 Part 2 of the Adventure of the Second Stain from the Return of Sherlock Holmes This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Reynard the Return of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle The Adventure of the Second Stain Part 2 All that day and the next and the next Holmes was in a mood which his friends would call taciturn and others morose He ran out and ran in smoked incessantly Played snatches on his violin Sank into reveries devoured sandwiches at irregular hours and hardly answered the casual questions which I put to him It was evident to me that things were not going well with him or his quest He would say nothing of the case and it was from the papers that I learned the particulars of the inquest and The arrest with the subsequent release of John Mitten the valet of the deceased The coroner's jury bought in the obvious willful murder But the parties remained as unknown as ever No motive was suggested The room was full of articles of value but none had been taken The dead man's papers had not been tampered with They were carefully examined and showed that he was a keen student of international politics An indefatigable gossip, a remarkable linguist and an untiring letter writer He had been on intimate terms with the leading politicians of several countries But nothing sensational was discovered among the documents which filled his drawers As to his relations with women They appeared to have been promiscuous but superficial He had many acquaintances among them But few friends and no one whom he loved His habits were regular His conduct inoffensive His death was an absolute mystery and likely to remain so As to the arrest of John Mitten the valet It was a council of despair as an alternative to absolute inaction But no case could be sustained against him He had visited friends in Hammersmith that night The alibi was complete It is true that he started home at an hour which should have bought him to Westminster before the time when the crime was discovered But his own explanation that he had walked part of the way seemed probably enough in view of the fineness of the night He had actually arrived at 12 o'clock And appeared to be overwhelmed by the unexpected tragedy He had always been on good terms with his master Several of the dead man's possessions Notably a small case of razors had been found in the valet's boxes But he explained that they had been presents from the deceased And the housekeeper was able to corroborate the story Mitten had been in Lucas's employment for three years It was noticeable that Lucas did not take Mitten on the continent with him Sometimes he visited Paris for three months on end But Mitten was left in charge of the Goodolphin Street house As to the housekeeper she had heard nothing on the night of the crime If her master had a visitor he had himself admitted him So for three mornings the mystery remained So far as I could follow it in the papers If Holmes knew more he kept his own counsel But as he told me that Inspector Lestrade had taken him into his confidence in the case I knew that he was in close touch with every development Upon the fourth day there appeared a long telegram from Paris Which seemed to solve the whole question A discovery has just been made by the Parisian police Said the Daily Telegraph Which raises the veil which hung round the tragic fate of Mr. Eduardo Lucas Who met his death by violence last Monday night at Goodolphin Street, Westminster Our readers will remember that the deceased gentleman was found stabbed in his room And that some suspicion attached to his valet But that the case broke down on an alibi Yesterday a lady who has been known as Madame Henri Fournier Occupying a small villa in the Rue Ostelitz Was reported to the authorities by her servants as being insane An examination showed she had indeed developed mania of a dangerous and permanent form On enquiry the police have discovered that Madame Henri Fournier Only returned from a journey to London on Tuesday last And there is evidence to connect her with the crime at Westminster A comparison of photographs has proved conclusively that Monsieur Henri Fournier And Eduardo Lucas were really one and the same person And that the deceased had for some reason lived a double life in London and Paris Madame Fournier, who is of Creole origin, is of an extremely excitable nature And has suffered in the past from attacks of jealousy which have amounted to frenzy It is conjectured that it was in one of these that she committed the terrible crime Which has caused such a sensation in London Her movements upon the Monday night have not yet been traced But it is undoubted that a woman answering to her description Attracted much attention at Charing Cross station on Tuesday morning By the wildness of her appearance and the violence of her gestures It is probable, therefore, that the crime was either committed when insane Or that its immediate effect was to drive the unhappy woman out of her mind At present she is unable to give any coherent account of the past And the doctors hold out no hopes of the re-establishment of her reason There is evidence that a woman who might have been Madame Fournier was seen For some hours upon Monday night watching the house in Goodolphin Street What do you think of that, Holmes? I had read the account aloud to him while he finished his breakfast My dear Watson said he as he rose from the table and paced up and down the room You