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Keeping commissioner on hospital board lends accountability
The joint board that will run the eventual Haywood Regional Medical Center-WestCare affiliation needs to have a sitting Haywood County commissioner as a permanent member, as one Haywood County commissioner is now suggesting.
Commissioner Mark Swanger worries that the interest of Haywood County's citizens — who own the buildings and property at HRMC — could be compromised if a commissioner is not on the new joint board. HRMC now operates as a public hospital, and most of its dealings are subjected to the state's open meetings laws. The new venture with Carolina's HealthCare System will form a private nonprofit, entitling citizens to very little knowledge about the decisionmaking process.
Swanger's reasoning makes good sense: "While I don't doubt the motives of anyone involved in this now, 10 years from now we will have an entirely different cast of characters, so counting on the trust issue is not good business in my view. I think a commissioner needs to be part of the operating agreement so the citizens who have the financial investment in the physical plant of Haywood Regional are property represented."
There's little doubt among those who have been following the affiliation of WestCare and HRMC that the board members from both hospitals are working with the best interests of their communities at heart. The driving force here is to provide three communities — Haywood, Jackson and Swain counties — with stronger, better delivery of health care services for many years into the future.
What if, however, some kind of cataclysm occurs at Carolina's HealthCare and its smaller entities become expendable or begin to be treated as mere profit centers for certain types of specialized care rather than as stand-alone hospitals? Or if a future CEO from Charlotte begins to make decisions without regard to citizens in this region?
The kind of scenario described above is not likely to occur, and we would hope that the board members from this region — whomever they are — would stand up for our citizens. But county commissioners — and most elected officials — typically operate from a different mindset because at any monthly meeting they face reminders that they serve the public's interest, whether it is someone complaining about taxes or a neighborhood group seeking help about barking dogs disrupting the peace.
This one is easy. Citizens in Haywood County — and those of Jackson and Swain, for that matter — would have another measure of confidence in this affiliation if a county commissioner gets a seat at the table.


text: BRITAIN – The Official Magazine is the perfect choice for everyone with a thirst to know more about Britain's rich history and traditions. Each issue is a glorious surprise, packed with tales of kings and queens, heroes and villains and the tales behind our castles and cathedrals, stately homes and gardens, countryside and coastline. With photography that makes you yearn to be there and stories that whet the appetite for more, BRITAIN reveals what there is to be discovered, whilst offering all you could ever want to know about our vibrant island nation.

subset: commoncrawl


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Why office workers are hiding out in meeting rooms
In the evolving workplace, some spaces aren't being used as intended
Meeting rooms have become more important than ever, a consequence of the rise of the open-plan office.
But chances are that, at least in most offices, they're frequently not being used for meetings.
In the hubbub of a modern workday, meeting rooms have become a place of refuge, with a recent study showing that they are routinely occupied by just one person.
"We see it often," says Michael Taggart, Head of Digital Solutions, Australia, JLL.
"Rooms that are never booked in the system but are constantly occupied. That's people making a call, finding space to focus on a task, or getting away from a noisy office."
The discovery paints a compelling picture about what workers are craving from their office environment: private space.
"In a nutshell, workers need a place to retreat," Taggart says. "Right now, if they're going to stay in the office, that's usually a meeting room."
Learning what people want
In the current raging battleground for talent, providing an office where people want to work each day has become paramount. Businesses that invest heavily in the employee experience are 11.5 times more likely to appear on employer review site Glassdoor's Best Places to Work List, according to Harvard Business Review.
There is also a clear commercial imperative. By eliminating just four interruptions a day, employees could increase productivity by US$9 million a year, according to the whitepaper In Search of Intelligent Space. By optimising their workplace, an organisation could save US$1m a year, or accommodate another 250 people without adding real estate, typically a business's biggest cost.
The meeting-room study by sensor company Density – which monitored 60 meeting rooms over six-months and crunched more than 10,000 hours of data – found that just one person was using meeting rooms 36 percent of the time. It also found that 40 percent of meetings had between two and four people; and the capacity of smaller rooms was exceeded twice as often as rooms designed for five to seven people.
When global healthcare firm, MSD, monitored usage of three large training rooms in its Australian office, similar revelations led the company to convert one of the rooms into workstations to accommodate a growing headcount.
While large meeting rooms are probably unnecessary most of the time, there's no such thing as one-size-fits-all, Taggart says.
"The meeting room demands of a government organisation might be very different from a financial one, and those demands could be different again across their own business units," he says. "But at the end of day, if a workers' only option to take a call is to leave the building because there are no appropriate spaces, business will find they have an issue of productivity on their hands, and this cannot be separated from the performance of an organisation."
Gather the data
For businesses, the only way to accurately know what kind of rooms and how many, will adequately accommodate their workforce, is to gather data. Though no single source – including digital room booking systems, or sensors – will provide all the required information.
A booking system for example, won't tell you when a room has been vacated early. A sensor won't tell you who has booked a room and for how many people.
"If you are only looking at one data stream, then you are only getting half the story," Taggart says. "Essentially you want to know, is a room being used? Is there a corresponding booking? How many people are using the room? And for how long?"
Design and dynamics
If there was any question over the influence of design on peoples' behaviours, consider Taggart's anecdote about the office where the 10-person meeting room was the only one consistently occupied. The reason, it turns out, had nothing to do with the size of the space, but the fact that it was the only meeting room with frosted glass.
"Every other room felt like you were sitting in a fishbowl," Taggart says.
Installing booths made from sound-dampening technology can fix this. Many offices are now using these booths as a cost effective way to provide their staff with a place for unplanned meetings, to make a call, or eat their lunch.
Meanwhile, retractable walls between meeting rooms makes them adaptable to various group sizes, while also optimising valuable commercial space, says Alan McKay, Head of Project & Development Services, Victoria, JLL.
"The rise of flexible working, mobile working, and the sheer pace that workplace dynamics are changing, means fixed elements such as walls and furniture barely feature in any new workplaces these days. The office has to mould around the people that use it, and from one month to the next, that can shift pretty dramatically," McKay says.


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Have you ever thought about how hard your bus driver works? They might make the job look like it's just tootling around all day, but bus drivers have to work hard, be constantly alert, and perform their duties with a smile.
Here are some of the ways bus drivers do an amazing job:
They Keep You Safe
According to research done in the EU, buses are the safest way to travel. They are even safer than walking! This is in large part due to the excellent training that bus drivers receive. They have to pass difficult knowledge and driving tests, take medical exams, and continue to take classes throughout their careers to improve their driving.
Most people have had the experience of driving the family car with the distractions of passengers talking or kids crying. Now imagine doing it with 30 passengers while handling a 40 foot, 27,000 pound vehicle! Bus drivers must be intensely focused at all times to keep you safe on the road.
They Drive in All Weather
Some people might choose to take the bus in the winter when the weather is bad so they don't have to drive. But the bus drivers are still driving in that nasty weather! Bus drivers work in rain, sleet, hail, snow, and high winds, at all times of day and night. Not only do they have to make sure their own driving is safe, slow, and careful, they have to watch out for other drivers who are going too fast for the conditions. People slide on the ice or pull right out in front of buses, and those buses don't stop on a dime! Bus drivers have to be extremely skilled to stay safe in winter weather conditions.
They're Usually on Time (and when they're not, it's usually for a good reason!)
Bus drivers do an excellent job of running their routes on time. Think about how difficult it is to time a trip. You've been to the same grocery store or friend's house or you kid's school dozens, maybe hundreds of times, but do you know exactly, down to the minute, how long it takes to get there? Most of us estimate, "Oh, it takes about 10 minutes," then when we hit a little traffic, we're 5 minutes late!
Bus drivers stay on track the majority of the time. It's frustrating when they are late, but consider the reasons. They may have had to help someone in a wheelchair get on or off the bus at the last stop. Maybe there was a car accident and they were held up in traffic. Maybe an elderly passenger took a long time fishing change out of her purse. Try to be patient with your bus driver when he or she is late, and consider all the times they have been on time despite constant fluctuations in the contributing factors.
