福尔摩斯探案集第5季 福尔摩斯探案经典:《恐怖谷》第4章Part2

福尔摩斯探案经典:《恐怖谷》第4章Part2  

White Mason gazed at my friend as the little village practitioner looks at the Harley Street specialist who by a word can solve the difficulties that perplex him.
"That is very helpful
Mr. Holmes. No doubt you are right. Wonderful! Wonderful! Do you carry the names of all the gun makers in the world in your memory?"
Holmes dismissed the subject with a wave.
"No doubt it is an American shotgun
" White Mason continued. "I seem to have read that a sawed-off shotgun is a weapon used in some parts of America. Apart from the name upon the barrel
the idea had occurred to me. There is some evidence then
that this man who entered the house and killed its master was an American."
MacDonald shook his head. "Man
you are surely travelling overfast
" said he. "I have heard no evidence yet that any stranger was ever in the house at all."
"The open window
the blood on the sill
the queer card
the marks of boots in the corner
the gun!"
"Nothing there that could not have been arranged. Mr. Douglas was an American
or had lived long in America. So had Mr. Barker. You don't need to import an American from outside in order to account for American doings."
"Ames
the butler--"
"What about him? Is he reliable?"
"Ten years with Sir Charles Chandos--as solid as a rock. He has been with Douglas ever since he took the Manor House five years ago. He has never seen a gun of this sort in the house."
"The gun was made to conceal. That's why the barrels were sawed. It would fit into any box. How could he swear there was no such gun in the house?"
"Well
anyhow
he had never seen one."
MacDonald shook his obstinate Scotch head. "I'm not convinced yet that there was ever anyone in the house
" said he. "I'm asking you to conseedar" (his accent became more Aberdonian as he lost himself in his argument) "I'm asking you to conseedar what it involves if you suppose that this gun was ever brought into the house
and that all these strange things were done by a person from outside. Oh
man
it's just inconceivable! It's clean against mon sense! I put it to you
Mr. Holmes
judging it by what we have heard."
"Well
state your case
Mr. Mac
" said Holmes in his most judicial style.
"The man is not a burglar
supposing that he ever existed. The ring business and the card point to premeditated murder for some private reason. Very good. Here is a man who slips into a house with the deliberate intention of mitting murder. He knows
if he knows anything
that he will have a deeficulty in making his escape
as the house is surrounded with water. What weapon would he choose? You would say the most silent in the world. Then he could hope when the deed was done to slip quickly from the window
to wade the moat
and to get away at his leisure. That's understandable. But is it understandable that he should go out of his way to bring with him the most noisy weapon he could select
knowing well that it will fetch every human being in the house to the spot as quick as they can run
and that it is all odds that he will be seen before he can get across the moat? Is that credible
Mr. Holmes?"
"Well
you put the case strongly
" my friend replied thoughtfully. "It certainly needs a good deal of justification. May I ask
Mr. White Mason
whether you examined the farther side of the moat at once to see if there were any signs of the man having climbed out from the water?"
"There were no signs
Mr. Holmes. But it is a stone ledge
and one could hardly expect them."