758 lines
58 KiB
Plaintext
758 lines
58 KiB
Plaintext
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1904
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SHERLOCK HOLMES
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THE ADVENTURE OF BLACK PETER
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by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
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I have never known my friend to be in better form, both mental and
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physical, than in the year '95. His increasing fame had brought with
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it an immense practice, and I should be guilty of an indiscretion if I
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were even to hint at the identity of some of the illustrious clients
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who crossed our humble threshold in Baker Street. Holmes, however,
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like all great artists, lived for his art's sake, and, save in the
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case of the Duke of Holdernesse, I have seldom known him claim any
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large reward for his inestimable services. So unworldly was he- or
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so capricious- that he frequently refused his help to the powerful and
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wealthy where the problem made no appeal to his sympathies, while he
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would devote weeks of most intense application to the affairs of
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some humble client whose case presented those strange and dramatic
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qualities which appealed to his imagination and challenged his
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ingenuity.
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In this memorable year '95, a curious and incongruous succession
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of cases had engaged his attention, ranging from his famous
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investigation of the sudden death of Cardinal Tosca- an inquiry
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which was carried out by him at the express desire of His Holiness the
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Pope- down to his arrest of Wilson, the notorious canary-trainer,
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which removed a plague-spot from the East End of London. Close on
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the heels of these two famous cases came the tragedy of Woodman's Lee,
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and the very obscure circumstances which surrounded the death of
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Captain Peter Carey. No record of the doings of Mr. Sherlock Holmes
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would be complete which did not include some account of this very
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unusual affair.
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During the first week of July, my friend had been absent so often
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and so long from our lodgings that I knew he had something on hand.
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The fact that several rough-looking men called during that time and
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inquired for Captain Basil made me understand that Holmes was
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working somewhere under one of the numerous disguises and names with
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which he concealed his own formidable identity. He had at least five
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small refuges in different parts of London, in which he was able to
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change his personality. He said nothing of his business to me, and
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it was not my habit to force a confidence. The first positive sign
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which he gave me of the direction which his investigation was taking
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was an extraordinary one. He had gone out before breakfast, and I
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had sat down to mine when he strode into the room, his hat upon his
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head and a huge barbed-headed spear tucked like an umbrella under
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his arm.
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"Good gracious, Holmes!" I cried. "You don't mean to say that you
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have been walking about London with that thing?"
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"I drove to the butcher's and back."
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"The butcher's?"
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"And I return with an excellent appetite. There can be no
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question, my dear Watson, of the value of exercise before breakfast.
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But I am prepared to bet that you will not guess the form that my
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exercise has taken."
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"I will not attempt it."
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He chuckled as he poured out the coffee.
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"If you could have looked into Allardyce's back shop, you would have
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seen a dead pig swung from a hook in the ceiling, and a gentleman in
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his shirt sleeves furiously stabbing at it with this weapon. I was
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that energetic person, and I have satisfied myself that by no exertion
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of my strength can I transfix the pig with a single blow. Perhaps
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you would care to try?"
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"Not for worlds. But why were you doing this?"
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"Because it seemed to me to have an indirect bearing upon the
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mystery of Woodman's Lee. Ah, Hopkins, I got your wire last night, and
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I have been expecting you. Come and join us."
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Our visitor was an exceedingly alert man, thirty years of age,
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dressed in a quiet tweed suit, but retaining the erect bearing of
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one who was accustomed to official uniform. I recognized him at once
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as Stanley Hopkins, a young police inspector, for whose future
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Holmes had high hopes, while he in turn professed the admiration and
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respect of a pupil for the scientific methods of the famous amateur.
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Hopkins's brow was clouded, and he sat down with an air of deep
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dejection.
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"No, thank you, sir. I breakfasted before I came round. I spent
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the night in town, for I came up yesterday to report."
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"And what had you to report?"
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"Failure, sir, absolute failure."
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"You have made no progress?"
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"None."
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"Dear me! I must have a look at the matter."
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"I wish to heavens that you would, Mr. Holmes. It's my first big
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chance, and I am at my wit's end. For goodness' sake, come down and
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lend me a hand."
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"Well, well, it just happens that I have already read all the
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available evidence, including the report of the inquest, with some
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care. By the way, what do you make of that tobacco pouch, found on the
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scene of the crime? Is there no clue there?"
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Hopkins looked surprised.
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"It was the man's own pouch, sir. His initials were inside it. And
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it was of sealskin,- and he was an old sealer."
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"But he had no pipe."
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"No, sir, we could find no pipe. Indeed, he smoked very little,
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and yet he might have kept some tobacco for his friends."
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"No doubt. I only mention it because, if I had been handling the
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case, I should have been inclined to make that the starting-point of
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my investigation. However, my friend, Dr. Watson, knows nothing of
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this matter, and I should be none the worse for hearing the sequence
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of events once more. Just give us some short sketches of the
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essentials."
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Stanley Hopkins drew a slip of paper from his pocket.
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"I have a few dates here which will give you the career of the
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dead man, Captain Peter Carey. He was born in '45- fifty years of age.
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He was a most daring and successful seal and whale fisher. In 1883
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he commanded the steam sealer Sea Unicorn, of Dundee. He had then
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had several successful voyages in succession, and in the following
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year, 1884, he retired. After that he travelled for some years, and
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finally he bought a small place called Woodman's Lee, near Forest Row,
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in Sussex. There he has lived for six years, and there he died just
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a week ago to-day.
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"There were some most singular points about the man. In ordinary
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life, he was a strict Puritan- a silent, gloomy fellow. His
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household consisted of his wife, his daughter, aged twenty, and two
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female servants. These last were continually changing, for it was
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never a very cheery situation, and sometimes it became past all
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bearing. The man was an intermittent drunkard, and when he had the fit
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on him he was a perfect fiend. He has been known to drive his wife and
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daughter out of doors in the middle of the night and flog them through
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the park until the whole village outside the gates was aroused by
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their screams.
