
53:55
Speaker 1: brighten his austere face. At the end of an hour,
53:58
Speaker 1: he was no further than when he started. The cunning
54:01
Speaker 1: dog has covered his tracks, said he. He has left
54:05
Speaker 1: nothing to incriminate him. His dangerous correspondence has been destroyed
54:10
Speaker 1: or removed. This is our last chance. It was a
54:14
Speaker 1: small tin cash box which stood upon the writing desk.
54:19
Speaker 1: Holmes pried it open with his chisel. Several rolls of
54:23
Speaker 1: paper were within, covered with figures and calculations, without any
54:28
Speaker 1: note to show to what they referred. The recurring words
54:32
Speaker 1: water pressure and pressure to the square inch suggested some
54:37
Speaker 1: possible relation to a submarine. Holmes tossed them all impatiently aside.
54:44
Speaker 1: There only remained an envelope with some small newspaper slips
54:47
Speaker 1: inside it. He shook them out on the table, and
54:51
Speaker 1: at once I saw by his eager face that his
54:53
Speaker 1: hopes had been raised. What's this, Watson, Eh? What's this?
54:57
Speaker 1: Record of a series of messages in the U advertisements
55:00
Speaker 1: of a paper Daily Telegraph Agony column by the print
55:04
Speaker 1: and paper right hand top corner of a page. No dates,
55:09
Speaker 1: but messages arrange themselves. This must be the first hoped
55:13
Speaker 1: to hear sooner terms agreed to write fully to address
55:18
Speaker 1: given on card. Pero. Next comes too complex for description,
55:24
Speaker 1: must have full report. Stuff awaits you when goods delivered
55:29
Speaker 1: per row then comes matter presses must withdraw offer unless
55:34
Speaker 1: contract completed. Make appointment by letter, will confirm by advertisement
55:40
Speaker 1: per ro. Finally, Monday night, after nine two taps. Only
55:46
Speaker 1: ourselves do not be so suspicious payment in hard cash
55:51
Speaker 1: when goods delivered pero fairly complete record, Watson, if we
55:57
Speaker 1: could only get at the man at the other end.
56:01
Speaker 1: He sat lost in thought, tapping his fingers on the table.
56:05
Speaker 1: Finally he sprang to his feet. Well, perhaps it won't
56:08
Speaker 1: be so difficult, after all, there is nothing more to
56:11
Speaker 1: be done here, Watson. I think we might drive round
56:13
Speaker 1: to the offices of the Daily Telegraph and so bring
56:17
Speaker 1: a good day's work to a conclusion. Micraft, Homes and
56:21
Speaker 1: Lestrade had come round by appointment after breakfast next day,
56:26
Speaker 1: and Sherlock Holmes had recounted to them our proceedings of
56:29
Speaker 1: the day before the professional shook his head over our
56:34
Speaker 1: confessed burglary. We can't do these things in the force,
56:37
Speaker 1: mister Holmes said. He no wonder you get results that
56:40
Speaker 1: are beyond us. But some of these days you'll go
56:43
Speaker 1: too far, and you'll find yourself and your friend in trouble.
56:47
Speaker 1: For England home and beauty, Eh, Watson, martyrs on the
56:51
Speaker 1: altar of our country. But what do you think of it?
56:55
Speaker 1: Micraft excellent, Sherlock admirable, But what use will you make
57:00
Speaker 1: of it? Holmes picked up the Daily Telegraph, which lay
57:03
Speaker 1: upon the table. Have you seen Piero's advertisement to day?
