“I fished about with a rake. I thought there might be some weapon or other trace. But how on earth……”
“Oh, tut, tut!I have no time!That left foot of yours with its inward twist is all over the place. A mole could trace it, and there it vanishes among the reeds. Oh, how simple it would all have been had I been here before they came like a herd of buffalo and wallowed all over it. Here is where the party with the lodge-keeper came, and they have covered all tracks for six or eight feet round the body. But here are three separate tracks of the same feet.”He drew out a lens and lay down upon his waterproof to have a better view, talking all the time rather to himself than to us.“These are young McCarthy’s feet. Twice he was walking, and once he ran swiftly, so that the soles are deeply marked and the heels hardly visible. That bears out his story. He ran when he saw his father on the ground. Then here are the father’s feet as he paced up and down. What is this, then?It is the butt-end of the gun as the son stood listening. And this?Ha, ha!What have we here?Tiptoes!tiptoes!Square, too, quite unusual boots!They come, they go, they come again……of course that was for the cloak. Now where did they come from?”
He ran up and down, sometimes losing, sometimes finding the track until we were well within the edge of the wood and under the shadow of a great beech, the largest tree in the neighbourhood. Holmes traced his way to the farther side of this and lay down once more upon his face with a little cry of satisfaction. For a long time he remained there, turning over the leaves and dried sticks, gathering up what seemed to me to be dust into an envelope and examining with his lens not only the ground but even the bark of the tree as far as he could reach. A jagged stone was lying among the moss, and this also he carefully examined and retained. Then he followed a pathway through the wood until he came to the highroad, where all traces were lost.
“It has been a case of considerable interest,”he remarked, returning to his natural manner.“I fancy that this grey house on the right must be the lodge. I think that I will go in and have a word with Moran, and perhaps write a little note. Having done that, we may drive back to our luncheon. You may walk to the cab, and I shall be with you presently.”
It was about ten minutes before we regained our cab and drove back into Ross, Holmes still carrying with him the stone which he had picked up in the wood.
“This may interest you, Lestrade,”he remarked, holding it out.“The murder was done with it.”
“I see no marks.”
“There are none.”
“How do you know, then?”
“The grass was growing under it. It had only lain there a few days. There was no sign of a place whence it had been taken. It corresponds with the injuries. There is no sign of any other weapon.”
“And the murderer?”
“Is a tall man, left-handed, limps with the right leg, wears thick-soled shooting-boots and a grey cloak, smokes Indian cigars, uses a cigar-holder, and carries a blunt pen-knife in his pocket. There are several other indications, but these may be enough to aid us in our search.”
Lestrade laughed.“I am afraid that I am still a sceptic,”he said.“Theories are all very well, but we have to deal with a hard-headed British jury.”
“Nous verrons,”answered Holmes calmly.“You work your own method, and I shall work mine. I shall be busy this afternoon, and shall probably return to London by the evening train.”
“And leave your case unfinished?”
“No, finished.”
“But the mystery?”
“It is solved.”
“Who was the criminal, then?”
“The gentleman I describe.”
“But who is he?”
“Surely it would not be difficult to find out. This is not such a populous neighbourhood.”
Lestrade shrugged his shoulders.“I am a practical man,”he said,“and I really cannot undertake to go about the country looking for a left-handed gentleman with a game leg. I should become the laughing-stock of Scotland Yard.”
“All right,”said Holmes quietly.“I have given you the chance. Here are your lodgings. Good-bye. I shall drop you a line before I leave.”
Having left Lestrade at his rooms, we drove to our hotel, where we found lunch upon the table. Holmes was silent and buried in thought with a pained expression upon his face, as one who finds himself in a perplexing position.
“Look here, Watson,”he said when the cloth was cleared“just sit down in this chair and let me preach to you for a little. I don’t know quite what to do, and I should value your advice. Light a cigar and let me expound.”
“Pray do so.”
“Well, now, in considering this case there are two points about young McCarthy’s narrative which struck us both instantly, although they impressed me in his favour and you against him. One was the fact that his father should, according to his account, cry‘Cooee!’before seeing him. The other was his singular dying reference to a rat. He mumbled several words, you understand, but that was all that caught the son’s ear. Now from this double point our research must commence, and we will begin it by presuming that what the lad says is absolutely true.”
“What of this‘Cooee!’then?”
“Well, obviously it could not have been meant for the son. The son, as far as he knew, was in Bristol. It was mere chance that he was within earshot. The‘Cooee!’was meant to attract the attention of whoever it was that he had the appointment with. But‘Cooee’is a distinctly Australian cry, and one which is used between Australians. There is a strong presumption that the person whom McCarthy expected to meet him at Boscombe Pool was someone who had been in Australia.”
