Chapter 1: What is the introduction to the Sherlock Holmes adventure?
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And now it's time to keep the weekly appointment with our good friend, Dr. Watson. How are you this evening, Doctor?
I never felt better, thank you, Mr. Bartell. Draw up your usual chair and make yourself comfortable.
Thanks.
That's it.
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Chapter 2: What brings Mr. Lovelace to Sherlock Holmes for help?
I see you've had the old tin dispatch box out again. I suppose you've been going through your notes on tonight's new Sherlock Holmes adventure?
Yes, Mr. Bartow. I think you'll find it as pretty a little problem as we ever encountered. The story began in 1887, a very busy year for us, my boy. It was the same year that Holmes solved the case of the Amateur Mendicant Society, who held their meetings in a luxuriously furnished vault below a furniture warehouse.
Oh, I remember that story, Doctor. And wasn't 87 the year you both escaped from death in the paradol chamber?
It was indeed. You've got a very good memory, Mr. Bartow. The story I'm going to tell you tonight topped off this unusually exciting year. It was late in October and the equinoctial gales had set in with exceptional violence. All day the wind had howled and the rain had beaten against the windows of our Baker Street lodgings.
Finally, it was midnight as far as I remember, the storm grew higher and louder and the wind in the chimney sobbed like a child. Suddenly... Much to our surprise, the doorbell jangled, and a few moments later, our midnight visitor stood before us.
He was a man of about fifty-five, and as he looked about him anxiously in the glare of the lamp, I could see that his face was pale and that his eyes heavy, like those of a man who is weighed down with some great anxiety. And yet when he spoke, his tone was businesslike and almost aggressive.
I've come to you for advice, Mr. Holmes. That's easily obtained. And help. That is not always so easy. May I help the gentleman off with his coat, will you, Watson?
Here you are, sir. Let me hang it up for you.
Thank you, sir. I heard of you, Mr. Holmes, from Major Pendergast. Oh, yes. He said that you could solve anything. I'm afraid he said too much.
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Chapter 3: What details are revealed about the Lovelace family dynamics?
But you've never been beaten. I've been beaten four times, sir. Three times by men and once by a woman. But suppose you sit down and introduce yourself. My friend's name is Watson, Dr. Watson. How do you do, sir? How do you do, doctor? My name is Lovelace, Edmund Lovelace. And what brings you to me at this hour of the night, Mr. Lovelace? I'm in terrible trouble, Mr. Holmes.
You don't know anything about me, but if you'll accept my case, you can save four lives. I wouldn't say that I know nothing about you, sir. No, it's true that I know little beyond the somewhat obvious fact that, well, you're single, that you keep a dog, but not a manservant. and that you are much preoccupied with your business, which I take to be some form of insurance.
Oh, come, come, come.
Now, what is this?
Well, I'll wager that my friend's right, though, isn't he, Mr. Lovelace? Perfectly.
I'll be hanged if I can see how he knows it's a practical application of logic, sir. The briefcase that you carry might at first indicate a barrister or some other professional man, but your brusque business-like manner counteracts that suggestion. An insurance broker who must visit clients at odd hours is the likeliest man to combine that manner with a briefcase of midnight.
But the wife and the manservant and the fact that I'm preoccupied with my business. Your cufflinks don't matter. Each is from a different pair. That would suggest preoccupation. And it's a mistake that neither a wife nor a manservant would have allowed to pass.
Yes, but how about the dog?
Oh, surely that's obvious, Watson. Well, I can't see it. I shall let you ponder on that matter while Mr. Lovelace tells us his problem.
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Chapter 4: How does Holmes deduce the potential for murder in the Lovelace household?
Mr. Holmes, are you as interested in preventing a murder as in solving one? Naturally I am, Mr. Lovelace. Even more so. But please tell me your story. I live with four cousins of mine in an old house in Camberwell. My grandfather left the house and a sizable fortune to the five of us on condition that we live together and maintain the family unity.
It probably wouldn't surprise you to know that we've grown to get pretty much on each other's nerves.
Well, what happens if one of you dies, Mr. Loveless?
His share is divided among the others. I wonder to me, sir, that... Not that a murder may take place, but that it has not happened long ago. Who's responsible for the administration of the estate? My cousin, Gerald. He's much older than the rest of us, and he's a thoroughly unpleasant, cantankerous man. He gets an extra share in the estate as administrator, and in consequence, he doesn't work.
We feel, of course, that he lives off us, and we're continually quarreling with him about it.
Sounds like a jolly household, I must say.
There's going to be trouble, Mr. Holmes. I know it. Gerald hates us, and he's jealous of our share in the estate. You spoke of venting murder just now. Yet I can see that you've selected your cousin Gerald as the potential murderer. Am I right? Yes, you are. But don't think it's personal prejudice that makes me suspect him. I have good reason for doing so. What reason?
This evening, just before dinner, I helped Gerald off with his top coat and went to hang it up for him. As I did so, I heard a strange pellet clink in one of his pockets. I slipped my hand inside it and found a hypodermic syringe in a small pile of liquid.
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Chapter 5: What evidence does Mr. Lovelace provide regarding his cousin Gerald?