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"He was summoned once for a savage assault upon the old vicar, who
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had called upon him to remonstrate with him upon his conduct. In
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short, Mr. Holmes, you would go far before you found a more
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dangerous man than Peter Carey, and I have heard that he bore the same
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character when he commanded his ship. He was known in the trade as
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Black Peter, and the name was given him, not only on account of his
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swarthy features and the colour of his huge beard, but for the humours
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which were the terror of all around him. I need not say that he was
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loathed and avoided by every one of his neighbours, and that I have
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not heard one single word of sorrow about his terrible end.
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"You must have read in the account of the inquest about the man's
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cabin, Mr. Holmes, but perhaps your friend here has not heard of it.
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He had built himself a wooden outhouse- he always called it the
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'cabin'- a few hundred yards from his house, and it was here that he
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slept every night. It was a little, single-roomed hut, sixteen feet by
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ten. He kept the key in his pocket, made his own bed, cleaned it
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himself, and allowed no other foot to cross the threshold. There are
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small windows on each side, which were covered by curtains and never
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opened. One of these windows was turned towards the high road, and
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when the light burned in it at night the folk used to point it out
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to each other and wonder what Black Peter was doing in there. That's
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the window, Mr. Holmes, which gave us one of the few bits of
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positive evidence that came out at the inquest.
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"You remember that a stonemason, named Slater, walking from Forest
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Row about one o'clock in the morning- two days before the murder-
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stopped as he passed the grounds and looked at the square of light
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still shining among the trees. He swears that the shadow of a man's
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head turned sideways was clearly visible on the blind, and that this
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shadow was certainly not that of Peter Carey, whom he knew well. It
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was that of a bearded man, but the beard was short and bristled
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forward in a way very different from that of the captain. So he
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says, but he had been two hours in the public-house, and it is some
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distance from the road to the window. Besides, this refers to the
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Monday, and the crime was done upon the Wednesday.
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"On the Tuesday, Peter Carey was in one of his blackest moods,
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flushed with drink and as savage as a dangerous wild beast. He
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roamed about the house, and the women ran for it when they heard him
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coming. Late in the evening, he went down to his own hut. About two
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o'clock the following morning, his daughter, who slept with her window
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open, heard a most fearful yell from that direction, but it was no
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unusual thing for him to bawl and shout when he was in drink, so no
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notice was taken. On rising at seven, one of the maids noticed that
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the door of the hut was open, but so great was the terror which the
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man caused that it was midday before anyone would venture down to
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see what had become of him. Peeping into the open door, they saw a
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sight which sent them flying, with white faces, into the village.
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Within an hour, I was on the spot and had taken over the case.
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"Well, I have fairly steady nerves, as you know, Mr. Holmes, but I
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give you my word, that I got a shake when I put my head into that
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little house. It was droning like a harmonium with the flies and
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bluebottles, and the floor and walls were like a slaughter-house. He
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had called it a cabin, and a cabin it was, sure enough, for you
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would have thought that you were in a ship. There was a bunk at one
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end, a sea-chest, maps and charts, a picture of the Sea Unicorn, a
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line of logbooks on a shelf, all exactly as one would expect to find
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it in a captain's room. And there, in the middle of it, was the man
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himself- his face twisted like a lost soul in torment, and his great
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brindled beard stuck upward in his agony. Right through his broad
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breast a steel harpoon had been driven, and it had sunk deep into
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the wood of the wall behind him. He was pinned like a beetle on a
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card. Of course, he was quite dead, and had been so from the instant
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that he had uttered that last yell of agony.
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"I know your methods, sir, and I applied them. Before I permitted
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anything to be moved, I examined most carefully the ground outside,
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and also the floor of the room. There were no footmarks."
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"Meaning that you saw none?"
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"I assure you, sir, that there were none."
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"My good Hopkins, I have investigated many crimes, but I have
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never yet seen one which was committed by a flying creature. As long
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as the criminal remains upon two legs so long must there be some
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indentation, some abrasion, some trifling displacement which can be
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detected by the scientific searcher. It is incredible that this
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blood-bespattered room contained no trace which could have aided us. I
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understand, however, from the inquest that there were some objects
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which you failed to overlook?"
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The young inspector winced at my companion's ironical comments.
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"I was a fool not to call you in at the time Mr. Holmes. However,
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that's past praying for now. Yes, there were several objects in the
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room which called for special attention. One was the harpoon with
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which the deed was committed. It had been snatched down from a rack on
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the wall. Two others remained there, and there was a vacant place
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for the third. On the stock was engraved 'SS. Sea Unicorn, Dundee.'
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This seemed to establish that the crime had been done in a moment of
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fury, and that the murderer had seized the first weapon which came
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in his way. The fact that the crime was committed at two in the
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morning, and yet Peter Carey was fully dressed, suggested that he
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had an appointment with the murderer, which is home out by the fact
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that a bottle of rum and two dirty glasses stood upon the table."
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"Yes," said Holmes; "I think that both inferences are permissible.
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Was there any other spirit but rum in the room?"
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"Yes, there was a tantalus containing brandy and whisky on the
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sea-chest. It is of no importance to us, however, since the
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decanters were full, and it had therefore not been used."
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"For all that, its presence has some significance," said Holmes.
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"However, let us hear some more about the objects which do seem to you
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to bear upon the case."
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"There was this tobacco-pouch upon the table."
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"What part of the table?"
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"It lay in the middle. It was of coarse sealskin- the
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straight-haired skin, with a leather thong to bind it. Inside was
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'P.C.' on the flap. There was half an ounce of strong ship's tobacco
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in it."
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"Excellent! What more?"
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Stanley Hopkins drew from his pocket a drab-covered notebook. The
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outside was rough and worn, the leaves discoloured. On the first
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page were written the initials "J.H.N." and the date "1883." Holmes
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laid it on the table and examined it in his minute way, while
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Hopkins and I gazed over each shoulder. On the second page were the
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printed letters "C.P.R.," and then came several sheets of numbers.
