“This, I fancy, is the time for our exit, Watson,” said Holmes ina whisper. “If you will take one elbow of the too faithful Dolores,I will take the other. There, now,” he added as he closed the doorbehind him, “I think we may leave them to settle the rest amongthemselves.”
I have only one further note of this case. It is the letter whichHolmes wrote in final answer to that with which the narrativebegins. It ran thus:
BAKER STREET,
Nov. 21st.
Re Vampires
SIR:
Referring to your letter of the 19th, I beg to state that I havelooked into the inquiry of your client, Mr. Robert Ferguson, ofFerguson and Muirhead, tea brokers, of Mincing Lane, and that thematter has been brought to a satisfactory conclusion. With thanksfor your recommendation, I am, sir,
Faithfully yours,
SHERLOCK HOLMES.
The Adventure of the Three Garridebs
It may have been a comedy, or it may have been a tragedy. Itcost one man his reason, it cost me a blood-letting, and it cost yetanother man the penalties of the law. Yet there was certainly anelement of comedy. Well, you shall judge for yourselves.
I remember the date very well, for it was in the same monththat Holmes refused a knighthood for services which may perhapssome day be described. I only refer to the matter in passing, for inmy position of partner and confidant I am obliged to be particularlycareful to avoid any indiscretion. I repeat, however, that thisenables me to fix the date, which was the latter end of June, 1902,shortly after the conclusion of the South African War. Holmes hadspent several days in bed, as was his habit from time to time, but heemerged that morning with a long foolscap document in his handand a twinkle of amusement in his austere gray eyes.
“There is a chance for you to make some money, friend Watson,” said he. “Have you ever heard the name of Garrideb?”
I admitted that I had not.
“Well, if you can lay your hand upon a Garrideb, there’s moneyin it.”
“Why?”
“Ah, that’s a long story—rather a whimsical one, too. I don’tthink in all our explorations of human complexities we haveever come upon anything more singular. The fellow will be herepresently for cross-examination, so I won’t open the matter up tillhe comes. But, meanwhile, that’s the name we want.”
The telephone directory lay on the table beside me, and Iturned over the pages in a rather hopeless quest. But to myamazement there was this strange name in its due place. I gave acry of triumph.
“Here you are, Holmes! Here it is!”
Holmes took the book from my hand.
“ ‘Garrideb, N.,’ ” he read, “ ‘136 Little Ryder Street, W.’ Sorry todisappoint you, my dear Watson, but this is the man himself. Thatis the address upon his letter. We want another to match him.”
Mrs. Hudson had come in with a card upon a tray. I took it upand glanced at it.
“Why, here it is!” I cried in amazement. “This is a different initial.
John Garrideb, Counsellor at Law, Moorville, Kansas, U. S. A.”
Holmes smiled as he looked at the card. “I am afraid you mustmake yet another effort, Watson,” said he. “This gentleman is alsoin the plot already, though I certainly did not expect to see himthis morning. However, he is in a position to tell us a good dealwhich I want to know.”
A moment later he was in the room. Mr. John Garrideb,Counsellor at Law, was a short, powerful man with the round,fresh, clean-shaven face characteristic of so many American menof affairs. The general effect was chubby and rather childlike, sothat one received the impression of quite a young man with abroad set smile upon his face. His eyes, however, were arresting.
Seldom in any human head have I seen a pair which bespokea more intense inward life, so bright were they, so alert, soresponsive to every change of thought. His accent was American,but was not accompanied by any eccentricity of speech.
“Mr. Holmes?” he asked, glancing from one to the other. “Ah,yes! Your pictures are not unlike you, sir, if I may say so. I believeyou have had a letter from my namesake, Mr. Nathan Garrideb,have you not?”
“Pray sit down,” said Sherlock Holmes. “We shall, I fancy, have agood deal to discuss.” He took up his sheets of foolscap. “You are,of course, the Mr. John Garrideb mentioned in this document.
But surely you have been in England some time?”
“Why do you say that, Mr. Holmes?” I seemed to read suddensuspicion in those expressive eyes.
“Your whole outfit is English.”
Mr. Garrideb forced a laugh. “I’ve read of your tricks, Mr. Holmes, but I never thought I would be the subject of them.
Where do you read that?”
“The shoulder cut of your coat, the toes of your boots—couldanyone doubt it?”
“Well, well, I had no idea I was so obvious a Britisher. Butbusiness brought me over here some time ago, and so, as you say,my outfit is nearly all London. However, I guess your time is ofvalue, and we did not meet to talk about the cut of my socks.
What about getting down to that paper you hold in your hand?”
Holmes had in some way ruffled our visitor, whose chubby facehad assumed a far less amiable expression.
“Patience! Patience, Mr. Garrideb!” said my friend in a soothingvoice. “Dr. Watson would tell you that these little digressions ofmine sometimes prove in the end to have some bearing on thematter. But why did Mr. Nathan Garrideb not come with you?”
“Why did he ever drag you into it at all?” asked our visitor witha sudden outflame of anger. “What in thunder had you to do withit? Here was a bit of professional business between two gentlemen,and one of them must needs call in a detective! I saw him thismorning, and he told me this fool-trick he had played me, andthat’s why I am here. But I feel bad about it, all the same.”
“There was no reflection upon you, Mr. Garrideb. It wassimply zeal upon his part to gain your end—an end which is, Iunderstand, equally vital for both of you. He knew that I hadmeans of getting information, and, therefore, it was very naturalthat he should apply to me.”
Our visitor’s angry face gradually cleared.
