福尔摩斯探案主要内容 福尔摩斯探案经典:《恐怖谷》第6章Part6

福尔摩斯探案经典:《恐怖谷》第6章Part6  

"Here we have it so far as they could give it. They don't seem to have taken any very particular stock of him; but 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 or so years of age
his hair slightly grizzled
a grayish moustache
a curved nose
and a face which all of them described as fierce and forbidding."
"Well
bar the expression
that might almost be a description of Douglas himself
" said Holmes. "He is just over fifty
with grizzled hair and moustache
and about the same height. Did you get anything else?"
"He was dressed in a heavy gray suit with a reefer jacket
and he wore a short yellow overcoat and a soft cap."
"What about the shotgun?"
"It is less than o feet long. It could very well have fitted into his valise. He could have carried it inside his overcoat without difficulty."
"And how do you consider that all this bears upon the general case?"
"Well
Mr. Holmes
" said MacDonald
"when we have got our man--and you may be sure that I had his description on the wires within five minutes of hearing it--we shall be better able to judge. But
even as it stands
we have surely gone a long way. We know that an American calling himself Hargrave came to Tunbridge Wells o days ago with bicycle and valise. In the latter was a sawed-off shotgun; 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
and possibly lurked there himself
with his eye on the house
waiting for Mr. Douglas to e out. The shotgun is a strange weapon to use inside a house; but he had intended to use it outside
and there it has very obvious advantages
as iould be impossible to miss with it
and the sound of shots is so mon in an English sporting neighbourhood that no particular notice would be taken.""That is all very clear
" said Holmes.
"Well
Mr. Douglas did not appear. What was he to do next? He left his bicycle and approached the house in the ilight. He found the bridge down and no one about. He took his chance
intending
no doubt
to make some excuse if he met anyone. He met no one. He slipped into the 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 him and escaped
as arranged. He was aware that the bicycle would be described by the hotel people and be a clue against him; so he left it there and made his way by some other means to London or to some safe hiding place which he had already arranged. How is that
Mr. Holmes?"
"Well
Mr. Mac
it is very good and very clear so far as it goes. That is your end of the story. My end is that the crime was mitted half an hour earlier than reported; that 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 they fabricated evidence of his escape through the window
whereas in all probability they had themselves let him go by lowering the bridge. That's my reading of the first half."
The o detectives shook their heads.