are most long suffering But if I have told you nothing in the last three days, it is because there is nothing to tell Even now this report from Paris does not help us much Surely it is final as regards to the man's death The man's death is a mere incident, a trivial episode in comparison with our real task Which is to trace this document and save a European catastrophe Only one important thing has happened in the last three days And that is that nothing has happened I get reports almost hourly from the government And it is certain that nowhere in Europe is there any sign of trouble Now, if this letter were loose No, it can't be loose But if it isn't loose, where can it be? Who has it? Why is it held back? That's the question that beats in my brain like a hammer Was it indeed a coincidence that Lucas should meet his death on the night when the letter disappeared? Did the letter ever reach him? If so, why is it not among his papers? Did this mad wife of his carry it off with her? If so, is it in her house in Paris? How could I search for it without the French police having their suspicions aroused? It is a case, my dear Watson, where the law is as dangerous to us as the criminals are Every man's hand is against us And yet the interests at stake are colossal Should I bring it to a successful conclusion? It will certainly represent the crowning glory of my career Ah, here is my latest from the front He glanced hurriedly at the note which had been handed in Hello, Lestrade seems to have observed something of interest Put on your hat, Watson, and we will stroll down together to Westminster It was my first visit to the scene of the crime A high, dingy, narrow-chested house Prim, formal and solid Like the century which gave it birth Lestrade's bulldog features gazed out at us from the front window And he greeted us warmly when a big constable had opened the door and let us in The room into which we were shown was that in which the crime had been committed But no trace of it now remained, save and ugly, irregular stain upon the carpet This carpet was a small, square, drug it in the centre of the room Surrounded by a broad expanse of beautiful, old-fashioned wood flooring in square blocks Highly polished Over the fireplace was a magnificent trophy of weapons One of which had been used on that tragic night In the window was a sumptuous writing desk And every detail of the apartment, the pictures, the rugs and the hangings All pointed to a taste which was luxurious to the verge of effeminacy Seen the Paris news, asked Lestrade Homes nodded Our French friends seemed to have touched the spot this time No doubt it's just as they say She knocked on the door, surprise visit I guess For he kept his life in watertight compartments He let her in, couldn't keep her in the street She told him how she had traced him, reproached him One thing led to another, and then with that dagger so handy the end soon came It wasn't all done in an instant though, for these chairs were all swept over yonder And he had one in his hand as if he had tried to hold her off with it We've got it all clear as if we had seen it Homes raised his eyebrows And yet you have sent for me Ah yes, that's another matter A mere trifle, but the sort of thing you take an interest in Queer you know, and what you might call freakish It has nothing to do with the main fact, can't have on the face of it What is it then? Well, you know, after a crime of this sort we are very careful to keep things in their position Nothing has been moved, offered to in charge here day and night This morning, as the man was buried and the investigation over So far as this room is concerned, we thought we could tidy up a bit This carpet, you see it is not fastened down, only just laid there We had occasion to raise it, we found Yes, you found? Homes' face grew tense with anxiety Well, I'm sure you would never guess in a hundred years what we did find You see that stain on the carpet Well a great deal must have soaked through must it not Undoubtedly it must Well, you will be surprised to hear that there is no stain on the white woodwork to correspond No stain, but there must Yes, so you would say, but the fact remains that there isn't He took the corner of the carpet in his hand And turning it over, he showed that it was indeed as he said But the underside is as stained as the upper, it must have left a mark The stray chuckled with delight at having puzzled the famous expert Now, I'll show you the explanation There is a second stain, but it does not correspond with the other See for yourself As he spoke, he turned over another portion of the carpet And there, sure enough, was a great crimson spill upon the square white facing of the old fashioned floor What do you make of that, Mr. Holmes? Why, it is simple enough The two stains did correspond, but the carpet has been turned round As it was square and unfastened, it was easily done The official police don't need you, Mr. Holmes, to tell them that the carpet must have been turned round That's clear enough, for the stains lie above each other if you lay it over this way But what I want to know is who shifted the carpet and why I could see from Holmes' rigid face that he was vibrating with inward excitement Look here, Lestrade, said he Has that comfortable in the passage being in charge of the place all the time? Yes, he has Well, take my advice Examine him carefully Don't do it before us We'll wait here You take him into the back