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Another heading was "Argentine," another "Costa Rica," and another
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"San Paulo," each with pages of signs and figures after it.
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"What do you make of these?" asked Holmes.
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"They appear to be lists of Stock Exchange securities. I thought
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that 'J.H.N.' were the initials of a broker, and that 'C.P.R.' may
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have been his client."
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"Try Canadian Pacific Railway," said Holmes.
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Stanley Hopkins swore between his teeth, and struck his thigh with
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his clenched hand.
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"What a fool I have been!" he cried. "Of course, it is as you say.
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Then 'J.H.N.' are the only initials we have to solve. I have already
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examined the old Stock Exchange lists, and I can find no one in
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1883, either in the house or among the outside brokers, whose initials
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correspond with these. Yet I feel that the clue is the most
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important one that I hold. You will admit, Mr. Holmes, that there is a
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possibility that these initials are those of the second person who was
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present- in other words, of the murderer. I would also urge that the
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introduction into the case of a document relating to large masses of
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valuable securities gives us for the first time some indication of a
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motive for the crime."
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Sherlock Holmes's face showed that he was thoroughly taken aback
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by this new development.
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"I must admit both your points," said he. "I confess that this
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notebook, which did not appear at the inquest, modifies any views
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which I may have formed. I had come to a theory of the crime in
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which I can find no place for this. Have you endeavoured to trace
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any of the securities here mentioned?"
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"Inquiries are now being made at the offices, but I fear that the
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complete register of the stockholders of these South American concerns
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is in South America, and that some weeks must elapse before we can
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trace the shares."
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Holmes had been examining the cover of the notebook with his
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magnifying lens.
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"Surely there is some discolouration here," said he.
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"Yes, sir, it is a blood-stain. I told you that I picked the book
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off the floor."
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"Was the blood-stain above or below?"
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"On the side next the boards."
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"Which proves, of course, that the book was dropped after the
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crime was committed."
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"Exactly, Mr. Holmes. I appreciated that point, and I conjectured
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that it was dropped by the murderer in his hurried flight. It lay near
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the door."
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"I suppose that none of these securities have been found among the
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property of the dead man?"
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"No, sir."
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"Have you any reason to suspect robbery?"
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"No, sir. Nothing seemed to have been touched."
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"Dear me, it is certainly a very interesting case. Then there was
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a knife, was there not?"
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"A sheath-knife, still in its sheath. It lay at the feet of the dead
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man. Mrs. Carey has identified it as being her husband's property."
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Holmes was lost in thought for some time.
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"Well," said he, at last, "I suppose I shall have to come out and
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have a look at it."
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Stanley Hopkins gave a cry of joy.
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"Thank you, sir. That will, indeed, be a weight off my mind."
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Holmes shook his finger at the inspector.
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"It would have been an easier task a week ago," said he. "But even
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now my visit may not be entirely fruitless. Watson, if you can spare
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the time, I should be very glad of your company. If you will call a
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four-wheeler, Hopkins, we shall be ready to start for Forest Row in
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a quarter of an hour."
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-
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Alighting at the small wayside station, we drove for some miles
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through the remains of widespread woods, which were once part of
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that great forest which for so long held the Saxon invaders at bay-
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the impenetrable "weald," for sixty years the bulwark of Britain. Vast
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sections of it have been cleared, for this is the seat of the first
|
||
|
|
iron-works of the country, and the trees have been felled to smelt the
|
||
|
|
ore. Now the richer fields of the North have absorbed the trade, and
|
||
|
|
nothing save these ravaged groves and great scars in the earth show
|
||
|
|
the work of the past. Here, in a clearing upon the green slope of a
|
||
|
|
hill, stood a long, low, stone house, approached by a curving drive
|
||
|
|
running through the fields. Nearer the road, and surrounded on three
|
||
|
|
sides by bushes, was a small outhouse, one window and the door
|
||
|
|
facing in our direction. It was the scene of the murder.
|
||
|
|
Stanley Hopkins led us first to the house, where he introduced us to
|
||
|
|
a haggard, gray-haired woman, the widow of the murdered man, whose
|
||
|
|
gaunt and deep-lined face, with the furtive look of terror in the
|
||
|
|
depths of her red-rimmed eyes, told of the years of hardship and
|
||
|
|
ill-usage which she had endured. With her was her daughter, a pale,
|
||
|
|
fair-haired girl, whose eyes blazed defiantly at us as she told us
|
||
|
|
that she was glad that her father was dead, and that she blessed the
|
||
|
|
hand which had struck him down. It was a terrible household that Black
|
||
|
|
Peter Carey had made for himself, and it was with a sense of relief
|
||
|
|
that we found ourselves in the sunlight again and making our way along
|
||
|
|
a path which had been worn across the fields by the feet of the dead
|
||
|
|
man.
|
||
|
|
The outhouse was the simplest of dwellings, wooden-walled,
|
||
|
|
shingle-roofed, one window beside the door and one on the farther
|
||
|
|
side. Stanley Hopkins drew the key from his pocket and had stooped
|
||
|
|
to the lock, when he paused with a look of attention and surprise upon
|
||
|
|
his face.
|
||
|
|
Somone has been tampering with it," he said.
|
||
|
|
There could be no doubt of the fact. The woodwork was cut, and the
|
||
|
|
scratches showed white through the paint, as if they had been that
|
||
|
|
instant done. Holmes had been examining the window.
|
||
|
|
"Someone has tried to force this also. Whoever it was has failed
|
||
|
|
to make his way in. He must have been a very poor burglar."
|
||
|
|
"This is a most extraordinary thing," said the inspector, "I could
|
||
|
|
swear that these marks were not here yesterday evening."
|
||
|
|
"Some curious person from the village, perhaps," I suggested.
