回忆录系列《The naval treaty——海军协定(英文版)》(2)

'You can imagine the state of things here when they were roused from their beds bythe doctor's ringing, and found me in this condition. Poor Annie here and my motherwere broken-hearted. Dr. Ferrier had just heard enough from the detective at thestation to be able to give an idea of what had happened, and his story did not mendmatters. It was evident to all that I was in for a long illness, so Joseph was bundled outof this cheery bedroom, and it was turned into a sickroom for me. Here I have lain, Mr.Holmes, for over nine weeks, unconscious, and raving with brain fever. If it had notbeen for Miss Harrison here and for the doctor's care I should not be speaking to younow. she has nursed me by day, and a hired nurse has looked after me by night, for inmy mad fits I was capable of anything. Slowly my reason has cleared, but it is onlyduring the last three days that my memory has quite returned. Sometimes I wish that itnever had. The first thing I did was to wire to Mr. Forbes, who had the case in hand.He came out and assured me that, though everything has been done, no trace of a cluehas been discovered. The commissionaire and his wife have been examined in everyway without any light being thrown upon the matter. The suspicions of the police thenrested upon young Gorot, who, as you may remember, stayed overtime in the officethat night. His remaining behind and his French name were really the only two pointswhich could suggest suspicion; but as a matter of fact, I did not begin work until hehad gone, and his people are of Huguenot extraction, but as English in sympathy andtradition as you and I are. Nothing was found to implicate him in any way, and therethe matter dropped. I turn to you, Mr. Holmes, as absolutely my last hope. If you failme, then my honour as well as my position are for ever forfeited.'

The invalid sank back upon his cushions, tired out by this long recital, while hisnurse poured him out a glass of some stimulating medicine. Holmes sat silently withhis head thrown back and his eyes closed in an attitude which might seem listless to astranger, but which I knew betokened the most intense absorption.

'Your statement has been so explicit,' said he at last, 'that you have really left mevery few questions to ask. There is one of the very utmost importance, however. Didyou tell anyone that you had this special task to perform?'

'No one.'

'Not Miss Harrison here, for example?'

'No. I had not been back to Woking between getting the order and executing thecommission.'

'And none of your people had by chance been to see you?'

'None.'

'Did any of them know their way about in the office?'

'Oh, yes; all of them had been shown over it.'

'Still, of course, if you said nothing to anyone about the treaty, these inquiries areirrelevant.'

'I said nothing.'

'Do you know anything that he is an old soldier.'

'What regiment?'

'Oh, I have heard—Coldstream Guards.'

'Thank you. I have no doubt I can get details from Forbes. The authorities areexcellent at amassing facts, though they do not always use them to advantage. What alovely thing a rose is!'

he walked past the couch to the open window, and held up the drooping stalk of amoss rose, looking down at the dainty blend of crimson and green. It was a new phaseof his character to me, for I had never before seen him show any keen interest innatural objects.

'There is nothing in which deduction is so necessary as in religion,' said he, leaningwith his back against the shutters. 'It can be built up as an exact science by thereasoner. Our highest assurance of the goodness of Providence seems to me to rest inthe flowers. All other things, our powers, our desires, our food, are really necessaryfor our existence in the first instance. But this rose is an extra. Its smell and its colourare an embellishment of life, not a condition of it. It is only goodness which givesextras, and so I say again that we have much to hope from the flowers.'

Percy Phelps and his nurse looked at Holmes during this demonstration withsurprise and a good deal of disappointment written upon their faces. He had falleninto a reverie, with the moss rose between his fingers. It had lasted some minutesbefore the young lady broke in upon it.

'Do you see any prospect of solving this mystery, Mr. Holmes?' she asked, with atouch of asperity in her voice.

'Oh, the mystery!' he answered, coming back with a start to the realities of life.'Well, it would be absurd to deny that the case is a very abstruse and complicated one;but I can promise you that I will look into the matter and let you know any pointswhich may strike me.'

'Do you see any clue?'