room You'll be more likely to get a confession out of him alone Ask him how he dared to admit people and leave them alone in this room Don't ask him if he has done it Take it for granted Tell him you know someone has been here Press him Tell him that a full confession is his only chance of forgiveness Do exactly what I tell you By George, if he knows I'll have his out of him, cried Lestrade He darted into the hall And a few moments later his bullying voice sounded from the back room Now Watson now, cried Holmes, with frenzied eagerness All the demonical force of the man masked behind that listless manner Burst out in a paroxym of energy He tore the drug it from the floor And in an instant was down on his hands and knees Clawing at each of the squares of wood beneath it One turned sideways as he dug his nails into the edge of it It hinged back like a lid of a box A small black cavity opened beneath it Holmes plunged his eager hand into it And threw it out with a bitter snarl of anger and disappointment It was empty Quick, Watson, quick, get it back again The wooden lid was replaced And the drug it had only just been drawn straight When Lestrade's voice was heard in the passage He found Holmes leaning languidly against the mantelpiece Resigned and patient Endeavouring to conceal his irrepressible yawns Sorry to keep you waiting, Mr. Holmes I can see that you are bored to death with the whole affair Well, he has confessed, all right Come in here, McPherson Let these gentlemen hear of your most inexcusable conduct The big Constable Very hot and penitent Sidled into the room I meant no harm, sir, I'm sure The young woman came to the door last evening Missed up the house she did And then we got talking It's lonesome when you're on duty here all day Well, what happened then? She wanted to see where the crime was done Had read all about it in the papers, she said She was a very respectable, well-spoken young woman, sir And I saw no harm in letting her have a peep When she saw that mark on the carpet Down she dropped on the floor And lay as if she were dead I ran to the back and got some water But I could not bring her to Then I went round the corner To the front for some brandy And by the time I brought it back to the young woman Had recovered and was off A shame to herself, I dare say And dared not face me How about moving that drug it? Well, sir, it was a bit rumpled certainly When I came back You see, she fell on it And it lies on a polished floor With nothing to keep it in place I straightened it out afterwards It's a lesson that you can't deceive me Constable McPherson I doubt you thought that your breach of duty Could never be discovered And yet a mere glance of that drug it Was enough to convince me that someone Had been admitted to the room It's lucky for you, my man, that nothing Is missing or you would find yourself In queer street I'm sorry to have called you down Over such a petty business, Mr. Holmes But I thought the point of the second Staying not corresponding with the first Would interest you Certainly, it was most interesting Has this woman only been here once, Who was she? Don't know the name, sir Was answering an advertisement about type writing And came to the wrong number Very pleasant, gentile young woman, sir Tall? Hanson? Yes, sir She was a well-grown young woman I suppose you might say she was Hanson Perhaps some would say she was very Hanson Oh, officer, do let me have a peep Says she She had pretty coaxing ways, as you might say And I thought there was no harm in letting her Just put her head through the door How was she dressed? Quiet, sir A long mantle down to her feet What time was it? It was just growing dusk at the time There were lights in the lamps as I came back With the brandy Very good, said Holmes Come, Watson I think that we have more important work elsewhere As we left the house The strained remained in the front room While the repentant Constable Opened the door to let us out Holmes turned on the step And held up something in his hand The Constable stared intently Good Lord, sir He cried with amazement on his face Holmes put his finger on his lips Replaced his hand in his breast pocket And burst out laughing As we turned down the street Excellent, said he Come, friend Watson The curtain rings up for the last act You will be relieved to hear That there will be no war That the right honourable Trelawney Hope Will suffer no setback in his brilliant career That the industry's sovereign Will receive no punishment for his indiscretion That the Prime Minister Will have no Europe on complication to deal with And that with a little tact and management Upon our part Nobody will be a penny the worst For what might have been a very ugly incident With admiration for this extraordinary man You have sold it, I cried Hardly that, Watson There are some points Which are as dark as ever But we have so much That it will be our own fault If we cannot get the rest We will go straight to Whitehall Terrace And bring the matter to a head When we arrived at the residence Of the European Secretary It was for Lady Hilda Trelawney Hope That Sherlock Holmes inquired Mr. Holmes Said the lady And her face was pink with her indignation This is surely Most unfair and ungenerous upon your part I desired, as I have explained To keep my visit to your secret Lest my husband should think As I was intruding into his affairs And yet you compromise me By coming here and so showing That there are