|
||
|
|
"Very unlikely. Few of them would dare to set foot in the grounds,
|
||
|
|
far less try to force their way into the cabin. What do you think of
|
||
|
|
it, Mr. Holmes?"
|
||
|
|
"I think that fortune is very kind to us."
|
||
|
|
"You mean that the person will come again?"
|
||
|
|
"It is very probable. He came expecting to find the door open. He
|
||
|
|
tried to get in with the blade of a very small penknife. He could
|
||
|
|
not manage it. What would he do?"
|
||
|
|
"Come again next night with a more useful tool."
|
||
|
|
"So I should say. It will be our fault if we are not there to
|
||
|
|
receive him. Meanwhile, let me see the inside of the cabin."
|
||
|
|
The traces of the tragedy had been removed, but the furniture within
|
||
|
|
the little room still stood as it had been on the night of the
|
||
|
|
crime. For two hours, with most intense concentration, Holmes examined
|
||
|
|
every object in turn, but his face showed that his quest was not a
|
||
|
|
successful one. Once only he paused in his patient investigation.
|
||
|
|
"Have you taken anything off this shelf, Hopkins?"
|
||
|
|
"No, I have moved nothing."
|
||
|
|
"Something has been taken. There is less dust in this corner of
|
||
|
|
the shelf than elsewhere. It may have been a book lying on its side.
|
||
|
|
It may have been a box. Well, well, I can do nothing more. Let us walk
|
||
|
|
in these beautiful woods, Watson, and give a few hours to the birds
|
||
|
|
and the flowers. We shall meet you here later, Hopkins, and see if
|
||
|
|
we can come to closer quarters with the gentleman who has paid this
|
||
|
|
visit in the night."
|
||
|
|
It was past eleven o'clock when we formed our little ambuscade.
|
||
|
|
Hopkins was for leaving the door of the hut open, but Holmes was of
|
||
|
|
the opinion that this would rouse the suspicions of the stranger.
|
||
|
|
The lock was a perfectly simple one, and only a strong blade was
|
||
|
|
needed to push it back. Holmes also suggested that we should wait, not
|
||
|
|
inside the hut, but outside it, among the bushes which grew round
|
||
|
|
the farther window. In this way we should be able to watch our man
|
||
|
|
if he struck a light, and see what his object was in this stealthy
|
||
|
|
nocturnal visit.
|
||
|
|
It was a long and melancholy vigil, and yet brought with it
|
||
|
|
something of the thrill which the bunter feels when he lies beside the
|
||
|
|
water-pool, and waits for the coming of the thirsty beast of prey.
|
||
|
|
What savage creature was it which might steal upon us out of the
|
||
|
|
darkness? Was it a fierce tiger of crime, which could only be taken
|
||
|
|
fighting hard with flashing fang and claw, or would it prove to be
|
||
|
|
some skulking jackal, dangerous only to the weak and unguarded?
|
||
|
|
In absolute silence we crouched amongst the bushes, waiting for
|
||
|
|
whatever might come. At first the steps of a few belated villagers, or
|
||
|
|
the sound of voices from the village, lightened our vigil, but one
|
||
|
|
by one these interruptions died away, and an absolute stillness fell
|
||
|
|
upon us, save for the chimes of the distant church, which told us of
|
||
|
|
the progress of the night, and for the rustle and whisper of a fine
|
||
|
|
rain falling amid the foliage which roofed us in.
|
||
|
|
Half-past two had chimed, and it was the darkest hour which precedes
|
||
|
|
the dawn, when we all started as a low but sharp click came from the
|
||
|
|
direction of the gate. Someone had entered the drive. Again there
|
||
|
|
was a long silence, and I had begun to fear that it was a false alarm,
|
||
|
|
when a stealthy step was heard upon the other side of the hut, and a
|
||
|
|
moment later a metallic scraping and clinking. The man was trying to
|
||
|
|
force the lock. This time his skill was greater or his tool was
|
||
|
|
better, for there was a sudden snap and the creak of the hinges.
|
||
|
|
Then a match was struck, and next instant the steady light from a
|
||
|
|
candle filled the interior of the hut. Through the gauze curtain our
|
||
|
|
eyes were all riveted upon the scene within.
|
||
|
|
The nocturnal visitor was a young man, frail and thin, with a
|
||
|
|
black moustache, which intensified the deadly pallor of his face. He
|
||
|
|
could not have been much above twenty years of age. I have never
|
||
|
|
seen any human being who appeared to be in such a pitiable fright, for
|
||
|
|
his teeth were visibly chattering, and he was shaking in every limb.
|
||
|
|
He was dressed like a gentleman, in Norfolk jacket and knickerbockers,
|
||
|
|
with a cloth cap upon his head. We watched him staring round with
|
||
|
|
frightened eyes. Then he laid the candle-end upon the table and
|
||
|
|
disappeared from our view into one of the corners. He returned with
|
||
|
|
a large book, one of the logbooks which formed a line upon the
|
||
|
|
shelves. Leaning on the table, he rapidly turned over the leaves of
|
||
|
|
this volume until he came to the entry which he sought. Then, with
|
||
|
|
an angry gesture of his clenched hand, he closed the book, replaced it
|
||
|
|
in the corner, and put out the light. He had hardly turned to leave
|
||
|
|
the hut when Hopkins's hand was on the fellow's collar, and I heard
|
||
|
|
his loud gasp of terror as he understood that he was taken. The candle
|
||
|
|
was relit, and there was our wretched captive, shivering and
|
||
|
|
cowering in the grasp of the detective. He sank down upon the
|
||
|
|
sea-chest, and looked helplessly from one of us to the other.
|
||
|
|
"Now, my fine fellow," said Stanley Hopkins, "who are you, and
|
||
|
|
what do you want here?"
|
||
|
|
The man pulled himself together, and faced us with an effort at
|
||
|
|
self-composure.
|
||
|
|
"You are detectives, I suppose?" said he. "You imagine I am
|
||
|
|
connected with the death of Captain Peter Carey. I assure you that I
|
||
|
|
am innocent."