'You have furnished me with seven, but of course I must test them before I canpronounce upon their value.'

'You suspect someone?'

'I suspect myself—'

'What?'

'Of coming to conclusion too rapidly.'

'Then go to London and test your conclusions.'

'Your advice is very excellent, Miss Harrison,' said Holmes, rising. 'I think,Watson, we cannot do better. Do not allow yourself to indulge in false hopes, Mr.Phelps. The affair is a very tangled one.'

'I shall be in a fever until I see you again,' cried the diplomatist.

'Well, I'll come out by the same train to-morrow, though it's more than likely thatmy report will be a negative one.'

'God bless you for promising to come,' cried our client. 'It gives me fresh life toknow that something is being done. By the way, I have had a letter from LordHoldhurst.'

'Ha! What did he say?'

'He was cold, but not harsh. I dare say my severe illness prevented him from beingthat. He repeated that the matter was of the utmost importance, and added that nosteps would be taken about my future—by which he means, of course, mydismissal—until my health was restored and I had an opportunity of repairing mymisfortune.'

'Well, that was reasonable and considerate,' said Holmes. 'Come, Watson, for wehave a good day's work before us in town.'

Mr. Joseph Harrison drove us down to the station, and we were soon whirling up ina Portsmouth train. Holmes was sunk in profound thought, and hardly opened hismouth until we had passed Clapham Junction.

'It's a very cheering thing to come into London by any of these lines which runhigh and allow you to look down upon the houses like this.'

I thought he was joking, for the view was sordid enough, but he soon explainedhimself.

'Look at those big, isolated clumps of buildings rising up above the slates, likebrick islands in a lead-coloured sea.'

'The Board schools.'

'Lighthouses, my boy! Beacons of the future! Capsules, with hundreds of brightlittle seeds in each, out of which will spring the wiser, better England of the future. Isuppose that man Phelps does not drink?'

'I should not think so.'

'Nor should I. But we are bound to take every possibility into account. The poordevil has certainly got himself into very deep water, and it's a question whether weshall ever be able to get him ashore. What did you think of Miss Harrison?'

'A girl of strong character.'

'Yes, but she is a good sort, or I am mistaken. She and her brother are the onlychildren of an iron-master somewhere up Northumberland way. Phelps got engaged toher when travelling last winter, and she came down to be introduced to his people,with her brother as escort. Then came the smash, and she stayed on to nurse her lover,while brother Joseph, finding himself pretty snug, stayed on too. I've been making afew independent inquiries, you see. But today must be a day of inquiries.'

'My practice—'I began.

'Oh, if you find your own cases more interesting than mine—'said Holmes, withsome asperity.

'I was going to say that my practice could get along very well for a day or two,since it is the slackest time in the year.'

'Excellent,' said he, recovering his good humour. 'Then we'll look into this mattertogether. I think that we should begin by seeing Forbes. He can probably tell us all thedetails we want, until we know from what side the case is to be approached.'

'You said you had a clue.'

'Well, we have several, but we can only test their value by further inquiry. Themost difficult crime to track is the one which is purposeless. Now, this is notpurposeless. Who is it that profits by it? There is the French Ambassador, there is theRussian, there is whoever might sell it to either of these, and there is Lord Holdhurst.'

'Lord Holdhurst!'

'Well, it is just conceivable that a statesman might find himself in a position wherehe was not sorry to have such a document accidentally destroyed.'

'Not a statesman with the honourable record of Lord Holdhurst.'

'It is a possibility, and we cannot afford to disregard it. We shall see the noble lordto-day, and find out if he can tell us anything. Meanwhile, I have already set inquiriesupon foot.'

'Already?'

'Yes, I sent wires from Woking station to every evening paper in London. Thisadvertisement will appear in each of them.'

He handed over a sheet torn from the notebook. On it was scribbled in pencil:

'￡10 Reward.—The number of the cab which dropped a fare at or about the doorof the Foreign Office in Charles Street, at a quarter to ten in the evening of May 23rd.Apply 221B Baker Street.'

'You are confident that the thief came in a cab?'

'If not, there is no harm done. But if Mr. Phelps is correct in stating that there is nohiding-place either in the room or the corridors, then the person must have come fromoutside. If he came from outside on so wet a night, and yet left no trace of damp uponthe linoleum, which was examined within a few minutes of his passing, then it isexceedingly probable that he came in a cab. Yes, I think that we may safely deduce acab.'

'It sounds plausible.'

'That is one of the clues of which I spoke. It may lead us to something. And then,of course, there is the bell—which is the most distinctive feature of the case. Whyshould the bell ring? Was it the thief that did it out of bravado? Or was it someonewho was with the thief who did it in order to prevent the crime? Or was it an accident?Or was it—?' He sank back into the state of intense and silent thought from which hehad emerged, but it seemed to me, accustomed as I was to his every mood, that somenew possibility had dawned suddenly upon him.

It was twenty-past three when we reached our terminus, and after a hasty luncheonat the buffer we pushed on at once to Scotland Yard. Holmes had already wired toForbes, and we found him waiting to receive us: a small, foxy man, with a sharp butby no means amiable expression. He was decidedly frigid in his manner to us,especially when he heard the errand upon which we had come.

'I've heard of your methods before now, Mr. Holmes,' said he, tartly. 'You areready enough to use all the information that the police can lay at your disposal, andthen you try to finish the case yourself and bring discredit upon them.'

'On the contrary,' said Holmes; 'out of my last fifty-three cases my name has onlyappeared in four, and the police have had all the credit in forty-nine. I don't blame youfor not knowing this; for you are young and inexperienced; but if you wished to get onin your new duties you will work with me, and not against me.'

'I'd be very glad of a hint or two,' said the detective, changing his manner. 'I'vecertainly had no credit from the case so far.'

'What steps have you taken?'

'Tangey, the commissionaire, has been shadowed. He left the Guards with a goodcharacter, and we can find nothing against him. His wife is a bad lot, though. I fancyshe knows more about this than appears.'

'Have you shadowed her?'

'We have set one of our women on to her. Mrs. Tangey drinks, and our woman hasbeen with her twice when she well on, but she could get nothing out of her.'

'I understand that they have had brokers in the house?'

'Yes, but they were paid off.'

'Where did the money come from?'

'That was all right. His pension was due; they have not shown any sign of being infunds.'

'What explanation did she give of having answered the bell when Mr. Phelps rangfor the coffee?'

'She said that her husband was very tired and she wished to relieve him.'

'Well, certainly that would agree with his being found, a little later, asleep in hischair. There is nothing against them, then, but the woman's character. Did you ask herwhy she hurried away that night? Her haste attracted the attention of thepolice-constable.'

'She was later than usual, and wanted to get home.'

'Did you point out to her that you and Mr. Phelps, who started at least twentyminutes after her, got there before her?'

'She explains that by the difference between a bus and a hansom.'

'Did she make it clear why, on reaching her house, she ran into the back kitchen?'

'Because she had the money there with which to pay off the brokers.'

'She has at least an answer for everything. Did you ask her whether in leaving hismet anyone or saw anyone loitering about Charles Street?'

'She saw no one but the constable.'

'Well, you seem to have cross-examined her pretty thoroughly. What else have youdone?'

'The clerk, Gorot, has been shadowed all these nine weeks, but without result. Wecan show nothing against him.'

'Anything else?'

'Well, we have nothing else to go upon—no evidence of any kind.'

'Have you formed any theory about how that bell rang?'

'Well, I must confess that it bears me. It was a cool hand, whoever it was, to go andgive the alarm like that.'

'Yes, it was a queer thing to do. Many thanks to you for what you have told me. If Ican put the man into your hands you shall hear from me. Come along, Watson!'

'Where are we going to now?' I asked, as we left the office.

'We are now going to interview Lord Holdhurst, the Cabinet Minister and futurePremier of England.'

We were fortunate in finding that Lord Holdhurst was still in his chambers atDowning Street, and on Holmes sending in his card we were instantly shown up. Thestatesman received us with that old-fashioned courtesy for which he is remarkable,and seated us on the two luxurious easy chairs on either side of the fireplace. Standingon the rug between us, with his slight, tall figure, his sharp-featured, thoughtful face,and his curling hair prematurely tinged with grey, he seemed to represent that not toocommon type, a nobleman who is in truth noble.

'Your name is very familiar to me, Mr. Holmes,' said he, smiling. 'And, of course, Icannot pretend to be ignorant of the object of your visit. There has only been oneoccurrence in these offices which could call for your attention. In whose interest areyou acting, may I ask?'

'In that of Mr. Percy Phelps,' answered Holmes.

'Ah, my unfortunate nephew! You can understand that our kinship makes it themore impossible for me to screen him in any way. I fear that the incident must have avery prejudicial effect upon his career.'

'But if the document is found?'

'Ah, that, of course, would be different.'

'I had one or two questions which I wished to ask you, Lord Holdhurst.'

'I shall be happy to give you any information in my power.'

'Was it in this room that you gave your instructions as to the copying of thedocument?'

'It was.'

'Then you could hardly have been overheard?'

'It is out of the question.'

'Did you ever mention to anyone that it was your intention to give out the treaty tobe copied?'

'Never.'

'You are certain of that?'

'Absolutely.'

'Well, since you never said so, and Mr. Phelps never said so, and nobody else knewanything of the matter, then the thief's presence in the room was purely accidental. Hesaw his chance and he took it.'

The statesman smiled. 'You take me out of my province there,' said he.

Holmes considered for a moment. 'There is another very important point which Iwish to discuss with you,' said he. 'You feared, as I understand, that very grave resultsmight follow from the details of this treaty becoming known?'

A shadow passed over the expressive face of the statesman. 'Very grave results,indeed.'

'And have they occurred?'

'Not yet.'

'If the treaty had reached, let us say, the French or Russian Foreign Office, youwould expect to hear of it?'

'I should,' said Lord Holdhurst, with a wry face.

'Since nearly ten weeks have elapsed, then, and nothing has been heard, it is notunfair to suppose that for some reason the treaty has not reached them?'

Lord Holdhurst shrugged his shoulders.

'We can hardly suppose, Mr. Holmes, that the thief took the treaty in order to frameit and hang it up.'

'Perhaps he is waiting for a better price.'

'If he waits a little longer he will get no price at all. The treaty will cease to be asecret in a few months.'

'That is most important,' said Holmes. 'Of course it is a possible supposition thatthe thief has had a sudden illness—'

'An attack of brain fever, for example?' asked the statesman, flashing a swiftglance at him.

'I did not say so,' said Holmes, imperturbably. 'And now, Lord Holdhurst, we havealready taken up too much of your valuable time, and we shall wish you a good day.'

'Every success to your investigation, be the criminal who it may,' answered thenobleman, as he bowed us out at the door.

'He's a fine fellow,' said Holmes, as we came out into Whitehall. 'But he has astruggle to keep up his position. He is far from rich, and has many calls. You noticed,of course, that his boots had been re-soled? Now, Watson, I won't detain you fromyour legitimate work any longer. I shall do nothing more to-day, unless I have ananswer to my cab advertisement. But I should be extremely obliged to you if youwould come down with me to Woking to-morrow, by the same train which we tookto-day.'

I met him accordingly next morning, and we travelled down to Woking together.He had had no answer to his advertisement, he said, and no fresh light had beenthrown upon the case. He had, when he so willed it, the utter immobility ofcountenance of a Red Indian, and I could not gather from his appearance whether hewas satisfied or not with the position of the case. His conversation, I remember, wasabout the Bertillon system of measurements, and he expressed his enthusiasticadmiration of the French savant.

We found our client still under the charge of his devoted nurse, but lookingconsiderably better than before. He rose from the sofa and greeted us withoutdifficulty when we entered.

'Any news?' he asked, eagerly.

'My report, as I expected, is a negative one,' said Holmes. 'I have seen Forbes, andI have seen your uncle, and I have set one or two trains of inquiry upon foot whichmay lead to something.'

'You have not lost heart, then?'

'By no means.'

'God bless you for saying that!' cried Miss Harrison. 'If we keep our courage andour patience, the truth must come out.'

'We have more to tell you than you have for us,' said Phelps, re-seating him uponthe couch.

'I hoped you might have something.'

'Yes, we have had an adventure during the night, and one which might have provedto be a serious one.' His expression grew very grave as he spoke, and a look ofsomething akin to fear sprang up in his eyes. 'Do you know,' said he, 'that I begin tobelieve that I am the unconscious centre of some monstrous conspiracy, and that mylife is aimed at as well as my honour?'

'Ah!' cried Holmes.

'It sounds incredible, for I have not, as far as I know, an enemy in the world. Yetfrom last night's experience I can come to no other conclusion.'

'Pray let me hear it.'

'You must know that last night was the very first night that I have ever sleptwithout a nurse in the room. I was so much better that I thought I could dispense withone. I had a night-light burning, however. Well, about two in the morning I had sunkinto a light sleep, when I was suddenly aroused by a slight noise. It was like the soundwhich a mouse makes when it is gnawing a plank, and I lay listening to it for sometime under the impression that it must come from that cause. Then it grew louder, andsuddenly there came from the window a sharp metallic snick. I sat up in amazement.There could be no doubt what the sounds were now. The faint ones had been causedby someone forcing an instrument through the silt between the sashes, and the secondby the catch being pressed back.

'There was a pause then for about ten minutes, as if the person were waiting to seewhether the noise had awoken me. Then I heard a gentle creaking as the window wasvery slowly opened. I could stand it no longer, for my nerves are not what they usedto be. I sprang out of bed and flung open the shutter. A man was crouching at thewindow. I could see little of him, for he was gone like a flash. He was wrapped insome sort of cloak, which came across the lower part of his face. One thing only I amsure of, and that is that he had some weapon in his hand. It looked to me like a longknife. I distinctly saw the gleam of it as he turned to run.'

'This is most interesting,' said Holmes. 'Pray, what did you do then?'

'I should have followed him through the open window if I had been stronger. As itwas, I rang the bell and roused the house. It took me some little time, for the bell ringsin the kitchen, and the servants all sleep upstairs. I shouted, however, and that broughtJoseph down, and he roused the others. Joseph and the groom found marks on theflower-bed outside the window, but the weather has been so dry lately that they foundit hopeless to follow the trail across the grass. There's a place, however, on thewooden fence which skirts the road which shows signs, they tell me, as if someonehad got over and had snapped the top of the rail in doing so. I have said nothing to thelocal police yet, for I thought I had best have your opinion first.'

This tale of our client's appeared to have an extraordinary effect upon SherlockHolmes. He rose from his chair and paced about the room in uncontrollableexcitement.

'Misfortunes never come singly,' said Phelps, smiling, though it was evident thathis adventure had somewhat shaken him.

'You have certainly had your share,' said Holmes. 'Do you think you could walkround the house with me?'

'Oh, yes, I should like a little sunshine. Joseph will come too?'

'And I also,' said Miss Harrison.

'I am afraid not,' said Holmes, shaking his head. 'I think I must ask you to remainsitting exactly where you are.'

The young lady resumed her seat with an air of displeasure. Her brother, however,had joined us, and we set off all four together. We passed round the lawn to theoutside of the young diplomatist's window. There were, as he had said, marks uponthe flower-bed, but they were hopelessly blurred and vague. Holmes stooped overthem for an instant, and then rose, shrugging his shoulders.

'I don't think anyone could make much of this,' said he. 'Let us go round the houseand see why this particular room was chosen by the burglar. I should have thoughtthose larger windows of the drawing-room and dining-room would have had moreattractions for him.'