57:08
Speaker 1: What another one? Yes? Here it is to night, same hour,
57:12
Speaker 1: same place, two taps, most vitally important. Your own safety
57:17
Speaker 1: at stake, Piero by George, cried Lestrade. If he answers
57:23
Speaker 1: that we've got him. That was my idea when I
57:27
Speaker 1: put it in. I think if you could both make
57:29
Speaker 1: it convenient to come with us about eight o'clock to
57:32
Speaker 1: Coulfield Gardens, we might possibly get a little nearer to
57:36
Speaker 1: a solution. One of the most remarkable characteristics of Sherlock
57:41
Speaker 1: Holmes was his power of throwing his brain out of
57:44
Speaker 1: action and switching all his thoughts on to lighter things
57:48
Speaker 1: whenever he had convinced himself that he could no longer
57:51
Speaker 1: work to advantage. I remember that during the whole of
57:54
Speaker 1: that memorable day he lost himself in a monograph which
57:57
Speaker 1: he had undertaken upon the polyphonic motets of Lassis. For
58:02
Speaker 1: my own part, I had none of this power of detachment,
58:06
Speaker 1: and the day in consequence appeared to be interminable. The
58:11
Speaker 1: great national importance of the issue, the suspense in high quarters,
58:17
Speaker 1: the direct nature of the experiment which we were trying,
58:21
Speaker 1: all combined to work upon my nerve. It was a
58:25
Speaker 1: relief to me when, at last, after a light dinner,
58:28
Speaker 1: we set out upon our expedition. Lestrade and Micraft met
58:33
Speaker 1: us by appointment at the outside of Gloucester Road Station.
58:38
Speaker 1: The area door of Oberstein's house had been left open
58:42
Speaker 1: the night before, and it was necessary for me, as
58:46
Speaker 1: microft homes, absolutely and indignantly declined to climb the railings
58:52
Speaker 1: to pass in and open the hall door. By nine
58:55
Speaker 1: o'clock we were all seated in the study, waiting patiently
58:59
Speaker 1: for our man. An hour passed, and yet another when
59:04
Speaker 1: eleven struck, the measured beat of the Great Church clock
59:08
Speaker 1: seemed to sound the dirge of our hopes. Lestrade and
59:13
Speaker 1: Micraft were fidgeting in their seats and looking twice a
59:17
Speaker 1: minute at their watches. Holmes sat silent and composed, his
59:22
Speaker 1: eyelids half shut, but every sense on the alert. He
59:27
Speaker 1: raised his head with a sudden jerk. He is coming,
59:30
Speaker 1: said he. There had been a furtive step past the door.
59:35
Speaker 1: Now it returned. We heard a shuffling sound outside, and
59:40
Speaker 1: then two sharp taps with the knocker. Holmes rose, motioning
59:45
Speaker 1: us to remain seated. The gas in the hall was
59:49
Speaker 1: a mere point of light. He opened the outer door,
59:52
Speaker 1: and then as a dark figure slipped past him, he
59:56
Speaker 1: closed and fastened it. This way, we heard him say.
1:00:00
Speaker 1: And a moment later our man stood before us. Holmes
1:00:04
Speaker 1: had followed him closely, and as the man turned, with
1:00:08
Speaker 1: a cry of surprise and alarm, he caught him by
1:00:12
Speaker 1: the collar and threw him back into the room. Before
1:00:15
Speaker 1: our prisoner had recovered his balance, the door was shut,
1:00:19
Speaker 1: and Holmes, standing with his back against it. The man
1:00:23
Speaker 1: glared round him, staggered, and fell senseless upon the floor.
1:00:28
Speaker 1: With the shock, his broad brimmed hat flew from his head,
1:00:33
Speaker 1: his cravat slipped down from his lips, and there with
1:00:37
Speaker 1: a long, light beard and the soft, handsome, delicate features
1:00:42
Speaker 1: of Colonel Valentine Walter, Holmes gave a whistle of surprise.
1:00:48
Speaker 1: You can write me down an ass this time, Watson
1:00:51
Speaker 1: said he this was not the bird that I was
1:00:54
Speaker 1: looking for. Who is? He asked my craft eagerly, the
1:00:58
Speaker 1: younger brother of the lake to Sir James Walter, the
1:01:01
Speaker 1: head of the Submarine Department. Yes, yes, I see the
1:01:05
Speaker 1: fall of the cards. He is coming too. I think
1:01:08
Speaker 1: that you had best leave his examination to me. We
1:01:12
Speaker 1: had carried the prostrate body to the sofa. Now our
1:01:16
Speaker 1: prisoners sat up, looked round him with a horror stricken face,
1:01:21
Speaker 1: and passed his hand over his forehead, like one who
1:01:24
Speaker 1: cannot believe his own senses. What is this, he asked,
1:01:29
Speaker 1: I came here to visit mister Oberstein. Everything is known,
1:01:33
Speaker 1: Colonel Walter, said Holmes. How an Englishman could behave in
1:01:38
Speaker 1: such a manner is beyond my comprehension. But your whole
1:01:41
Speaker 1: correspondence and relations with Oberstein are within our knowledge. So
1:01:46
Speaker 1: also are the circumstances connected with the death of young
1:01:49
Speaker 1: Cadugan West. The man groaned and sank his face in
1:01:53
Speaker 1: his hands. We waited, but he was silent. I can
1:01:58
Speaker 1: assure you, said Holmes, that every essential is already known.