|
||
|
|
"We'll see about that," said Hopkins. "First of all, what is your
|
||
|
|
name?"
|
||
|
|
"It is John Hopley Neligan."
|
||
|
|
I saw Holmes and Hopkins exchange a quick glance.
|
||
|
|
"What are you doing here?"
|
||
|
|
"Can I speak confidentially?"
|
||
|
|
"No, certainly not."
|
||
|
|
"Why should I tell you?"
|
||
|
|
"If you have no answer, it may go badly with you at the trial."
|
||
|
|
The young man winced.
|
||
|
|
"Well, I will tell you," he said. "Why should I not? And yet I
|
||
|
|
hate to think of this old scandal gaining a new lease of life. Did you
|
||
|
|
ever hear of Dawson and Neligan?"
|
||
|
|
I could see, from Hopkins's face, that he never had, but Holmes
|
||
|
|
was keenly interested.
|
||
|
|
"You mean the West Country bankers," said he. "They failed for a
|
||
|
|
million, ruined half the county families of Cornwall, and Neligan
|
||
|
|
disappeared."
|
||
|
|
"Exactly. Neligan was my father."
|
||
|
|
At last we were getting something positive, and yet it seemed a long
|
||
|
|
gap between an absconding banker and Captain Peter Carey pinned
|
||
|
|
against the wall with one of his own harpoons. We all listened
|
||
|
|
intently to the young man's words.
|
||
|
|
"It was my father who was really concerned. Dawson had retired. I
|
||
|
|
was only ten years of age at the time, but I was old enough to feel
|
||
|
|
the shame and horror of it all. It has always been said that my father
|
||
|
|
stole all the securities and fled. It is not true. It was his belief
|
||
|
|
that if he were given time in which to realize them, all would be well
|
||
|
|
and every creditor paid in full. He started in his little yacht for
|
||
|
|
Norway just before the warrant was issued for his arrest. I can
|
||
|
|
remember that last night when he bade farewell to my mother. He left
|
||
|
|
us a list of the securities he was taking, and he swore that he
|
||
|
|
would come back with his honour cleared, and that none who had trusted
|
||
|
|
him would suffer. Well, no word was ever heard from him again. Both
|
||
|
|
the yacht and he vanished utterly. We believed, my mother and I,
|
||
|
|
that he and it, with the securities that he had taken with him, were
|
||
|
|
at the bottom of the sea. We had a faithful friend, however, who is
|
||
|
|
a business man, and it was he who discovered some time ago that some
|
||
|
|
of the securities which my father had with him had reappeared on the
|
||
|
|
London market. You can imagine our amazement. I spent months in trying
|
||
|
|
to trace them, and at last, after many doubtings and difficulties, I
|
||
|
|
discovered that the original seller had been Captain Peter Carey,
|
||
|
|
the owner of this hut.
|
||
|
|
"Naturally, I made some inquiries about the man. I found that he had
|
||
|
|
been in command of a whaler which was due to return from the Arctic
|
||
|
|
seas at the very time when my father was crossing to Norway. The
|
||
|
|
autumn of that year was a stormy one, and there was a long
|
||
|
|
succession of southerly gales. My father's yacht may well have been
|
||
|
|
blown to the north, and there met by Captain Peter Carey's ship. If
|
||
|
|
that were so, what had become of my father? In any case, if I could
|
||
|
|
prove from Peter Carey's evidence how these securities came on the
|
||
|
|
market it would be a proof that my father had not sold them, and
|
||
|
|
that he had no view to personal profit when he took them.
|
||
|
|
"I came down to Sussex with the intention of seeing the captain, but
|
||
|
|
it was at this moment that his terrible death occurred. I read at
|
||
|
|
the inquest a description of his cabin, in which it stated that the
|
||
|
|
old logbooks of his vessel were preserved in it. It struck me that
|
||
|
|
if I could see what occurred in the month of August, 1883, on board
|
||
|
|
the Sea Unicorn, I might settle the mystery of my father's fate. I
|
||
|
|
tried last night to get at these logbooks, but was unable to open
|
||
|
|
the door. To-night I tried again and succeeded, but I find that the
|
||
|
|
pages which deal with that month have been torn from the book. It was
|
||
|
|
at that moment I found myself a prisoner in your hands."
|
||
|
|
"Is that all?" asked Hopkins.
|
||
|
|
"Yes, that is all." His eyes shifted as he said it.
|
||
|
|
"You have nothing else to tell us?"
|
||
|
|
He hesitated.
|
||
|
|
"No, there is nothing."
|
||
|
|
"You have not been here before last night?"
|
||
|
|
"No.
|
||
|
|
"Then how do you account for that?" cried Hopkins, as he held up the
|
||
|
|
damning notebook, with the initials of our prisoner on the first
|
||
|
|
leaf and the blood-stain on the cover.
|
||
|
|
The wretched man collapsed. He sank his face in his hands, and
|
||
|
|
trembled all over.
|
||
|
|
"Where did you get it?" he groaned. "I did not know. I thought I had
|
||
|
|
lost it at the hotel."
|
||
|
|
"That is enough," said Hopkins, sternly. "Whatever else you have
|
||
|
|
to say, you must say in court. You will walk down with me now to the
|
||
|
|
police-station. Well, Mr. Holmes, I am very much obliged to you and to
|
||
|
|
your friend for coming down to help me. As it turns out your
|
||
|
|
presence was unnecessary, and I would have brought the case to this
|
||
|
|
successful issue without you, but, none the less, I am grateful. Rooms
|
||
|
|
have been reserved for you at the Brambletye Hotel, so we can all walk
|
||
|
|
down to the village together."
|
||
|
|
"Well, Watson, what do you think of it?" asked Holmes, as we
|
||
|
|
travelled back next morning.
|
||
|
|
"I can see that you are not satisfied."