“What of the rat, then?”
Sherlock Holmes took a folded paper from his pocket and flattened it out on the table.“This is a map of the Colony of Victoria,”he said.“I wired to Bristol for it last night.”He put his hand over part of the map.“What do you read?”
“ARAT,”I read.
“And now?”He raised his hand.
“BALLARAT.”
“Quite so. That was the word the man uttered, and of which his son only caught the last two syllables. He was trying to utter the name of his murderer. So and so, of Ballarat.”
“It is wonderful!”I exclaimed.
“It is obvious. And now, you see, I had narrowed the field down considerably. The possession of a grey garment was a third point which, granting the son’s statement to be correct, was a certainty. We have come now out of mere vagueness to the definite conception of an Australian from Ballarat with a grey cloak.”
“Certainly.”
“And one who was at home in the district, for the pool can only be approached by the farm or by the estate, where strangers could hardly wander.”
“Quite so.”
“Then comes our expedition of to-day. By an examination of the ground I gained the trifling details which I gave to that imbecile Lestrade, as to the personality of the criminal.”
“But how did you gain them?”
“You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of trifles.”
“His height I know that you might roughly judge from the length of his stride. His boots, too, might be told from their traces.”
“Yes, they were peculiar boots.”
“But his lameness?”
“The impression of his right foot was always less distinct than his left. He put less weight upon it. Why?Because he limped——he was lame.”
“But his left-handedness.”
“You were yourself struck by the nature of the injury as recorded by the surgeon at the inquest. The blow was struck from immediately behind, and yet was upon the left side. Now, how can that be unless it were by a left-handed man?He had stood behind that tree during the interview between the father and son. He had even smoked there. I found the ash of a cigar, which my special knowledge of tobacco ashes enables me to pronounce as an Indian cigar. I have, as you know, devoted some attention to this, and written a little monograph on the ashes of 140 different varieties of pipe, cigar, and cigarette tobacco. Having found the ash, I then looked round and discovered the stump among the moss where he had tossed it. It was an Indian cigar, of the variety which are rolled in Rotterdam.”
“And the cigar-holder?”
“I could see that the end had not been in his mouth. Therefore he used a holder. The tip had been cut off, not bitten off, but the cut was not a clean one, so I deduced a blunt pen-knife.”
“Holmes,”I said,“you have drawn a net round this man from which he cannot escape, and you have saved an innocent human life as truly as if you had cut the cord which was hanging him. I see the direction in which all this points. The culprit is……”
“Mr. John Turner,”cried the hotel waiter, opening the door of our sitting-room, and ushering in a visitor.
The man who entered was a strange and impressive figure. His slow, limping step and bowed shoulders gave the appearance of decrepitude, and yet his hard, deep-lined, craggy features, and his enormous limbs showed that he was possessed of unusual strength of body and of character. His tangled beard, grizzled hair, and outstanding, drooping eyebrows combined to give an air of dignity and power to his appearance, but his face was of an ashen white, while his lips and the corners of his nostrils were tinged with a shade of blue. It was clear to me at a glance that he was in the grip of some deadly and chronic disease.
“Pray sit down on the sofa,”said Holmes gently.“You had my note?”
“Yes, the lodge-keeper brought it up. You said that you wished to see me here to avoid scandal.”
“I thought people would talk if I went to the Hall.”
“And why did you wish to see me?”He looked across at my companion with despair in his weary eyes, as though his question was already answered.
“Yes,”said Holmes, answering the look rather than the words.“It is so. I know all about McCarthy.”
The old man sank his face in his hands.“God help me!”he cried.“But I would not have let the young man come to harm. I give you my word that I would have spoken out if it went against him at the Assizes.”
“I am glad to hear you say so,”said Holmes gravely.
“I would have spoken now had it not been for my dear girl. It would break her heart……it will break her heart when she hears that I am arrested.”
“It may not come to that,”said Holmes.
“What?”
“I am no official agent. I understand that it was your daughter who required my presence here, and I am acting in her interests. Young McCarthy must be got off, however.”
“I am a dying man,”said old Turner.“I have had diabetes for years. My doctor says it is a question whether I shall live a month. Yet I would rather die under my own roof than in a gaol.”
Holmes rose and sat down at the table with his pen in his hand and a bundle of paper before him.“Just tell us the truth,”he said.“I shall jot down the facts. You will sign it, and Watson here can witness it. Then I could produce your confession at the last extremity to save young McCarthy. I promise you that I shall not use it unless it is absolutely needed.”
“It’s as well,”said the old man;“it’s a question whether I shall live to the Assizes, so it matters little to me, but I should wish to spare Alice the shock. And now I will make the thing clear to you;it has been a long time in the acting, but will not take me long to tell.
