Season II Episode IV The Stockbroker’s Clerk

Transcript

Watson’s New Practice And Holmes’s Visit

SPEAKER_02 0:07

Sherlock Holmes Alone. Season two, Episode Four, The Stockbroker's Clerk.

SPEAKER_00 0:26

Shortly after his marriage, Watson had bought a medical practice in the Paddington district. Old Mr. Farquah, from whom he purchased it, had at one time an excellent general practice, but his age and an affliction of the nature of St. Vitus' dance from which he suffered had very much thinned it. The public, not unnaturally, goes on the principle that he who would heal others must himself be whole, and looks askance at the curative powers of the man whose own case is beyond the reach of his own drugs. Thus, as his predecessor weakened, his practice declined, until when Watson purchased it from him, it had sunk from twelve hundred to little more than three hundred a year. Watson, however, had great confidence in himself and in his own youth and energy, and was convinced that in a very few short years the concern would be as flourishing as ever. For three months after taking over the practice he was kept very, very close to work, and so I saw little of my friend. He was too busy to visit Baker Street. Therefore he was surprised when one morning in June, after breakfast, he heard a ring at the bell. He answered the door, holding a copy of the British Medical Journal. Ah, my dear Watson, I am so very delighted to see you. I trust that Mrs. Watson has entirely recovered from all the little excitements connected with our adventure of the Sinophore. Oh, Holmes. Oh thank you, yes. We are both very well. Do come in. It is delightful to see you as well. I took a seat in the rocking chair. And I hope also, Watson, that the cares of the medical practice have not entirely obliterated the interest which you used to take in our little deductive problems. Oh no, no, no, on the contrary, it was only last night that I was looking over my old notes and classifying some of our past results. I trust that you don't consider your collection closed. Oh not at all. I should wish nothing better than to have some more of such experiences. Today, for example?

SPEAKER_01 2:32

Well yes, today, if you like. And as far off as Birmingham. Certainly, if you wish it.

SPEAKER_00 2:39

And your practice? Well I take care of my neighbour's patients when he goes away. He's always ready to work off the debt. Ha! Nothing could be better. I do perceive, however, that you have been slightly unwell lately. Summer colds are always a little trying. I was confined to the house by a severe chill for three days last week. I thought, however, that I had cast off every trace of it. So you have, my dear Watson. You look remarkably robust. Well how then did you know of it?

The Client: Hall Pycroft’s Misfortune

SPEAKER_01 3:13

My dear fellow, you know my methods by now. Oh, you deduced it then? Certainly. And from what?

SPEAKER_00 3:22

From your slippers, Watson. Watson glanced down at the new patterned leathers which he was wearing. Well how on earth did you deduce anything from my slippers? Well your slippers are new, Watson. You could not have had them more than oh a few weeks, I'd say. The soles which you are at this very moment presenting to me are slightly scorched, and for a moment I thought they may have gotten wet, and had been burned in the drying process. But near the instep there is a small circular wafer of paper with a shop marker's hieroglyphics upon it. Damp would of course have removed this. You had then been sitting with your feet outstretched to the fire, which a man would hardly do even in so wet a June as this, if he were in his full health. Alas, I'm afraid I rather give myself away when I explain my process. Results without causes are much more impressive. You are ready to come to Birmingham then? Certainly, Holmes. What is the case? You shall hear it all on the train. My client is outside in a four wheeler. Can you come at once? Oh yes, of course, in an instant. Watson scribbled a note to his neighbour, rushed upstairs to explain the matter to his wife, and joined me upon the doorstep. I say Watson, your neighbour is a doctor. I nodded at the brass plate. Oh yes, yes, he bought a practice just as I did. An old established one? Just the same as mine. Both have been here ever since the houses were built. Ah, good. Then you got hold of the best of the two. Yes, I think I did, but how do you know? By the steps, my dear boy. Yours are worn three inches deeper than his. But this gentleman in the cab is my client, Mr Hall Pycroft.

SPEAKER_01 5:10

Allow me to introduce you to him. All right, driver, let's pick up the pace, for we have only just time to catch our train.