|
||
|
|
"Oh, yes, my dear Watson, I am perfectly satisfied. At the same
|
||
|
|
time, Stanley Hopkins's methods do not commend themselves to me. I
|
||
|
|
am disappointed in Stanley Hopkins. I had hoped for better things from
|
||
|
|
him. One should always look for a possible alternative, and provide
|
||
|
|
against it. It is the first rule of criminal investigation."
|
||
|
|
"What, then, is the alternative?"
|
||
|
|
"The line of investigation which I have myself been pursuing. It may
|
||
|
|
give us nothing. I cannot tell. But at least I shall follow it to
|
||
|
|
the end."
|
||
|
|
Several letters were waiting for Holmes at Baker Street. He snatched
|
||
|
|
one of them up, opened it, and burst out into a triumphant chuckle
|
||
|
|
of laughter.
|
||
|
|
"Excellent, Watson! The alternative develops. Have you telegraph
|
||
|
|
forms? Just write a couple of messages for me: 'Sumner, Shipping
|
||
|
|
Agent, Ratcliff Highway. Send three men on, to arrive ten to-morrow
|
||
|
|
morning.- Basil.' That's my name in those parts. The other is:
|
||
|
|
'Inspector Stanley Hopkins, 46 Lord Street, Brixton. Come breakfast
|
||
|
|
to-morrow at nine-thirty. Important. Wire if unable to come.- Sherlock
|
||
|
|
Holmes.' There, Watson, this infernal case has haunted me for ten
|
||
|
|
days. I hereby banish it completely from my presence. To-morrow, I
|
||
|
|
trust that we shall hear the last of it forever."
|
||
|
|
Sharp at the hour named Inspector Stanley Hopkins appeared, and we
|
||
|
|
sat down together to the excellent breakfast which Mrs. Hudson had
|
||
|
|
prepared. The young detective was in high spirits at his success.
|
||
|
|
"You really think that your solution must be correct?" asked Holmes.
|
||
|
|
"I could not imagine a more complete case."
|
||
|
|
"It did not seem to me conclusive."
|
||
|
|
"You astonish me, Mr. Holmes. What more could one ask for?"
|
||
|
|
"Does your explanation cover every point?"
|
||
|
|
"Undoubtedly. I find that young Neligan arrived at the Brambletye
|
||
|
|
Hotel on the very day of the crime. He came on the pretence of playing
|
||
|
|
golf. His room was on the ground-floor, and he could get out when he
|
||
|
|
liked. That very night he went down to Woodman's Lee, saw Peter
|
||
|
|
Carey at the hut, quarrelled with him, and killed him with the
|
||
|
|
harpoon. Then, horrified by what he had done, he fled out of the
|
||
|
|
hut, dropping the notebook which he had brought with him in order to
|
||
|
|
question Peter Carey about these different securities. You may have
|
||
|
|
observed that some of them were marked with ticks, and the others- the
|
||
|
|
great majority- were not. Those which are ticked have been traced on
|
||
|
|
the London market, but the others, presumably, were still in the
|
||
|
|
possession of Carey, and young Neligan, according to his own
|
||
|
|
account, was anxious to recover them in order to do the right thing by
|
||
|
|
his father's creditors. After his flight he did not dare to approach
|
||
|
|
the hut again for some time, but at last he forced himself to do so in
|
||
|
|
order to obtain the information which he needed. Surely that is all
|
||
|
|
simple and obvious?"
|
||
|
|
Holmes smiled and shook his head.
|
||
|
|
"It seems to me to have only one drawback, Hopkins, and that is
|
||
|
|
that it is intrinsically impossible. Have you tried to drive a harpoon
|
||
|
|
through a body? No? Tut, tut my dear sir, you must really pay
|
||
|
|
attention to these details. My friend Watson could tell you that I
|
||
|
|
spent a whole morning in that exercise. It is no easy matter, and
|
||
|
|
requires a strong and practised arm. But this blow was delivered
|
||
|
|
with such violence that the head of the weapon sank deep into the
|
||
|
|
wall. Do you imagine that this anaemic youth was capable of so
|
||
|
|
frightful an assault? Is he the man who hobnobbed in rum and water
|
||
|
|
with Black Peter in the dead of the night? Was it his profile that was
|
||
|
|
seen on the blind two nights before? No, no, Hopkins, it is another
|
||
|
|
and more formidable person for whom we must seek."
|
||
|
|
The detective's face had grown longer and longer during Holmes's
|
||
|
|
speech. His hopes and his ambitions were all crumbling about him.
|
||
|
|
But he would not abandon his position without a struggle.
|
||
|
|
"You can't deny that Neligan was present that night, Mr. Holmes. The
|
||
|
|
book will prove that. I fancy that I have evidence enough to satisfy a
|
||
|
|
jury, even if you are able to pick a hole in it. Besides, Mr.
|
||
|
|
Holmes, I have laid my hand upon my man. As to this terrible person of
|
||
|
|
yours, where is he?"
|
||
|
|
"I rather fancy that he is on the stair," said Holmes, serenely.
|
||
|
|
"I think, Watson, that you would do well to put that revolver where
|
||
|
|
you can reach it." He rose and laid a written paper upon a side-table.
|
||
|
|
"Now we are ready," said he.
|
||
|
|
There had been some talking in gruff voices outside, and now Mrs.
|
||
|
|
Hudson opened the door to say that there were three men inquiring
|
||
|
|
for Captain Basil.
|
||
|
|
"Show them in one by one," said Holmes.
|
||
|
|
"The first who entered was a little Ribston pippin of a man, with
|
||
|
|
ruddy cheeks and fluffy white side-whiskers. Holmes had drawn a letter
|
||
|
|
from his pocket.
|
||
|
|
"What name?" he asked.
|
||
|
|
"James Lancaster."
|
||
|
|
"I am sorry, Lancaster, but the berth is full. Here is half a
|
||
|
|
sovereign for your trouble. Just step into this room and wait there
|
||
|
|
for a few minutes."