business relations between us Unfortunately madam I had no possible alternative I have been commissioned I must therefore ask you madam To be kind enough to place it in my hands The lady sprang to her feet With a colour all dashed In an instant from her beautiful face Her eyes glazed She tottered I thought that she would faint Then with a grand effort She rallied from the shock And a supreme astonishment And indignation chased Every other expression from her features You insult me Mr. Holmes Come, come madam it is useless Give up the letter She darted to the bell The putler shall show you out Do not ring Lady Hilda If you do Then all my earnest efforts To avoid a scandal will be frustrated Give up the letter And all will be set right If you will work with me I can arrange everything If you work against me I must expose you To the present I quickly figure Her eyes fixed upon his As if she would read his very soul Her hand was on the bell But she had foreborn to ring it You are trying to frighten me It is not a very manly thing Mr. Holmes To come here and brow beat a woman You say that you know something What is it that you know Pray sit down madam You will hurt yourself there if you fall I will not speak until you sit down Thank you I give you five minutes Mr. Holmes One is enough Lady Hilda I know of your visit to Eduardo Lucas Of your giving him this document Of your ingenious return To the room last night And of the manner in which you took the letter From the hiding place under the carpet She stared at him with an ashen face And gulped twice before she could speak You are mad Mr. Holmes You are mad she cried at last He drew a small piece of cardboard From his pocket It was the face of a woman Cut out of a portrait I have carried this Because I thought it might be useful Said he The policeman has recognised it She gave a gasp And her head dropped back in the chair Come Lady Hilda You have the letter The matter may still be adjusted I have no desire to bring trouble to you My duty ends when I have returned The lost letter to your husband Take my advice and be frank with me It is your only chance Her courage was admirable Even now she would own defeat I tell you again Mr. Holmes That you are under some absurd illusion Holmes rose from his chair I am sorry for you Lady Hilda I am sorry for you Mr. Holmes I am sorry for you Lady Hilda I have done my best for you I can see that it is all in vain He rang the bell The butler entered Is Mr. Trelawney hope at home? He will be at home sir At a quarter to one Holmes glanced at his watch Still a quarter of an hour said he Very good I shall wait The butler had hardly closed the door behind him When Lady Hilda was down on her knees At Holmes' feet Her hands outstretched Her beautiful face upturned And wet with her tears Oh spare me Mr. Holmes Spare me She pleaded in a frenzy of supplication For heaven's sake Don't tell him I love him so I would not bring one shadow on his life And this I know would break his noble heart Holmes raised the lady I am thankful madam That you have come to your senses Even at this last moment There is not an instant to lose Where is the letter She darted across to a writing desk Unlocked it And drew out a long blue envelope Here it is Mr. Holmes Would to heaven I had never seen it How can we return it Holmes muttered Quick we must think of some way Where is the dispatch box Still in his bedroom What a stroke of luck Quick madam bring it here A moment later She had appeared With a red flat box in her hand How did you open it before You have a duplicate key Yes of course you have Open it From out of her bosom Lady Hilda had drawn a small key The box flew open It was stuffed with papers Holmes thrust the blue envelope Deep down into the heart of them The box was shut Locked and returned to the bedroom Now we are ready for him said Holmes We have still ten minutes I am going far to screen you lady Hilda In return you will spend the time In telling me frankly The real meaning of this extraordinary affair Mr. Holmes I will tell you everything Cried the lady Oh Mr. Holmes I would cut off my right hand Before I gave him a moment of sorrow In all London who loves her husband as I do And yet if he knew how I had acted How I have been compelled to act He would never forgive me For his own honour stands so high That he could not forget Or pardon a lapse in another Help me Mr. Holmes My happiness, his happiness Our very lives are at stake Quick madam The time grows short It was a letter of mine Mr. Holmes A letter written before my marriage A foolish letter A letter of an impulsive loving girl I meant no harm And yet he would have thought it had criminal Had he read that letter His confidence would have been forever destroyed It is years since I wrote it I had thought that the whole matter was forgotten Then I had last I heard from this man Lucas That it had passed into his hands And that he would lay it before my husband I implored his mercy He said that he would return my letter If I would bring him a certain document Which he described in my husband's dispatch box He had some spy in the office Who had told him of his existence He assured me that no harm could come to my husband Put yourself in my position Mr. Holmes What was I to do? Take your husband into your confidence I could not Mr. Holmes I could not On the one side seemed certain ruin On the other terrible as it seemed To take my husband's paper Still in a matter of politics I could