The Exploits of Sherlock Holmes

rock-garden, smashed the glass and entered.'

'Quite so.'

'The reason that I started when I saw the Indian was because the man was retreating through the wreckage of the far French window, while that nearer to the front door remained unbroken. As we hurried forward to the house, I observed the gap in the rockery immediately under the first window where Lasher had picked up the stone. Why, then, should he run on to the second window and smash it, unless it was that the glass bore its own story? Hence my broad hint to MacDonald of the oyster and the nearest fork. The groundwork of my case was complete when I sniffed the contents of Colonel Warburton's cigar box. They were Dutch, among the weakest in aroma of all cigars.'

'All this is now quite clear to me,' I said. 'But in telling the whole household of your plans to piece together the glass of the broken window it seems to me that you were risking the very evidence on which your case was based.'

Holmes reached for the Persian slipper and began to fill his pipe with black shag.

'My dear Watson, it would have been virtually impos­sible for me to reconstruct those shattered panes to the degree that would prove the existence of two small bullet holes. No, it was a question of bluff, my dear fellow, a gambler's throw. Should somebody make an attempt to destroy still further those shards from the window, then that person was the murderer of Colonel Warburton. I showed my hand deliberately. The rest is known to you. Our man came, armed with a poker, having let himself in with the duplicate latch-key which we discovered in his cape pocket. I think there is nothing to add.'

'But the reason, Holmes,' I cried.

'We have not far to look, Watson. We are told that, until Colonel Warburton's marriage, Lasher was his only relative and therefore, we may assume, his heir. Mrs. Warburton, according to Miss Murray's statement, disapproved of the younger man on the grounds of his ex­travagant living. It is obvious from this that the wife's influence must represent a very real danger to the interests of Captain Jack.

'On the night in question, our man came openly to the house and, having spoken with Miss Murray and Major Earnshaw, retired ostensibly to drink a port in the dining-room. In fact, however, he merely passed through the dining-room window, which opens on the front garden, walked to the French windows of the curio room and there shot Colonel Warburton and his wife through the glass.

'It would require no more than a few seconds to rush back by the way that he had come, seize a decanter from the sideboard and hurry out into the hall. But he cut it fine, for you will recall that he appeared a moment or two after the others. To complete the illusion of Colonel Warburton's madness, it merely remained for him to eliminate the bullet holes by smashing the window and, on entering, drop the revolver by the hand of his victim.'

'And if Mrs. Warburton had not been there and he had been able to keep his rendezvous with his uncle, what then?' I asked.

'Ah, Watson, there we can only guess. But the fact that he came armed presupposes the worst. I have no doubt that when he comes to trial it will be found that Lasher was pressed for money and, as we have ample reason to know, he is a young man who would not shrink from taking his own measures to remove any obstacles that stood in the way of his needs. Well, my dear fellow, it is high time that you were on your way home. Pray, convey my apologies to your wife for any small inter­ruption I may have caused in the tranquillity of your menage.'

'But your shoulder, Holmes,' I expostulated. 'I must apply some liniment before you retire for a few hours' rest.'

'Tut, Watson,' my friend replied. 'You should have learned by now that the mind is the master of the body. I have a small problem on hand concerning a solution of potash and so if you would have the goodness to hand me that pipette—'

----:----

There were only two [cases] which I was the means of introducing to his notice, that of Mr. Hatherley's thumb and that of Colonel Warbur­ton's madness.

FROM 'THE ENGINEER'S THUMB'

7

The Adventure of Foulkes Rath

'This is a most curious affair,' I said, dropping The Times on the floor. 'Indeed, I am surprised that the family have not already consulted you.'

My friend Sherlock Holmes turned away from the win­dow and threw himself into his arm-chair.

'I take it that you refer to the murder at Foulkes Rath,' he said languidly. 'If so, this might interest you, Watson. It arrived before breakfast.'

He had drawn a buff-colored form from the pocket of his dressing-gown and now passed it across to me. The telegram, which bore the postmark of Forest Row, Sussex, ran as follows: 'Having regard to Addleton affairs, pro­ pose to call on you at 10:15 precisely. Vincent.'

Picking up The Times again, I ran my eye quickly down the column. 'There is no mention of anybody named Vincent,' I said.

'A fact of no importance whatever,' replied Holmes impatiently. 'Let us assume, from the phraseology of the telegram, that he is a lawyer of the old school employed by the Addleton family. As I observe, Watson, that we have a few minutes in hand, pray refresh my memory by running over the salient points from the account in this morning's paper, while omitting all irrelevant observa­tions from their correspondent.'

Holmes, having filled his clay pipe with shag from the Persian slipper, leaned back in his chair and contemplated the ceiling through a cloud of pungent blue smoke.

'The tragedy occurred at Foulkes Rath,' I began, 'an ancient Sussex manor-house near Forest Row on Ashdown Forest. The curious name of the house is derived from the circumstance that there is an old burial ground—'

'Keep to the facts, Watson.'

'The property was owned by Colonel Matthias Ad­dleton,' I continued rather stiffly. 'Squire Addleton, as he was known, was the local Justice of the Peace and the richest landowner in the district. The household at Foulkes Rath consisted of the squire, his nephew Percy Longton, the butler Morstead and four indoor servants. In addition, there is an outside staff consisting of the lodge-keeper, a groom and several gamekeepers who occupy cottages on the boundaries of the estate. Last night, Squire Addleton and his nephew dined at their usual hour of eight o'clock and after dinner the squire sent for his horse and was absent for about an hour. On his return, shortly before ten, he took a glass of port with his nephew in the hall. The two men appear to have been quarrelling, for the butler has stated that, on entering with the port, he remarked that the squire was flushed and brusque in his manner.'

'And the nephew, Longton I think you said his name was?' Holmes interrupted.

'According to the butler, he did not see Longton's face as the young man walked to the window and stood there looking out into the night while the butler was in the room. On retiring, however, the butler caught the sounds of their voices in a furious altercation. Shortly after midnight, the household was roused by a loud cry apparently from the hall and, on rushing down in their night-clothes, they were horrified to discover Squire Addleton lying senseless in a pool of blood with his head split open. Standing beside the body of the dying man was Mr. Percy Longton, clad in a dressing-gown and grasping in his hand a blood-stained axe, a mediaeval executioner's axe, Holmes, which had been torn down from a trophy of arms above the fireplace. Longton was so dazed with horror that he could scarcely assist in lifting the injured man's head and staunching the loss of blood. However, even as Morstead bent over him, the squire raising himself on his elbows gasped out in a dreadful whisper, 'It—was— Long—tom! It—was—Long—!' and sank back dead in the butler's arms. The local police were summoned and, on the evidence of the quarrel between the two men, the discovery of the nephew standing over the body and finally the accusing words of the dying man himself, Mr. Percy Longton has been arrested for the murder of Squire Addleton. I see that there is a note in the late-news column that the accused man, who has never ceased to protest his innocence, has been removed to Lewes. These would appear to be the principal facts, Holmes.'

For a while my friend smoked in silence.

'What explanation did Longton offer for the quarrel?' he asked at length.

'It is stated here that he voluntarily informed the police that he and his uncle came to high words on the