constructeur maison moderne gard

the adventure of the norwood builder "from the point of view of the criminalexpert," said mr. sherlock holmes, "london has become a singularly uninteresting citysince the death of the late lamented professor moriarty." "i can hardly think that you would findmany decent citizens to agree with you," i answered. "well, well, i must not be selfish," saidhe, with a smile, as he pushed back his chair from the breakfast-table. "the community is certainly the gainer, andno one the loser, save the poor out-of-work

specialist, whose occupation has gone.with that man in the field, one's morning paper presented infinite possibilities. often it was only the smallest trace,watson, the faintest indication, and yet it was enough to tell me that the greatmalignant brain was there, as the gentlest tremors of the edges of the web remind one of the foul spider which lurks in thecentre. petty thefts, wanton assaults, purposelessoutrage--to the man who held the clue all could be worked into one connected whole. to the scientific student of the highercriminal world, no capital in europe

offered the advantages which london thenpossessed. but now----" he shrugged his shoulders inhumorous deprecation of the state of things which he had himself done so much toproduce. at the time of which i speak, holmes hadbeen back for some months, and i at his request had sold my practice and returnedto share the old quarters in baker street. a young doctor, named verner, had purchasedmy small kensington practice, and given with astonishingly little demur the highestprice that i ventured to ask--an incident which only explained itself some years later, when i found that verner was adistant relation of holmes, and that it was

my friend who had really found the money. our months of partnership had not been souneventful as he had stated, for i find, on looking over my notes, that this periodincludes the case of the papers of ex- president murillo, and also the shocking affair of the dutch steamship friesland,which so nearly cost us both our lives. his cold and proud nature was alwaysaverse, however, from anything in the shape of public applause, and he bound me in themost stringent terms to say no further word of himself, his methods, or his successes-- a prohibition which, as i have explained,has only now been removed.

mr. sherlock holmes was leaning back inhis chair after his whimsical protest, and was unfolding his morning paper in aleisurely fashion, when our attention was arrested by a tremendous ring at the bell, followed immediately by a hollow drummingsound, as if someone were beating on the outer door with his fist. as it opened there came a tumultuous rushinto the hall, rapid feet clattered up the stair, and an instant later a wild-eyed andfrantic young man, pale, disheveled, and palpitating, burst into the room. he looked from one to the other of us, andunder our gaze of inquiry he became

conscious that some apology was needed forthis unceremonious entry. "i'm sorry, mr. holmes," he cried. "you mustn't blame me.i am nearly mad. mr. holmes, i am the unhappy john hectormcfarlane." he made the announcement as if the namealone would explain both his visit and its manner, but i could see, by my companion'sunresponsive face, that it meant no more to him than to me. "have a cigarette, mr. mcfarlane," saidhe, pushing his case across. "i am sure that, with your symptoms, myfriend dr. watson here would prescribe a

sedative. the weather has been so very warm theselast few days. now, if you feel a little more composed, ishould be glad if you would sit down in that chair, and tell us very slowly andquietly who you are, and what it is that you want. you mentioned your name, as if i shouldrecognize it, but i assure you that, beyond the obvious facts that you are a bachelor,a solicitor, a freemason, and an asthmatic, i know nothing whatever about you." familiar as i was with my friend's methods,it was not difficult for me to follow his

deductions, and to observe the untidinessof attire, the sheaf of legal papers, the watch-charm, and the breathing which hadprompted them. our client, however, stared in amazement. "yes, i am all that, mr. holmes; and, inaddition, i am the most unfortunate man at this moment in london.for heaven's sake, don't abandon me, mr. holmes! if they come to arrest me before i havefinished my story, make them give me time, so that i may tell you the whole truth.i could go to jail happy if i knew that you were working for me outside."

"arrest you!" said holmes."this is really most grati--most interesting.on what charge do you expect to be arrested?" "upon the charge of murdering mr. jonasoldacre, of lower norwood." my companion's expressive face showed asympathy which was not, i am afraid, entirely unmixed with satisfaction. "dear me," said he, "it was only thismoment at breakfast that i was saying to my friend, dr. watson, that sensational caseshad disappeared out of our papers." our visitor stretched forward a quiveringhand and picked up the daily telegraph,

which still lay upon holmes's knee. "if you had looked at it, sir, you wouldhave seen at a glance what the errand is on which i have come to you this morning.i feel as if my name and my misfortune must be in every man's mouth." he turned it over to expose the centralpage. "here it is, and with your permission iwill read it to you. listen to this, mr. holmes. the headlines are: 'mysterious affair atlower norwood. disappearance of a well known builder.suspicion of murder and arson.

a clue to the criminal.' that is the clue which they are alreadyfollowing, mr. holmes, and i know that it leads infallibly to me. i have been followed from london bridgestation, and i am sure that they are only waiting for the warrant to arrest me.it will break my mother's heart--it will break her heart!" he wrung his hands in an agony ofapprehension, and swayed backward and forward in his chair. i looked with interest upon this man, whowas accused of being the perpetrator of a

crime of violence. he was flaxen-haired and handsome, in awashed-out negative fashion, with frightened blue eyes, and a clean-shavenface, with a weak, sensitive mouth. his age may have been about twenty-seven,his dress and bearing that of a gentleman. from the pocket of his light summerovercoat protruded the bundle of indorsed papers which proclaimed his profession. "we must use what time we have," saidholmes. "watson, would you have the kindness totake the paper and to read the paragraph in question?"

