第 37 页

that I could hardly resist the fascination of his manner. He is

older than Arthur, a man of the world to his finger-tips, one who

had been everywhere. seen everything, a brilliant talker, and a

man of great personal beauty. Yet when I think of him in cold

blood, far away from the glamour of his presence, I am con-

vinced from his cynical speech and the look which I have caught

in his eyes that he is one who should be deeply distrusted. So I

think, and so, too, thinks my little Mary, who has a woman's

quick insight into character.

"And now there is only she to be described. She is my niece;

but when my brother died five years ago and left her alone in the

world I adopted her, and have looked upon her ever since as my

daughter. She is a sunbeam in my house -- sweet, loving, beauti-

ful, a wonderful manager and housekeeper, yet as tender and

quiet and gentle as a woman could be. She is my right hand. I do

not know what I could do without her. In only one matter has

she ever gone against my wishes. Twice my boy has asked her to

marry him, for he loves her devotedly, but each time she has

refused him. I think that if anyone could have drawn him into the

right path it would have been she, and that his marriage might

have changed his whole life; but now, alas! it is too late --

forever too late!

"Now, Mr. Holmes, you know the people who live under my

roof, and I shall continue with my miserable story.

"When we were taking coffee in the drawing-room that night

after dinner, I told Arthur and Mary my experience, and of the

precious treasure which we had under our roof, suppressing only

the name of my client. Lucy Parr, who had brought in the

coffee, had, I am sure, left the room; but I cannot swear that the

door was closed. Mary and Arthur were much interested and

wished to see the famous coronet, but I thought it better not to

disturb it.

" 'Where have you put it?' asked Arthur.

" 'In my own bureau.'

" 'Well, I hope to goodness the house won't be burgled

during the night.' said he.

" 'It is locked up,' I answered.

" 'Oh, any old key will fit that bureau. When I was a young-

ster I have opened it myself with the key of the box-room

cupboard. '

"He often had a wild way of talking, so that I thought little of

what he said. He followed me to my room, however, that night

with a very grave face.

" 'Look here, dad,' said he with his eyes cast down, 'can you

let me have 200 pounds?'

" 'No, I cannot!' I answered sharply. 'I have been far too

generous with you in money matters.'

" 'You have been very kind,' said he, 'but I must have this

money, or else I can never show my face inside the club again.'

" 'And a very good thing, too!' I cried.

" 'Yes, but you would not have me leave it a dishonoured

man,' said he. 'I could not bear the disgrace. I must raise the

money in some way, and if you will not let me have it, then I

must try other means.'

"I was very angry, for this was the third demand during the

month. 'You shall not have a farthing from me,' I cried, on

which he bowed and left the room without another word.

"When he was gone I unlocked my bureau, made sure that my

treasure was safe, and locked it again. Then I started to go round

the house to see that all was secure -- a duty which I usually

leave to Mary but which I thought it well to perform myself that

night. As I came down the stairs I saw Mary herself at the side

window of the hall, which she closed and fastened as I approached.

" 'Tell me, dad,' said she, looking, I thought, a little dis-

turbed, 'did you give Lucy, the maid, leave to go out to-night?'

" 'Certainly not.'

" 'She came in just now by the back door. I have no doubt

that she has only been to the side gate to see someone, but I

think that it is hardly safe and should be stopped.'

" 'You must speak to her in the morning, or I will if you

prefer it. Are you sure that everything is fastened?'

" 'Quite sure. dad.'

" 'Then. good-night.' I kissed her and went up to my bed-

room again, where I was soon asleep.

"I am endeavouring to tell you everything, Mr. Holmes,

which may have any bearing upon the case, but I beg that you

will question me upon any point which I do not make clear."

"On the contrary, your statement is singularly lucid."

"I come to a part of my story now in which I should wish to

be particularly so. I am not a very heavy sleeper, and the anxiety

in my mind tended, no doubt, to make me even less so than

usual. About two in the morning. then, I was awakened by some

sound in the house. It had ceased ere I was wide awake, but it

had left an impression behind it as though a window had gently

closed somewhere. I lay listening with all my ears. Suddenly, to

my horror. there was a distinct sound of footsteps moving softly

in the next room. I slipped out of bed, all palpitating with fear,

and peeped round the comer of my dressing-room door.

" 'Arthur!' I screamed, 'you villain! you thief! How dare you

touch that coronet?'

"The gas was half up, as I had left it, and my unhappy boy,

dressed only in his shirt and trousers, was standing beside the

light, holding the coronet in his hands. He appeared to be

wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At my cry he

dropped it from his grasp and turned as pale as death. I snatched

it up and examined it. One of the gold corners, with three of the

beryls in it, was missing.

" 'You blackguard!' I shouted, beside myself with rage. 'You

have destroyed it! You have dishonoured me forever! Where are

the jewels which you have stolen?'

" 'Stolen!' he cried.

" 'Yes, thief!' I roared, shaking him by the shoulder.

" 'There are none missing. There cannot be any missing,'

said he.

" 'There are three missing. And you know where they are.

Must I call you a liar as well as a thief? Did I not see you trying

to tear off another piece?'

" 'You have called me names enough,' said he, 'I will not

stand it any longer. I shall not say another word about this

business, since you have chosen to insult me. I will leave your

house in the moming and make my own way in the world.'

" 'You shall leave it in the hands of the police!' I cried

half-mad with grief and rage. 'I shall have this matter probed to

the bottom.'

" 'You shall learn nothing from me,' said he with a passion

such as I should not have thought was in his nature. 'If you

choose to call the police, let the police find what they can.'

"By this time the whole house was astir, for I had raised my

voice in my anger. Mary was the first to rush into my room, and,

at the sight of the coronet and of Arthur's face, she read the

whole story and, with a scream. fell down senscless on the

ground. I sent the house-maid for the police and put the investi-

gation into their hands at once. When the inspector and a consta-

ble entered the house, Arthur, who had stood sullenly with his

arms folded, asked me whether it was my intention to charge

him with theft. I answered that it had ceased to be a private

matter, but had become a public one, since the ruined coronet

was national property. I was determined that the law should have

its way in everything.

" 'At least,' said he, 'you will not have me arrested at once.

It would be to your advantage as well as mine if I might leave

the house for five minutes.'

" 'That you may get away, or perhaps that you may conceal

what you have stolen,' said I. And then, realizing the dreadful

position in which I was placed, I implored him to remember that

not only my honour but that of one who was far greater than I

was at stake; and that he threatened to raise a scandal which

would convulse the nation. He might avert it all if he would but

tell me what he had done with the three missing stones.

" 'You may as well face the matter,' said I; 'you have been

caught in the act, and no confession could make your guilt more

heinous. If you but make such reparation as is in your power, by

telling us where the beryls are, all shall be forgiven and forgotten.'

" 'Keep your forgiveness for those who ask for it,' he an-

swered, turning away from me with a sneer. I saw that he was

too hardened for any words of mine to influence him. There was

but one way for it. I called in the inspector and gave him into

custody. A search was made at once not only of his person but of

his room and-of every portion of the house where he could

possibly have concealed the gems; but no trace of them could be

found, nor would the wretched boy open his mouth for all our

persuasions and our threats. This morning he was removed to a

cell, and I, after going through all the police formalities, have

hurried round to you to implore you to use your skill in unravel-

ling the matter. The police have openly confessed that they can

at present make nothing of it. You may go to any expense which

you think necessary. I have already offered a reward of lOOO pounds.

My God, what shall I do! I have lost my honour, my gems, and

my son in one night. Oh, what shall I do!"

He put a hand on either side of his head and rocked himself to

and fro, droning to himself like a child whose grief has got

beyond words.

Sherlock Holmes sat silent for some few minutes. with his

brows knitted and his eyes fixed upon the fire.

"Do you receive much company?" he asked.

"None save my partner with his family and an occasional

friend of Arthur's. Sir George Burnwell has been several times

lately. No one else, I think."

"Do you go out much in society?"

"Arthur does. Mary and I stay at home. We neither of us care

for it."

"That is unusual in a young girl."

"She is of a quiet nature. Besides, she is not so very young.

She is four-and-twenty."

"This matter, from what you say, seems to have been a shock

to her also."

"Terrible! She is even more affected than I."

"You have neither of you any doubt as to your son's guilt?"

"How can we have when I saw him with my own eyes with

the coronet in his hands."

"I hardly consider that a conclusive proof. Was the remainder

of the coronet at all injured?"

"Yes, it was twisted."

"Do you not think, then, that he might have been trying to

straighten it?"

"God bless you! You are doing what you can for him and for

me. But it is too heavy a task. What was he doing there at all? If

his purpose were innocent, why did he not say so?"

"Precisely. And if it were guilty, why did he not invent a lie?

His silence appears to me to cut both ways. There are several

singular points about the case. What did the police think of the

noise which awoke you from your sleep?"

"They considered that it might be caused by Arthur's closing

his bedroom door."

"A likely story! As if a man bent on felony would slam his

door so as to wake a household. What did they say, then, of the

disappearance of these gems?"

"They are still sounding the planking and probing the furni-

ture in the hope of finding them."

"Have they thought of looking outside the house?"

"Yes, they have shown extraordinary energy. The whole gar-

den has already been minutely examined."

"Now, my dear sir," said Holmes. "is it not obvious to you

now that this matter really strikes very much deeper than either

you or the police were at first inclined to think? It appeared to

you to be a simple case; to me it seems exceedingly complex.

Consider what is involved by your theory. You suppose that your

son came down from his bed, went. at great risk, to your

dressing-room, opened your bureau, took out your coronet, broke

otf by main force a small portion of it, went off to some other

place, concealed three gems out of the thirty-nine. with such

skill that nobody can find them, and then returned with the other

thirty-six into the room in which he exposed himself to the

greatest danger of being discovered. I ask you now, is such a

theory tenable?"

"But what other is there?" cried the banker with a gesture of

despair. "If his motives were innocent, why does he not explain

them?"

"It is our task to find that out," replied Holmes; "so now, if

you please, Mr. Holder, we will set off for Streatham together,

and devote an hour to glancing a little more closely into details."

My friend insisted upon my accompanying them in their expe-

dition, which I was eager enough to do, for my curiosity and

sympathy were deeply stirred by the story to which we had

listened. I confess that the guilt of the banker's son appeared to

me to be as obvious as it did to his unhappy father, but still I had

such faith in Holmes's judgment that I felt that there must be

some grounds for hope as long as he was dissatisfied with the

accepted explanation. He hardly spoke a word the whole way out

to the southern suburb, but sat with his chin upon his breast and

his hat drawn over his eyes, sunk in the deepest thought. Our

client appeared to have taken fresh heart at the little glimpse of

hope which had been presented to him, and he even broke into a

desultory chat with me over his business affairs. A short railway

journey and a shorter walk brought us to Fairbank, the modest

residence of the great financier.