The vicar of the parish, Mr. Roundhay, was something of anarchaeologist, and as such Holmes had made his acquaintance. Hewas a middle-aged man, portly and affable, with a considerablefund of local lore. At his invitation we had taken tea at thevicarage and had come to know, also, Mr. Mortimer Tregennis,an independent gentleman, who increased the clergyman’s scantyresources by taking rooms in his large, straggling house. Thevicar, being a bachelor, was glad to come to such an arrangement,though he had little in common with his lodger, who was a thin,dark, spectacled man, with a stoop which gave the impression ofactual, physical deformity. I remember that during our short visitwe found the vicar garrulous, but his lodger strangely reticent, asad-faced, introspective man, sitting with averted eyes, broodingapparently upon his own affairs.
These were the two men who entered abruptly into our littlesitting-room on Tuesday, March the 16th, shortly after ourbreakfast hour, as we were smoking together, preparatory to ourdaily excursion upon the moors.
“Mr. Holmes,” said the vicar in an agitated voice, “the mostextraordinary and tragic affair has occurred during the night. It isthe most unheard-of business. We can only regard it as a specialProvidence that you should chance to be here at the time, for inall England you are the one man we need.”
I glared at the intrusive vicar with no very friendly eyes; butHolmes took his pipe from his lips and sat up in his chair likean old hound who hears the view-halloa. He waved his hand tothe sofa, and our palpitating visitor with his agitated companionsat side by side upon it. Mr. Mortimer Tregennis was more selfcontainedthan the clergyman, but the twitching of his thin handsand the brightness of his dark eyes showed that they shared acommon emotion.
“Shall I speak or you?” he asked of the vicar.
“Well, as you seem to have made the discovery, whatever it maybe, and the vicar to have had it second-hand, perhaps you hadbetter do the speaking,” said Holmes.
I glanced at the hastily clad clergyman, with the formallydressed lodger seated beside him, and was amused at the surprisewhich Holmes’s simple deduction had brought to their faces.
“Perhaps I had best say a few words first,” said the vicar, “andthen you can judge if you will listen to the details from Mr.
Tregennis, or whether we should not hasten at once to the sceneof this mysterious affair. I may explain, then, that our friend herespent last evening in the company of his two brothers, Owen and1202 The Complete Sherlock Holmes
George, and of his sister Brenda, at their house of TredannickWartha, which is near the old stone cross upon the moor. He leftthem shortly after ten o’clock, playing cards round the diningroomtable, in excellent health and spirits. This morning, beingan early riser, he walked in that direction before breakfast andwas overtaken by the carriage of Dr. Richards, who explainedthat he had just been sent for on a most urgent call to TredannickWartha. Mr. Mortimer Tregennis naturally went with him. Whenhe arrived at Tredannick Wartha he found an extraordinary stateof things. His two brothers and his sister were seated round thetable exactly as he had left them, the cards still spread in front ofthem and the candles burned down to their sockets. The sister layback stone-dead in her chair, while the two brothers sat on eachside of her laughing, shouting, and singing, the senses strickenclean out of them. All three of them, the dead woman and thetwo demented men, retained upon their faces an expression of theutmost horror—a convulsion of terror which was dreadful to lookupon. There was no sign of the presence of anyone in the house,except Mrs. Porter, the old cook and housekeeper, who declaredthat she had slept deeply and heard no sound during the night.
Nothing had been stolen or disarranged, and there is absolutelyno explanation of what the horror can be which has frightened awoman to death and two strong men out of their senses. There isthe situation, Mr. Holmes, in a nutshell, and if you can help us toclear it up you will have done a great work.”
I had hoped that in some way I could coax my companionback into the quiet which had been the object of our journey; butone glance at his intense face and contracted eyebrows told mehow vain was now the expectation. He sat for some little time insilence, absorbed in the strange drama which had broken in uponour peace.
“I will look into this matter,” he said at last. “On the face of it,would appear to be a case of a very exceptional nature. Have youbeen there yourself, Mr. Roundhay?”
“No, Mr. Holmes. Mr. Tregennis brought back the account tothe vicarage, and I at once hurried over with him to consult you.”
“How far is it to the house where this singular tragedy occurred?”
“About a mile inland.”
“Then we shall walk over together. But before we start I mustask you a few questions, Mr. Mortimer Tregennis.”
The other had been silent all this time, but I had observedthat his more controlled excitement was even greater than theobtrusive emotion of the clergyman. He sat with a pale, drawnface, his anxious gaze fixed upon Holmes, and his thin handsclasped convulsively together. His pale lips quivered as he listenedThe Adventure of Wisteria Lodge 1203 to the dreadful experience which had befallen his family, and hisdark eyes seemed to reflect something of the horror of the scene.
“Ask what you like, Mr. Holmes,” said he eagerly. “It is a badthing to speak of, but I will answer you the truth.”
“Tell me about last night.”
“Well, Mr. Holmes, I supped there, as the vicar has said, and myelder brother George proposed a game of whist afterwards. We satdown about nine o’clock. It was a quarter-past ten when I movedto go. I left them all round the table, as merry as could be.”
“Who let you out?”