An Offer Too Good To Be True

SPEAKER_00 5:19

The man whom Watson found himself facing was a well built, fresh complexioned young fellow, with a frank, honest face, and a slight crisp yellow moustache. He wore a very shiny top hat and a neat suit of sober black, which made him look what he was, a smart young city man, of the class who have been labelled Cockneys, but who give us our crack volunteer regiments, and who turn out more fine athletes and sportsmen than any body of men in these islands. His round, ruddy face was naturally full of cheriness, but the corners of his mouth seemed to me to be pulled down in a half comical distress. It was not, however, until we were all in the first class carriage, and well started upon our journey to Birmingham, that Watson was able to learn what the trouble was which had driven him to seek my services. We have a clear run here of seventy minutes. I want you, Mr Hall Pycroft, to tell my friend here, Dr. Watson, the very interesting experience exactly as you have told it to me, or with more detail if possible. It will be of use to me to hear the succession of events again. It is a case, Watson, which may prove to have something in it, or may prove to have nothing, but which at least presents those unusual autre features which are as dear to you as they are to me. Now, Mr Pycroft, I shall not interrupt you again.

SPEAKER_01 6:43

Our young companion looked at me with a twinkle in his eye. The worst part of the story is that I show myself up as such a confounded fool. Of course, it may work out all right. And I don't see that I could have done anything otherwise. But if I have lost my crib and get nothing in exchange, I shall feel what a soft journey I've been.

SPEAKER_00 7:06

I'm not very good at telling a story, Dr. Watson, but it's like this with me. I used to have a billet at Coxson and Woodhouses of Draper's Gardens, but they were let in early in the spring through the Venezuelan loan, as you no doubt remember, and came a nasty cropper. I had been with him for five years, and old Croxton gave me a ripping good testimonial when the smash came. But of course we clerks were all turned adrift, the twenty seven of us. I tried here, tried there, but there were lots of other chaps in the same lay as myself, and it was a perfect frost for a long time. I've been taking three pounds a week at Croxton's, and I'd saved about seventy of 'em, but I soon worked my way through that and out the other ends. I was fairly at the end of my tether at last, and could only find the stamps to answer the advertisements or the envelopes to stick 'em to. I worn out me boots, paddling up office steps, and I seemed just as far from getting a billet as ever. At last I saw a vacancy at Mawson's and Williams, the great stockbroken firm in Lombard Street. I dare say EC is not much in your line, but I can tell you that this is about the richest house in London. The advertisement was to be answered by letter only. I sent in my testimonial and application, but without the least hope of getting it. Back came the answer by returns, saying that if I would appear next Monday, I might take over my new duties at once, provided that my appearance was satisfactory. No one knows how these things are worked, gentlemen. Some people say the manager just plunges his hand into the heap and takes the first one that comes. Anyhow, it was my innings that time, and I don't ever wish to feel better pleased. The screw was a pound of wheat raise, and the duties were just about the same at Croxton's. And now, gentlemen, I'll come to the queer part of the business. I was in Diggins out at Amsteadway, seventeen Potters Terrace. Well, I was sitting doing a smoke that very evening after I'd been promised the appointment, when up came the landlady with a card that had Arthur Pinner, financial agent printed upon it. I'd never heard the name before, and I could not imagine what he wanted with me, but of course, I asked her to show him up. In he walked, a middle sized, dark haired, dark eyed, black bearded man, with a touch of the sheen about his nose. He had a brisk kind of way with him, and he spoke sharply like a man who knew the value of time. Mr Hall Pycroft, I believe.

Birmingham’s Empty Offices And Odd Tasks

SPEAKER_01 9:33

Oh yes, sir. Lately engaged at Croxton's and Woodhouse. Yes, sir. And now on a staff of Morsons?

