The Valley of Fear

ning

took a stroll in the curious old-world garden which flanked the house. Rows of very ancient yew trees cut into strange designs girded it round. Inside was

ith the sprawling, bloodstained figure on the floor. And yet, as I strolled round it and tried to steep my soul in its g

On the other side of this hedge, concealed from the eyes of anyone approaching from the direction of the house, there was a stone seat.

l pretense of grief had passed away from her. Her eyes shone with the joy of living, and her face still quivered with amusement at some remark of her companion. He sat forward, his hands clasped and his forearms on his knees, with an answ

id he, "but am I add

I dare say, very plainly the impressio

with Mr. Sherlock Holmes is so well known. Would you mind

hours of the tragedy were his wife and his nearest friend laughing together behind a bush in the garden which had been his. I gre

nk me callous and ha

ers. "It is no busin

will do me justice.

lize," said Barker quickly. "As he has hims

nd so I will beg leav

in the world, and it may make a very great difference to me. You know Mr. Holmes and his relations with the police better than anyone else can

eagerly. "Is he on his own o

I should be justified in

assure you that you will be helping us-helping

's voice that for the instant I forgot all abou

d naturally feel loyalty towards the officials who were working on the same case, and he would not conceal from them anything which would help th

ooked back as I rounded the far end of it, and saw that they were still talking very earnestly together, an

the Manor House in consultation with his two colleagues, and returned about five with a ravenous appetite for a high tea which

it will com

ed that fourth egg I shall be ready to put you in touch with the whole situation. I don'

dumb-

een ourselves I don't think that either Inspector Mac or the excellent local practitioner has grasped the overwhelming importance of this incident. One dumb-bell, Wa

llections of days and nights without a thought of food, when his baffled mind had chafed before some problem while his thin, eager features became more attenuated with the asceticism of complete mental concen

is a lie. But Barker's story is corroborated by Mrs. Douglas. Therefore she is lying also. They are both lying, and in a conspiracy. So now we have the clear problem. W

assassin had less than a minute after the murder had been committed to take that ring, which was under another ring, from the dead man's finger, to repla

been lit only a short time shows that there had been no lengthy interview. Was Douglas, from what we hear of his fearless character, a man who would be likely to give up his wedding ring at

e are in the presence, therefore, of a deliberate conspiracy upon the part of the two people who heard the gunshot-of the man Barker and of the woman Douglas. When on the top of this I am

before that time. At a quarter to eleven they had all gone to their rooms with the exception of Ames, who was in the pantry. I have been trying some experiments

s it undoubtedly was in this instance. It would not be very loud, and yet in the silence of the night it should have easily penetrated to Mrs. Allen's room. She is, as she has told us, somewhat deaf; but none the less she mentioned in her evidence that she did

even, when the sound of the shot brought them down, until quarter past eleven, when they rang the bell and summoned the servants. What were they doing, and why d

between those two people. She must be a heartless creature to sit

who would let any man's spoken word stand between them and that husband's dead body. Should I ever marry, Watson, I should hope to inspire my wife with some feeling which would prevent her from being walked off by a housekeeper when my corpse was lying with

that Barker and Mrs. Dougla

ut it that Mrs. Douglas and Barker know the truth about the murder, and are conspiring to conceal it, then I can give you a whole-souled answ

man who stands between them. It is a large supposition; for discreet inquiry among servants and others has failed to corro

." said I, thinking of the beaut

n extraordinarily astute couple, who deceive everyone upon this point, and conspir

ly their wo

vent this theory to account for the crime. They then play up to the idea by leaving this bicycle in the park as proof of the existence of some outsider. The stain on the windowsill conveys the same idea. So does the card on the body, which might have been prepared in the house. That all fits into your hypothesis, Watson. But now we come on the nasty, an

hat I can't

they going to advertise their guilt by ostentatiously removing his weddi

t does

it really have seemed worth doing when the dullest detective would naturally say this is an obviou

eive of no

ation. Simply as a mental exercise, without any assertion that it is true, let me indicate a possibl

who is, we will suppose, an avenger, someone from outside. This avenger, for some reason which I confess I am still at a loss to explain, too

o this idea, and preferred to let him go. For this purpose they probably lowered the bridge, which can be done quite noiselessly, and then raised it again. He made his escape, and for some reason thought that

e, no doubt," said I

e placed themselves in a position in which it may be difficult for them to prove that they did not themselves either do the deed or connive at it. They rapidly and rather clumsily met the situation. The mark was put by Barker's bloodst

u propose to p

st effective of all proofs. But if not-well, the resources of science are far from

ening

bout Barker. I shall sit in that room and see if its atmosphere brings me inspiration. I'm a believer in the genius

is h

borrow tha

a wretched weapon!

take the umbrella. At present I am only awaiting the return of our colleagues from Tunbr

ason came back from their expedition, and they arrived

d MacDonald, "but that's all past now. We've had the bicycle identified, a

the end," said Holmes. "I'm sure I co

bicycle it was from Tunbridge Wells that he might be expected to have come. We took the bicycle over with us and showed it at the hotels. It was identified at once by the manager of the Eagle Commercial as belonging to a man named Hargrave, who had taken a room th

some solid work while I have been sitting spinning theories

. Holmes," said the ins

it in with your the

us hear the end, Mr. Mac. Was the

rs or letters, and no marking upon the clothes. A cycle map of the county lay on his bedroom table. He had left

would imagine that he would have returned and remained at the hotel as an inoffensive tourist. As it is, he must know t

of his wisdom up to date, at any rate, since he ha

still the porter, the clerk, and the chambermaid are all agreed that this about covers the points. He was a man about five foot nine in height, fifty

las himself," said Holmes. "He is just over fifty, with grizzled hair

with a reefer jacket, and he wore a s

out the

ll have fitted into his valise. He could have ca

er that all this bears

tgun; so he came with the deliberate purpose of crime. Yesterday morning he set off for this place on his bicycle, with his gun concealed in his overcoat. No one saw him arrive, so far as we can learn; but he need not pass through the village to reach the park gates, and there are many cyclists upon the road. Presumably he at once concealed his cycle among the laurels where it was found,

very clear,

e first room that he saw, and concealed himself behind the curtain. Thence he could see the drawbridge go up, and he knew that his only escape was through the moat. He waited until quarter-past eleven, when Mr. Douglas upon his usual nightly round came into the room. He shot

Mrs. Douglas and Barker are both in a conspiracy to conceal something; that they aided the murderer's escape-or at least that they reached the room before he escaped-and that

ctives shook

e only tumble out of one mystery into

r been in America in all her life. What possible connection could she

make a little investigation of my own to-night, and it is just

lp you, Mr

he will stretch a point for me. All my lines of thought lead me back invariably to the one basic questi

ept in a double-bedded room, which was the best that the little country inn co

urmured, "have you

towards me. "I say, Watson," he whispered, "would you be afraid to sleep in the same room

st," I answered

id, and not another word