1:02:03
Speaker 1: We know that you were pressed for money, that you
1:02:05
Speaker 1: took an impress of the keys which your brother held,
1:02:08
Speaker 1: and that you entered into a correspondence with Oberstein, who
1:02:12
Speaker 1: answered your letters through the advertisement columns of the Daily Telegraph.
1:02:17
Speaker 1: We are aware that you went down to the office
1:02:19
Speaker 1: in the fog on Monday night, but that you were
1:02:22
Speaker 1: seen and followed by young Cadugan West, who had probably
1:02:26
Speaker 1: some previous reason to suspect you. He saw your theft,
1:02:30
Speaker 1: but could not give the alarm, as it was just
1:02:33
Speaker 1: possible that you were taking the papers to your brother
1:02:36
Speaker 1: in London, leaving all his private concerns. Like the good
1:02:40
Speaker 1: citizen that he was, he followed you closely in the
1:02:43
Speaker 1: fog and kept at your heels until you reached this
1:02:47
Speaker 1: very house. There he intervened. And then it was Colonel
1:02:51
Speaker 1: Walter that to treason you added the more terrible crime
1:02:55
Speaker 1: of murder. I did not. I did not Before God,
1:02:59
Speaker 1: I swear the I did not, cried our wretched prisoner.
1:03:03
Speaker 1: Tell us, then, how kadug And West met his end
1:03:06
Speaker 1: before you laid him upon the roof of a railway carriage.
1:03:09
Speaker 1: I will I swear to you that I will. I
1:03:12
Speaker 1: did the rest. I confess it. It was just as
1:03:15
Speaker 1: you say, a stock exchange debt had to be paid.
1:03:19
Speaker 1: I needed the money badly. Oberstein offered me five thousand.
1:03:24
Speaker 1: It was to save myself from ruin. But as to murder,
1:03:28
Speaker 1: I am as innocent as you. What happened then he
1:03:33
Speaker 1: had his suspicions before, and he followed me as you describe.
1:03:38
Speaker 1: I never knew it until I was at the very door.
1:03:41
Speaker 1: It was thick fog and one could not see three yards.
1:03:46
Speaker 1: I had given two taps and Oberstein had come to
1:03:48
Speaker 1: the door. The young man rushed up and demanded to
1:03:52
Speaker 1: know what we were about to do with the papers.
1:03:54
Speaker 1: Oberstein had a short life preserver, and he always carried
1:03:57
Speaker 1: it with him. As West forced his w after us
1:04:00
Speaker 1: into the house, Oberstein struck him on the head. The
1:04:04
Speaker 1: blow was a fatal one. He was dead within five minutes.
1:04:10
Speaker 1: There he lay in the hall, and we were at
1:04:13
Speaker 1: our wits end what to do. Then Oberstein had this
1:04:16
Speaker 1: idea about the trains which halted under his back window.
1:04:20
Speaker 1: But first he examined the papers which I had brought.
1:04:23
Speaker 1: He said that three of them were essential, and that
1:04:26
Speaker 1: he must keep them. You cannot keep them, said I.
1:04:29
Speaker 1: There will be a dreadful row at Woolwich if they
1:04:32
Speaker 1: are not returned. I must keep them, said he, for
1:04:35
Speaker 1: they are so technical that it is impossible in the
1:04:38
Speaker 1: time to make copies. Then they must all go back
1:04:41
Speaker 1: together tonight, said I. He thought for a little, and
1:04:45
Speaker 1: then he cried out that he had it. Three I
1:04:47
Speaker 1: will keep, said he the others we will stuff into
1:04:50
Speaker 1: the pocket of this young man. When he has found
1:04:53
Speaker 1: the whole business will assuredly be put to his account.