not understand the consequences While in a matter of love and trust They were only too clear to me I did it Mr. Holmes I took an impression of his key This man Lucas furnished a duplicate I opened his dispatch box Took the papers And conveyed it to Godolphin Street What's happened there madam I tapped at the door As agreed Lucas opened it I followed him into his room Leaving the whole door ajar behind me For I feared to be alone with the man I remember that there was a woman outside As I entered Our business was soon done He had my letter on his desk I handed him the document He gave me the letter At this instant There was a sound at the door There were steps in the passage Lucas quickly turned back the drug it Thrust the document into some hiding place there And covered it over What happened after that Is like some fearful dream I have a vision of a dark frantic face Of a woman's voice Which screamed in French My waiting is not in vain At last I have found you with her There was a savage struggle I saw him with a chair in his hand A knife gleamed in hers I rushed from the horrible scene Ran from the house The next morning in the paper Did I learn of the dreadful result That night I was happy For I had my letter And had not seen yet What the future would bring It was the next morning that I realised That I had only exchanged one trouble for another My husband's anguish at the loss of his paper Went to my heart I could hardly prevent myself from there And then kneeling down at his feet And telling him what I had done But that again Would mean a confession of the past And the full enormity of my offence From the instant that I grasped in my whole mind Was turned to the one thought Of getting back my husband's paper It must still be where Lucas had placed it For it was concealed Before this dreadful woman entered the room If it had not been for her coming I should not have known Where his hiding place was How was I to get into the room For two days I watched the place But the door was never left open Last night I made a last attempt What I did and how I succeeded You have already learned I brought the paper back with me And thought of destroying it Since I could see no way of returning it Without confessing my guilt to my husband Heavens, I hear a step up on the stair The European Secretary Burst excitedly into the room Any news Mr. Holmes Any news he cried I have some hopes Ah, thank heaven His face became radiant The Prime Minister is lunching with me May he share your hopes He has nerves of steel And yet I know that he has hardly slept Since this terrible event Jacobs, will you ask the Prime Minister to come up As to you, dear I fear that this is a matter of politics We will join you in a few minutes In the dining room The Prime Minister's manner Was subdued But I could see by the gleam of his eyes And the twitchings of his bony hands And the excitement of his young colleague I understand that you have something to report Mr. Holmes Purely negative as yet My friend answered I have inquired at every point Where it might be And I am sure that there is no danger To be apprehended But that is not enough Mr. Holmes We cannot live forever on such a volcano We must have something definite I am in hopes of getting it That is why I am here The letter The more convinced I am that the letter Has never left this house Mr. Holmes If it had It would certainly have been public by now But why should anyone take it In order to keep it in this house I am not convinced That anyone did take it Then how could it leave the dispatch box I am not convinced That it ever did leave the dispatch box Mr. Holmes You have my assurance That it left the box Have you examined the box since Tuesday morning No It was not necessary You may conceivably have overlooked it Impossible I say But I am not convinced of it I have known such things to happen I presume there are other papers there Well It may have got mixed with them It was on the top Someone may have shaken the box And displaced it No, no I had everything out Surely it is easily decided hope Said the Premier Let us have the dispatch box brought in The secretary rang the bell Jacobs Bring down my dispatch box This is a fast call waste of time But still, if nothing else will satisfy you It shall be done Thank you Jacobs, put it here I have always had the key on my watch chain Here are the papers you see Letter from Lord Merrow Report from Sir Charles Hardy Memorandum from Belgrade Note on the Russo-German grain taxes Letter from Madrid Note from Lord Flowers Good heavens What is this? Lord Bellinger The Premier snatched the blue envelope from his hand Yes, it is it And the letter is intact Hope, I congratulate you Thank you, thank you What a weight from my heart But this is inconceivable, impossible Mr. Holmes, you are a wizard, a sorcerer How did you know it was there? Because I knew it was nowhere else I cannot believe my eyes He ran wildly to the door Where is my wife? I must tell her that all is well Hilda, Hilda We heard his voice on the stairs The Premier looked at Holmes with twinkling eyes Come, sir, said he There is more in this than meets the eye How came the letter back in the box? Holmes turned away Smiling from the keen scrutiny of those wonderful eyes We also have our diplomatic secrets, said he And picking up his hat He turned to the door End of The Adventure of the Second Stain Part 2 And Holmes Bye, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle