“No doubt that is true, and yet they drank some wine, Iunderstand.”
“To steady their nerves.”
“Exactly. These three glasses upon the sideboard have beenuntouched, I suppose?”
“Yes, and the bottle stands as they left it.”
“Let us look at it. Halloa, halloa! What is this?”
The three glasses were grouped together, all of them tinged withwine, and one of them containing some dregs of beeswing. The bottlestood near them, two-thirds full, and beside it lay a long, deeplystained cork. Its appearance and the dust upon the bottle showedthat it was no common vintage which the murderers had enjoyed.
A change had come over Holmes’s manner. He had lost hislistless expression, and again I saw an alert light of interest in hiskeen, deep-set eyes. He raised the cork and examined it minutely.
“How did they draw it?” he asked.
Hopkins pointed to a half-opened drawer. In it lay some tablelinen and a large corkscrew.
“Did Lady Brackenstall say that screw was used?”
“No, you remember that she was senseless at the moment whenthe bottle was opened.”
“Quite so. As a matter of fact, that screw was not used. Thisbottle was opened by a pocket screw, probably contained in a knife,and not more than an inch and a half long. If you will examine thetop of the cork, you will observe that the screw was driven in threetimes before the cork was extracted. It has never been transfixed.
This long screw would have transfixed it and drawn it up with asingle pull. When you catch this fellow, you will find that he hasone of these multiplex knives in his possession.”
“Excellent!” said Hopkins.
“But these glasses do puzzle me, I confess. Lady Brackenstallactually saw the three men drinking, did she not?”
“Yes; she was clear about that.”
“Then there is an end of it. What more is to be said? Andyet, you must admit, that the three glasses are very remarkable,Hopkins. What? You see nothing remarkable? Well, well, let itpass. Perhaps, when a man has special knowledge and specialpowers like my own, it rather encourages him to seek a complexexplanation when a simpler one is at hand. Of course, it must bea mere chance about the glasses. Well, good-morning, Hopkins.
I don’t see that I can be of any use to you, and you appear tohave your case very clear. You will let me know when Randallis arrested, and any further developments which may occur. Itrust that I shall soon have to congratulate you upon a successfulconclusion. Come, Watson, I fancy that we may employ ourselvesmore profitably at home.”
During our return journey, I could see by Holmes’s face that hewas much puzzled by something which he had observed. Everynow and then, by an effort, he would throw off the impression, andtalk as if the matter were clear, but then his doubts would settledown upon him again, and his knitted brows and abstracted eyeswould show that his thoughts had gone back once more to thegreat dining-room of the Abbey Grange, in which this midnighttragedy had been enacted. At last, by a sudden impulse, just as ourtrain was crawling out of a suburban station, he sprang on to theplatform and pulled me out after him.
“Excuse me, my dear fellow,” said he, as we watched the rearcarriages of our train disappearing round a curve, “I am sorryto make you the victim of what may seem a mere whim, but onmy life, Watson, I simply can’t leave that case in this condition.
Every instinct that I possess cries out against it. It’s wrong—it’sall wrong—I’ll swear that it’s wrong. And yet the lady’s story wascomplete, the maid’s corroboration was sufficient, the detail wasfairly exact. What have I to put up against that? Three wineglasses,that is all. But if I had not taken things for granted, if Ihad examined everything with the care which I should have shownhad we approached the case DE NOVO and had no cut-and-driedstory to warp my mind, should I not then have found somethingmore definite to go upon? Of course I should. Sit down on thisbench, Watson, until a train for Chiselhurst arrives, and allow meto lay the evidence before you, imploring you in the first instanceto dismiss from your mind the idea that anything which the maidor her mistress may have said must necessarily be true. The lady’scharming personality must not be permitted to warp our judgment.
“Surely there are details in her story which, if we looked at incold blood, would excite our suspicion. These burglars made aconsiderable haul at Sydenham a fortnight ago. Some accountof them and of their appearance was in the papers, and wouldnaturally occur to anyone who wished to invent a story in whichimaginary robbers should play a part. As a matter of fact, burglarswho have done a good stroke of business are, as a rule, only tooglad to enjoy the proceeds in peace and quiet without embarkingon another perilous undertaking. Again, it is unusual for burglarsto operate at so early an hour, it is unusual for burglars to strike alady to prevent her screaming, since one would imagine that wasthe sure way to make her scream, it is unusual for them to commitmurder when their numbers are sufficient to overpower one man,it is unusual for them to be content with a limited plunder whenthere was much more within their reach, and finally, I should say,that it was very unusual for such men to leave a bottle half empty.
How do all these unusuals strike you, Watson?”
“Their cumulative effect is certainly considerable, and yet eachof them is quite possible in itself. The most unusual thing of all, asit seems to me, is that the lady should be tied to the chair.”
“Well, I am not so clear about that, Watson, for it is evidentthat they must either kill her or else secure her in such a way thatshe could not give immediate notice of their escape. But at anyrate I have shown, have I not, that there is a certain element ofimprobability about the lady’s story? And now, on the top of this,comes the incident of the wineglasses.”
“What about the wineglasses?”
“Can you see them in your mind’s eye?”
“I see them clearly.”
“We are told that three men drank from them. Does that strikeyou as likely?”