underneath the vigorous headlines which ourclient had quoted, i read the following suggestive narrative: "late last night, or early this morning, anincident occurred at lower norwood which points, it is feared, to a serious crime. mr. jonas oldacre is a well known residentof that suburb, where he has carried on his business as a builder for many years. mr. oldacre is a bachelor, fifty-two yearsof age, and lives in deep dene house, at the sydenham end of the road of that name.he has had the reputation of being a man of eccentric habits, secretive and retiring.

for some years he has practically withdrawnfrom the business, in which he is said to have massed considerable wealth. a small timber-yard still exists, however,at the back of the house, and last night, about twelve o'clock, an alarm was giventhat one of the stacks was on fire. the engines were soon upon the spot, butthe dry wood burned with great fury, and it was impossible to arrest the conflagrationuntil the stack had been entirely consumed. up to this point the incident bore theappearance of an ordinary accident, but fresh indications seem to point to seriouscrime. surprise was expressed at the absence ofthe master of the establishment from the

scene of the fire, and an inquiry followed,which showed that he had disappeared from the house. an examination of his room revealed thatthe bed had not been slept in, that a safe which stood in it was open, that a numberof important papers were scattered about the room, and finally, that there were signs of a murderous struggle, slighttraces of blood being found within the room, and an oaken walking-stick, whichalso showed stains of blood upon the handle. it is known that mr. jonas oldacre hadreceived a late visitor in his bedroom upon

that night, and the stick found has beenidentified as the property of this person, who is a young london solicitor named john hector mcfarlane, junior partner of grahamand mcfarlane, of 426 gresham buildings, e.c. the police believe that they have evidencein their possession which supplies a very convincing motive for the crime, andaltogether it cannot be doubted that sensational developments will follow. "later.--it is rumoured as we go to pressthat mr. john hector mcfarlane has actually been arrested on the charge of themurder of mr. jonas oldacre.

it is at least certain that a warrant hasbeen issued. there have been further and sinisterdevelopments in the investigation at norwood. besides the signs of a struggle in the roomof the unfortunate builder it is now known that the french windows of his bedroom(which is on the ground floor) were found to be open, that there were marks as if some bulky object had been dragged acrossto the wood-pile, and, finally, it is asserted that charred remains have beenfound among the charcoal ashes of the fire. the police theory is that a mostsensational crime has been committed, that

the victim was clubbed to death in his ownbedroom, his papers rifled, and his dead body dragged across to the wood-stack, which was then ignited so as to hide alltraces of the crime. the conduct of the criminal investigationhas been left in the experienced hands of inspector lestrade, of scotland yard, whois following up the clues with his accustomed energy and sagacity." sherlock holmes listened with closed eyesand fingertips together to this remarkable account."the case has certainly some points of interest," said he, in his languid fashion.

"may i ask, in the first place, mr.mcfarlane, how it is that you are still at liberty, since there appears to be enoughevidence to justify your arrest?" "i live at torrington lodge, blackheath,with my parents, mr. holmes, but last night, having to do business very late withmr. jonas oldacre, i stayed at an hotel in norwood, and came to my business fromthere. i knew nothing of this affair until i wasin the train, when i read what you have just heard. i at once saw the horrible danger of myposition, and i hurried to put the case into your hands.

i have no doubt that i should have beenarrested either at my city office or at my home. a man followed me from london bridgestation, and i have no doubt--great heaven! what is that?"it was a clang of the bell, followed instantly by heavy steps upon the stair. a moment later, our old friend lestradeappeared in the doorway. over his shoulder i caught a glimpse of oneor two uniformed policemen outside. " mr. john hector mcfarlane?" saidlestrade. our unfortunate client rose with a ghastlyface.

"i arrest you for the wilful murder of mr.jonas oldacre, of lower norwood." mcfarlane turned to us with a gesture ofdespair, and sank into his chair once more like one who is crushed. "one moment, lestrade," said holmes. "half an hour more or less can make nodifference to you, and the gentleman was about to give us an account of this veryinteresting affair, which might aid us in clearing it up." "i think there will be no difficulty inclearing it up," said lestrade, grimly. "none the less, with your permission, ishould be much interested to hear his

account." "well, mr. holmes, it is difficult for meto refuse you anything, for you have been of use to the force once or twice in thepast, and we owe you a good turn at scotland yard," said lestrade. "at the same time i must remain with myprisoner, and i am bound to warn him that anything he may say will appear in evidenceagainst him." "i wish nothing better," said our client. "all i ask is that you should hear andrecognize the absolute truth." lestrade looked at his watch."i'll give you half an hour," said he.

"i must explain first," said mcfarlane,"that i knew nothing of mr. jonas oldacre. his name was familiar to me, for many yearsago my parents were acquainted with him, but they drifted apart. i was very much surprised therefore, whenyesterday, about three o'clock in the afternoon, he walked into my office in thecity. but i was still more astonished when hetold me the object of his visit. he had in his hand several sheets of anotebook, covered with scribbled writing-- here they are--and he laid them on mytable. "'here is my will,' said he.

'i want you, mr. mcfarlane, to cast itinto proper legal shape. i will sit here while you do so.' "i set myself to copy it, and you canimagine my astonishment when i found that, with some reservations, he had left all hisproperty to me. he was a strange little ferret-like man,with white eyelashes, and when i looked up at him i found his keen gray eyes fixedupon me with an amused expression. i could hardly believe my own as i read theterms of the will; but he explained that he was a bachelor with hardly any livingrelation, that he had known my parents in his youth, and that he had always heard of

me as a very deserving young man, and wasassured that his money would be in worthy hands.of course, i could only stammer out my thanks. the will was duly finished, signed, andwitnessed by my clerk. this is it on the blue paper, and theseslips, as i have explained, are the rough draft. mr. jonas oldacre then informed me thatthere were a number of documents--building leases, title-deeds, mortgages, scrip, andso forth--which it was necessary that i should see and understand.

he said that his mind would not be easyuntil the whole thing was settled, and he begged me to come out to his house atnorwood that night, bringing the will with me, and to arrange matters. 'remember, my boy, not one word to yourparents about the affair until everything is settled.we will keep it as a little surprise for them.' he was very insistent upon this point, andmade me promise it faithfully. "you can imagine, mr. holmes, that i wasnot in a humour to refuse him anything that he might ask.

he was my benefactor, and all my desire wasto carry out his wishes in every particular. i sent a telegram home, therefore, to saythat i had important business on hand, and that it was impossible for me to say howlate i might be. mr. oldacre had told me that he would likeme to have supper with him at nine, as he might not be home before that hour. i had some difficulty in finding his house,however, and it was nearly half-past before i reached it.i found him----" "one moment!" said holmes.

"who opened the door?""a middle-aged woman, who was, i suppose, his housekeeper.""and it was she, i presume, who mentioned your name?" "exactly," said mcfarlane."pray proceed." mcfarlane wiped his damp brow, and thencontinued his narrative: "i was shown by this woman into a sitting-room, where a frugal supper was laid out. afterwards, mr. jonas oldacre led me intohis bedroom, in which there stood a heavy safe. this he opened and took out a mass ofdocuments, which we went over together.

it was between eleven and twelve when wefinished. he remarked that we must not disturb thehousekeeper. he showed me out through his own frenchwindow, which had been open all this time." "was the blind down?" asked holmes. "i will not be sure, but i believe that itwas only half down. yes, i remember how he pulled it up inorder to swing open the window. i could not find my stick, and he said,'never mind, my boy, i shall see a good deal of you now, i hope, and i will keepyour stick until you come back to claim it.'

i left him there, the safe open, and thepapers made up in packets upon the table. it was so late that i could not get back toblackheath, so i spent the night at the anerley arms, and i knew nothing more untili read of this horrible affair in the morning." "anything more that you would like to ask,mr. holmes?" said lestrade, whose eyebrows had gone up once or twice during thisremarkable explanation. "not until i have been to blackheath." "you mean to norwood," said lestrade."oh, yes, no doubt that is what i must have meant," said holmes, with his enigmaticalsmile.

lestrade had learned by more experiencesthan he would care to acknowledge that that brain could cut through that which wasimpenetrable to him. i saw him look curiously at my companion. "i think i should like to have a word withyou presently, mr. sherlock holmes," said he. "now, mr. mcfarlane, two of my constablesare at the door, and there is a four- wheeler waiting." the wretched young man arose, and with alast beseeching glance at us walked from the room.the officers conducted him to the cab, but

lestrade remained. holmes had picked up the pages which formedthe rough draft of the will, and was looking at them with the keenest interestupon his face. "there are some points about that document,lestrade, are there not?" said he, pushing them over.the official looked at them with a puzzled expression. "i can read the first few lines and thesein the middle of the second page, and one or two at the end. those are as clear as print," said he, "butthe writing in between is very bad, and

there are three places where i cannot readit at all." "what do you make of that?" said holmes. "well, what do you make of it?""that it was written in a train. the good writing represents stations, thebad writing movement, and the very bad writing passing over points. a scientific expert would pronounce at oncethat this was drawn up on a suburban line, since nowhere save in the immediatevicinity of a great city could there be so quick a succession of points. granting that his whole journey wasoccupied in drawing up the will, then the

train was an express, only stopping oncebetween norwood and london bridge." lestrade began to laugh. "you are too many for me when you begin toget on your theories, mr. holmes," said he."how does this bear on the case?" "well, it corroborates the young man'sstory to the extent that the will was drawn up by jonas oldacre in his journeyyesterday. it is curious--is it not?--that a manshould draw up so important a document in so haphazard a fashion.it suggests that he did not think it was going to be of much practical importance.

if a man drew up a will which he did notintend ever to be effective, he might do it so.""well, he drew up his own death warrant at the same time," said lestrade. "oh, you think so?""don't you?" "well, it is quite possible, but the caseis not clear to me yet." "not clear? well, if that isn't clear, what could beclear? here is a young man who learns suddenlythat, if a certain older man dies, he will succeed to a fortune.

what does he do?he says nothing to anyone, but he arranges that he shall go out on some pretext to seehis client that night. he waits until the only other person in thehouse is in bed, and then in the solitude of a man's room he murders him, burns hisbody in the wood-pile, and departs to a neighbouring hotel. the blood-stains in the room and also onthe stick are very slight. it is probable that he imagined his crimeto be a bloodless one, and hoped that if the body were consumed it would hide alltraces of the method of his death--traces which, for some reason, must have pointedto him.

is not all this obvious?""it strikes me, my good lestrade, as being just a trifle too obvious," said holmes. "you do not add imagination to your othergreat qualities, but if you could for one moment put yourself in the place of thisyoung man, would you choose the very night after the will had been made to commit yourcrime? would it not seem dangerous to you to makeso very close a relation between the two incidents? again, would you choose an occasion whenyou are known to be in the house, when a servant has let you in?

and, finally, would you take the greatpains to conceal the body, and yet leave your own stick as a sign that you were thecriminal? confess, lestrade, that all this is veryunlikely." "as to the stick, mr. holmes, you know aswell as i do that a criminal is often flurried, and does such things, which acool man would avoid. he was very likely afraid to go back to theroom. give me another theory that would fit thefacts." "i could very easily give you half adozen," said holmes. "here for example, is a very possible andeven probable one.

i make you a free present of it. the older man is showing documents whichare of evident value. a passing tramp sees them through thewindow, the blind of which is only half down. exit the solicitor.enter the tramp! he seizes a stick, which he observes there,kills oldacre, and departs after burning the body." "why should the tramp burn the body?""for the matter of that, why should mcfarlane?""to hide some evidence."

"possibly the tramp wanted to hide that anymurder at all had been committed." "and why did the tramp take nothing?""because they were papers that he could not negotiate." lestrade shook his head, though it seemedto me that his manner was less absolutely assured than before. "well, mr. sherlock holmes, you may lookfor your tramp, and while you are finding him we will hold on to our man.the future will show which is right. just notice this point, mr. holmes: thatso far as we know, none of the papers were removed, and that the prisoner is the oneman in the world who had no reason for

removing them, since he was heir-at-law,and would come into them in any case." my friend seemed struck by this remark. "i don't mean to deny that the evidence isin some ways very strongly in favour of your theory," said he."i only wish to point out that there are other theories possible. as you say, the future will decide.good-morning! i dare say that in the course of the day ishall drop in at norwood and see how you are getting on." when the detective departed, my friend roseand made his preparations for the day's

work with the alert air of a man who has acongenial task before him. "my first movement watson," said he, as hebustled into his frockcoat, "must, as i said, be in the direction of blackheath.""and why not norwood?" "because we have in this case one singularincident coming close to the heels of another singular incident. the police are making the mistake ofconcentrating their attention upon the second, because it happens to be the onewhich is actually criminal. but it is evident to me that the logicalway to approach the case is to begin by trying to throw some light upon the firstincident--the curious will, so suddenly

made, and to so unexpected an heir. it may do something to simplify whatfollowed. no, my dear fellow, i don't think you canhelp me. there is no prospect of danger, or i shouldnot dream of stirring out without you. i trust that when i see you in the evening,i will be able to report that i have been able to do something for this unfortunateyoungster, who has thrown himself upon my protection." it was late when my friend returned, and icould see, by a glance at his haggard and anxious face, that the high hopes withwhich he had started had not been

fulfilled. for an hour he droned away upon his violin,endeavouring to soothe his own ruffled spirits. at last he flung down the instrument, andplunged into a detailed account of his misadventures."it's all going wrong, watson--all as wrong as it can go. i kept a bold face before lestrade, but,upon my soul, i believe that for once the fellow is on the right track and we are onthe wrong. all my instincts are one way, and all thefacts are the other, and i much fear that

british juries have not yet attained thatpitch of intelligence when they will give the preference to my theories overlestrade's facts." "did you go to blackheath?" "yes, watson, i went there, and i foundvery quickly that the late lamented oldacre was a pretty considerable blackguard.the father was away in search of his son. the mother was at home--a little, fluffy,blue-eyed person, in a tremor of fear and indignation.of course, she would not admit even the possibility of his guilt. but she would not express either surpriseor regret over the fate of oldacre.

