“Excuse me, my dear fellow,” said he, as we watched the rearcarriages of our train disappearing round a curve, “I am sorryto make you the victim of what may seem a mere whim, but onmy life, Watson, I simply can’t leave that case in this condition.
Every instinct that I possess cries out against it. It’s wrong—it’sall wrong—I’ll swear that it’s wrong. And yet the lady’s story wascomplete, the maid’s corroboration was sufficient, the detail wasfairly exact. What have I to put up against that? Three wineglasses,that is all. But if I had not taken things for granted, if Ihad examined everything with the care which I should have shownhad we approached the case DE NOVO and had no cut-and-driedstory to warp my mind, should I not then have found somethingmore definite to go upon? Of course I should. Sit down on thisbench, Watson, until a train for Chiselhurst arrives, and allow me1056 The Complete Sherlock Holmes
to lay the evidence before you, imploring you in the first instanceto dismiss from your mind the idea that anything which the maidor her mistress may have said must necessarily be true. The lady’scharming personality must not be permitted to warp our judgment.
“Surely there are details in her story which, if we looked at incold blood, would excite our suspicion. These burglars made aconsiderable haul at Sydenham a fortnight ago. Some accountof them and of their appearance was in the papers, and wouldnaturally occur to anyone who wished to invent a story in whichimaginary robbers should play a part. As a matter of fact, burglarswho have done a good stroke of business are, as a rule, only tooglad to enjoy the proceeds in peace and quiet without embarkingon another perilous undertaking. Again, it is unusual for burglarsto operate at so early an hour, it is unusual for burglars to strike alady to prevent her screaming, since one would imagine that wasthe sure way to make her scream, it is unusual for them to commitmurder when their numbers are sufficient to overpower one man,is unusual for them to be content with a limited plunder whenthere was much more within their reach, and finally, I should say,that it was very unusual for such men to leave a bottle half empty.
How do all these unusuals strike you, Watson?”
“Their cumulative effect is certainly considerable, and yet eachof them is quite possible in itself. The most unusual thing of all, asseems to me, is that the lady should be tied to the chair.”
“Well, I am not so clear about that, Watson, for it is evidentthat they must either kill her or else secure her in such a way thatshe could not give immediate notice of their escape. But at anyrate I have shown, have I not, that there is a certain element ofimprobability about the lady’s story? And now, on the top of this,comes the incident of the wineglasses.”
“What about the wineglasses?”
“Can you see them in your mind’s eye?”
“I see them clearly.”
“We are told that three men drank from them. Does that strikeyou as likely?”
“Why not? There was wine in each glass.”
“Exactly, but there was beeswing only in one glass. You musthave noticed that fact. What does that suggest to your mind?”
“The last glass filled would be most likely to contain beeswing.”
“Not at all. The bottle was full of it, and it is inconceivable thatthe first two glasses were clear and the third heavily charged withit. There are two possible explanations, and only two. One is thatafter the second glass was filled the bottle was violently agitated,and so the third glass received the beeswing. That does not appearprobable. No, no, I am sure that I am right.”
“What, then, do you suppose?”
The Return of Sherlock Holmes 1057
“That only two glasses were used, and that the dregs of bothwere poured into a third glass, so as to give the false impressionthat three people had been here. In that way all the beeswingwould be in the last glass, would it not? Yes, I am convinced thatthis is so. But if I have hit upon the true explanation of this onesmall phenomenon, then in an instant the case rises from thecommonplace to the exceedingly remarkable, for it can only meanthat Lady Brackenstall and her maid have deliberately lied to us,that not one word of their story is to be believed, that they havesome very strong reason for covering the real criminal, and that wemust construct our case for ourselves without any help from them.
That is the mission which now lies before us, and here, Watson, isthe Sydenham train.”
The household at the Abbey Grange were much surprised atour return, but Sherlock Holmes, finding that Stanley Hopkins hadgone off to report to headquarters, took possession of the diningroom,locked the door upon the inside, and devoted himself for twohours to one of those minute and laborious investigations whichform the solid basis on which his brilliant edifices of deductionwere reared. Seated in a corner like an interested student whoobserves the demonstration of his professor, I followed every stepof that remarkable research. The window, the curtains, the carpet,the chair, the rope—each in turn was minutely examined and dulypondered. The body of the unfortunate baronet had been removed,and all else remained as we had seen it in the morning. Finally, to myastonishment, Holmes climbed up on to the massive mantelpiece.
Far above his head hung the few inches of red cord which were stillattached to the wire. For a long time he gazed upward at it, andthen in an attempt to get nearer to it he rested his knee upon awooden bracket on the wall. This brought his hand within a fewinches of the broken end of the rope, but it was not this so muchas the bracket itself which seemed to engage his attention. Finally,he sprang down with an ejaculation of satisfaction.
“It’s all right, Watson,” said he. “We have got our case—one ofthe most remarkable in our collection. But, dear me, how slowwittedI have been, and how nearly I have committed the blunderof my lifetime! Now, I think that, with a few missing links, mychain is almost complete.”
“You have got your men?”