The Gold Filling That Breaks The Ruse

SPEAKER_00 9:42

Quite so. Well the fact is that I've heard some really extraordinary stories about your financial ability. You remember Parker, who used to be a Croxton's manager? He can never say enough about it. Of course I was pleased to hear this, gentlemen. I'd always been pretty sharp in the office, but I never dreamed that uh I was talked about in the city in this fashion. Have you a good memory, lad? Pretty fair, sir. Have you kept in touch with the market while you've been out of work? Yes, sir. I read the stock exchange list every morning. Now that shows real application. That is the way to prosper, young man. You won't mind my testing you, will you? Let me see. How are the Arishas? A hundred and six and a quarter to two hundred and five and seven eighths. And the New Zealand consolidated? A hundred and four. And the British broken hills. Seven two, seven and six. Wonderful, wonderful. This is quite quite wonderful, and it fits in with all that I've heard. My boy, my boy, you are very much too good to be a clerk at Marson's Well, other people don't think quite so much of me as you seem to do, Mr. Pinner. I had a hard enough fight to get this berth, and I'm very glad to have it. Poo, Pooh man! You should soar above it. You are not in your true sphere. Now, I'll tell you how it stands with me. What I have to offer is a little enough when measured by your ability, but when compared with Marsons, it's light to dark. Now let me see. When do you go down to Marson's? Oh a Monday, sir. Aha. I think I would risk a little sporting flutter that you don't go there at all. No, sir. By that day you will be the business manager of the Franco Midland Hardware Company Limited, with a hundred and thirty four branches in towns and villages all over France, not counting one in Brussels and one in San Remo. You take my breath away, Mr Pinner, but I'm afraid to say that I never heard of it. Very likely not. No, it has been kept very, very quiet, for the capital was all privately subscribed, and it's too good a thing to let the public into. My brother, Harry Pinner, is the promoter, and joins the board after an allotment as managing director. He knew I was in the swim down here and asked me to pick up a good man, cheap, a young pushing man with plenty of snap about him. Parker spoke of you, and that brought me here tonight. We can only offer you a baggardly five hundred to start with. Five hundred pounds a year, Mr. Pinner. Yes, yes, I'm afraid. Only at the beginning, though, you will have an overriding commission of one per cent on all business done by your agents, and you may take my word for it that this will come to more than your salary. But I know nothin' about hardware. Tut tut, my boy, you know figures. Well, gentlemen, my head buzzed, and I could hardly sit still in my chair, but suddenly a chill of doubt came upon me. Well, I must be frank with you, Mr. Pinner. Mawson only gives me two hundred, but Mawson is safe. Now really, I know so little about your company. Ah, yes, smart, smart. You are the very man for us. You are not to be talked over quite so easily, hmm, and quite right too. Now, here's a note for a hundred pounds, and if you think that we can do business, you may just slip that into your pocket as an advance upon your salary. But Mr Pinner, I know nothing about hardware.

SPEAKER_01 13:18

Tut tut, my boy, you know figures.

Setting The Trap For Mr Pinner

SPEAKER_00 13:21

My head buzzed, and I could hardly sit still in my chair, but suddenly a little chill of doubt came upon me. I must be frank with you, Mr Pinner. Morrison only gives me two hundred, but Morrison is safe. Now really, I know so little about your company. Ah, yes, yes, smart, smart. You are the very man for us. You are not to be talked over quite so easily, and quite right too. Now, here's a note for a hundred pounds, and if you think that we can do business, you may just slip that into your pocket as an advance upon your salary. Well, that is very handsome. Uh when should I take over my new duties? Be in Birmingham tomorrow at one. I have a note in my pocket here, which you will take to my brother. You will find him at one hundred twenty six B Corporation Street. That is where the temporary offices of the company are situated. Of course, he must confirm your engagement, but between ourselves it will be all right. Really, I I hardly know how to express my gratitude, Mr. Pinner. Not at all, my boy, not at all. You have only got your desserts. There are one or two small things, mere formalities, which I must arrange with you. But you have a bit of paper beside you there, yes. Kindly write upon it. I am perfectly willing to act as business manager to the Franco Midland Hardware Company Limited at a minimum salary of five hundred pounds. Well, gentlemen, I did as he asked, and he put the paper in his pocket. There is one other detail, Mr Pycroft. What do you intend to do about Marsons? Well, I've forgotten all about Marsons in my joy, mister Mr Holmes. Well well, Mr Pinner, I'll write and resign. Precisely what I don't want you to do. I had a row over you with Marson's manager. I'd gone down there to ask him about you, and he was very offensive. Accused me of coaxing you away from the service of the firm. And that sort of thing. At last I fairly lost my temper. If you want a good man, you should pay them a good price, I say. He would rather have a small price than your big one, pinner. Ha. Well, I'll lay you a fiver that when he has my offer, you'll never so much as hear from him again.

SPEAKER_01 15:40

Done! We picked him out of the gutter. And he won't leave us so easily. Those were his very words, Mr. Pycroft. Oh the impudent scoundrel. I've never so much as seen him in my life.