on the contrary, she spoke of him with suchbitterness that she was unconsciously considerably strengthening the case of thepolice for, of course, if her son had heard her speak of the man in this fashion, it would predispose him towards hatred andviolence. 'he was more like a malignant and cunningape than a human being,' said she, 'and he always was, ever since he was a young man.' "'you knew him at that time?' said i."'yes, i knew him well, in fact, he was an old suitor of mine. thank heaven that i had the sense to turnaway from him and to marry a better, if

poorer, man. i was engaged to him, mr. holmes, when iheard a shocking story of how he had turned a cat loose in an aviary, and i was sohorrified at his brutal cruelty that i would have nothing more to do with him.' she rummaged in a bureau, and presently sheproduced a photograph of a woman, shamefully defaced and mutilated with aknife. 'that is my own photograph,' she said. 'he sent it to me in that state, with hiscurse, upon my wedding morning.' "'well,' said i, 'at least he has forgivenyou now, since he has left all his property

to your son.' "'neither my son nor i want anything fromjonas oldacre, dead or alive!' she cried, with a proper spirit. 'there is a god in heaven, mr. holmes, andthat same god who has punished that wicked man will show, in his own good time, thatmy son's hands are guiltless of his blood.' "well, i tried one or two leads, but couldget at nothing which would help our hypothesis, and several points which wouldmake against it. i gave it up at last and off i went tonorwood. "this place, deep dene house, is a bigmodern villa of staring brick, standing

back in its own grounds, with a laurel-clumped lawn in front of it. to the right and some distance back fromthe road was the timber-yard which had been the scene of the fire.here's a rough plan on a leaf of my notebook. this window on the left is the one whichopens into oldacre's room. you can look into it from the road, yousee. that is about the only bit of consolation ihave had to-day. lestrade was not there, but his headconstable did the honours. they had just found a great treasure-trove.

they had spent the morning raking among theashes of the burned wood-pile, and besides the charred organic remains they hadsecured several discoloured metal discs. i examined them with care, and there was nodoubt that they were trouser buttons. i even distinguished that one of them wasmarked with the name of 'hyams,' who was oldacres tailor. i then worked the lawn very carefully forsigns and traces, but this drought has made everything as hard as iron. nothing was to be seen save that some bodyor bundle had been dragged through a low privet hedge which is in a line with thewood-pile.

all that, of course, fits in with theofficial theory. i crawled about the lawn with an august sunon my back, but i got up at the end of an hour no wiser than before. "well, after this fiasco i went into thebedroom and examined that also. the blood-stains were very slight, meresmears and discolourations, but undoubtedly fresh. the stick had been removed, but there alsothe marks were slight. there is no doubt about the stick belongingto our client. he admits it.

footmarks of both men could be made out onthe carpet, but none of any third person, which again is a trick for the other side.they were piling up their score all the time and we were at a standstill. "only one little gleam of hope did i get--and yet it amounted to nothing. i examined the contents of the safe, mostof which had been taken out and left on the table. the papers had been made up into sealedenvelopes, one or two of which had been opened by the police. they were not, so far as i could judge, ofany great value, nor did the bank-book show

that mr. oldacre was in such very affluentcircumstances. but it seemed to me that all the paperswere not there. there were allusions to some deeds--possibly the more valuable--which i could not find. this, of course, if we could definitelyprove it, would turn lestrade's argument against himself, for who would steal athing if he knew that he would shortly inherit it? "finally, having drawn every other coverand picked up no scent, i tried my luck with the housekeeper.

mrs. lexington is her name--a little,dark, silent person, with suspicious and sidelong eyes.she could tell us something if she would--i am convinced of it. but she was as close as wax.yes, she had let mr. mcfarlane in at half- past nine.she wished her hand had withered before she had done so. she had gone to bed at half-past ten.her room was at the other end of the house, and she could hear nothing of what hadpassed. mr. mcfarlane had left his hat, and to thebest of her had been awakened by the alarm

of fire.her poor, dear master had certainly been murdered. had he any enemies?well, every man had enemies, but mr. oldacre kept himself very much to himself,and only met people in the way of business. she had seen the buttons, and was sure thatthey belonged to the clothes which he had worn last night.the wood-pile was very dry, for it had not rained for a month. it burned like tinder, and by the time shereached the spot, nothing could be seen but flames.she and all the firemen smelled the burned

flesh from inside it. she knew nothing of the papers, nor of mr.oldacre's private affairs. "so, my dear watson, there's my report of afailure. and yet--and yet--" he clenched his thinhands in a paroxysm of conviction--"i know it's all wrong.i feel it in my bones. there is something that has not come out,and that housekeeper knows it. there was a sort of sulky defiance in hereyes, which only goes with guilty knowledge. however, there's no good talking any moreabout it, watson; but unless some lucky

chance comes our way i fear that thenorwood disappearance case will not figure in that chronicle of our successes which i foresee that a patient public will sooneror later have to endure." "surely," said i, "the man's appearancewould go far with any jury?" "that is a dangerous argument my dearwatson. you remember that terrible murderer, bertstevens, who wanted us to get him off in '87? was there ever a more mild-mannered,sunday-school young man?" "it is true.""unless we succeed in establishing an

alternative theory, this man is lost. you can hardly find a flaw in the casewhich can now be presented against him, and all further investigation has served tostrengthen it. by the way, there is one curious littlepoint about those papers which may serve us as the starting-point for an inquiry. on looking over the bank-book i found thatthe low state of the balance was principally due to large checks which havebeen made out during the last year to mr. cornelius. i confess that i should be interested toknow who this mr. cornelius may be with

whom a retired builder has such very largetransactions. is it possible that he has had a hand inthe affair? cornelius might be a broker, but we havefound no scrip to correspond with these large payments. failing any other indication, my researchesmust now take the direction of an inquiry at the bank for the gentleman who hascashed these checks. but i fear, my dear fellow, that our casewill end ingloriously by lestrade hanging our client, which will certainly be atriumph for scotland yard." i do not know how far sherlock holmes tookany sleep that night, but when i came down

to breakfast i found him pale and harassed,his bright eyes the brighter for the dark shadows round them. the carpet round his chair was litteredwith cigarette-ends and with the early editions of the morning papers.an open telegram lay upon the table. "what do you think of this, watson?" heasked, tossing it across. it was from norwood, and ran as follows:important fresh evidence to hand. mcfarlane's guilt definitely established. advise you to abandon case.lestrade. "this sounds serious," said i.

"it is lestrade's little cock-a-doodle ofvictory," holmes answered, with a bitter smile."and yet it may be premature to abandon the case. after all, important fresh evidence is atwo-edged thing, and may possibly cut in a very different direction to that whichlestrade imagines. take your breakfast, watson, and we will goout together and see what we can do. i feel as if i shall need your company andyour moral support today." my friend had no breakfast himself, for itwas one of his peculiarities that in his more intense moments he would permithimself no food, and i have known him

presume upon his iron strength until he hasfainted from pure inanition. "at present i cannot spare energy and nerveforce for digestion," he would say in answer to my medical remonstrances. i was not surprised, therefore, when thismorning he left his untouched meal behind him, and started with me for norwood. a crowd of morbid sightseers were stillgathered round deep dene house, which was just such a suburban villa as i hadpictured. within the gates lestrade met us, his faceflushed with victory, his manner grossly triumphant."well, mr. holmes, have you proved us to

be wrong yet? have you found your tramp?" he cried."i have formed no conclusion whatever," my companion answered. "but we formed ours yesterday, and now itproves to be correct, so you must acknowledge that we have been a little infront of you this time, mr. holmes." "you certainly have the air of somethingunusual having occurred," said holmes. lestrade laughed loudly."you don't like being beaten any more than the rest of us do," said he. "a man can't expect always to have it hisown way, can he, dr. watson?

step this way, if you please, gentlemen,and i think i can convince you once for all that it was john mcfarlane who did thiscrime." he led us through the passage and out intoa dark hall beyond. "this is where young mcfarlane must havecome out to get his hat after the crime was done," said he. "now look at this."with dramatic suddenness he struck a match, and by its light exposed a stain of bloodupon the whitewashed wall. as he held the match nearer, i saw that itwas more than a stain. it was the well-marked print of a thumb."look at that with your magnifying glass,

mr. holmes." "yes, i am doing so.""you are aware that no two thumb-marks are alike?""i have heard something of the kind." "well, then, will you please compare thatprint with this wax impression of young mcfarlane's right thumb, taken by my ordersthis morning?" as he held the waxen print close to theblood-stain, it did not take a magnifying glass to see that the two were undoubtedlyfrom the same thumb. it was evident to me that our unfortunateclient was lost. "that is final," said lestrade."yes, that is final," i involuntarily

echoed. "it is final," said holmes.something in his tone caught my ear, and i turned to look at him.an extraordinary change had come over his face. it was writhing with inward merriment.his two eyes were shining like stars. it seemed to me that he was makingdesperate efforts to restrain a convulsive attack of laughter. "dear me!dear me!" he said at last. "well, now, who would have thought it?and how deceptive appearances may be, to be

sure! such a nice young man to look at!it is a lesson to us not to trust our own judgment, is it not, lestrade?" "yes, some of us are a little too muchinclined to be cock-sure, mr. holmes," said lestrade.the man's insolence was maddening, but we could not resent it. "what a providential thing that this youngman should press his right thumb against the wall in taking his hat from the peg!such a very natural action, too, if you come to think of it."

holmes was outwardly calm, but his wholebody gave a wriggle of suppressed excitement as he spoke."by the way, lestrade, who made this remarkable discovery?" "it was the housekeeper, mrs. lexington,who drew the night constable's attention to it.""where was the night constable?" "he remained on guard in the bedroom wherethe crime was committed, so as to see that nothing was touched.""but why didn't the police see this mark yesterday?" "well, we had no particular reason to makea careful examination of the hall.

besides, it's not in a very prominentplace, as you see." "no, no--of course not. i suppose there is no doubt that the markwas there yesterday?" lestrade looked at holmes as if he thoughthe was going out of his mind. i confess that i was myself surprised bothat his hilarious manner and at his rather wild observation. "i don't know whether you think thatmcfarlane came out of jail in the dead of the night in order to strengthen theevidence against himself," said lestrade. "i leave it to any expert in the worldwhether that is not the mark of his thumb."

"it is unquestionably the mark of histhumb." "there, that's enough," said lestrade. "i am a practical man, mr. holmes, andwhen i have got my evidence i come to my conclusions.if you have anything to say, you will find me writing my report in the sitting-room." holmes had recovered his equanimity, thoughi still seemed to detect gleams of amusement in his expression."dear me, this is a very sad development, watson, is it not?" said he. "and yet there are singular points about itwhich hold out some hopes for our client."