|
||
|
|
The second man was a long, dried-up creature, with lank hair and
|
||
|
|
sallow cheeks. His name was Hugh Pattins. He also received his
|
||
|
|
dismissal, his half-sovereign, and the order to wait.
|
||
|
|
The third applicant was a man of remarkable appearance. A fierce
|
||
|
|
bull-dog face was framed in a tangle of hair and beard, and two
|
||
|
|
bold, dark eyes gleamed behind the cover of thick, tufted, overhung
|
||
|
|
eyebrows. He saluted and stood sailor-fashion, turning his cap round
|
||
|
|
in his hands.
|
||
|
|
"Your name?" asked Holmes.
|
||
|
|
"Patrick Cairns."
|
||
|
|
"Harpooner?"
|
||
|
|
"Yes, sir. Twenty-six voyages."
|
||
|
|
"Dundee, I suppose?"
|
||
|
|
"Yes, sir."
|
||
|
|
"And ready to start with an exploring ship?"
|
||
|
|
"Yes, sir."
|
||
|
|
"What wages?"
|
||
|
|
"Eight pounds a month."
|
||
|
|
"Could you start at once?"
|
||
|
|
"As soon as I get my kit."
|
||
|
|
"Have you your papers?"
|
||
|
|
"Yes, sir." He took a sheaf of worn and greasy forms from his
|
||
|
|
pocket. Holmes glanced over them and returned them.
|
||
|
|
"You are just the man I want," said he. "Here's the agreement on the
|
||
|
|
sidetable. If you sign it the whole matter will be settled."
|
||
|
|
The seaman lurched across the room and took up the pen.
|
||
|
|
"Shall I sign here?" he asked, stooping over the table.
|
||
|
|
Holmes leaned over his shoulder and passed both hands over his neck.
|
||
|
|
"This will do," said he.
|
||
|
|
I heard a click of steel and a bellow like an enraged bull. The next
|
||
|
|
instant Holmes and the seaman were rolling on the ground together.
|
||
|
|
He was a man of such gigantic strength that, even with the handcuffs
|
||
|
|
which Holmes had so deftly fastened upon his wrists, he would have
|
||
|
|
very quickly overpowered my friend had Hopkins and I not rushed to his
|
||
|
|
rescue. Only when I pressed the cold muzzle of the revolver to his
|
||
|
|
temple did he at last understand that resistance was vain. We lashed
|
||
|
|
his ankles with cord, and rose breathless from the struggle.
|
||
|
|
"I must really apologize, Hopkins," said Sherlock Holmes. "I fear
|
||
|
|
that the scrambled eggs are cold. However, you will enjoy the rest
|
||
|
|
of your breakfast all the better, will you not, for the thought that
|
||
|
|
you have brought your case to a triumphant conclusion."
|
||
|
|
Stanley Hopkins was speechless with amazement.
|
||
|
|
"I don't know what to say, Mr. Holmes," he blurted out at last, with
|
||
|
|
a very red face. "It seems to me that I have been making a fool of
|
||
|
|
myself from the beginning. I understand now, what I should never
|
||
|
|
have forgotten, that I am the pupil and you are the master. Even now I
|
||
|
|
see what you have done, but I don't know how you did it or what it
|
||
|
|
signifies."
|
||
|
|
"Well, well," said Holmes, good-humouredly. "We all learn by
|
||
|
|
experience, and your lesson this time is that you should never lose
|
||
|
|
sight of the alternative. You were so absorbed in young Neligan that
|
||
|
|
you could not spare a thought to Patrick Cairns, the true murderer
|
||
|
|
of Peter Carey."
|
||
|
|
The hoarse voice of the seaman broke in on our conversation.
|
||
|
|
"See here, mister," said he, "I make no complaint of being
|
||
|
|
man-handled in this fashion, but I would have you call things by their
|
||
|
|
right names. You say I murdered Peter Carey, I say I killed Peter
|
||
|
|
Carey, and there's all the difference. Maybe you don't believe what
|
||
|
|
I say. Maybe you think I am just slinging you a yarn."
|
||
|
|
"Not at all," said Holmes. "Let us hear what you have to say."
|
||
|
|
"It's soon told, and, by the Lord, every word of it is truth. I knew
|
||
|
|
Black Peter, and when he pulled out his knife I whipped a harpoon
|
||
|
|
through him sharp, for I knew that it was him or me. That's how he
|
||
|
|
died. You can call it murder. Anyhow, I'd as soon die with a rope
|
||
|
|
round my neck as with Black Peter's knife in my heart."
|
||
|
|
"How came you there?" asked Holmes.
|
||
|
|
"I'll tell it you from the beginning. just sit me up a little, so as
|
||
|
|
I can speak easy. It was in '83 that it happened- August of that year.
|
||
|
|
Peter Carey was master of the Sea Unicorn, and I was spare
|
||
|
|
harpooner. We were coming out of the ice-pack on our way home, with
|
||
|
|
head winds and a week's southerly gale, when we picked up a little
|
||
|
|
craft that had been blown north. There was one man on her- a landsman.
|
||
|
|
The crew had thought she would founder and had made for the
|
||
|
|
Norwegian coast in the dinghy. I guess they were all drowned. Well, we
|
||
|
|
took him on board, this man, and he and the skipper had some long
|
||
|
|
talks in the cabin. All the baggage we took off with him was one tin
|
||
|
|
box. So far as I know, the man's name was never mentioned, and on
|
||
|
|
the second night he disappeared as if he had never been. It was
|
||
|
|
given out that he had either thrown himself overboard or fallen
|
||
|
|
overboard in the heavy weather that we were having. Only one man
|
||
|
|
knew what had happened to him, and that was me, for, with my own eyes,
|
||
|
|
I saw the skipper tip up his heels and put him over the rail in the
|
||
|
|
middle watch of a dark night, two days before we sighted the
|
||
|
|
Shetland Lights.
|
||
|
|
"Well, I kept my knowledge to myself, and waited to see what would
|
||
|
|
come of it When we got back to Scotland it was easily hushed up, and
|
||
|
|
nobody asked any questions. A stranger died by accident and it was
|
||
|
|
nobody's business to inquire. Shortly after Peter Carey gave up the
|
||
|
|
sea, and it was long years before I could find where he was. I guessed
|
||
|
|
that he had done the deed for the sake of what was in that tin box,
|
||
|
|
and that he could afford now to pay me well for keeping my mouth shut.
|
||
|
|
"I found out where he was through a sailor man that had met him in
|
||
|
|
London, and down I went to squeeze him. The first night he was
|
||
|
|
reasonable enough, and was ready to give me what would make me free of
|
||
|
|
the sea for life. We were to fix it all two nights later. When I came,
|
||
|
|
I found him three parts drunk and in a vile temper. We sat down and we
|
||
|
|
drank and we yarned about old times, but the more he drank the less
|
||
|
|
I liked the look on his face. I spotted that harpoon upon the wall,
|
||
|
|
and I thought I might need it before I was through. Then at last he
|
||
|
|
broke out at me, spitting and cursing, with murder in his eyes and a
|
||
|
|
great clasp-knife in his hand. He had not time to get it from the
|
||
|
|
sheath before I had the harpoon through him. Heavens! what a yell he
|
||
|
|
gave! and his face gets between me and my sleep. I stood there, with
|
||
|
|
his blood splashing round me, and I waited for a bit, but all was
|
||
|
|
quiet, so I took heart once more. I looked round, and there was the
|
||
|
|
tin box on the shelf. I had as much right to it as Peter Carey,
|
||
|
|
anyhow, so I took it with me and left the hut. Like a fool I left my
|
||
|
|
baccy-pouch upon the table.
|
||
|
|
"Now I'll tell you the queerest part of the whole story. I had
|
||
|
|
hardly got outside the hut when I heard someone coming, and I hid
|
||
|
|
among the bushes. A man came slinking along, went into the hut, gave a
|
||
|
|
cry as if he had seen a ghost, and legged it as hard as he could run
|
||
|
|
until he was out of sight. Who he was or what he wanted is more than I
|
||
|
|
can tell. For my part I walked ten miles, got a train at Tunbridge
|
||
|
|
Wells, and so reached London, and no one the wiser.
|
||
|
|
"Well, when I came to examine the box I found there was no money
|
||
|
|
in it, and nothing but papers that I would not dare to sell. I had
|
||
|
|
lost my hold on Black Peter and was stranded in London without a
|
||
|
|
shilling. There was only my trade left. I saw these advertisements
|
||
|
|
about harpooners, and high wages, so I went to the shipping agents,
|
||
|
|
and they sent me here. That's all I know, and I say again that if I
|
||
|
|
killed Black Peter, the law should give me thanks, for I saved them
|
||
|
|
the rice of a hempen rope."
|
||
|
|
"A very clear statement said Holmes, rising and lighting his pipe.
|
||
|
|
"I think, Hopkins, that you should lose no time in conveying your
|
||
|
|
prisoner to a place of safety. This room is not well adapted for a
|
||
|
|
cell, and Mr. Patrick Cairns occupies too large a proportion of our
|
||
|
|
carpet."
|
||
|
|
"Mr. Holmes," said Hopkins, "I do not know how to express my
|
||
|
|
gratitude. Even now I do not understand how you attained this result."
|
||
|
|
"Simply by having the good fortune to get the right clue from the
|
||
|
|
beginning. It is very possible if I had known about this notebook it
|
||
|
|
might have led away my thoughts, as it did yours. But all I heard
|
||
|
|
pointed in the one direction. The amazing strength, the skill in the
|
||
|
|
use of the harpoon, the rum and water, the sealskin tobacco-pouch with
|
||
|
|
the coarse tobacco-all these pointed to a seaman, and one who had been
|
||
|
|
a whaler. I was convinced that the initials 'P.C.' upon the pouch were
|
||
|
|
a coincidence, and not those of Peter Carey, since he seldom smoked,
|
||
|
|
and no pipe was found in his cabin. You remember that I asked
|
||
|
|
whether whisky and brandy were in the cabin. You said they were. How
|
||
|
|
many landsmen are there who would drink rum when they could get
|
||
|
|
these other spirits? Yes, I was certain it was a seaman."
|
||
|
|
"And how did you find him?"
|
||
|
|
"My dear sir, the problem had become a very simple one. If it were a
|
||
|
|
seaman, it could only be a seaman who had been with him on the Sea
|
||
|
|
Unicorn. So far as I could learn he had sailed in no other ship. I
|
||
|
|
spent three days in wiring to Dundee, and at the end of that time I
|
||
|
|
had ascertained the names of the crew of the Sea Unicorn in 1883. When
|
||
|
|
I found Patrick Cairns among the harpooners, my research was nearing
|
||
|
|
its end. I argued that the man was probably in London, and that he
|
||
|
|
would desire to leave the country for a time. I therefore spent some
|
||
|
|
days in the East End, devised an Arctic expedition, put forth tempting
|
||
|
|
terms for harpooners who would serve under Captain Basil- and behold
|
||
|
|
the result!"
|
||
|
|
"Wonderful!" cried Hopkins. "Wonderful!"
|
||
|
|
"You must obtain the release of young Neligan as soon as
|
||
|
|
possible," said Holmes. "I confess that I think you owe him some
|
||
|
|
apology. The tin box must be returned to him, but, of course, the
|
||
|
|
securities which Peter Carey has sold are lost forever. There's the
|
||
|
|
cab, Hopkins, and you can remove your man. If you want me for the
|
||
|
|
trial, my address and that of Watson will be somewhere in Norway- I'll
|
||
|
|
send particulars later."
|
||
|
|
-
|
||
|
|
-
|
||
|
|
-THE END-
|