Sherlock Holmes Complete Works 1

Chapter 53 Adventure History 11
"You're as prejudiced against him as the coroner," said Holmes. "You have ruled out the evidence in McCarthy's favour. Do you not find him alternately imaginative and at other times unimaginative? He even Unable to invent a reason to explain his quarrel with his father to win the sympathy of the jury, and the imagination is too poor; and when he derives all kinds of outlandish statements from telepathy, such as the deathbed mentioning 'lat' And the missing dress and so on, which shows that his imagination is still very rich. No, Watson. I will investigate this case from another angle, that is, the young man is telling the truth, Let us see what conclusions this supposition leads us to. I have here a pocket copy of the Biedragon Poems. Take it and read it. I do not wish to speak of the case until we have arrived at the scene of the crime. We Lunch time at Swindon, I reckon I'll be there in about twenty minutes."

At about four o'clock, the train passed through the scenic Stroud Gorge and the wide and shining Severn River, and finally arrived at the beautiful country town of Ross.A thin, surreptitious and sly-looking man was already waiting on the platform.Even though he was wearing a light brown trench coat and leather leggings, as was his custom, I recognized him immediately as Inspector Raymond of Scotland Yard.We rode with him to the Arms Hotel in Shelfordshire, where he booked a room for us.

"I want a carriage," said Remired, as we sat together at tea; "I know your old habit of not being satisfied without being at the scene of the crime at once."

"You are very thoughtful," said Holmes. "However, you will depend on the readings on the barometer."

Remired was startled and said, "I don't quite understand what you mean."

"How many degrees on the barometer? 29 degrees? Got it. Not a breath of wind, not a cloud in the sky. I've got a whole pack of cigarettes waiting to be smoked here, and the couches here are better than the nasty ones in the average country hotel." Things are much better. I don't think I may need the carriage to-night."

Raymond laughed out loud. "It seems that you have drawn a conclusion based on the reports in the newspaper. The facts of this case are clear, and the more in-depth investigation, the clearer. Of course, we are really embarrassed to refuse the request of a lady who has heard about you for a long time My dear lord, though I have told her that I have done all that you can do for her, yet she must take your advice. Oh, my God! Her carriage is at the door! "

As soon as the words were finished, a young woman hurried into our room.With piercing blue eyes, parted lips, and flushed cheeks, she was the seldom lovely girl I ever saw in my life.I was tense and worried, and my natural dignity was wiped out.

"Mr. Sherlock Holmes!" she exclaimed, after having looked us both over, and fixing her female intuition on my companion at last, "I am glad to see you here. Came here just to let you know how happy I am! I know James didn't do it, I'm just sure of it. I want you to know this too before you start scouting. Don't doubt that, he and I grew up together Big one, I know his flaws best. But he is so soft-hearted that he won't even hurt a fly. Anyone who really knows him will think that the accusation against him is simply absurd."

"I wish to clear him up, Miss Turner," said Sherlock Holmes. "You must trust me to do my best."

"But you've read the testimony. What do you conclude about it? There's nothing wrong with it? Don't you think he's innocent?"

"I think it's very likely he's innocent."

"You heard it!" She threw her head back, looked at Remy Red with contempt, and shouted, "You heard it! He gave me hope!"

Remy Reid shrugged his shoulders and said, "I'm afraid my colleague is a bit rash in drawing such a conclusion."

"But he was right! I knew he was innocent. James would never have done such a thing! As for his quarrel with his father, the reason why he refused to say a word to the coroner was because of the incident. involve me."

"In what respect do you get involved?" asked Holmes.

"At this point, I can't hide anything anymore. James and his father have a big disagreement about me. Mr. McCarthy wants us to get married very much, because James and I have been like brother and sister since childhood. Love each other. Of course, he is young and has no life experience, and - and - he naturally does not want to get married and start a family now. So they always fight and fight. I'm sure, this time it is for this reason got up."

"And what does your father think of your affair?" asked Holmes. "Has he consented to the marriage?"

"No. Only Mr. McCarthy." A blush flickered across Holmes's youthful face as his penetrating gaze rested on her.

"Thank you for this information. It will be of great use in clarifying the case," he said. "If we call on your father tomorrow, can we see him?"

"I'm afraid the doctor won't agree."

"doctor?"

"Yeah, haven't you heard? My poor father has been in poor health, and this has wrecked him. He's bedridden, and the doctor says he's got a lot of damage to his body. The system is down too. Mr. McCarthy is the only person alive who met my father from his early years in Victoria."

"Aha! Victoria! That's a mining farm."

"Yes, at the mine."

"Indeed, in the gold mines. Mr. Turner made his fortune there, as far as I know."

"Yes, it is indeed there."

"Thank you, Miss Turner. You have provided me with very useful material."

"You must tell me tomorrow if you have any news. Surely you will go to see James in prison, will you not? If you do, Mr. Holmes, please tell him that I believe he is innocent."

"I will, Miss Turner."

"I have to go home because Daddy is very ill and he'll miss me when I go away. Goodbye and God bless you." She hurried out with the same rush as she had come in .