"i am delighted to hear it," said i,heartily. "i was afraid it was all up with him." "i would hardly go so far as to say that,my dear watson. the fact is that there is one reallyserious flaw in this evidence to which our friend attaches so much importance." "indeed, holmes!what is it?" "only this: that i know that that mark wasnot there when i examined the hall yesterday. and now, watson, let us have a littlestroll round in the sunshine."

with a confused brain, but with a heartinto which some warmth of hope was returning, i accompanied my friend in awalk round the garden. holmes took each face of the house in turn,and examined it with great interest. he then led the way inside, and went overthe whole building from basement to attic. most of the rooms were unfurnished, butnone the less holmes inspected them all minutely. finally, on the top corridor, which ranoutside three untenanted bedrooms, he again was seized with a spasm of merriment."there are really some very unique features about this case, watson," said he.

"i think it is time now that we took ourfriend lestrade into our confidence. he has had his little smile at our expense,and perhaps we may do as much by him, if my reading of this problem proves to becorrect. yes, yes, i think i see how we shouldapproach it." the scotland yard inspector was stillwriting in the parlour when holmes interrupted him. "i understood that you were writing areport of this case," said he. "so i am.""don't you think it may be a little premature?

i can't help thinking that your evidence isnot complete." lestrade knew my friend too well todisregard his words. he laid down his pen and looked curiouslyat him. "what do you mean, mr. holmes?""only that there is an important witness whom you have not seen." "can you produce him?""i think i can." "then do so.""i will do my best. how many constables have you?" "there are three within call.""excellent!" said holmes.

"may i ask if they are all large, able-bodied men with powerful voices?" "i have no doubt they are, though i fail tosee what their voices have to do with it." "perhaps i can help you to see that and oneor two other things as well," said holmes. "kindly summon your men, and i will try." five minutes later, three policemen hadassembled in the hall. "in the outhouse you will find aconsiderable quantity of straw," said holmes. "i will ask you to carry in two bundles ofit. i think it will be of the greatestassistance in producing the witness whom i

require. thank you very much.i believe you have some matches in your pocket watson.now, mr. lestrade, i will ask you all to accompany me to the top landing." as i have said, there was a broad corridorthere, which ran outside three empty bedrooms. at one end of the corridor we were allmarshalled by sherlock holmes, the constables grinning and lestrade staring atmy friend with amazement, expectation, and derision chasing each other across hisfeatures.

holmes stood before us with the air of aconjurer who is performing a trick. "would you kindly send one of yourconstables for two buckets of water? put the straw on the floor here, free fromthe wall on either side. now i think that we are all ready." lestrade's face had begun to grow red andangry. "i don't know whether you are playing agame with us, mr. sherlock holmes," said "if you know anything, you can surely sayit without all this tomfoolery." "i assure you, my good lestrade, that ihave an excellent reason for everything that i do.

you may possibly remember that you chaffedme a little, some hours ago, when the sun seemed on your side of the hedge, so youmust not grudge me a little pomp and ceremony now. might i ask you, watson, to open thatwindow, and then to put a match to the edge of the straw?" i did so, and driven by the draught a coilof gray smoke swirled down the corridor, while the dry straw crackled and flamed."now we must see if we can find this witness for you, lestrade. might i ask you all to join in the cry of'fire!'?

now then; one, two, three----""fire!" we all yelled. "thank you. i will trouble you once again.""fire!" "just once more, gentlemen, and alltogether." "fire!" the shout must have rung over norwood.it had hardly died away when an amazing thing happened. a door suddenly flew open out of whatappeared to be solid wall at the end of the corridor, and a little, wizened man dartedout of it, like a rabbit out of its burrow.

"capital!" said holmes, calmly. "watson, a bucket of water over the straw.that will do! lestrade, allow me to present you with yourprincipal missing witness, mr. jonas oldacre." the detective stared at the newcomer withblank amazement. the latter was blinking in the bright lightof the corridor, and peering at us and at the smouldering fire. it was an odious face--crafty, vicious,malignant, with shifty, light-gray eyes and white lashes."what's this, then?" said lestrade, at

last. "what have you been doing all this time,eh?" oldacre gave an uneasy laugh, shrinkingback from the furious red face of the angry detective. "i have done no harm.""no harm? you have done your best to get an innocentman hanged. if it wasn't for this gentleman here, i amnot sure that you would not have succeeded."the wretched creature began to whimper. "i am sure, sir, it was only my practicaljoke."

"oh! a joke, was it?you won't find the laugh on your side, i promise you. take him down, and keep him in the sitting-room until i come. mr. holmes," he continued, when they hadgone, "i could not speak before the constables, but i don't mind saying, in thepresence of dr. watson, that this is the brightest thing that you have done yet, though it is a mystery to me how you didit. you have saved an innocent man's life, andyou have prevented a very grave scandal, which would have ruined my reputation inthe force."

holmes smiled, and clapped lestrade uponthe shoulder. "instead of being ruined, my good sir, youwill find that your reputation has been enormously enhanced. just make a few alterations in that reportwhich you were writing, and they will understand how hard it is to throw dust inthe eyes of inspector lestrade." "and you don't want your name to appear?" "not at all.the work is its own reward. perhaps i shall get the credit also at somedistant day, when i permit my zealous historian to lay out his foolscap oncemore--eh, watson?

well, now, let us see where this rat hasbeen lurking." a lath-and-plaster partition had been runacross the passage six feet from the end, with a door cunningly concealed in it. it was lit within by slits under the eaves.a few articles of furniture and a supply of food and water were within, together with anumber of books and papers. "there's the advantage of being a builder,"said holmes, as we came out. "he was able to fix up his own littlehiding-place without any confederate--save, of course, that precious housekeeper ofhis, whom i should lose no time in adding to your bag, lestrade."

"i'll take your advice.but how did you know of this place, mr. holmes?""i made up my mind that the fellow was in hiding in the house. when i paced one corridor and found it sixfeet shorter than the corresponding one below, it was pretty clear where he was.i thought he had not the nerve to lie quiet before an alarm of fire. we could, of course, have gone in and takenhim, but it amused me to make him reveal himself.besides, i owed you a little mystification, lestrade, for your chaff in the morning."

"well, sir, you certainly got equal with meon that. but how in the world did you know that hewas in the house at all?" "the thumb-mark, lestrade. you said it was final; and so it was, in avery different sense. i knew it had not been there the daybefore. i pay a good deal of attention to mattersof detail, as you may have observed, and i had examined the hall, and was sure thatthe wall was clear. therefore, it had been put on during thenight." "but how?""very simply.

when those packets were sealed up, jonasoldacre got mcfarlane to secure one of the seals by putting his thumb upon the softwax. it would be done so quickly and sonaturally, that i daresay the young man himself has no recollection of it. very likely it just so happened, andoldacre had himself no notion of the use he would put it to. brooding over the case in that den of his,it suddenly struck him what absolutely damning evidence he could make againstmcfarlane by using that thumb-mark. it was the simplest thing in the world forhim to take a wax impression from the seal,

to moisten it in as much blood as he couldget from a pin-prick, and to put the mark upon the wall during the night, either with his own hand or with that of hishousekeeper. if you examine among those documents whichhe took with him into his retreat, i will lay you a wager that you find the seal withthe thumb-mark upon it." "wonderful!" said lestrade. "wonderful!it's all as clear as crystal, as you put it.but what is the object of this deep deception, mr. holmes?"

it was amusing to me to see how thedetective's overbearing manner had changed suddenly to that of a child askingquestions of its teacher. "well, i don't think that is very hard toexplain. a very deep, malicious, vindictive personis the gentleman who is now waiting us downstairs. you know that he was once refused bymcfarlane's mother? you don't!i told you that you should go to blackheath first and norwood afterwards. well, this injury, as he would consider it,has rankled in his wicked, scheming brain,

and all his life he has longed forvengeance, but never seen his chance. during the last year or two, things havegone against him--secret speculation, i think--and he finds himself in a bad way. he determines to swindle his creditors, andfor this purpose he pays large checks to a certain mr. cornelius, who is, i imagine,himself under another name. i have not traced these checks yet, but ihave no doubt that they were banked under that name at some provincial town whereoldacre from time to time led a double existence. he intended to change his name altogether,draw this money, and vanish, starting life

again elsewhere.""well, that's likely enough." "it would strike him that in disappearinghe might throw all pursuit off his track, and at the same time have an ample andcrushing revenge upon his old sweetheart, if he could give the impression that he hadbeen murdered by her only child. it was a masterpiece of villainy, and hecarried it out like a master. the idea of the will, which would give anobvious motive for the crime, the secret visit unknown to his own parents, theretention of the stick, the blood, and the animal remains and buttons in the wood-pile, all were admirable. it was a net from which it seemed to me, afew hours ago, that there was no possible

escape. but he had not that supreme gift of theartist, the knowledge of when to stop. he wished to improve that which was alreadyperfect--to draw the rope tighter yet round the neck of his unfortunate victim--and sohe ruined all. let us descend, lestrade. there are just one or two questions that iwould ask him." the malignant creature was seated in hisown parlour, with a policeman upon each side of him. "it was a joke, my good sir--a practicaljoke, nothing more," he whined incessantly.

"i assure you, sir, that i simply concealedmyself in order to see the effect of my disappearance, and i am sure that you wouldnot be so unjust as to imagine that i would have allowed any harm to befall poor youngmr. mcfarlane." "that's for a jury to decide," saidlestrade. "anyhow, we shall have you on a charge ofconspiracy, if not for attempted murder." "and you'll probably find that yourcreditors will impound the banking account of mr. cornelius," said holmes. the little man started, and turned hismalignant eyes upon my friend. "i have to thank you for a good deal," saidhe.

"perhaps i'll pay my debt some day." holmes smiled indulgently."i fancy that, for some few years, you will find your time very fully occupied," saidhe. "by the way, what was it you put into thewood-pile besides your old trousers? a dead dog, or rabbits, or what?you won't tell? dear me, how very unkind of you! well, well, i daresay that a couple ofrabbits would account both for the blood and for the charred ashes.if ever you write an account, watson, you can make rabbits serve your turn."