Приключения Шерлока Холмса / The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (сборник) - стр. 15

“Yes, the Crown.”

“Very good. Your windows can be seen from there?”

“Certainly.”

“You must go to your room, saying you have a headache, when your stepfather comes back. Then when he goes to his room, you must open your window, and put your lamp there as a signal to us, and then go quietly into the room where you slept before. I have no doubt that you can sleep there for one night.”

“Oh, yes, easily. But what will you do?”

“We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate the cause of this noise which you heard.”

“I believe, Mr. Holmes, that you have already come to some conclusion,” said Miss Stoner.

“Perhaps I have.”

“Then, tell me what was the cause of my sister’s death.”

“I should like to have clearer evidence before I speak.”

“But you can tell me whether my own idea is correct, and if she died of fear.”

“No, I do not think so. And now, Miss Stoner, we must leave you, for Dr. Roylott must not see us here. Good-bye, and if you do what I have told you, nothing will threaten you.”

Sherlock Holmes and I had no difficulty in getting a room at the Crown. It was on the upper floor, and from our window we could see Stoke Moran. In the evening we saw Dr. Grimesby Roylott drive past, and a few minutes later we saw a light among the trees as the lamp was lit in one of the sitting-rooms.

“Do you know, Watson,” said Holmes as we sat together in our hotel room, “I have really some doubts about taking you to-night. It is certainly dangerous.”

“Can I be of help to you?[25]”

“Oh, yes.”

“Then I shall certainly come.”

“It is very kind of you.”

“You speak of danger. You have evidently seen more in these rooms than I have.”

“No. I imagine that you saw all that I did.”

“I saw nothing unusual except the bell-rope, but why it is important I cannot imagine.”

“You saw the ventilator, too?”

“Yes, but I do not think that it is such an unusual thing to have a small opening between two rooms. It was so small that no one could pass through it.”

“I knew that we should find a ventilator even before we came to Stoke Moran.”

“My dear Holmes!”

“Oh, yes, I did. You remember Miss Stoner said that her sister could smell Dr. Roylott’s cigar. Now, of course that meant that there was an opening between the two rooms.”

“But it is so small!”

“Well, the dates are strange. A ventilator is made, a bell-rope is hung, and a lady who sleeps in the bed dies. Does that not strike you?”

“I cannot see any connection.”

“Did you notice anything very unusual about that bed?”

“No.”

“It was fastened to the floor. Did you ever see a bed fastened like that before?”