Les Mirade said to Holmes: "The heart is simply too hard. Why do you want people to hope."

"I think I can clear James McCarthy," Holmes said.

"I will go to the prison at once. Take your time, Watson. I shall be back in an hour or two."

I was lying on the sofa alone, thinking about the case, thinking about everything that happened that day.If what the young man said was true, what strange things happened between him leaving his father and returning to his father?Is it any wonder that I, a doctor, cannot see the wounds of the dead?I asked for a weekly report with the minutes of the interrogation.It was written in the autopsy certificate: The third left parietal bone and the left half of the occipital bone in the back of the deceased's head were broken due to the impact of a heavy weapon.I touched the place where my head was hit. Obviously, the sneak attack came from behind the dead man.This was somewhat in the defendant's favor, as he was seen talking face to face with his father.However, it is also possible that the deceased was killed by his son when he turned his back.At any rate, it should be brought to Holmes' attention.And, what does "lat" mean?I thought about it.And the gray dress that McCarthy saw.If what is said is true, then the murderer must have dropped his overcoat or possibly a cape as he fled.But he had the audacity to pick it up within a dozen yards of McCarthy.The whole case is too puzzling.I'm not surprised by some of Raymond's ideas.However, I am convinced of the insight of Sherlock Holmes.So, as long as there's new proof that McCarthy is innocent, there's hope for all of this.

Sherlock Holmes came back very late.Raymond lived in the city.

He sat down and said, "The mercury on the barometer is still high. Just hope it doesn't rain when we scout the scene. That's very important. I called on McCarthy."

"Have you gained anything from him?"

"Nothing."

"Has he provided any new clues?"

"No, he's as confused as anyone else. He's a very honest fellow."

I said: "If he doesn't want to marry Miss Turner, he has very bad eyes."

"There's a story to this! The lad was madly in love with her. But, before they really fell in love, he was away from home for five years, at a boarding school. A bar girl stalked him and forced him into marriage ...you can imagine how much he regretted it after that because he married a dancing girl he didn't love. When his father asked him to marry Miss Turner in his last conversation, it was because he couldn't His father explained the stupid thing he did and waved his hands. Besides, his life depended on his father. If his father knew all this, he would abandon him completely. His father didn't know what he did at the time. It was a very crucial point. But he became a murder suspect and the bar girl dumped him. That was a great relief for McCarthy."

"But who would be the murderer?"

"Who is it? I want you to pay attention to two points. First, old McCarthy and someone agreed to meet at the pond. It can't be his son, because he didn't know he would come back. Second, at old McCarthy Casey was heard yelling 'Cooey' when he learned his son had returned! Those two things were the crux of the clue."

Holmes was right. It was a fine day.At nine o'clock in the morning, we went down to Hatherley Farm, accompanied by Ray Mired.

"There's big news this morning that Mr. Turner is in critical condition," Ray Mirand said.

"He must be very old," said Holmes.

"About sixty. He's been bedridden for years. It hit him hard. He's an old friend and benefactor of McCarthy. He leased Hatherley Farm to McCarthy for nothing."

"It's an interesting incident," said Holmes.

"Indeed, he's always helping him."

"So this McCarthy is a pauper. He has been so favored by Turner that he should force his son to marry Miss Turner, the heir to the whole estate. Don't you think it unusual that he should be so tyrannical?" In particular, Turner actually objected to this marriage, wouldn't that be even more suspicious? These are all said by Miss Turner herself, don't you see anything from it?"

Remy Reid said: "We have analyzed all of this. However, it is already difficult to investigate and verify the facts alone, let alone make empty comments?"

"It is indeed difficult for you to verify the facts," said Holmes.

Remy Reid shot back: "Anyway, I've got a fact."

"That is--"

"That means McCarthy is the murderer."

"Moonlight is always clearer than mist," said Holmes, laughing. "Hatherley Farm is close at hand, isn't it?"

"Yes, that is."

The building was spacious, but presented a forlorn scene, and we were led in by the maid.Holmes asked to see the shoes old McCarthy had worn before his death and the shoes of McCarthy, but not the ones worn at the scene of the crime.Holmes inspected these shoes carefully, and then asked the maid to take us to Boscombe Pond.

Holmes was absorbed in his thoughts on the case, when suddenly he hurried along the path across the meadow, and then through the woods to Boscombe Pond.There are scattered footprints on the ground, on the ground on both sides of the path and roadside.Holmes now stopped to look, and now searched hastily.Sometimes he would go around and walk out onto the grass.

Bothcombe Pond is between Mr Turner's private gardens and Hatherley Farm.On the other side of the pond was a wood, and the Hatherley farm side had a thick wood; from the edge of the wood to the patch of reeds on the pond side there was a narrow strip of wet grass, perhaps twenty paces wide.The exact place where the body was found was very wet ground, and the marks left by the dead man's fall were very obvious.Holmes walked around the ground, then looked at Remy Red.

"What are you doing in the pond?" he asked.

"I guess there might have been some kind of weapon or something thrown in the pond, but, weird..." Raymond explained.

(End of this chapter)