Bus Drivers Deal with All Sorts of People
Sometimes passengers get angry at bus drivers for not having change, for fare increases or for being 30 seconds late. Sometimes passengers are intoxicated and acting rowdy. Some passengers harass other passengers, threaten other passengers or the driver, or bring weapons on the bus. Bus drivers deal with all of this in a professional and firm, yet kind manner. They have to make judgement calls about allowing potentially troublesome passengers on the bus and how to handle rule violations like standing in the front of the bus, and they have to do it in such a way that does not escalate a possibly dangerous situation.
Bus Drivers Do It All With a Smile
Even on less eventful days, bus drivers have to deal with hundreds of people in a polite and professional manner. They say "hello" and "good morning" and "have a nice day" dozens of times. They patiently help an elderly passenger up the steps, give a lollypop to an upset child, and listen to that one passenger's story about his cats for the 300th time. They remember the names and the faces and the usual stops of their regular passengers, and they help new passengers figure out the transit map. And they do it all with a smile!
On this Transit Driver Appreciation Day, AddTransit wants to say THANK YOU to all the bus drivers around the world for doing their job well, keeping their passengers safe, and providing excellent customer service!
If you'd like a special way to say thank you to your bus driver, check out the Transit Driver Appreciation Day website. They have thank you cards you can print. You can also use the #tdad hashtag on social media and tag your bus or public transit company.


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Situational Awareness
With the constant emergence of new display technologies in the consumer sector, it is important for program managers and engineers in the military markets to be aware of which and how several of these advances can be incorporated into new military programs to achieve maximum benefit.
Additionally, as older programs present themselves for technological refreshes, it is imperative to understand the difference in display specifications from previous decades, and how updated technology provides avenues for their evolution and continued progress.
It is no secret that the amount of data available to today's warfighter is staggering. With the number of sources for data ever increasing, from new and more advanced Tactical Data Links, improved mapping and terrain data to advanced weather depiction it becomes even more important to have new and better human interface technology so the information can be quickly digested and decisions be made and acted on.
Modern user terminals have high resolution displays with many enhancements for interfacing with this data. Major trends such as touch screens and enhanced pointing devices, gesture support, biometric authentication and voice recognition are ways to interact with data quickly and securely.
The transition from cathode ray tube displays to early thin film transistor liquid crystal displays occurred rapidly across myriad industries, and the military was no exception. Terminals with multiple display screens, like the three-screen display shown in Figure 1, are seeing transit case deployment in environments where their larger predecessors would never have been taken. The advantages of smaller overall size and decreased power consumption made the transfer an obvious upgrade for a military with a continued focus on rapid tactical capabilities. Current advances in display technology have seen the mass availability of ultra-high-definition (UHD) and 4K displays, and their subsequent hardening for deployment in mobile military use.
The adoption of new technology is rarely without missteps, however. The rugged requirements for deployed electronics quickly shone a light on the weaknesses of many of the early consumer-grade displays and their unsuitability for in-theater use. Environmental and rugged packaging considerations aside, many of the requirements for outdoor display visibility weren't met in early LCD panels. Under the diffuse fluorescent lights of an indoor office, there are no problems with visibility of on-screen information, but the backlight levels and light polarization in displays that were designed for indoor office use weren't equipped for the harsher lighting of outdoor environments or compatible with night-vision optics.
The term "sunlight readable" is one phrase that has become popular when referring to displays which incorporate enhancements to off-the-shelf panels to make them more useful in delivering information to the user in adverse lighting conditions, but is hardly specific in describing HOW the display is made readable. Enhancements to a base panel could come in any number of different treatments. Anti-reflective (AR) cover glass, polarizing films, and increased backlight output all serve to make on-screen information more visible to the viewer, but it is important to make note of the fact that while often used interchangeably, a "sunlight readable display" and a "high-bright display" do not always mean the same thing.
A straightforward increase in backlight intensity does not necessarily improve the viewing experience in a bright environment. Even without modification to backlight brightness, dramatic increases to the visibility of outdoor displays can be effected by the proper application of AR coatings and circular polarizing films. These enhancements serve to remove ambient light that is counterproductive to the display on the screen, as well as to adjust the light polarity where it is most functional to the user. Of course, both of these treatments can be applied to a high-bright panel for optimal harsh-environment visibility, as well.
Creating a high-bright display by changing the LED backlight strings in a display panel is a very straightforward and common upgrade that often fits into the same mechanical envelope as the base panel. This simple modification can increase the light output from a panel's native 300 cd/m2 brightness to 1000 – 2000 cd/m2 or greater. Off the shelf display solutions incorporating these panels are becoming ever-more-ubiquitous in the market, with many manufacturers offering high-bright versions of their standard rugged display product offerings, providing a straightforward solution for military and industrial customers who are working in field environments.
On the alternate range of the spectrum, a similar LED string replacement can equip the identical base panel used in a high-bright modification for use as an NVIS compatible display by changing the LEDs on the backlight strings to versions which are compatible with NVIS optics. Some manufacturers are even offering panels that have NVIS compatibility and sunlight readability in the same panels, as seen in the ruggedized 21.5-inch display in Figure 2. As the volume of information available continues to increase at an exponential rate, display panel manufacturers are continuing to find ways to present the data on displays engineered for a variety of harsh environments.
While engineering displays to work in specific environments is one way of getting reliable information to its intended recipients, advancements in display technology are not only improving the quality of the information being delivered, but the very nature of the delivery mechanism. It is no secret that increased display resolution has been a primary focus of every display manufacturer. Cell phone devotees and home theater aficionados have seen the rise of LCD panel resolution increase from XGA (1024 x 768) to High-Definition (1920 x 1080) to 4K-UHD (3840 x 2160) displays and beyond, and the requirements for ultra-high-definition displays in military environments is increasing alongside the consumer market at a similar pace.
Large format rugged displays, frequently installed in shipboard applications, are taking advantage of the increased resolution available on large screens to provide more room for more information as well as enhanced clarity of the displayed data. As the information being presented has shifted – from simple alphanumeric text data and low-resolution two-dimensional images to broadcast quality surveillance video and three-dimensional terrain maps – giving tactical advantage in real-time has become a priority for military display functionality. Having higher resolution displays to support it greatly aids in this goal.
No longer content with two dimensional displays, stereoscopic and hologram display technology is on the rise, allowing for presentation of visual data in novel ways. Stereoscopic 3D (S3D) displays take advantage of the binocular disparity of the left and right eyes by sending alternate images to each eye, creating the illusion of a three-dimensional image. This has been true since the first generation of S3D displays, but new methods which combine the temporal and spatial interlacing of images based on color and temporal interlacing looks to improve on early technology, and more importantly how it interfaces with the human eye, to create a more seamless three-dimensional image for the viewer.
Technological advancements in displays have provided the ability to deliver a higher quality product upstream as well. Video interfaces beyond the classic analog-RGB and DVI connections have gained traction in military space where greater fidelity and resolution than standard HD video can provide are required, or when the requirements for multiple displays to run simultaneously are required. One video interface that offers improved functionality when compared to traditional VGA, DVI or HDMI video interfaces are Serial Digital Interfaces.
While classical serial-digital-interfaces (SDI) have been available for nearly 30 years, increased display and digital camera resolutions have required new standards with higher transfer speeds. Original HD-SDI connections provided nominal transfer rates of 1.485 Gb/s, but currently available 3G-SDI interfaces have double that speed, meaning that a single 3G-SDI connection can replace dual-link HD-SDI. These data transfer speeds allow for a large amount of uncompressed and unencrypted video data streams, allowing for true broadcast quality video signals to be displayed on any properly equipped display panel through a simple BNC connector, as seen in the rear panel connections of the high-definition display shown in Figure 3.
In one typical example, a camera payload on a military reconnaissance airplane had multiple video feeds that were being transmitted wirelessly to a ground control station, but were also required to be displayed on CP Technologies' CPX1-201 displays in the cabin of the airplane for review by flight crew personnel. Providing 3G-SDI functionality in the displays allowed viewing of uncompressed video from the payload cameras without interruption of the feed to the ground control station. Looking forward to the future, the standards for 6G-SDI and 12G-SDI, offering double and quadruple the data transfer speeds of 3G-SDI, have been published by the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE). As adoption of updated standards increases and more products come to market which are capable of supporting them, the availability of lossless video transfer in high resolution imaging will be seen in many tech refreshes of existing imaging systems.
With the ability to transmit and display the wealth of available information to warfighters in any number of different scenarios, it logically follows that the methods of interacting with displays and data are going through changes as well. Touchscreens that were once relegated to kiosk and industrial automation lines have found their way into the phones in everyone's pockets, as well as onto larger format displays on Navy vessels and in aircraft. The number of different touch-capable devices has increased along with the ways of interacting with them. Touchscreen communication and gesture support has grown to include multiple different technologies, including Glass-Film-Glass Resistive Touch, Projected Capacitance with 10-Point Multi-Touch, InfraRed Multi-Touch, and Gesture Recognition, for example.
With advances and enhancements in not only technologies which are intrinsic to displays, but to those which accompany them as well, the presentation of information is becoming increasingly more affective, provided that the correct choices are made when specifying the system. Selecting the correct combination of display attributes for each soldier's application can seem a daunting task when presented with the number of available options in today's off-the-shelf military marketplace. Ultimately, the proper selection of displays for each use is going to be dependent on several factors driven largely by the environment in which the display will be used, the type of data required to be displayed, and the requirements for how the user will interface with the displayed data.


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Hitting fan experience out of the ball park
Korean professional baseball team kt wiz uses customized marketing and data visualization to keep the stadium filled
In the sports world, fan engagement is everything. It drives ticket sales, keeps the seats filled and brings patrons back for more.
After being promoted to Korea's premier baseball league in 2015 – just two years after founding the franchise – kt wiz got off to a terrific start, on and off the field. The team had the most wins and largest audience of any new team in the division during its first season. To build on that success, kt wiz deployed SAS® Visual Analytics to monitor the effectiveness of its marketing campaigns and deepen customer engagement.
A fan experience powered by technology
"From a marketing perspective, our priority is to enhance fan experience and increase game attendance," says Han Woo Je, kt wiz Marketing Manager. "The enthusiasm and cheering from our fans motivates the players, improves the team's performance and ultimately increases the revenue of the team."
kt wiz has a reputation built on cutting-edge technology to please patrons. Fans can:
- Book and pay for tickets from their mobile devices.
- Enter the stadium by scanning their e-tickets from their smartphones.
- Use the stadium's gigabyte Wi-Fi to get online and share photos and messages directly from the game.
- Get personalized, beacon-based push notifications about team updates, seating information, promotions and more.
With the vast amount of data it was amassing from fans, kt wiz chose SAS Visual Analytics to handle the team's large data sets. Now, marketers can examine multiple variables in real time and share visually engaging results and reports to different stakeholders.
"We wanted to analyze the behavior patterns of our game attendees – such as changes in time of ticketing, time of entrance and preferred seats – to quickly identify the execution rates, accuracy and success rates of our marketing campaigns," Han says.
Win or lose, we always do our best to give our fans memorable moments, and SAS Visual Analytics helps us accomplish that.
Han Woo Je
Marketing Manager
Big data analytics at marketers' fingertips
With SAS Visual Analytics, kt wiz marketers can set up self-service reports without having to involve an IT expert or analyst. The interactive reports can be quickly modified to meet business needs and easily share insights. And with the mobile BI benefits of SAS Visual Analytics, the marketing team can explore data anytime, anywhere.
"We can analyze fan experience from various angles and determine how to better connect with our patrons," Han says. For instance, kt wiz uses SAS Visual Analytics to strengthen its Legend Members loyalty program, where fans who attend 20 home games achieve the Legend Member distinction and are eligible for free tickets and upgrades. "Now we can automatically identify a patron who has visited 19 times and notify them that they can become a Legend Member by visiting just once more," Han explains.
SAS Visual Analytics also enables kt wiz to strategically manage benefits. For example, the team sends fans offers for free tickets to increase visiting rates on slow days, and encourages members who have not used their benefits to visit in August and September when there are fewer attendees.
kt wiz also uses SAS to see the effectiveness of marketing campaigns. After a campaign, the team uses SAS Visual Analytics to check the execution and connecting rates, and see how many tickets were redeemed. For example, if ticket use rate is low after a campaign, the system automatically follows up with second campaign. But if the use rate does not improve after that, no further campaigns are carried out.
"By quickly and easily putting a variety of variables into a web-based analytic environment, we've come to have insight that we've never known or predicted before," Han says. "Now we can organize our campaigns more effectively, and we can analyze a huge amount of data in a short period of time without investing large sums of money."
Though kt wiz is a relatively new team, its winning strategy of fan engagement gives it a unique advantage. "When someone attends a kt wiz baseball game, we want them to have a fantastic experience and feel connected to the team," Han says. "Win or lose, we always do our best to give our fans memorable moments, and SAS Visual Analytics helps us accomplish that."
Improve fan experience and game attendance through a customized marketing approach.
- Ability to analyze game attendees' behavior patterns to quickly identify execution rates, accuracy and success rates of marketing campaigns.
- Marketers can set up self-service reports without involving IT experts or analysts.
- Visually engaging reports and results can be shared via computer, tablet or smartphone.
- Patrons benefit from enhanced loyalty programs, customized offers and other perks like free tickets and upgrades.


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Background and Procedural InformationOn December 4, 2006 Assemblymember Curren Price and Fabian Nunez introduced California Assembly Constitutional Amendment 1(CA A.C.A. 1). As of July 22, 2008 the Bill has not advanced out of a California Assembly Committee.
Under the proposed legislation, are single-member districts a requirement or otherwise implied?
Single-member districts are a requirement for the State Assembly, Senate, Congress, and Board of Equalization.
Does the proposed legislation provide for Voting Rights Act compliance (e.g. can the commission use voter history information)?
Yes. Voter history and registration and other relevant data may be considered in order to meet compliance.
Under the proposed legislation, how is the commission formed?
The Constitutional Amendment would give California redistricting authority to an expanded version of the Milton Marks "Little Hoover" Commission. The Little Hoover Commission is an already existing bi-partisan committee that serves the California State Government Organization and Economy. It has nine public members and four legislative members. The nine public members are composed of four members of the largest party of California, four members from the second largest political party in California, one member appointed by the governor who is not a member of either of the two largest parties.
The public members of the Little Hoover Commission would then appoint two additional members not belonging to the two largest political parties. This enlarged commission would make redistricting decisions. Approving a final map would require eight yes vote, with 3 yes votes coming from each of the members of the two largest political parties.
Under the proposed legislation, are competitive districts favored?
No. Competitive Districts are not favored.
Under the proposed legislation, can members of the public submit plans?
No. Members of the public can participate in several public forums. After the commission proposes and distributes the initial plan and maps then the public has 30 days to comment.
Does the proposed legislation allow for mid-decade redistricting?
The plan does not allow for the expenditure of funds after the final redistricting plan is adopted. This would appear to limit any attempts to implement a mid-decade redistricting.


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$35.00 – $48.00
Ah, the carnival. Must. Have. Cotton Candy. Cupcake.
Available in pink or blue!
We're located in Fairfax, Virginia and deliver our Cupcakes, balloons and more in Northern VA and the DC area: Aldie, Annandale, Arlington, Alexandria, Ashburn, Bristow, Burke, Chantilly, Clifton, Centreville, Fairfax, Fairfax Station, Falls Church, Gainesville (parts), Great Falls, Haymarket (parts), Herndon, Manassas (parts), Mclean, Oakton, Reston, Springfield, Sterling, South Riding, Tysons, Vienna and Washington DC. Don't see the area you're looking for? Let us know! We may be able to do it!
We deliver to schools and universities including George Mason University, and to hospitals as well including Inova Fairfax, Inova Fair Oaks, Virginia Hospital Center Arlington and Inova Alexandria!
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To Our
We've got a fresh new look! Our redesigned website is here to make your experience as sweet as possible.


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Playing at DIVA art gallery, Eugene, Oregon, USA. 7pm Fri. Jan. 23 and Sat. Jan. 24, 2008. 110 W. Broadway. Tickets $5 at the door.
SQUEEGEE BANDIT feature documentary New Zealand 75 min.
Starfish is a Mäori man who survives by washing car windows at intersections on the mean streets of South Auckland, New Zealand. He's a born hustler with an extreme personality-magnetic charisma, infectious humour, and a vicious temper. SQUEEGEE BANDIT follows Starfish's struggles through nine months, three cars, two women, thirty residences, three weeks of homelessness, a hundred run-ins with the cops, one court date, a kilo of marijuana, a closet full of skeletons, finding God and the Zen of window washing.
"" (four stars) --Peter Caler, New Zealand Herald "" (four stars) --Aaron Yap, Sunday Star-Times "It is the most extraordinary movie." --Kim Hill, Radio New Zealand


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The Adventure of The Abbey Grange : The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
The Adventure of The Abbey Grange
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Adventure XII. The Abbey Grange
Vol. 28 SEPTEMBER, 1904
By ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE.
The Adventure of The Abbey Grange.
It was on a bitterly cold and frosty morning during the winter of '97 that I was awakened by a tugging at my shoulder. It was Holmes. The candle in his hand shone upon his eager, stooping face and told me at a glance that something was amiss.
"Come, Watson, come!" he cried. "The game is afoot. Not a word! Into your clothes and come!"
Ten minutes later we were both in a cab and rattling through the silent streets on our way to Charing Cross Station. The first faint winter's dawn was beginning to appear, and we could dimly see the occasional figure of an early workman as he passed us, blurred and indistinct in the opalescent London reek. Holmes nestled in silence into his heavy coat, and I was glad to do the same, for the air was most bitter and neither of us had broken our fast. It was not until we had consumed some hot tea at the station, and taken our places in the Kentish train, that we were sufficiently thawed, he to speak and I to listen. Holmes drew a note from his pocket and read it aloud:—
"Abbey Grange, Marsham, Kent, "3.30 a.m.
"MY DEAR MR. HOLMES,—I should be very glad of your immediate assistance in what promises to be a most remarkable case.
It is something quite in your line. Except for releasing the lady I will see that everything is kept exactly as I have found it, but I beg you not to lose an instant, as it is difficult to leave Sir Eustace there.
"Yours faithfully, STANLEY HOPKINS."
"Hopkins has called me in seven times, and on each occasion his summons has been entirely justified," said Holmes. "I fancy that every one of his cases has found its way into your collection, and I must admit, Watson, that you have some power of selection which atones for much which I deplore in your narratives. Your fatal habit of looking at everything from the point of view of a story instead of as a scientific exercise has ruined what might have been an instructive and even classical series of demonstrations. You slur over work of the utmost finesse and delicacy in order to dwell upon sensational details which may excite, but cannot possibly instruct, the reader."
"Why do you not write them yourself?" I said, with some bitterness.
"I will, my dear Watson, I will. At present I am, as you know, fairly busy, but I propose to devote my declining years to the composition of a text-book which shall focus the whole art of detection into one volume. Our present research appears to be a case of murder."
"You think this Sir Eustace is dead, then?"
"I should say so. Hopkins's writing shows considerable agitation, and he is not an emotional man. Yes, I gather there has been violence, and that the body is left for our inspection. A mere suicide would not have caused him to send for me. As to the release of the lady, it would appear that she has been locked in her room during the tragedy. We are moving in high life, Watson; crackling paper, 'E.B.' monogram, coat-of-arms, picturesque address. I think that friend Hopkins will live up to his reputation and that we shall have an interesting morning. The crime was committed before twelve last night."
"How can you possibly tell?"
"By an inspection of the trains and by reckoning the time. The local police had to be called in, they had to communicate with Scotland Yard, Hopkins had to go out, and he in turn had to send for me. All that makes a fair night's work. Well, here we are at Chislehurst Station, and we shall soon set our doubts at rest."
A drive of a couple of miles through narrow country lanes brought us to a park gate, which was opened for us by an old lodge-keeper, whose haggard face bore the reflection of some great disaster. The avenue ran through a noble park, between lines of ancient elms, and ended in a low, widespread house, pillared in front after the fashion of Palladio. The central part was evidently of a great age and shrouded in ivy, but the large windows showed that modern changes had been carried out, and one wing of the house appeared to be entirely new. The youthful figure and alert, eager face of Inspector Stanley Hopkins confronted us in the open doorway.
"I'm very glad you have come, Mr. Holmes. And you too, Dr. Watson! But, indeed, if I had my time over again I should not have troubled you, for since the lady has come to herself she has given so clear an account of the affair that there is not much left for us to do. You remember that Lewisham gang of burglars?"
"What, the three Randalls?"
"Exactly; the father and two sons. It's their work. I have not a doubt of it. They did a job at Sydenham a fortnight ago, and were seen and described. Rather cool to do another so soon and so near, but it is they, beyond all doubt. It's a hanging matter this time."
"Sir Eustace is dead, then?"
"Yes; his head was knocked in with his own poker."
"Sir Eustace Brackenstall, the driver tells me."
"Exactly—one of the richest men in Kent. Lady Brackenstall is in the morning-room. Poor lady, she has had a most dreadful experience. She seemed half dead when I saw her first. I think you had best see her and hear her account of the facts. Then we will examine the dining-room together."
Lady Brackenstall was no ordinary person. Seldom have I seen so graceful a figure, so womanly a presence, and so beautiful a face. She was a blonde, golden-haired, blue-eyed, and would, no doubt, have had the perfect complexion which goes with such colouring had not her recent experience left her drawn and haggard. Her sufferings were physical as well as mental, for over one eye rose a hideous, plum-coloured swelling, which her maid, a tall, austere woman, was bathing assiduously with vinegar and water. The lady lay back exhausted upon a couch, but her quick, observant gaze as we entered the room, and the alert expression of her beautiful features, showed that neither her wits nor her courage had been shaken by her terrible experience. She was enveloped in a loose dressing-gown of blue and silver, but a black sequin-covered dinner-dress was hung upon the couch beside her.
"I have told you all that happened, Mr. Hopkins," she said, wearily; "could you not repeat it for me? Well, if you think it necessary, I will tell these gentlemen what occurred. Have they been in the dining-room yet?"
"I thought they had better hear your ladyship's story first."
"I shall be glad when you can arrange matters. It is horrible to me to think of him still lying there." She shuddered and buried her face in her hands. As she did so the loose gown fell back from her forearms. Holmes uttered an exclamation.
"You have other injuries, madam! What is this?" Two vivid red spots stood out on one of the white, round limbs. She hastily covered it.
"It is nothing. It has no connection with the hideous business of last night. If you and your friend will sit down I will tell you all I can.
"I am the wife of Sir Eustace Brackenstall. I have been married about a year. I suppose that it is no use my attempting to conceal that our marriage has not been a happy one. I fear that all our neighbours would tell you that, even if I were to attempt to deny it. Perhaps the fault may be partly mine. I was brought up in the freer, less conventional atmosphere of South Australia, and this English life, with its proprieties and its primness, is not congenial to me. But the main reason lies in the one fact which is notorious to everyone, and that is that Sir Eustace was a confirmed drunkard. To be with such a man for an hour is unpleasant. Can you imagine what it means for a sensitive and high-spirited woman to be tied to him for day and night? It is a sacrilege, a crime, a villainy to hold that such a marriage is binding. I say that these monstrous laws of yours will bring a curse upon the land—Heaven will not let such wickedness endure." For an instant she sat up, her cheeks flushed, and her eyes blazing from under the terrible mark upon her brow. Then the strong, soothing hand of the austere maid drew her head down on to the cushion, and the wild anger died away into passionate sobbing. At last she continued:—
"I will tell you about last night. You are aware, perhaps, that in this house all servants sleep in the modern wing. This central block is made up of the dwelling-rooms, with the kitchen behind and our bedroom above. My maid Theresa sleeps above my room. There is no one else, and no sound could alarm those who are in the farther wing. This must have been well known to the robbers, or they would not have acted as they did.
"Sir Eustace retired about half-past ten. The servants had already gone to their quarters. Only my maid was up, and she had remained in her room at the top of the house until I needed her services. I sat until after eleven in this room, absorbed in a book. Then I walked round to see that all was right before I went upstairs. It was my custom to do this myself, for, as I have explained, Sir Eustace was not always to be trusted. I went into the kitchen, the butler's pantry, the gun-room, the billiard-room, the drawing-room, and finally the dining-room. As I approached the window, which is covered with thick curtains, I suddenly felt the wind blow upon my face and realized that it was open. I flung the curtain aside and found myself face to face with a broad-shouldered, elderly man who had just stepped into the room. The window is a long French one, which really forms a door leading to the lawn. I held my bedroom candle lit in my hand, and, by its light, behind the first man I saw two others, who were in the act of entering. I stepped back, but the fellow was on me in an instant. He caught me first by the wrist and then by the throat. I opened my mouth to scream, but he struck me a savage blow with his fist over the eye, and felled me to the ground. I must have been unconscious for a few minutes, for when I came to myself I found that they had torn down the bell-rope and had secured me tightly to the oaken chair which stands at the head of the dining-room table. I was so firmly bound that I could not move, and a handkerchief round my mouth prevented me from uttering any sound. It was at this instant that my unfortunate husband entered the room. He had evidently heard some suspicious sounds, and he came prepared for such a scene as he found. He was dressed in his shirt and trousers, with his favourite blackthorn cudgel in his hand. He rushed at one of the burglars, but another—it was the elderly man—stooped, picked the poker out of the grate, and struck him a horrible blow as he passed. He fell without a groan, and never moved again. I fainted once more, but again it could only have been a very few minutes during which I was insensible. When I opened my eyes I found that they had collected the silver from the sideboard, and they had drawn a bottle of wine which stood there. Each of them had a glass in his hand. I have already told you, have I not, that one was elderly, with a beard, and the others young, hairless lads. They might have been a father with his two sons. They talked together in whispers. Then they came over and made sure that I was still securely bound. Finally they withdrew, closing the window after them. It was quite a quarter of an hour before I got my mouth free. When I did so my screams brought the maid to my assistance. The other servants were soon alarmed, and we sent for the local police, who instantly communicated with London. That is really all that I can tell you, gentlemen, and I trust that it will not be necessary for me to go over so painful a story again."
"Any questions, Mr. Holmes?" asked Hopkins.
"I will not impose any further tax upon Lady Brackenstall's patience and time," said Holmes. "Before I go into the dining-room I should like to hear your experience." He looked at the maid.
"I saw the men before ever they came into the house," said she. "As I sat by my bedroom window I saw three men in the moonlight down by the lodge gate yonder, but I thought nothing of it at the time. It was more than an hour after that I heard my mistress scream, and down I ran, to find her, poor lamb, just as she says, and him on the floor with his blood and brains over the room. It was enough to drive a woman out of her wits, tied there, and her very dress spotted with him; but she never wanted courage, did Miss Mary Fraser of Adelaide, and Lady Brackenstall of Abbey Grange hasn't learned new ways. You've questioned her long enough, you gentlemen, and now she is coming to her own room, just with her old Theresa, to get the rest that she badly needs."
With a motherly tenderness the gaunt woman put her arm round her mistress and led her from the room.
"She has been with her all her life," said Hopkins. "Nursed her as a baby, and came with her to England when they first left Australia eighteen months ago. Theresa Wright is her name, and the kind of maid you don't pick up nowadays. This way, Mr. Holmes, if you please!"
The keen interest had passed out of Holmes's expressive face, and I knew that with the mystery all the charm of the case had departed. There still remained an arrest to be effected, but what were these commonplace rogues that he should soil his hands with them? An abstruse and learned specialist who finds that he has been called in for a case of measles would experience something of the annoyance which I read in my friend's eyes. Yet the scene in the dining-room of the Abbey Grange was sufficiently strange to arrest his attention and to recall his waning interest.
It was a very large and high chamber, with carved oak ceiling, oaken panelling, and a fine array of deer's heads and ancient weapons around the walls. At the farther end from the door was the high French window of which we had heard. Three smaller windows on the right-hand side filled the apartment with cold winter sunshine. On the left was a large, deep fireplace, with a massive, over-hanging oak mantelpiece. Beside the fireplace was a heavy oaken chair with arms and cross-bars at the bottom. In and out through the open woodwork was woven a crimson cord, which was secured at each side to the crosspiece below. In releasing the lady the cord had been slipped off her, but the knots with which it had been secured still remained. These details only struck our attention afterwards, for our thoughts were entirely absorbed by the terrible object which lay upon the tiger-skin hearthrug in front of the fire.
It was the body of a tall, well-made man, about forty years of age. He lay upon his back, his face upturned, with his white teeth grinning through his short black beard. His two clenched hands were raised above his head, and a heavy blackthorn stick lay across them. His dark, handsome, aquiline features were convulsed into a spasm of vindictive hatred, which had set his dead face in a terribly fiendish expression. He had evidently been in his bed when the alarm had broken out, for he wore a foppish embroidered night-shirt, and his bare feet projected from his trousers. His head was horribly injured, and the whole room bore witness to the savage ferocity of the blow which had struck him down. Beside him lay the heavy poker, bent into a curve by the concussion. Holmes examined both it and the indescribable wreck which it had wrought.
"He must be a powerful man, this elder Randall," he remarked.
"Yes," said Hopkins. "I have some record of the fellow, and he is a rough customer."
"You should have no difficulty in getting him."
"Not the slightest. We have been on the look-out for him, and there was some idea that he had got away to America. Now that we know the gang are here I don't see how they can escape. We have the news at every seaport already, and a reward will be offered before evening. What beats me is how they could have done so mad a thing, knowing that the lady could describe them, and that we could not fail to recognise the description."
"Exactly. One would have expected that they would have silenced Lady Brackenstall as well."
"They may not have realized," I suggested, "that she had recovered from her faint."
"That is likely enough. If she seemed to be senseless they would not take her life. What about this poor fellow, Hopkins? I seem to have heard some queer stories about him."
"He was a good-hearted man when he was sober, but a perfect fiend when he was drunk, or rather when he was half drunk, for he seldom really went the whole way. The devil seemed to be in him at such times, and he was capable of anything. From what I hear, in spite of all his wealth and his title, he very nearly came our way once or twice. There was a scandal about his drenching a dog with petroleum and setting it on fire—her ladyship's dog, to make the matter worse—and that was only hushed up with difficulty. Then he threw a decanter at that maid, Theresa Wright; there was trouble about that. On the whole, and between ourselves, it will be a brighter house without him. What are you looking at now?"
Holmes was down on his knees examining with great attention the knots upon the red cord with which the lady had been secured. Then he carefully scrutinized the broken and frayed end where it had snapped off when the burglar had dragged it down.
"When this was pulled down the bell in the kitchen must have rung loudly," he remarked.
"No one could hear it. The kitchen stands right at the back of the house."
"How did the burglar know no one would hear it? How dared he pull at a bell-rope in that reckless fashion?"
"Exactly, Mr. Holmes, exactly. You put the very question which I have asked myself again and again. There can be no doubt that this fellow must have known the house and its habits. He must have perfectly understood that the servants would all be in bed at that comparatively early hour, and that no one could possibly hear a bell ring in the kitchen. Therefore he must have been in close league with one of the servants. Surely that is evident. But there are eight servants, and all of good character."
"Other things being equal," said Holmes, "one would suspect the one at whose head the master threw a decanter. And yet that would involve treachery towards the mistress to whom this woman seems devoted. Well, well, the point is a minor one, and when you have Randall you will probably find no difficulty in securing his accomplice. The lady's story certainly seems to be corroborated, if it needed corroboration, by every detail which we see before us." He walked to the French window and threw it open. "There are no signs here, but the ground is iron hard, and one would not expect them. I see that these candles on the mantelpiece have been lighted."
"Yes; it was by their light and that of the lady's bedroom candle that the burglars saw their way about."
"And what did they take?"
"Well, they did not take much—only half-a-dozen articles of plate off the sideboard. Lady Brackenstall thinks that they were themselves so disturbed by the death of Sir Eustace that they did not ransack the house as they would otherwise have done."
"No doubt that is true. And yet they drank some wine, I understand."
"To steady their own nerves."
"Exactly. These three glasses upon the sideboard have been untouched, I suppose?"
"Yes; and the bottle stands as they left it."
"Let us look at it. Halloa! halloa! what is this?"
The three glasses were grouped together, all of them tinged with wine, and one of them containing some dregs of bees-wing. The bottle stood near them, two-thirds full, and beside it lay a long, deeply-stained cork. Its appearance and the dust upon the bottle showed that it was no common vintage which the murderers had enjoyed.
A change had come over Holmes's manner. He had lost his listless expression, and again I saw an alert light of interest in his keen, deep-set eyes. He raised the cork and examined it minutely.
"How did they draw it?" he asked.
Hopkins pointed to a half-opened drawer. In it lay some table linen and a large cork-screw.
"Did Lady Brackenstall say that screw was used?"
"No; you remember that she was senseless at the moment when the bottle was opened."
"Quite so. As a matter of fact that screw was NOT used. This bottle was opened by a pocket-screw, probably contained in a knife, and not more than an inch and a half long. If you examine the top of the cork you will observe that the screw was driven in three times before the cork was extracted. It has never been transfixed. This long screw would have transfixed it and drawn it with a single pull. When you catch this fellow you will find that he has one of these multiplex knives in his possession."
"Excellent!" said Hopkins.
"But these glasses do puzzle me, I confess. Lady Brackenstall actually SAW the three men drinking, did she not?"
"Yes; she was clear about that."
"Then there is an end of it. What more is to be said? And yet you must admit that the three glasses are very remarkable, Hopkins. What, you see nothing remarkable! Well, well, let it pass. Perhaps when a man has special knowledge and special powers like my own it rather encourages him to seek a complex explanation when a simpler one is at hand. Of course, it must be a mere chance about the glasses. Well, good morning, Hopkins. I don't see that I can be of any use to you, and you appear to have your case very clear. You will let me know when Randall is arrested, and any further developments which may occur. I trust that I shall soon have to congratulate you upon a successful conclusion. Come, Watson, I fancy that we may employ ourselves more profitably at home."
During our return journey I could see by Holmes's face that he was much puzzled by something which he had observed. Every now and then, by an effort, he would throw off the impression and talk as if the matter were clear, but then his doubts would settle down upon him again, and his knitted brows and abstracted eyes would show that his thoughts had gone back once more to the great dining-room of the Abbey Grange in which this midnight tragedy had been enacted. At last, by a sudden impulse, just as our train was crawling out of a suburban station, he sprang on to the platform and pulled me out after him.
"Excuse me, my dear fellow," said he, as we watched the rear carriages of our train disappearing round a curve; "I am sorry to make you the victim of what may seem a mere whim, but on my life, Watson, I simply CAN'T leave that case in this condition. Every instinct that I possess cries out against it. It's wrong—it's all wrong—I'll swear that it's wrong. And yet the lady's story was complete, the maid's corroboration was sufficient, the detail was fairly exact. What have I to put against that? Three wine-glasses, that is all. But if I had not taken things for granted, if I had examined everything with the care which I would have shown had we approached the case DE NOVO and had no cut-and-dried story to warp my mind, would I not then have found something more definite to go upon? Of course I should. Sit down on this bench, Watson, until a train for Chislehurst arrives, and allow me to lay the evidence before you, imploring you in the first instance to dismiss from your mind the idea that anything which the maid or her mistress may have said must necessarily be true. The lady's charming personality must not be permitted to warp our judgment.
"Surely there are details in her story which, if we looked at it in cold blood, would excite our suspicion. These burglars made a considerable haul at Sydenham a fortnight ago. Some account of them and of their appearance was in the papers, and would naturally occur to anyone who wished to invent a story in which imaginary robbers should play a part. As a matter of fact, burglars who have done a good stroke of business are, as a rule, only too glad to enjoy the proceeds in peace and quiet without embarking on another perilous undertaking. Again, it is unusual for burglars to operate at so early an hour; it is unusual for burglars to strike a lady to prevent her screaming, since one would imagine that was the sure way to make her scream; it is unusual for them to commit murder when their numbers are sufficient to overpower one man; it is unusual for them to be content with a limited plunder when there is much more within their reach; and finally I should say that it was very unusual for such men to leave a bottle half empty. How do all these unusuals strike you, Watson?"
"Their cumulative effect is certainly considerable, and yet each of them is quite possible in itself. The most unusual thing of all, as it seems to me, is that the lady should be tied to the chair."
"Well, I am not so clear about that, Watson; for it is evident that they must either kill her or else secure her in such a way that she could not give immediate notice of their escape. But at any rate I have shown, have I not, that there is a certain element of improbability about the lady's story? And now on the top of this comes the incident of the wine-glasses."
"What about the wine-glasses?"
"Can you see them in your mind's eye?"
"I see them clearly."
"We are told that three men drank from them. Does that strike you as likely?"
"Why not? There was wine in each glass."
"Exactly; but there was bees-wing only in one glass. You must have noticed that fact. What does that suggest to your mind?"
"The last glass filled would be most likely to contain bees-wing."
"Not at all. The bottle was full of it, and it is inconceivable that the first two glasses were clear and the third heavily charged with it. There are two possible explanations, and only two. One is that after the second glass was filled the bottle was violently agitated, and so the third glass received the bees-wing. That does not appear probable. No, no; I am sure that I am right."
"What, then, do you suppose?"
"That only two glasses were used, and that the dregs of both were poured into a third glass, so as to give the false impression that three people had been here. In that way all the bees-wing would be in the last glass, would it not? Yes, I am convinced that this is so. But if I have hit upon the true explanation of this one small phenomenon, then in an instant the case rises from the commonplace to the exceedingly remarkable, for it can only mean that Lady Brackenstall and her maid have deliberately lied to us, that not one word of their story is to be believed, that they have some very strong reason for covering the real criminal, and that we must construct our case for ourselves without any help from them. That is the mission which now lies before us, and here, Watson, is the Chislehurst train."
The household of the Abbey Grange were much surprised at our return, but Sherlock Holmes, finding that Stanley Hopkins had gone off to report to head-quarters, took possession of the dining-room, locked the door upon the inside, and devoted himself for two hours to one of those minute and laborious investigations which formed the solid basis on which his brilliant edifices of deduction were reared. Seated in a corner like an interested student who observes the demonstration of his professor, I followed every step of that remarkable research. The window, the curtains, the carpet, the chair, the rope—each in turn was minutely examined and duly pondered. The body of the unfortunate baronet had been removed, but all else remained as we had seen it in the morning. Then, to my astonishment, Holmes climbed up on to the massive mantelpiece. Far above his head hung the few inches of red cord which were still attached to the wire. For a long time he gazed upward at it, and then in an attempt to get nearer to it he rested his knee upon a wooden bracket on the wall. This brought his hand within a few inches of the broken end of the rope, but it was not this so much as the bracket itself which seemed to engage his attention. Finally he sprang down with an ejaculation of satisfaction.
"It's all right, Watson," said he. "We have got our case—one of the most remarkable in our collection. But, dear me, how slow-witted I have been, and how nearly I have committed the blunder of my lifetime! Now, I think that with a few missing links my chain is almost complete."
"You have got your men?"
"Man, Watson, man. Only one, but a very formidable person. Strong as a lion—witness the blow that bent that poker. Six foot three in height, active as a squirrel, dexterous with his fingers; finally, remarkably quick-witted, for this whole ingenious story is of his concoction. Yes, Watson, we have come upon the handiwork of a very remarkable individual. And yet in that bell-rope he has given us a clue which should not have left us a doubt."
"Where was the clue?"
"Well, if you were to pull down a bell-rope, Watson, where would you expect it to break? Surely at the spot where it is attached to the wire. Why should it break three inches from the top as this one has done?"
"Because it is frayed there?"
"Exactly. This end, which we can examine, is frayed. He was cunning enough to do that with his knife. But the other end is not frayed. You could not observe that from here, but if you were on the mantelpiece you would see that it is cut clean off without any mark of fraying whatever. You can reconstruct what occurred. The man needed the rope. He would not tear it down for fear of giving the alarm by ringing the bell. What did he do? He sprang up on the mantelpiece, could not quite reach it, put his knee on the bracket—you will see the impression in the dust—and so got his knife to bear upon the cord. I could not reach the place by at least three inches, from which I infer that he is at least three inches a bigger man than I. Look at that mark upon the seat of the oaken chair! What is it?"
"Undoubtedly it is blood. This alone puts the lady's story out of court. If she were seated on the chair when the crime was done, how comes that mark? No, no; she was placed in the chair AFTER the death of her husband. I'll wager that the black dress shows a corresponding mark to this. We have not yet met our Waterloo, Watson, but this is our Marengo, for it begins in defeat and ends in victory. I should like now to have a few words with the nurse Theresa. We must be wary for awhile, if we are to get the information which we want."
She was an interesting person, this stern Australian nurse. Taciturn, suspicious, ungracious, it took some time before Holmes's pleasant manner and frank acceptance of all that she said thawed her into a corresponding amiability. She did not attempt to conceal her hatred for her late employer.
"Yes, sir, it is true that he threw the decanter at me. I heard him call my mistress a name, and I told him that he would not dare to speak so if her brother had been there. Then it was that he threw it at me. He might have thrown a dozen if he had but left my bonny bird alone. He was for ever ill-treating her, and she too proud to complain. She will not even tell me all that he has done to her. She never told me of those marks on her arm that you saw this morning, but I know very well that they come from a stab with a hat-pin. The sly fiend—Heaven forgive me that I should speak of him so, now that he is dead, but a fiend he was if ever one walked the earth. He was all honey when first we met him, only eighteen months ago, and we both feel as if it were eighteen years. She had only just arrived in London. Yes, it was her first voyage—she had never been from home before. He won her with his title and his money and his false London ways. If she made a mistake she has paid for it, if ever a woman did. What month did we meet him? Well, I tell you it was just after we arrived. We arrived in June, and it was July. They were married in January of last year. Yes, she is down in the morning-room again, and I have no doubt she will see you, but you must not ask too much of her, for she has gone through all that flesh and blood will stand."
Lady Brackenstall was reclining on the same couch, but looked brighter than before. The maid had entered with us, and began once more to foment the bruise upon her mistress's brow.
"I hope," said the lady, "that you have not come to cross-examine me again?"
"No," Holmes answered, in his gentlest voice, "I will not cause you any unnecessary trouble, Lady Brackenstall, and my whole desire is to make things easy for you, for I am convinced that you are a much-tried woman. If you will treat me as a friend and trust me you may find that I will justify your trust."
"What do you want me to do?"
"To tell me the truth."
"Mr. Holmes!"
"No, no, Lady Brackenstall, it is no use. You may have heard of any little reputation which I possess. I will stake it all on the fact that your story is an absolute fabrication."
Mistress and maid were both staring at Holmes with pale faces and frightened eyes.
"You are an impudent fellow!" cried Theresa. "Do you mean to say that my mistress has told a lie?"
Holmes rose from his chair.
"Have you nothing to tell me?"
"I have told you everything."
"Think once more, Lady Brackenstall. Would it not be better to be frank?"
For an instant there was hesitation in her beautiful face. Then some new strong thought caused it to set like a mask.
"I have told you all I know."
Holmes took his hat and shrugged his shoulders. "I am sorry," he said, and without another word we left the room and the house. There was a pond in the park, and to this my friend led the way. It was frozen over, but a single hole was left for the convenience of a solitary swan. Holmes gazed at it and then passed on to the lodge gate. There he scribbled a short note for Stanley Hopkins and left it with the lodge-keeper.
"It may be a hit or it may be a miss, but we are bound to do something for friend Hopkins, just to justify this second visit," said he. "I will not quite take him into my confidence yet. I think our next scene of operations must be the shipping office of the Adelaide-Southampton line, which stands at the end of Pall Mall, if I remember right. There is a second line of steamers which connect South Australia with England, but we will draw the larger cover first."
Holmes's card sent in to the manager ensured instant attention, and he was not long in acquiring all the information which he needed. In June of '95 only one of their line had reached a home port. It was the ROCK OF GIBRALTAR, their largest and best boat. A reference to the passenger list showed that Miss Fraser of Adelaide, with her maid, had made the voyage in her. The boat was now on her way to Australia, somewhere to the south of the Suez Canal. Her officers were the same as in '95, with one exception. The first officer, Mr. Jack Croker, had been made a captain and was to take charge of their new ship, the BASS ROCK, sailing in two days' time from Southampton. He lived at Sydenham, but he was likely to be in that morning for instructions, if we cared to wait for him.
No; Mr. Holmes had no desire to see him, but would be glad to know more about his record and character.
His record was magnificent. There was not an officer in the fleet to touch him. As to his character, he was reliable on duty, but a wild, desperate fellow off the deck of his ship, hot-headed, excitable, but loyal, honest, and kind-hearted. That was the pith of the information with which Holmes left the office of the Adelaide-Southampton company. Thence he drove to Scotland Yard, but instead of entering he sat in his cab with his brows drawn down, lost in profound thought. Finally he drove round to the Charing Cross telegraph office, sent off a message, and then, at last, we made for Baker Street once more.
"No, I couldn't do it, Watson," said he, as we re-entered our room. "Once that warrant was made out nothing on earth would save him. Once or twice in my career I feel that I have done more real harm by my discovery of the criminal than ever he had done by his crime. I have learned caution now, and I had rather play tricks with the law of England than with my own conscience. Let us know a little more before we act."
Before evening we had a visit from Inspector Stanley Hopkins. Things were not going very well with him.
"I believe that you are a wizard, Mr. Holmes. I really do sometimes think that you have powers that are not human. Now, how on earth could you know that the stolen silver was at the bottom of that pond?"
"I didn't know it."
"But you told me to examine it."
"You got it, then?"
"Yes, I got it."
"I am very glad if I have helped you."
"But you haven't helped me. You have made the affair far more difficult. What sort of burglars are they who steal silver and then throw it into the nearest pond?"
"It was certainly rather eccentric behaviour. I was merely going on the idea that if the silver had been taken by persons who did not want it, who merely took it for a blind as it were, then they would naturally be anxious to get rid of it."
"But why should such an idea cross your mind?"
"Well, I thought it was possible. When they came out through the French window there was the pond, with one tempting little hole in the ice, right in front of their noses. Could there be a better hiding-place?"
"Ah, a hiding-place—that is better!" cried Stanley Hopkins. "Yes, yes, I see it all now! It was early, there were folk upon the roads, they were afraid of being seen with the silver, so they sank it in the pond, intending to return for it when the coast was clear. Excellent, Mr. Holmes—that is better than your idea of a blind."
"Quite so; you have got an admirable theory. I have no doubt that my own ideas were quite wild, but you must admit that they have ended in discovering the silver."
"Yes, sir, yes. It was all your doing. But I have had a bad set-back."
"A set-back?"
"Yes, Mr. Holmes. The Randall gang were arrested in New York this morning."
"Dear me, Hopkins! That is certainly rather against your theory that they committed a murder in Kent last night."
"It is fatal, Mr. Holmes, absolutely fatal. Still, there are other gangs of three besides the Randalls, or it may be some new gang of which the police have never heard."
"Quite so; it is perfectly possible. What, are you off?"
"Yes, Mr. Holmes; there is no rest for me until I have got to the bottom of the business. I suppose you have no hint to give me?"
"I have given you one."
"Well, I suggested a blind."
"But why, Mr. Holmes, why?"
"Ah, that's the question, of course. But I commend the idea to your mind. You might possibly find that there was something in it. You won't stop for dinner? Well, good-bye, and let us know how you get on."
Dinner was over and the table cleared before Holmes alluded to the matter again. He had lit his pipe and held his slippered feet to the cheerful blaze of the fire. Suddenly he looked at his watch.
"I expect developments, Watson."
"Now—within a few minutes. I dare say you thought I acted rather badly to Stanley Hopkins just now?"
"I trust your judgment."
"A very sensible reply, Watson. You must look at it this way: what I know is unofficial; what he knows is official. I have the right to private judgment, but he has none. He must disclose all, or he is a traitor to his service. In a doubtful case I would not put him in so painful a position, and so I reserve my information until my own mind is clear upon the matter."
"But when will that be?"
"The time has come. You will now be present at the last scene of a remarkable little drama."
There was a sound upon the stairs, and our door was opened to admit as fine a specimen of manhood as ever passed through it. He was a very tall young man, golden-moustached, blue-eyed, with a skin which had been burned by tropical suns, and a springy step which showed that the huge frame was as active as it was strong. He closed the door behind him, and then he stood with clenched hands and heaving breast, choking down some overmastering emotion.
"Sit down, Captain Croker. You got my telegram?"
Our visitor sank into an arm-chair and looked from one to the other of us with questioning eyes.
"I got your telegram, and I came at the hour you said. I heard that you had been down to the office. There was no getting away from you. Let's hear the worst. What are you going to do with me? Arrest me? Speak out, man! You can't sit there and play with me like a cat with a mouse."
"Give him a cigar," said Holmes. "Bite on that, Captain Croker, and don't let your nerves run away with you. I should not sit here smoking with you if I thought that you were a common criminal, you may be sure of that. Be frank with me, and we may do some good. Play tricks with me, and I'll crush you."
"What do you wish me to do?"
"To give me a true account of all that happened at the Abbey Grange last night—a TRUE account, mind you, with nothing added and nothing taken off. I know so much already that if you go one inch off the straight I'll blow this police whistle from my window and the affair goes out of my hands for ever."
The sailor thought for a little. Then he struck his leg with his great, sun-burned hand.
"I'll chance it," he cried. "I believe you are a man of your word, and a white man, and I'll tell you the whole story. But one thing I will say first. So far as I am concerned I regret nothing and I fear nothing, and I would do it all again and be proud of the job. Curse the beast, if he had as many lives as a cat he would owe them all to me! But it's the lady, Mary—Mary Fraser—for never will I call her by that accursed name. When I think of getting her into trouble, I who would give my life just to bring one smile to her dear face, it's that that turns my soul into water. And yet—and yet—what less could I do? I'll tell you my story, gentlemen, and then I'll ask you as man to man what less could I do.
"I must go back a bit. You seem to know everything, so I expect that you know that I met her when she was a passenger and I was first officer of the ROCK OF GIBRALTAR. From the first day I met her she was the only woman to me. Every day of that voyage I loved her more, and many a time since have I kneeled down in the darkness of the night watch and kissed the deck of that ship because I knew her dear feet had trod it. She was never engaged to me. She treated me as fairly as ever a woman treated a man. I have no complaint to make. It was all love on my side, and all good comradeship and friendship on hers. When we parted she was a free woman, but I could never again be a free man.
"Next time I came back from sea I heard of her marriage. Well, why shouldn't she marry whom she liked? Title and money—who could carry them better than she? She was born for all that is beautiful and dainty. I didn't grieve over her marriage. I was not such a selfish hound as that. I just rejoiced that good luck had come her way, and that she had not thrown herself away on a penniless sailor. That's how I loved Mary Fraser.
"Well, I never thought to see her again; but last voyage I was promoted, and the new boat was not yet launched, so I had to wait for a couple of months with my people at Sydenham. One day out in a country lane I met Theresa Wright, her old maid. She told me about her, about him, about everything. I tell you, gentlemen, it nearly drove me mad. This drunken hound, that he should dare to raise his hand to her whose boots he was not worthy to lick! I met Theresa again. Then I met Mary herself—and met her again. Then she would meet me no more. But the other day I had a notice that I was to start on my voyage within a week, and I determined that I would see her once before I left. Theresa was always my friend, for she loved Mary and hated this villain almost as much as I did. From her I learned the ways of the house. Mary used to sit up reading in her own little room downstairs. I crept round there last night and scratched at the window. At first she would not open to me, but in her heart I know that now she loves me, and she could not leave me in the frosty night. She whispered to me to come round to the big front window, and I found it open before me so as to let me into the dining-room. Again I heard from her own lips things that made my blood boil, and again I cursed this brute who mishandled the woman that I loved. Well, gentlemen, I was standing with her just inside the window, in all innocence, as Heaven is my judge, when he rushed like a madman into the room, called her the vilest name that a man could use to a woman, and welted her across the face with the stick he had in his hand. I had sprung for the poker, and it was a fair fight between us. See here on my arm where his first blow fell. Then it was my turn, and I went through him as if he had been a rotten pumpkin. Do you think I was sorry? Not I! It was his life or mine, but far more than that it was his life or hers, for how could I leave her in the power of this madman? That was how I killed him. Was I wrong? Well, then, what would either of you gentlemen have done if you had been in my position?"
"She had screamed when he struck her, and that brought old Theresa down from the room above. There was a bottle of wine on the sideboard, and I opened it and poured a little between Mary's lips, for she was half dead with the shock. Then I took a drop myself. Theresa was as cool as ice, and it was her plot as much as mine. We must make it appear that burglars had done the thing. Theresa kept on repeating our story to her mistress, while I swarmed up and cut the rope of the bell. Then I lashed her in her chair, and frayed out the end of the rope to make it look natural, else they would wonder how in the world a burglar could have got up there to cut it. Then I gathered up a few plates and pots of silver, to carry out the idea of a robbery, and there I left them with orders to give the alarm when I had a quarter of an hour's start. I dropped the silver into the pond and made off for Sydenham, feeling that for once in my life I had done a real good night's work. And that's the truth and the whole truth, Mr. Holmes, if it costs me my neck."
Holmes smoked for some time in silence. Then he crossed the room and shook our visitor by the hand.
"That's what I think," said he. "I know that every word is true, for you have hardly said a word which I did not know. No one but an acrobat or a sailor could have got up to that bell-rope from the bracket, and no one but a sailor could have made the knots with which the cord was fastened to the chair. Only once had this lady been brought into contact with sailors, and that was on her voyage, and it was someone of her own class of life, since she was trying hard to shield him and so showing that she loved him. You see how easy it was for me to lay my hands upon you when once I had started upon the right trail."
"I thought the police never could have seen through our dodge."
"And the police haven't; nor will they, to the best of my belief. Now, look here, Captain Croker, this is a very serious matter, though I am willing to admit that you acted under the most extreme provocation to which any man could be subjected. I am not sure that in defence of your own life your action will not be pronounced legitimate. However, that is for a British jury to decide. Meanwhile I have so much sympathy for you that if you choose to disappear in the next twenty-four hours I will promise you that no one will hinder you."
"And then it will all come out?"
"Certainly it will come out."
The sailor flushed with anger.
"What sort of proposal is that to make a man? I know enough of law to understand that Mary would be had as accomplice. Do you think I would leave her alone to face the music while I slunk away? No, sir; let them do their worst upon me, but for Heaven's sake, Mr. Holmes, find some way of keeping my poor Mary out of the courts."
Holmes for a second time held out his hand to the sailor.
"I was only testing you, and you ring true every time. Well, it is a great responsibility that I take upon myself, but I have given Hopkins an excellent hint, and if he can't avail himself of it I can do no more. See here, Captain Croker, we'll do this in due form of law. You are the prisoner. Watson, you are a British jury, and I never met a man who was more eminently fitted to represent one. I am the judge. Now, gentleman of the jury, you have heard the evidence. Do you find the prisoner guilty or not guilty?"
"Not guilty, my lord," said I.
"Vox populi, vox Dei. You are acquitted, Captain Croker. So long as the law does not find some other victim you are safe from me. Come back to this lady in a year, and may her future and yours justify us in the judgment which we have pronounced this night."


text:
White PLA filament for open source 3D Printers. High quality, constant diameter, bright constant colours for accurate repeatable prints. The filament comes on a plastic spool and is sealed in a plastic bag with desiccant and packaged in a box (sometimes we remove the filament from the box to fit everything into your parcel). Each spool is marked with the type of filament, the recommended printing temperature and the manufacturing batch number. We have a lot of confidence in the filament we supply, because we use it ourselves.
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