Panic, A Locked Door, And A Hanging

Holmes’s Handwriting Theory

The Newspaper Twist: Robbery At Mawson’s

Brothers, Guilt, And Calling The Police

SPEAKER_00 15:55

Why should I consider him in any way, Mr. Pinner? I shall certainly not write if you would rather I didn't. Good, good, that's a promise. Well, I'm delighted to have so good a man for my brother. Here's your advance of a hundred pounds, and here is the letter. Make a note of the address one hundred twenty six B Corporation Street, and remember that one o'clock tomorrow is your appointment. Good night, and may you have all the fortune that you deserve, Mr Pycroft. Well, gentlemen, that's just about all that passed between us, as near as I can remember. Well, you can imagine, Dr. Watson, how pleased I was at such an extraordinary bit of good fortune. I was set up half the night, hugging myself over it, and next day I was off to Birmingham in a train that would take me in plenty of time for my appointment. I took my things to a hotel in New Street, and then I made my way to the address which had been given me. It was a quarter of an hour before my time, but I thought that would make no difference. one hundred twenty six B was a passage between two large shops which led to a winding stone stair, from which there were many flats, led as offices to companies or professional men. The names of the occupants were painted at the bottom of the wall, but there was no such name as Franco Midland Hardware Company Limited. I stood for a few minutes with my heart in my boots, wondering whether the whole thing was an elaborate oaks or not, when up came a man and addressed me. He was very like the chap I'd seen the night before, the same figure in voice, but he was clean shaven, and his hair was lighter. Ah are you, Mr Hall Pycroft? Yes. Oh I was expecting you, but you are a trifle before your time. I had a note from my brother this morning in which he sang your praises very loudly. I was just looking for the officers when you came, sir. Yes, yes, we have not got our name up yet, for we only secured these temporary premises last week. Come up with me, and we will talk the matter over. I followed him to the top of a very lofty stair, and there, right under the slates, were a couple of empty, dusty little rooms, uncarpeted and uncurtained, into which he led me. I'd thought of a great office with shiny tables and rows of clerks, such as I was used to. And I dare say I stared rather straight at the two deal chairs and one little table, with a ledger and a waste paper basket that made up the whole furnishings. Ah now now, Mr Pycroft, do not be too disheartened. Rome was not built in a day, and we have lots of money at our backs, though we don't cut much dash and offices yet. Pray sit down, and let me have your letter. Well I gave it to him, and he read it over very, very carefully, gentlemen. Yes, you seem to have made a vast impression upon my brother Arthur. I know that he is a pretty shrewd judge of character. He swears by London, you know, and I by Birmingham. But this time I shall follow his advice. Pray, consider yourself definitely engaged. Well well what are my duties? Well, my boy, you will eventually manage the Great Depot in Paris, which will pour a flood of English crockery into the shops of a hundred and thirty four agents in France. The purchase will be completed in a week, and meanwhile you will remain here in Birmingham and make yourself useful. Well how? For answer he took a big red book out of a drawer. Now this is a directory of Paris with the trades after the names of the people. I want you to take it home with you and to mark off all the hardware sellers and their addresses. It will be of great use to me to have them. Surely they are a classified list, sir. No, no, no, we're not reliable ones. Their system is different from ours. Stick at it, and let me have the list by Monday, at twelve. Good day, Mr Pycroft. If you continue to show zeal and intelligence, you will find the company a good master. I went back to the hotel with the big book under my arm, and with very conflicting feelings in my heart. On the one hand I was definitely engaged and had a hundred pounds in my pocket. On the other, the look of the officers and the absence of a name on the wall, and all the other of the points which would strike a businessman had left a bad impression as to the position of my employers. However, come what might, I had my money. So I settled down to my task. All day Sunday I was kept hard at work, yet by Monday I'd only got as far as H. I went round to my employer, found him in the same dismantled kind of room, and was told to keep it up until Wednesday, and then come again. On Wednesday it was still unfinished, so I hammered away until Friday, that is yesterday. Then I brought it round to Mr Harry Pinner. Ah, thank you very much, Mr Pycroft. I fear that I underrated the difficulty of the task. This list will be of very material assistance to me. Well it did take some time, sir. And now I want you to make a list of all the furniture shops, for they all sell crockery as well. Very good, sir. And you can come up tomorrow evening at seven and let me know how you are getting on. Now don't overwork yourself. A couple of hours a day at music hall in the evening would do you no harm after your labours. Yes, one must make sure that one relaxes in the evenings. Haha yes, Mr Pycroft. Good to take it easy at times. Well, he laughed as he spoke, and I saw with a