1:04:58
Speaker 1: I could see no other way out of so we
1:05:01
Speaker 1: did as he suggested. We waited half an hour at
1:05:05
Speaker 1: the window before a train stopped. It was so thick
1:05:08
Speaker 1: that nothing could be seen, and we had no difficulty
1:05:12
Speaker 1: in lowering West's body on to the train. That was
1:05:16
Speaker 1: the end of the matter, so far as I was concerned.
1:05:19
Speaker 1: And your brother he said nothing. But he had caught
1:05:24
Speaker 1: me once with his keys, and I think that he suspected.
1:05:29
Speaker 1: I read in his eyes that he suspected. As you know,
1:05:33
Speaker 1: he never held up his head again. There was silence
1:05:37
Speaker 1: in the room. It was broken by my craft homes.
1:05:42
Speaker 1: Can you not make reparation? It would ease your conscience
1:05:46
Speaker 1: and possibly your punishment. What reparation can I make? Where
1:05:51
Speaker 1: is Oberstein with the papers? I do not know? Did
1:05:56
Speaker 1: he give you no address? He said that letters to
1:05:59
Speaker 1: the Hotel de Louver Paris would eventually reach him. Then
1:06:04
Speaker 1: reparation is still within your power, said Sherlock Holmes. I
1:06:08
Speaker 1: will do anything I can. I owe this fellow no
1:06:11
Speaker 1: particular good will. He has been my ruin and my downfall.
1:06:16
Speaker 1: Here our paper and pen, sit at this desk and
1:06:19
Speaker 1: write to my dictation. Direct the envelope to the address
1:06:23
Speaker 1: given that is right now the letter. Dear sir, with
1:06:28
Speaker 1: regard to our transaction, you will no doubt have observed
1:06:31
Speaker 1: by now that one essential detail is missing. I have
1:06:34
Speaker 1: a tracing which will make it complete. This has involved
1:06:38
Speaker 1: me in extra trouble, however, and I must ask you
1:06:41
Speaker 1: for a further advance of five hundred pounds. I will
1:06:45
Speaker 1: not trust it to the post, nor will I take
1:06:48
Speaker 1: anything but gold or notes. I would come to you abroad,
1:06:52
Speaker 1: but it would excite remark if I left the country
1:06:55
Speaker 1: at present. Therefore, I shall expect to meet you in
1:06:58
Speaker 1: the smoking room of the Charing CROs Hotel at noon
1:07:01
Speaker 1: on Saturday. Remember that only English notes or gold will
1:07:06
Speaker 1: be taken. That will do very well. I shall be
1:07:09
Speaker 1: very much surprised if it does not fetch our man.
1:07:13
Speaker 1: And it did. It is a matter of history, that
1:07:18
Speaker 1: secret history of a nation, which is often so much
1:07:20
Speaker 1: more intimate and interesting than its public chronicles. That Obstein
1:07:26
Speaker 1: eager to complete the coup of his lifetime, came to
1:07:30
Speaker 1: the lure and was safely engulfed for fifteen years in
1:07:33
Speaker 1: a British prison. In his trunk were found the invaluable
1:07:38
Speaker 1: Bruce Partington plans, which he had put up for auction
1:07:42
Speaker 1: in all the naval centers of Europe. Colonel Walter died
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Speaker 1: in prison towards the end of the second year of
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Speaker 1: his sentence. As to Holmes, he returned refreshed to his
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Speaker 1: monograph upon the Polyphonic Motets of Lassa's, which has since
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Speaker 1: been printed for private circulation, and is said by experts
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Speaker 1: to be the last word upon the subject. Some weeks afterwards,
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Speaker 1: I learned incidentally that my friend spent a day at Windsor,
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Speaker 1: whence he returned with a remarkably fine emerald tyepin. When
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Speaker 1: I asked him if he had bought it, he answered
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Speaker 1: that it was a present from a certain gracious lady
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Speaker 1: in whose interests he had once been fortunate enough to
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Speaker 1: carry out a small commission. He said no more, but
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Speaker 1: I fancied that I could guess at that lady's august name,
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Speaker 1: and I have little doubt that the emerald pin will
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Speaker 1: forever recall to my friend's memory the adventure of the
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Speaker 1: Bruce Partington Plans. That is the end of the Adventure
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Speaker 1: of the Bruce Partington Plans by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle,