The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (Sherlock Holmes 4)

"With pleasure."

"You told me that you had bachelor quarters for one, and I see that youhave no gentleman visitor at present. Your hat-stand proclaims as much."

"I shall be delighted if you will stay."

"Thank you. I'll fill the vacant peg then. Sorry to see that you've hadthe British workman in the house. He's a token of evil. Not the drains,I hope?"

"No, the gas."

"Ah! He has left two nail-marks from his boot upon your linoleumjust where the light strikes it. No, thank you, I had some supper atWaterloo, but I'll smoke a pipe with you with pleasure."

I handed him my pouch, and he seated himself opposite to me and smokedfor some time in silence. I was well aware that nothing but businessof importance would have brought him to me at such an hour, so I waitedpatiently until he should come round to it.

"I see that you are professionally rather busy just now," said he,glancing very keenly across at me.

"Yes, I've had a busy day," I answered. "It may seem very foolish inyour eyes," I added, "but really I don't know how you deduced it."

Holmes chuckled to himself.

"I have the advantage of knowing your habits, my dear Watson," said he."When your round is a short one you walk, and when it is a long one youuse a hansom. As I perceive that your boots, although used, are byno means dirty, I cannot doubt that you are at present busy enough tojustify the hansom."

"Excellent!" I cried.

"Elementary," said he. "It is one of those instances where the reasonercan produce an effect which seems remarkable to his neighbor, becausethe latter has missed the one little point which is the basis of thededuction. The same may be said, my dear fellow, for the effect ofsome of these little sketches of yours, which is entirely meretricious,depending as it does upon your retaining in your own hands some factorsin the problem which are never imparted to the reader. Now, at presentI am in the position of these same readers, for I hold in this handseveral threads of one of the strangest cases which ever perplexed aman's brain, and yet I lack the one or two which are needful to completemy theory. But I'll have them, Watson, I'll have them!" His eyes kindledand a slight flush sprang into his thin cheeks. For an instant only.When I glanced again his face had resumed that red-Indian composurewhich had made so many regard him as a machine rather than a man.

"The problem presents features of interest," said he. "I may even sayexceptional features of interest. I have already looked into the matter,and have come, as I think, within sight of my solution. If you couldaccompany me in that last step you might be of considerable service tome."

"I should be delighted."

"Could you go as far as Aldershot to-morrow?"

"I have no doubt Jackson would take my practice."

"Very good. I want to start by the 11.10 from Waterloo."

"That would give me time."

"Then, if you are not too sleepy, I will give you a sketch of what hashappened, and of what remains to be done."

"I was sleepy before you came. I am quite wakeful now."

"I will compress the story as far as may be done without omittinganything vital to the case. It is conceivable that you may even haveread some account of the matter. It is the supposed murder of ColonelBarclay, of the Royal Munsters, at Aldershot, which I am investigating."

"I have heard nothing of it."

"It has not excited much attention yet, except locally. The facts areonly two days old. Briefly they are these:

"The Royal Munsters is, as you know, one of the most famous Irishregiments in the British army. It did wonders both in the Crimea and theMutiny, and has since that time distinguished itself upon every possibleoccasion. It was commanded up to Monday night by James Barclay,a gallant veteran, who started as a full private, was raised tocommissioned rank for his bravery at the time of the Mutiny, and solived to command the regiment in which he had once carried a musket.

"Colonel Barclay had married at the time when he was a sergeant, andhis wife, whose maiden name was Miss Nancy Devoy, was the daughter of aformer color-sergeant in the same corps. There was, therefore, as canbe imagined, some little social friction when the young couple (forthey were still young) found themselves in their new surroundings. Theyappear, however, to have quickly adapted themselves, and Mrs. Barclayhas always, I understand, been as popular with the ladies of theregiment as her husband was with his brother officers. I may add thatshe was a woman of great beauty, and that even now, when she has beenmarried for upwards of thirty years, she is still of a striking andqueenly appearance.

"Colonel Barclay's family life appears to have been a uniformly happyone. Major Murphy, to whom I owe most of my facts, assures me that hehas never heard of any misunderstanding between the pair. On the whole,he thinks that Barclay's devotion to his wife was greater than hiswife's to Barclay. He was acutely uneasy if he were absent from her fora day. She, on the other hand, though devoted and faithful, was lessobtrusively affectionate. But they were regarded in the regiment asthe very model of a middle-aged couple. There was absolutely nothing intheir mutual relations to prepare people for the tragedy which was tofollow.

"Colonel Barclay himself seems to have had some singular traits in hischaracter. He was a dashing, jovial old soldier in his usual mood,but there were occasions on which he seemed to show himself capableof considerable violence and vindictiveness. This side of his nature,however, appears never to have been turned towards his wife. Anotherfact, which had struck Major Murphy and three out of five of the otherofficers with whom I conversed, was the singular sort of depressionwhich came upon him at times. As the major expressed it, the smile hadoften been struck from his mouth, as if by some invisible hand, when hehas been joining the gayeties and chaff of the mess-table. For days onend, when the mood was on him, he has been sunk in the deepest gloom.This and a certain tinge of superstition were the only unusual traitsin his character which his brother officers had observed. The latterpeculiarity took the form of a dislike to being left alone, especiallyafter dark. This puerile feature in a nature which was conspicuouslymanly had often given rise to comment and conjecture.

"The first battalion of the Royal Munsters (which is the old 117th) hasbeen stationed at Aldershot for some years. The married officers liveout of barracks, and the Colonel has during all this time occupied avilla called Lachine, about half a mile from the north camp. The housestands in its own grounds, but the west side of it is not more thanthirty yards from the high-road. A coachman and two maids form thestaff of servants. These with their master and mistress were the soleoccupants of Lachine, for the Barclays had no children, nor was it usualfor them to have resident visitors.

"Now for the events at Lachine between nine and ten on the evening oflast Monday."