frill that his second tooth upon the left hand side had been very badly stuffed with gold. Hmm. I rubbed my hands with the light, and Watson stared with astonishment at our client. Well, you may look surprised, doctor Watson, but it is this way. When I was speaking to the other chap in London at the time that he laughed, am I not going to Morrison's I had Happened to notice that his tooth were stuffed in the very identical fashion. The glint of the gold in each case caught my eye, you see. When I put that with the voice and the figure behind the same, well only those two things altered which might be changed by a razor or a wig. I could not doubt that it was the same man. Of course, you expect two brothers to be alike, but not that they should have the same tooth stuffed in the same way. Well Mr Pinner bowed me out and I found myself in the street, hardly knowing whether I was on my head or my heels. Back I went to my hotel, I put my head in a basin of cold water, and I tried to think it out. Why had he sent me from London to Birmingham? Why had he got there before me? And why had he written a letter for himself to himself? It was altogether too much for me, and I could make no sense of it, and then suddenly it struck me that what was dark to me might be very light to Mr Sherlock Holmes. I had just time to get up to town by the night train to see him this morning, and to bring you both back with me to Birmingham. There was a pause after the stockbroker clerk had concluded his surprising experience. Tis rather fine, Watson, is it not? There are points in this case which please me. I think that you will agree with me that an interview with Mr Arthur Harry Pinner in the temporary offices of the Franco Midland Hardware Company Limited would be a rather interesting experience for the both of us. Yes, indeed, Holmes, but how can we do it? Oh, easily enough, gentlemen, you are two friends of mine who are in want of a billet, and what could be more natural than I should bring you both round to meet the managing director? Quite so, Mr Pycroft, of course. I should like to have a look at the gentleman and see if I can make anything out of his little game. What qualities have you, my dear Watson, which would make your services so valuable to the Franco Midland Hardware Company Limited? At seven o'clock that evening we were walking the three of us down Corporation Street to the company's offices. He only comes there to see me, apparently, for the place is deserted up to the very hour he names. Hm, yes, that is suggestive. Oh by jove, I told you so. That's him walking ahead of us right there. He pointed to a smallish, dark, well dressed man who was bustling along the other side of the road. As we watched him, he looked across at the boy who was bawling out the latest edition of the evening paper, and running over among the cabs and buses, he bought one from him. Then, clutching it in his hand, he vanished through an open doorway. There he goes! These are a company's offices into which he is gone. Come with me, and I'll fix it up as easily as possible. Following his lead, we ascended the five stories until we found ourselves outside a half open door, at which our client tapped. A voice within bade us enter, and we entered a bare unfurnished room such as Hol Pycroft had described. At the single table sat a man whom we had seen in the street, with his evening paper spread out in front of him, and as he looked up at us it seemed to me that I had never looked upon a face which bore such marks of grief, and of something beyond grief, of horror, such as comes to few men in a lifetime. His brow glistened with perspiration, his cheeks were of the dull dead white of a fish's belly, and his eyes were wild and staring. He looked at his clerk as though he failed to recognise him, and I could see by the astonishment depicted upon our conductor's face, that this was by no means the usual appearance of his employer. Oh, you you look rather ill, Mr Pinner. Ah yes, yes. I'm not very well. Who are these gentlemen that you have brought with you, Mr Pycroft? Oh one is Mr Harris of Bermundsey, and the other is Mr Price of this town. They are friends of mine and gentlemen of experience, but they've been out of a place for some little time now, and they hope that perhaps you might find an opening for them in the company's employment. Uh yes, yes very possibly, yes. I have no doubt that we shall be able to do something for you. What is your particular line, Mr Harris? I'm an accountant. Yes. We shall want something of that sort. And you, Mr Price? A clerk No. Well I have every hope that the company may accommodate you. I will let you know about it as soon as we come up to any conclusion. Now I beg, I beg that you will go. For God's sake, leave me to myself. These last words were shot out of him, as though the constraint, which he was evidently setting upon himself, had suddenly and utterly burst asunder. Watson and I glanced at each other, and Hall Pycroft took a step towards the table. You forget, Mr Pinner, that I'm here by appointment to receive some directions from you. Yes, yes, certainly, Mr Pycroft, certainly. You may wait here a moment, and there is no reason why your friends should not wait with you. I will be entirely at your service in three minutes, if I might trespass upon your patience so far. He rose with a very courteous air, and bowing to us, he passed out through a door at the farther end of the room, which he closed behind him.

SPEAKER_01 27:36

I say, Hans Is he giving us the slip? Impossible, Dr. Watson, impossible. Why so, Mr. Pycroft? Well that door leads into the inner room. And there is no exit? None. Well, is it furnished? It was empty yesterday. Then what on earth can he be doing in there?

SPEAKER_00 28:01

There is something which I don't understand in his manner. If ever a man was three parts mad with terror, that man's name is Penner. What can have put the shivers on him? Well, Holmes, perhaps he actually suspects that we are detectives. Right, that must be it, Dr. Watson. No, no, gentlemen. He did not turn pale. He was pale when we entered the room. It is just possible that my words were interrupted by a sharp rat from the direction of the inner door. What the deuce is he knocking at his own door for? Again and much louder came the rat a tat. We all gazed expectantly at the closed door. Then, suddenly, came a low, gurgling, goggling sound, and a brisk drumming upon woodwork. I sprang frantically across the room and pushed at the door. It was fastened on the inner side. Following my example, we all threw ourselves upon it, with all our weight. One hinge snapped, then the other, and down came the door with a crash. Rushing over it we found ourselves in the inner room. It was completely empty. But it was only for a moment that we were at fault. At one corner, the corner nearest the room which we had left, there was a second door. I sprang to it and pulled it open. A coat and waistcoat were lying on the floor, and from a hook, behind the door, with his own braces round his neck, was hanging the managing director of the Franco Midland Hardware Company. His knees were drawn up, his head hung at a dreadful angle to his body, and the clatter of his heels against the door made the noise which had broken in upon our conversation. In an instant I caught him round the waist, and held him up while Watson and Pycroft untied the elastic bands which had disappeared between the livid creases of skin in his neck. Then we carried him into the other room, where he lay with a clay coloured face, puffing his purple lips in and out, every breath a dreadful wreck of all that he had been but five minutes before. What do you think, Watson? What are his chances? Watson stooped over him and examined him. His pulse was feeble and intermittent, but his breathing grew longer, and there was a little shivering of his eyelids, which showed a thin white slit of ball beneath. Well, Holmes, it will be touch and go with him, but I believe he'll live. Just open that window and hand me the carafe of water, please. Watson undid his collar, poured the cold water over his face, and raised and sank his arms until he drew a long, natural breath. It is only a question of time now. I suppose we ought to call in the police. Yet I confess that I'd like to give them a more complete case when they come. Well, it's a blessed mystery to me, Mr. Holmes. Whatever they wanted to bring me all the way up here for Ha. All that is clear enough, Mr. Prycroft. It is this last sudden move. Why you understand arrest, then, Mr. Holmes? I think that it is fairly obvious. What do you say, Watson? I must confess, Holmes, that I am out of my depth. Though surely if you consider the events, they can only point to one conclusion. Well, what do you make of them, Holmes? Yes, Mr. Holmes. What do you make of these strange events? I too am in the dark completely. Well, the whole thing hinges upon two points. The first is the making of you, Mr Pycroft, write a declaration by which you entered into the service of this preposterous company. Do you not see how very suggestive that is? I'm afraid I missed the point, Mr Holmes. Well, why do they want you to do it? Not as a business matter, for these arrangements are usually verbal, and there was no earthly business reason why this should be an exception. Don't you see, my young friend, that they were very anxious to obtain a specimen of your handwriting? And had no other way of doing it. And why? Quite so, why? When we answer that we will have made some progress with our little problem. Why? Well, there can only be one adequate reason. Someone wanted to learn to imitate your writing, and had to procure a specimen of it first. And now, if we pass on to the second point we find that each throws a light upon the other. That point is the request made by Pinner that you should not resign your place, but should leave the manager of this important business in the full expectation that a mister Hall Pycroft, whom he had never seen, was about to enter the office upon the Monday morning. My God, Mr Holmes, what a blind beetle I've been. Now you see the point about the handwriting. Suppose that someone turned up in your place who wrote a completely different hand from that which you had applied for your vacancy. Of course the game would be up. But in the interval, the rogue had learned to imitate you, and his position was therefore secure, as I presume that nobody in the office had ever set eyes upon you. No, no, not a soul. Very good. Of course it was of the utmost importance to prevent you from thinking better of it, and also to keep you from coming into contact with anyone who might tell you that your double was at work in Mawson's office. Therefore they gave you a handsome advance on your salary and ran you off to the Midlands, where they gave you enough work to do to prevent your going to London, where you might have burst their little game. That is all plain enough. Right, but why should this man pretend to be his own brother? Well, that is pretty clear also. There are evidently only two of them in it. The other is impersonating you at the office. This one acted as your engager, and then found that he could not find you an employer without admitting a third person into his plot, and that he was most unwilling to do. He changed his appearance as far as he could, and trusted that the likeness, which you could not fail but to observe, would be put down to a family resemblance. But for the happy chance of the gold stuffing, your suspicions would probably never have been aroused. Hor Pycroft shook his clenched fists in the air. Good lord, Mr Holmes. While I've been foolin' this way, what has this other whole Pycroft been doing at Mawson's? What should we do, Mr Holmes? Tell me what to do. Yes, uh we must wire to Mawson's at once, Holmes.

SPEAKER_01 34:35

Well, Dr.

SPEAKER_00 34:36

Watson, they shut at twelve on Saturdays. Oh never mind. There may be some doorkeeper or attendant. Ah yes, they they do keep a permanent guard on account of the value of the securities that they hold. I remember hearing it talked about in the city. Ah, very good. We shall wire to him and see if all is well, and if a clerk of your name is working there. That is clear enough. But what is not so clear is why at the sight of us, one of the rogues should instantly walk out of the room and hang himself It's the paper, gentlemen.

SPEAKER_01 35:14

The paper Pinna was sitting up, blanched and ghastly.

SPEAKER_00 35:20

With returning reason in his eyes, and hands which rubbed nervously at the broad red band which still encircled his throat. Of course the paper. Idiot that I was, I thought so much of our visit that the paper never even entered into my head for an instant. To be sure the secret must be there. I flattened the newspaper out upon the table. Look at this, Watson. It is a London paper, an early edition of the Evening Standard. Here is what we want. Look at the headlines Crime in the City, murder at Mawson's and Williams, gigantic attempted robbery, capture of the criminal. It appeared from its position in the paper to have been the one event of importance in town. Here, Watson, we are all equally anxious to hear it, so kindly, please, read it aloud to us. A desperate attempt at robbery, culminating in the death of one man and the capture of the criminal occurred this afternoon in the city. For some time back, Mawson's and Williams, the famous financial house, have been the guardians of securities which amount, in the aggregate, to the sum of considerably over one million in sterling. So conscious was the manager of the responsibility which devolved upon him in consequence of the great interest at stake, that safes of the very latest construction have been employed, and an armed watchman has been left day and night in the building. It appears that last week a new clerk named Hall Pycroft was engaged by the firm. This person appears to have been none other than Beddington, the famous forger and cracksman, who, with his brother, had only recently emerged from a five year spell of penal servitude. By some means which are not quite clear, he succeeded in winning under a false name this official position in the office, which he utilized in order to obtain mouldings of various locks, and a thorough knowledge of the position of the strong room and the safes. It is customary at Mawson's for the clerks to leave at midday on Saturday. Sergeant Tucson of the city police was somewhat surprised, therefore, to see a gentleman with a carpet bag coming down the steps at twenty minutes past one. His suspicions being aroused, the sergeant followed the man, and, with the aid of Constable Pollock, succeeded after a most desperate resistance in arresting him. It was at once clear that a daring and gigantic robbery had been committed. Nearly a hundred thousand pounds worth of American railway bonds with a large amount of scrip in mines and other companies, was discovered in the bag. On examining the premises, the body of the unfortunate watchman was found double up and thrust into the largest of the safes, where it would not have been discovered until Monday morning had it not been for the prompt action of Sergeant Tucson. The man's skull had been shattered by a blow from a poker delivered from behind. There could be no doubt that Beddington had obtained entrance by pretending that he had left something behind him, and having murdered the watchman, rapidly rifled the large safe, and then made off with his booty. His brother, who usually works with him, has not appeared in this job as far as can at present be ascertained, although the police are making energetic inquiries as to his whereabouts. Ah well, my dear Watson, we may save the police some little trouble in that direction. I glanced at the haggard figure huddled up by the window. Human nature is a strange mixture. You see that even a villain and a murderer can inspire such afflection that his brother turns to suicide when he learns that his neck is forfeit. However, we have no choice as to our action. The doctor and I will remain on guard, Mr. Pycroft, if you will have the kindness to step out for the police.