Part 31 (1/2)
”The decline of his fortunes, then?”
”This hat is three years old These flat brie came in then It is a hat of the very best quality Look at the band of ribbed silk and the excellent lining If this o, and has had no hat since, then he has assuredly gone down in the world”
”Well, that is clear enough, certainly But how about the foresight and the hed ”Here is the foresight,” said he, putting his finger upon the little disc and loop of the hat-securer ”They are never sold upon hats If this ht, since he went out of his way to take this precaution against the wind But since we see that he has broken the elastic and has not troubled to replace it, it is obvious that he has less foresight now than for nature On the other hand, he has endeavoured to conceal so then that he has not entirely lost his self-respect”
”Your reasoning is certainly plausible”
”The further points, that he is rizzled, that it has been recently cut, and that he uses liathered fro The lens discloses a large number of hair-ends, clean cut by the scissors of the barber They all appear to be adhesive, and there is a distinct odour of liray dust of the street but the fluffy brown dust of the house, showing that it has been hung up indoors most of the time; while the marks of moisture upon the inside are proof positive that the wearer perspired very freely, and could therefore, hardly be in the best of training”
”But his wife-you said that she had ceased to love him”
”This hat has not been brushed for weeks When I see you, my dear Watson, with a week's accumulation of dust upon your hat, and when your wife allows you to go out in such a state, I shall fear that you also have been unfortunate enough to lose your wife's affection”
”But he oose as a peace-offering to his wife Re”
”You have an answer to everything But how on earth do you deduce that the gas is not laid on in his house?”
”One tallow stain, or even two, ht come by chance; but when I see no less than five, I think that there can be little doubt that the individualtalloalks upstairs at night probably with his hat in one hand and a guttering candle in the other Anyhow, he never got tallow-stains froenious,” said I, laughing; ”but since, as you said just now, there has been no crioose, all this seey”
Sherlock Holmes had opened his mouth to reply, when the door flew open, and Peterson, the commissionaire, rushed into the apartment with flushed cheeks and the face of a oose, Mr Holasped
”Eh? What of it, then? Has it returned to life and flapped off through the kitchen ?” Holet a fairer view of the man's excited face
”See here, sir! See what my wife found in its crop!” He held out his hand and displayed upon the centre of the pal blue stone, rather smaller than a bean in size, but of such purity and radiance that it twinkled like an electric point in the dark hollow of his hand
Sherlock Holmes sat up with a whistle ”By Jove, Peterson!” said he, ”this is treasure trove indeed I suppose you knohat you have got?”
”A diah it were putty”
”It's more than a precious stone It is the the precious stone” precious stone”
”Not the Countess of Morcar's blue carbuncle!” I ejaculated
”Precisely so I ought to know its size and shape, seeing that I have read the advertisement about it in The Times The Times every day lately It is absolutely unique, and its value can only be conjectured, but the reward offered of 1000 is certainly not within a twentieth part of the market price” every day lately It is absolutely unique, and its value can only be conjectured, but the reward offered of 1000 is certainly not within a twentieth part of the market price”
”A thousand pounds! Great Lord of mercy!” The commissionaire plumped down into a chair and stared from one to the other of us
”That is the reward, and I have reason to know that there are sentiround which would induce the Countess to part with half her fortune if she could but recover the geht, at the Hotel Cosmopolitan,” I remarked
”Precisely so, on Deceo John Ho abstracted it froainst hi that the case has been referred to the assizes I have soed a over the dates, until at last he sraph: ”Hotel Cosht up upon the charge of having upon the 22d inst, abstracted froem known as the blue carbuncle Jaave his evidence to the effect that he had shown Horner up to the dressing-room of the Countess of Morcar upon the day of the robbery in order that he rate, which was loose He had remained with Horner so, he found that Horner had disappeared, that the bureau had been forced open, and that the small morocco casket in which, as it afterwards transpired, the Countess was accusto-table Ryder instantly gave the alar; but the stone could not be found either upon his person or in his roo heard Ryder's cry of dis rushed into the room, where she found matters as described by the last witness Inspector Bradstreet, B division, gave evidence as to the arrest of Horner, who struggled frantically, and protested his innocence in the strongest ter been given against the prisoner, the istrate refused to deal summarily with the offence, but referred it to the assizes Horner, who had shown signs of intense es, fainted away at the conclusion and was carried out of court
”Huhtfully, tossing aside the paper ”The question for us now to solve is the sequence of events leading frooose in Tottenham Court Road at the other You see, Watson, our little deductions have suddenly assumed a much more important and less innocent aspect Here is the stone; the stone caoose caentleman with the bad hat and all the other characteristics hich I have bored you So noe entle what part he has played in this little mystery To do this, we must try the simplest means first, and these lie undoubtedly in an advertise papers If this fail, I shall have recourse to other methods”
”What will you say?”
”Give me a pencil and that slip of paper Now, then: ”Found at the corner of Goodge Street, a goose and a black felt hat Mr Henry Baker can have the sa at 22lB Baker Street
That is clear and concise”
”Very But will he see it?”
”Well, he is sure to keep an eye on the papers, since, to a poor man, the loss was a heavy one He was clearly so scared by histheand by the approach of Peterson that he thought of nothing but flight, but since then he retted the iain, the introduction of his name will cause him to see it, for everyone who knows him will direct his attention to it Here you are, Peterson, run down to the advertising agency and have this put in the evening papers”
”In which, sir?”
”Oh, in the Globe, Star, Pall Mall, St Ja News Standard, Echo Globe, Star, Pall Mall, St Ja News Standard, Echo, and any others that occur to you”
”Very well, sir And this stone?”
”Ah, yes, I shall keep the stone Thank you And, I say, Peterson, just buy a goose on your way back and leave it here with entle”
When the coainst the light ”It's a bonny thing,” said he ”Just see how it glints and sparkles Of course it is a nucleus and focus of criood stone is They are the devil's pet baits In the larger and older jewels every facet may stand for a bloody deed This stone is not yet twenty years old It was found in the banks of the A every characteristic of the carbuncle, save that it is blue in shade instead of ruby red In spite of its youth, it has already a sinister history There have been two , a suicide, and several robberies brought about for the sake of this forty-grain weight of crystallized charcoal Who would think that so pretty a toy would be a purveyor to the gallows and the prison? I'll lock it up inbox now and drop a line to the Countess to say that we have it”
”Do you think that this man Horner is innocent?”
”I cannot tell”
”Well, then, do you i to do with the matter?”
”It is, I think, much more likely that Henry Baker is an absolutely innocentwas of considerably old That, however, I shall determine by a very simple test if we have an answer to our advertise until then?”
”Nothing”
”In that case I shall continueat the hour you have led a business”
”Very glad to see you I dine at seven There is a woodcock, I believe By the way, in view of recent occurrences, perhaps I ought to ask Mrs Hudson to examine its crop”
I had been delayed at a case, and it was a little after half-past six when I found myself in Baker Street once more As I approached the house I saw a tall man in a Scotch bonnetdc with a coat which was buttoned up to his chin waiting in the bright seht Just as I arrived the door was opened, and ere shown up together to Holmes's roo in the bright seht Just as I arrived the door was opened, and ere shown up together to Holmes's roo froeniality which he could so readilyassume ”Pray take this chair by the fire, Mr Baker It is a cold night, and I observe that your circulation is more adapted for sumht time Is that your hat, Mr Baker?”
”Yes, sir, that is undoubtedly e man with rounded shoulders, adown to a pointed beard of grizzled brown A touch of red in nose and cheeks, with a slight tremor of his extended hand, recalled Holmes's surmise as to his habits His rusty black frock-coat was buttoned right up in front, with the collar turned up; and his lank wrists protruded fron of cuff or shi+rt He spoke in a slow staccato fashi+on, choosing his words with care, and gave the i and letters who had had ill-usage at the hands of fortune
”We have retained these things for some days,” said Holmes, ”because we expected to see an advertise your address I am at a loss to knohy you did not advertise”