“At first the maid thought that young Smith was already dead,but on pouring some water from the carafe over his forehead heopened his eyes for an instant. ‘The professor,’ he murmured— ‘itwas she.’ The maid is prepared to swear that those were the exactwords. He tried desperately to say something else, and he held hisright hand up in the air. Then he fell back dead.
“In the meantime the housekeeper had also arrived upon thescene, but she was just too late to catch the young man’s dyingwords. Leaving Susan with the body, she hurried to the professorsroom. He was sitting up in bed, horribly agitated, for he had heardenough to convince him that something terrible had occurred.
Mrs. Marker is prepared to swear that the professor was still inhis night-clothes, and indeed it was impossible for him to dresswithout the help of Mortimer, whose orders were to come attwelve o’clock. The professor declares that he heard the distantcry, but that he knows nothing more. He can give no explanation1016 The Complete Sherlock Holmes
of the young man’s last words, ‘The professor—it was she,’ butimagines that they were the outcome of delirium. He believesthat Willoughby Smith had not an enemy in the world, andcan give no reason for the crime. His first action was to sendMortimer, the gardener, for the local police. A little later thechief constable sent for me. Nothing was moved before I gotthere, and strict orders were given that no one should walkupon the paths leading to the house. It was a splendid chance ofputting your theories into practice, Mr. Sherlock Holmes. Therewas really nothing wanting.”
“Except Mr. Sherlock Holmes,” said my companion, with asomewhat bitter smile. “Well, let us hear about it. What sort of ajob did you make of it?”
“I must ask you first, Mr. Holmes, to glance at this rough plan,which will give you a general idea of the position of the professor’sstudy and the various points of the case. It will help you infollowing my investigation.”
He unfolded the rough chart, which I here reproduce, and helaid it across Holmes’s knee. I rose and, standing behind Holmes,studied it over his shoulder.
“It is very rough, of course, and it only deals with the pointswhich seem to me to be essential. All the rest you will see laterfor yourself. Now, first of all, presuming that the assassin enteredthe house, how did he or she come in? Undoubtedly by the gardenpath and the back door, from which there is direct access to thestudy. Any other way would have been exceedingly complicated.
The escape must have also been made along that line, for of thetwo other exits from the room one was blocked by Susan as sheran downstairs and the other leads straight to the professor’sbedroom. I therefore directed my attention at once to the gardenpath, which was saturated with recent rain, and would certainlyshow any footmarks.
“My examination showed me that I was dealing with a cautiousand expert criminal. No footmarks were to be found on the path.
There could be no question, however, that someone had passedalong the grass border which lines the path, and that he had doneso in order to avoid leaving a track. I could not find anything inthe nature of a distinct impression, but the grass was troddendown, and someone had undoubtedly passed. It could only havebeen the murderer, since neither the gardener nor anyone else hadbeen there that morning, and the rain had only begun during thenight.”
“One moment,” said Holmes. “Where does this path lead to?”
“To the road.”
“How long is it?”
“A hundred yards or so.”
The Return of Sherlock Holmes 1017
“At the point where the path passes through the gate, you couldsurely pick up the tracks?”
“Unfortunately, the path was tiled at that point.”
“Well, on the road itself?”
“No, it was all trodden into mire.”
“Tut-tut! Well, then, these tracks upon the grass, were theycoming or going?”
“It was impossible to say. There was never any outline.”
“A large foot or a small?”
“You could not distinguish.”
Holmes gave an ejaculation of impatience.
“It has been pouring rain and blowing a hurricane ever since,”
said he. “It will be harder to read now than that palimpsest. Well,well, it can’t be helped. What did you do, Hopkins, after you hadmade certain that you had made certain of nothing?”
“I think I made certain of a good deal, Mr. Holmes. I knewthat someone had entered the house cautiously from without. Inext examined the corridor. It is lined with cocoanut matting andhad taken no impression of any kind. This brought me into thestudy itself. It is a scantily
furnished room. The main
article is a large writingtable
with a fixed bureau.
This bureau consists of a
double column of drawers,
with a central small cupboard
between them. The drawers were
open, the cupboard locked. The
drawers, it seems, were always open, and nothing of value was keptin them. There were some papers of importance in the cupboard,but there were no signs that this had been tampered with, and theprofessor assures me that nothing was missing. It is certain thatno robbery has been committed.
“I come now to the body of the young man. It was found nearthe bureau, and just to the left of it, as marked upon that chart.
The stab was on the right side of the neck and from behindforward, so that it is almost impossible that it could have beenself-inflicted.”
“Unless he fell upon the knife,” said Holmes.
“Exactly. The idea crossed my mind. But we found the knifesome feet away from the body, so that seems impossible. Then,of course, there are the man’s own dying words. And, finally,there was this very important piece of evidence which was foundclasped in the dead man’s right hand.”
From his pocket Stanley Hopkins drew a small paper packet.
He unfolded it and disclosed a golden pince-nez, with two broken1018 The Complete Sherlock Holmes
ends of black silk cord dangling from the end of it. “WilloughbySmith had excellent sight,” he added. “There can be no questionthat this was snatched from the face or the person of the assassin.”