I opened the pile and smelled it. Gentlemen, it reeked of bitter almonds. Bitter cyanide, eh? Now, what did you do? I thought of destroying it, but I realized that that would put him on his guard, so I replaced it in his pocket. Of course, I warned the others, and we decided that I'd come to you. I had to see a most important client tonight, or I'd have been here earlier.
Yes, it seems odd that you didn't come directly to Mr. Holmes as soon as you'd made the discovery, Mr. Loveless. After all, if a potential murderer is walking about with a pocket full of cyanide, I should have thought that itself was more important than business. Well, I...
Yes, I suppose it might seem so to you, Doctor. That's the most interesting stick you carry, sir. May I examine it? Of course. Here. Thank you.
Now I see how you've deduced that Mr. Loveless had a dog, Holmes.
There are the marks of the dog's teeth on the stick. Yes, my dear Watson, but these marks, under scrutiny, give us even more specific information. He's a large dog. You've had him for some years, Mr. Lovelace, and he's now old and feeble. Well, you're perfectly right, but I'll be hanged if I can see how you can tell that from looking at a walking stick. This stick is covered with teeth marks.
Therefore, it has been carried many times by the dog. Now, it's a heavy stick, so only a large dog could have carried it. And the teeth marks also indicate a large jaw. The older marks are deep sunk. Look here. The fresh ones, where the wood has not yet darkened, are shallow. Yes, it's obvious that the jaws are losing their strength.
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Chapter 6: What clues lead Holmes to suspect the involvement of Gilly?
That's very clever of you, Mr. Holmes, but I don't see what it has to do with the case at hand. Neither do I, Holmes. I must confess. No, surely it tells us that your story, Mr. Lovelace, may bear a less terrifying implication than you think. On the other hand, its implication may be even more terrifying. Oh, it's late at night.
I feel that any further delay in this matter would be extremely dangerous. I suggest that you get a cab and come to your house in Camberwell at once. Alice, Randolph, I'm glad you're still up. I was able to persuade Mr. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson to come back with me. Gentlemen, this is my cousin, Alice Harley. How do you do? How do you do, Miss Harley? How do you do?
And my cousin, Randolph Lovely. How do you do? How do you do, Mr. Lovely? I've told him about the whole business, Randolph, so we can all speak perfectly freely.
Let's begin by sitting down, shall we? Randolph and I had just finished a little cold supper. We've been to the theatre tonight.
Well, Mr. Holmes, I suppose Edmund told you about finding the hypodermic syringe. And the cyanide in Gerald's coat pocket. Yes, indeed. May I ask where your cousin Gerald Lovelace is now?
We left the house at seven, but I imagine Gerald went upstairs at eight, as usual. Didn't he, Edmund?
On the stroke of eight, Alice. He's very fixed in his habits, Mr. Holmes. He goes up to his room every night at eight.
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Chapter 7: How does Holmes conclude the investigation into Gerald's murder?
There he reads or works on his accounts and eventually goes to bed any time between ten and one. Well, he might still be up. I should like to speak to him a little later. In the meanwhile, may I ask you two young people... Tell me quite honestly your feelings about your cousin, Gerald. You might as well be frank. I've kept nothing back.
All right. Randolph and I hate him. First of all, we're sure he's jealous of our shares in the estate, and then we... Alice and I want to get married, Mr. Holmes, and Gerald won't hear of it.
But you're cousins, aren't you?
Only second cousins, Dr. Watson. Gerald is dreadfully conventional. He's threatened us that if we do get married, he'll go to court and have our shares in the estate annulled.
And from the way the will is worded, I wouldn't be surprised if he could do it. So you can see why we have no great love for him. Why we're afraid of him.
He sounds an extremely unpleasant person to me.
You mentioned there were five cousins in the house. Three of you are here. Mr. Gerald Lovelace is upstairs. Who and where is the fifth cousin? The fifth cousin is my brother, Gilly. He's something of a tragedy, I'm afraid. You see, Gilly's 20. But he never developed mentally beyond the age of eight. He had a bad fall in the hunting field when he was a kid. He's been like this ever since.
I'm sorry to hear that, sir.
But he's the dearest, most gentle boy you've ever met.
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Chapter 8: What are the final reflections on the case and its implications?
And, incidentally, the one person in this house who doesn't hate Gerald.
The poor fellow doesn't understand the conditions of the world, I suppose.
No. But if he did, I don't think it'd make any difference. I swear, Gilly loves every living thing. Especially Gladstone. Gladstone is the name of his dog.
His dog? Yes. A dog may be the key to this whole matter. A dog? What makes you say that, Holmes? When a man brings a quick and painless poison home to a household containing an old and feeble dog, it's more than possible that he has obtained that poison quite legitimately to give the dog a merciful death.
To kill Gladstone? Oh, no!
After all, Alice, dear, he is old. And almost blind now. But, Mr. Holmes, if you think Gerald brought home the poison to put Gladstone out of the way, and I admit it sounds perfectly logical, what made you decide to come here tonight? Because I dare not even guess. what you may have done by including the thought of murder in this situation. Where is your brother, Gilly?
In his room upstairs, asleep. I wonder if we might go up to him. I'd like to talk to him, if you don't mind. And after that, I... I want a few words with your cousin, Gerald Lovelace.
He's asleep, Mr. Helms.
Yes, with a dog in his arms.
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