“It is easy for me to be so, for every event of that dreadful time is seared into my memory.The manor-house is, as I have already said, very old, and only one wing is now inhabited.The bedrooms in this wing are on the ground floor,the sitting-rooms being in the central block of the buildings. Of these bedrooms the first is Dr.Roylott’s, the second my sister’s, and the third my own. There is no communication between them,but they all open out into the same corridor. Do I make myself plain?”
“Perfectly so.”
“The windows of the three rooms open out upon the lawn. That fatal night Dr.Roylott had gone to his room early, though we knew that he had not retired to rest,for my sister was troubled by the smell of the strong Indian cigars which it was his custom to smoke.She left her room, therefore, and came into mine, where she sat for some time,chatting about her approaching wedding. At eleven o’clock she rose to leave me,but she paused at the door and looked back.
“‘Tell me, Helen,’ said she, ‘have you ever heard anyone whistle in the dead of the night?’
“‘Never,’ said I.
“‘I suppose that you could not possibly whistle, yourself, in your sleep?’
“‘Certainly not. But why?’
“‘Because during the last few nights I have always, about three in the morning, heard a low,clear whistle. I am a light sleeper, and it has awakened me.I cannot tell where it came from—perhaps from the next room, perhaps from the lawn.I thought that I would just ask you whether you had heard it.’
“‘No, I have not. It must be those wretched gipsies in the plantation.’
“‘Very likely. And yet if it were on the lawn, I wonder that you did not hear it also.’
“‘Ah, but I sleep more heavily than you.’
“‘Well, it is of no great consequence, at any rate.’ She smiled back at me, closed my door,and a few moments later I heard her key turn in the lock.”
“Indeed,” said Holmes. “Was it your custom always to lock yourselves in at night?”
“Always.”
“And why?”
“I think that I mentioned to you that the Doctor kept a cheetah and a baboon.We had no feeling of security unless our doors were locked.”
“Quite so. Pray proceed with your statement.”
“I could not sleep that night. A vague feeling of impending misfortune impressed me.My sister and I, you will recollect, were twins,and you know how subtle are the links which bind two souls which are so closely allied.It was a wild night. The wind was howling outside,and the rain was beating and splashing against the windows. Suddenly,amid all the hubbub of the gale, there burst forth the wild scream of a terrified woman.I knew that it was my sister’s voice. I sprang from my bed, wrapped a shawl round me,and rushed into the corridor. As I opened my door I seemed to hear a low whistle,such as my sister described, and a few moments later a clanging sound,as if a mass of metal had fallen. As I ran down the passage, my sister’s door was unlocked,and revolved slowly upon its hinges. I stared at it horror-stricken,not knowing what was about to issue from it.By the light of the corridor-lamp I saw my sister appear at the opening,her face blanched with terror, her hands groping for help,her whole figure swaying to and fro like that of a drunkard.I ran to her and threw my arms round her,but at that moment her knees seemed to give way and she fell to the ground.She writhed as one who is in terrible pain, and her limbs were dreadfully convulsed.At first I thought that she had not recognised me,but as I bent over her she suddenly shrieked out in a voice which I shall never forget, ‘Oh, my God!Helen!It was the band!The speckled band!’ There was something else which she would fain have said,and she stabbed with her finger into the air in the direction of the Doctor’s room,but a fresh convulsion seized her and choked her words. I rushed out,calling loudly for my stepfather, and I met him hastening from his room in his dressing-gown.When he reached my sister’s side she was unconscious,and though he poured brandy down her throat and sent for medical aid from the village,all efforts were in vain, for she slowly sank and died without having recovered her consciousness.Such was the dreadful end of my beloved sister.”
“One moment,” said Holmes, “are you sure about this whistle and metallic sound?Could you swear to it?”
“That was what the county coroner asked me at the inquiry.It is my strong impression that I heard it, and yet,among the crash of the gale and the creaking of an old house, I may possibly have been deceived.”
“Was your sister dressed?”
“No, she was in her night-dress. In her right hand was found the charred stump of a match, and in her left a match-box.”
“Showing that she had struck a light and looked about her when the alarm took place.That is important. And what conclusions did the coroner come to?”
“He investigated the case with great care, for Dr.Roylott’s conduct had long been notorious in the county,but he was unable to find any satisfactory cause of death.My evidence showed that the door had been fastened upon the inner side,and the windows were blocked by old-fashioned shutters with broad iron bars,which were secured every night. The walls were carefully sounded,and were shown to be quite solid all round, and the flooring was also thoroughly examined,with the same result. The chimney is wide, but is barred up by four large staples. It is certain,therefore, that my sister was quite alone when she met her end. Besides,there were no marks of any violence upon her.”
“How about poison?”
“The doctors examined her for it, but without success.”
“What do you think that this unfortunate lady died of, then?”
“It is my belief that she died of pure fear and nervous shock,though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine.”
“Were there gipsies in the plantation at the time?”
“Yes, there are nearly always some there.”
“Ah, and what did you gather from this allusion to a band—a speckled band?”
“Sometimes I have thought that it was merely the wild talk of delirium,sometimes that it may have referred to some band of people,perhaps to these very gipsies in the plantation.I do not know whether the spotted handkerchiefs which so many of them wear over their heads might have suggested the strange adjective which she used. ”
Holmes shook his head like a man who is far from being satisfied.
“These are very deep waters,” said he; “pray go on with your narrative.”
“Two years have passed since then, and my life has been until lately lonelier than ever.A month ago, however, a dear friend, whom I have known for many years,has done me the honour to ask my hand in marriage.His name is Armitage—Percy Armitage—the second son of Mr. Armitage, of Crane Water, near Reading.My stepfather has offered no opposition to the match,and we are to be married in the course of the spring.Two days ago some repairs were started in the west wing of the building,and my bedroom wall has been pierced, so that I have had to move into the chamber in which my sister died,and to sleep in the very bed in which she slept. Imagine, then,my thrill of terror when last night, as I lay awake, thinking over her terrible fate,I suddenly heard in the silence of the night the low whistle which had been the herald of her own death.I sprang up and lit the lamp, but nothing was to be seen in the room.I was too shaken to go to bed again, however, so I dressed,and as soon as it was daylight I slipped down, got a dog-cart at the Crown Inn, which is opposite,and drove to Leatherhead, from whence I have come on this morning with the one object of seeing you and asking your advice. ”
“You have done wisely,” said my friend. “But have you told me all?”
“Yes, all.”
“Miss Roylott, you have not. You are screening your stepfather.”
“Why, what do you mean?”
For answer Holmes pushed back the frill of black lace which fringed the hand that lay upon our visitor’s knee.Five little livid spots, the marks of four fingers and a thumb, were printed upon the white wrist.
“You have been cruelly used,” said Holmes.
The lady coloured deeply and covered over her injured wrist. “He is a hard man,” she said,“and perhaps he hardly knows his own strength.”
There was a long silence, during which Holmes leaned his chin upon his hands and stared into the crackling fire.
“This is a very deep business,” he said at last.“There are a thousand details which I should desire to know before I decide upon our course of action.Yet we have not a moment to lose. If we were to come to Stoke Moran to-day,would it be possible for us to see over these rooms without the knowledge of your stepfather?”
“As it happens, he spoke of coming into town to-day upon some most important business.It is probable that he will be away all day, and that there would be nothing to disturb you.We have a housekeeper now, but she is old and foolish, and I could easily get her out of the way.”
“Excellent. You are not averse to this trip, Watson?”
“By no means.”
“Then we shall both come. What are you going to do yourself?”
“I have one or two things which I would wish to do now that I am in town.But I shall return by the twelve o’clock train, so as to be there in time for your coming.”
“And you may expect us early in the afternoon.I have myself some small business matters to attend to. Will you not wait and breakfast?”
“No, I must go. My heart is lightened already since I have confided my trouble to you.I shall look forward to seeing you again this afternoon.” She dropped her thick black veil over her face and glided from the room.
“And what do you think of it all, Watson?” asked Sherlock Holmes, leaning back in his chair.
“It seems to me to be a most dark and sinister business.”
“Dark enough and sinister enough.”
“Yet if the lady is correct in saying that the flooring and walls are sound, and that the door,window, and chimney are impassable, then her sister must have been undoubtedly alone when she met her mysterious end. ”
“What becomes, then, of these nocturnal whistles,and what of the very peculiar words of the dying woman?”
“I cannot think.”
“When you combine the ideas of whistles at night,the presence of a band of gipsies who are on intimate terms with this old doctor,the fact that we have every reason to believe that the doctor has an interest in preventing his stepdaughter’s marriage,the dying allusion to a band, and, finally, the fact that Miss Helen Stoner heard a metallic clang,which might have been caused by one of those metal bars that secured the shutters falling back into its place,I think that there is good ground to think that the mystery may be cleared along those lines.”
“But what, then, did the gipsies do?”
“I cannot imagine.”
“I see many objections to any such theory.”
“And so do I. It is precisely for that reason that we are going to Stoke Moran this day.I want to see whether the objections are fatal, or if they may be explained away. But what in the name of the devil!”
The ejaculation had been drawn from my companion by the fact that our door had been suddenly dashed open,and that a huge man had framed himself in the aperture.His costume was a peculiar mixture of the professional and of the agricultural,having a black top-hat, a long frock-coat, and a pair of high gaiters,with a hunting-crop swinging in his hand.So tall was he that his hat actually brushed the cross bar of the doorway,and his breadth seemed to span it across from side to side. A large face,seared with a thousand wrinkles, burned yellow with the sun, and marked with every evil passion,was turned from one to the other of us, while his deep-set, bile-shot eyes, and his high, thin,fleshless nose, gave him somewhat the resemblance to a fierce old bird of prey.
“Which of you is Holmes?” asked this apparition.
“My name, sir; but you have the advantage of me,” said my companion quietly.
“I am Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of Stoke Moran.”
“Indeed, Doctor,” said Holmes blandly. “Pray take a seat.”
“I will do nothing of the kind. My stepdaughter has been here. I have traced her. What has she been saying to you?”
“It is a little cold for the time of the year,” said Holmes.
“What has she been saying to you?” screamed the old man furiously.
“But I have heard that the crocuses promise well,” continued my companion imperturbably.
“Ha!You put me off, do you?” said our new visitor, taking a step forward and shaking his hunting-crop. “I know you, you scoundrel!I have heard of you before. You are Holmes, the meddler.”
My friend smiled.
“Holmes, the busybody!”
His smile broadened.
“Holmes, the Scotland Yard Jack-in-office!”
Holmes chuckled heartily. “Your conversation is most entertaining,” said he.“When you go out close the door, for there is a decided draught.”
“I will go when I have had my say. Don’t you dare to meddle with my affairs.I know that Miss Stoner has been here. I traced her!I am a dangerous man to fall foul of!See here.” He stepped swiftly forward, seized the poker,and bent it into a curve with his huge brown hands.
“See that you keep yourself out of my grip,” he snarled,and hurling the twisted poker into the fireplace he strode out of the room.
“He seems a very amiable person,” said Holmes, laughing. “I am not quite so bulky,but if he had remained I might have shown him that my grip was not much more feeble than his own.” As he spoke he picked up the steel poker and, with a sudden effort, straightened it out again.
“Fancy his having the insolence to confound me with the official detective force!This incident gives zest to our investigation, however,and I only trust that our little friend will not suffer from her imprudence in allowing this brute to trace her.And now, Watson, we shall order breakfast, and afterwards I shall walk down to Doctors’ Commons,where I hope to get some data which may help us in this matter.”
It was nearly one o’clock when Sherlock Holmes returned from his excursion.He held in his hand a sheet of blue paper, scrawled over with notes and figures.
“I have seen the will of the deceased wife,” said he.“To determine its exact meaning I have been obliged to work out the present prices of the investments with which it is concerned.The total income, which at the time of the wife’s death was little short of £ 1,100, is now,through the fall in agricultural prices, not more than £ 750.Each daughter can claim an income of £ 250, in case of marriage. It is evident, therefore,that if both girls had married, this beauty would have had a mere pittance,while even one of them would cripple him to a very serious extent.My morning’s work has not been wasted, since it has proved that he has the very strongest motives for standing in the way of anything of the sort.And now, Watson, this is too serious for dawdling,especially as the old man is aware that we are interesting ourselves in his affairs;so if you are ready, we shall call a cab and drive to Waterloo.I should be very much obliged if you would slip your revolver into your pocket. An Eley’s No.2 is an excellent argument with gentlemen who can twist steel pokers into knots.That and a tooth-brush are, I think, all that we need.”
At Waterloo we were fortunate in catching a train for Leatherhead,where we hired a trap at the station inn and drove for four or five miles through the lovely Surrey lanes.It was a perfect day, with a bright sun and a few fleecy clouds in the heavens.The trees and wayside hedges were just throwing out their first green shoots,and the air was full of the pleasant smell of the moist earth.To me at least there was a strange contrast between the sweet promise of the spring and this sinister quest upon which we were engaged.My companion sat in the front of the trap, his arms folded, his hat pulled down over his eyes,and his chin sunk upon his breast, buried in the deepest thought. Suddenly, however, he started,tapped me on the shoulder, and pointed over the meadows.
“Look there!” said he.
A heavily timbered park stretched up in a gentle slope,thickening into a grove at the highest point.From amid the branches there jutted out the grey gables and high roof-tree of a very old mansion.
“Stoke Moran?” said he.
“Yes, sir, that be the house of Dr. Grimesby Roylott,” remarked the driver.
“There is some building going on there,” said Holmes; “that is where we are going.”
“There’s the village,” said the driver, pointing to a cluster of roofs some distance to the left;“but if you want to get to the house, you’ll find it shorter to get over this stile,and so by the footpath over the fields. There it is, where the lady is walking.”
“And the lady, I fancy, is Miss Stoner,” observed Holmes, shading his eyes. “Yes,I think we had better do as you suggest.”
We got off, paid our fare, and the trap rattled back on its way to Leatherhead.
“I thought it as well,” said Holmes as we climbed the stile,“that this fellow should think we had come here as architects, or on some definite business.It may stop his gossip. Good-afternoon, Miss Stoner. You see that we have been as good as our word. ”
Our client of the morning had hurried forward to meet us with a face which spoke her joy.“I have been waiting so eagerly for you,” she cried, shaking hands with us warmly.“All has turned out splendidly. Dr. Roylott has gone to town,and it is unlikely that he will be back before evening.”
“We have had the pleasure of making the Doctor’s acquaintance,” said Holmes,and in a few words he sketched out what had occurred.Miss Stoner turned white to the lips as she listened.
“Good heavens!” she cried, “he has followed me, then.”
“So it appears.”
“He is so cunning that I never know when I am safe from him. What will he say when he returns?”
“He must guard himself, for he may find that there is someone more cunning than himself upon his track.You must lock yourself up from him to-night. If he is violent,we shall take you away to your aunt’s at Harrow. Now, we must make the best use of our time,so kindly take us at once to the rooms which we are to examine.”
The building was of grey, lichen-blotched stone, with a high central portion and two curving wings,like the claws of a crab, thrown out on each side.In one of these wings the windows were broken and blocked with wooden boards,while the roof was partly caved in, a picture of ruin.The central portion was in little better repair, but the right-hand block was comparatively modern,and the blinds in the windows, with the blue smoke curling up from the chimneys,showed that this was where the family resided.Some scaffolding had been erected against the end wall, and the stone-work had been broken into,but there were no signs of any workmen at the moment of our visit.Holmes walked slowly up and down the ill-trimmed lawn and examined with deep attention the outsides of the windows.
“This, I take it, belongs to the room in which you used to sleep, the centre one to your sister’s,and the one next to the main building to Dr. Roylott’s chamber?”
“Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one.”
“Pending the alterations, as I understand. By the way,there does not seem to be any very pressing need for repairs at that end wall.”
“There were none. I believe that it was an excuse to move me from my room.”
“Ah!that is suggestive. Now, on the other side of this narrow wing runs the corridor from which these three rooms open. There are windows in it, of course?”
“Yes, but very small ones. Too narrow for anyone to pass through.”
“As you both locked your doors at night, your rooms were unapproachable from that side. Now,would you have the kindness to go into your room and bar your shutters?”
Miss Stoner did so, and Holmes, after a careful examination through the open window,endeavoured in every way to force the shutter open, but without success.There was no slit through which a knife could be passed to raise the bar.Then with his lens he tested the hinges, but they were of solid iron,built firmly into the massive masonry. “Hum!” said he, scratching his chin in some perplexity, “my theory certainly presents some difficulties.No one could pass these shutters if they were bolted. Well,we shall see if the inside throws any light upon the matter.”
A small side door led into the whitewashed corridor from which the three bedrooms opened.Holmes refused to examine the third chamber, so we passed at once to the second,that in which Miss Stoner was now sleeping, and in which her sister had met with her fate.It was a homely little room, with a low ceiling and a gaping fireplace,after the fashion of old country-houses. A brown chest of drawers stood in one corner,a narrow white-counterpaned bed in another,and a dressing-table on the left-hand side of the window. These articles,with two small wicker-work chairs, made up all the furniture in the room save for a square of Wilton carpet in the centre.The boards round and the panelling of the walls were of brown, worm-eaten oak,so old and discoloured that it may have dated from the original building of the house.Holmes drew one of the chairs into a corner and sat silent,while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down, taking in every detail of the apartment.
“Where does that bell communicate with?” he asked at last pointing to a thick bell-rope which hung down beside the bed,the tassel actually lying upon the pillow.
“It goes to the housekeeper’s room.”
“It looks newer than the other things?”
“Yes, it was only put there a couple of years ago.”
“Your sister asked for it, I suppose?”
“No, I never heard of her using it. We used always to get what we wanted for ourselves.”
“Indeed, it seemed unnecessary to put so nice a bell-pull there.You will excuse me for a few minutes while I satisfy myself as to this floor.” He threw himself down upon his face with his lens in his hand and crawled swiftly backward and forward,examining minutely the cracks between the boards.Then he did the same with the wood-work with which the chamber was panelled.Finally he walked over to the bed and spent some time in staring at it and in running his eye up and down the wall.Finally he took the bell-rope in his hand and gave it a brisk tug.
“Why, it’s a dummy,” said he.
“Won’t it ring?”
“No, it is not even attached to a wire. This is very interesting.You can see now that it is fastened to a hook just above where the little opening for the ventilator is. ”
“How very absurd!I never noticed that before.”
“Very strange!” muttered Holmes, pulling at the rope. “There are one or two very singular points about this room.For example, what a fool a builder must be to open a ventilator into another room, when,with the same trouble, he might have communicated with the outside air!”
“That is also quite modern,” said the lady.
“Done about the same time as the bell-rope?” remarked Holmes.
“Yes, there were several little changes carried out about that time.”
“They seem to have been of a most interesting character—dummy bell-ropes,and ventilators which do not ventilate. With your permission, Miss Stoner,we shall now carry our researches into the inner apartment.”
Dr. Grimesby Roylott’s chamber was larger than that of his step-daughter,but was as plainly furnished. A camp-bed, a small wooden shelf full of books,mostly of a technical character, an armchair beside the bed, a plain wooden chair against the wall,a round table, and a large iron safe were the principal things which met the eye.Holmes walked slowly round and examined each and all of them with the keenest interest.
“What’s in here?” he asked, tapping the safe.
“My stepfather’s business papers.”
“Oh!you have seen inside, then?”
“Only once, some years ago. I remember that it was full of papers.”
“There isn’t a cat in it, for example?”
“No. What a strange idea!”
“Well, look at this!” He took up a small saucer of milk which stood on the top of it.
“No; we don’t keep a cat. But there is a cheetah and a baboon.”
“Ah, yes, of course!Well, a cheetah is just a big cat, and yet a saucer of milk does not go very far in satisfying its wants,I daresay. There is one point which I should wish to determine.” He squatted down in front of the wooden chair and examined the seat of it with the greatest attention.
“Thank you. That is quite settled,” said he, rising and putting his lens in his pocket. “Hullo!Here is something interesting!”
The object which had caught his eye was a small dog lash hung on one corner of the bed. The lash,however, was curled upon itself and tied so as to make a loop of whipcord.
“What do you make of that, Watson?”
“It’s a common enough lash. But I don’t know why it should be tied.”
“That is not quite so common, is it?Ah, me!it’s a wicked world, and when a clever man turns his brains to crime it is the worst of all.I think that I have seen enough now, Miss Stoner,and with your permission we shall walk out upon the lawn.”
I had never seen my friend’s face so grim or his brow so dark as it was when we turned from the scene of this investigation.We had walked several times up and down the lawn,neither Miss Stoner nor myself liking to break in upon his thoughts before he roused himself from his reverie.
“It is very essential, Miss Stoner,” said he,“that you should absolutely follow my advice in every respect.”
“I shall most certainly do so.”
“The matter is too serious for any hesitation. Your life may depend upon your compliance.”
“I assure you that I am in your hands.”
“In the first place, both my friend and I must spend the night in your room.”
Both Miss Stoner and I gazed at him in astonishment.
“Yes, it must be so. Let me explain. I believe that that is the village inn over there?”
“Yes, that is the Crown.”
“Very good. Your windows would be visible from there?”
“Certainly.”
“You must confine yourself to your room, on pretence of a headache, when your stepfather comes back.Then when you hear him retire for the night, you must open the shutters of your window,undo the hasp, put your lamp there as a signal to us,and then withdraw quietly with everything which you are likely to want into the room which you used to occupy.I have no doubt that, in spite of the repairs, you could manage there for one night.”
“Oh, yes, easily.”
“The rest you will leave in our hands.”
“But what will you do?”
“We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate the cause of this noise which has disturbed you. ”
“I believe, Mr. Holmes, that you have already made up your mind,” said Miss Stoner,laying her hand upon my companion’s sleeve.
“Perhaps I have.”
“Then, for pity’s sake, tell me what was the cause of my sister’s death.”
“I should prefer to have clearer proofs before I speak.”
“You can at least tell me whether my own thought is correct,and if she died from some sudden fright.”
“No, I do not think so. I think that there was probably some more tangible cause. And now,Miss Stoner, we must leave you for if Dr. Roylott returned and saw us our journey would be in vain.Good-bye, and be brave, for if you will do what I have told you,you may rest assured that we shall soon drive away the dangers that threaten you.”
Sherlock Holmes and I had no difficulty in engaging a bedroom and sitting-room at the Crown Inn.They were on the upper floor, and from our window we could command a view of the avenue gate,and of the inhabited wing of Stoke Moran Manor House. At dusk we saw Dr.Grimesby Roylott drive past, his huge form looming up beside the little figure of the lad who drove him.The boy had some slight difficulty in undoing the heavy iron gates,and we heard the hoarse roar of the Doctor’s voice and saw the fury with which he shook his clinched fists at him.The trap drove on, and a few minutes later we saw a sudden light spring up among the trees as the lamp was lit in one of the sitting-rooms.
“Do you know, Watson,” said Holmes as we sat together in the gathering darkness,“I have really some scruples as to taking you to-night. There is a distinct element of danger.”
“Can I be of assistance?”
“Your presence might be invaluable.”
“Then I shall certainly come.”
“It is very kind of you.”
“You speak of danger. You have evidently seen more in these rooms than was visible to me.”
“No, but I fancy that I may have deduced a little more. I imagine that you saw all that I did.”
“I saw nothing remarkable save the bell-rope,and what purpose that could answer I confess is more than I can imagine.”
“You saw the ventilator, too?”
“Yes, but I do not think that it is such a very unusual thing to have a small opening between two rooms.It was so small that a rat could hardly pass through.”
“I knew that we should find a ventilator before ever we came to Stoke Moran.”
“My dear Holmes!”
“Oh, yes, I did. You remember in her statement she said that her sister could smell Dr.Roylott’s cigar. Now, of course that suggested at once that there must be a communication between the two rooms.It could only be a small one, or it would have been remarked upon at the coroner’s inquiry. I deduced a ventilator.”
“But what harm can there be in that?”
“Well, there is at least a curious coincidence of dates. A ventilator is made, a cord is hung,and a lady who sleeps in the bed dies. Does not that strike you?”
“I cannot as yet see any connection.”
“Did you observe anything very peculiar about that bed?”
“No.”
“It was clamped to the floor. Did you ever see a bed fastened like that before?”
“I cannot say that I have.”
“The lady could not move her bed. It must always be in the same relative position to the ventilator and to the rope—or so we may call it,since it was clearly never meant for a bell-pull.”
“Holmes,” I cried, “I seem to see dimly what you are hinting at.We are only just in time to prevent some subtle and horrible crime.”