“You didn’t know this dead man, McCarthy. He was a devil incarnate. I tell you that. God keep you out of the clutches of such a man as he. His grip has been upon me these twenty years, and he has blasted my life. I’ll tell you first how I came to be in his power.
“It was in the early‘60’s at the diggings. I was a young chap then, hot-blooded and reckless, ready to turn my hand at anything;I got among bad companions, took to drink, had no luck with my claim, took to the bush, and in a word became what you would call over here a highway robber. There were six of us, and we had a wild, free life of it, sticking up a station from time to time, or stopping the wagons on the road to the diggings. Black Jack of Ballarat was the name I went under, and our party is still remembered in the colony as the Ballarat Gang.
“One day a gold convoy came down from Ballarat to Melbourne, and we lay in wait for it and attacked it. There were six troopers and six of us, so it was a close thing, but we emptied four of their saddles at the first volley. Three of our boys were killed, however, before we got the swag. I put my pistol to the head of the wagon-driver, who was this very man McCarthy. I wish to the Lord that I had shot him then, but I spared him, though I saw his wicked little eyes fixed on my face, as though to remember every feature. We got away with the gold, became wealthy men, and made our way over to England without being suspected. There I parted from my old pals and determined to settle down to a quiet and respectable life. I bought this estate, which chanced to be in the market, and I set myself to do a little good with my money, to make up for the way in which I had earned it. I married, too, and though my wife died young she left me my dear little Alice. Even when she was just a baby her wee hand seemed to lead me down the right path as nothing else had ever done. In a word, I turned over a new leaf and did my best to make up for the past. All was going well when McCarthy laid his grip upon me.
“I had gone up to town about an investment, and I met him in Regent Street with hardly a coat to his back or a boot to his foot.
“‘Here we are, Jack,’says he, touching me on the arm;‘we’ll be as good as a family to you. There’s two of us, me and my son, and you can have the keeping of us. If you don’t……it’s a fine, law-abiding country is England, and there’s always a policeman within hail.’
“Well, down they came to the west country, there was no shaking them off, and there they have lived rent free on my best land ever since. There was no rest for me, no peace, no forgetfulness;turn where I would, there was his cunning, grinning face at my elbow. It grew worse as Alice grew up, for he soon saw I was more afraid of her knowing my past than of the police. Whatever he wanted he must have, and whatever it was I gave him without question, land, money, houses, until at last he asked a thing which I could not give. He asked for Alice.
“His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was known to be in weak health, it seemed a fine stroke to him that his lad should step into the whole property. But there I was firm. I would not have his cursed stock mixed with mine;not that I had any dislike to the lad, but his blood was in him, and that was enough. I stood firm. McCarthy threatened. I braved him to do his worst. We were to meet at the pool midway between our houses to talk it over.
“When I went down there I found him talking with his son, so I smoked a cigar and waited behind a tree until he should be alone. But as I listened to his talk all that was black and bitter in me seemed to come uppermost. He was urging his son to marry my daughter with as little regard for what she might think as if she were a slut from off the streets. It drove me mad to think that I and all that I held most dear should be in the power of such a man as this. Could I not snap the bond?I was already a dying and a desperate man. Though clear of mind and fairly strong of limb, I knew that my own fate was sealed. But my memory and my girl!Both could be saved if I could but silence that foul tongue. I did it, Mr. Holmes. I would do it again. Deeply as I have sinned, I have led a life of martyrdom to atone for it. But that my girl should be entangled in the same meshes which held me was more than I could suffer. I struck him down with no more compunction than if he had been some foul and venomous beast. His cry brought back his son;but I had gained the cover of the wood, though I was forced to go back to fetch the cloak which I had dropped in my flight. That is the true story, gentlemen, of all that occurred.”
“Well, it is not for me to judge you,”said Holmes as the old man signed the statement which had been drawn out.“I pray that we may never be exposed to such a temptation.”
“I pray not, sir. And what do you intend to do?”
“In view of your health, nothing. You are yourself aware that you will soon have to answer for your deed at a higher court than the Assizes. I will keep your confession, and if McCarthy is condemned I shall be forced to use it. If not, it shall never be seen by mortal eye;and your secret, whether you be alive or dead, shall be safe with us.”
“Farewell, then,”said the old man solemnly.“Your own deathbeds, when they come, will be the easier for the thought of the peace which you have given to mine.”Tottering and shaking in all his giant frame, he stumbled slowly from the room.
“God help us!”said Holmes after a long silence.“Why does fate play such tricks with poor, helpless worms?I never hear of such a case as this that I do not think of Baxter’s words, and say,‘There, but for the grace of God, goes Sherlock Holmes.’”
James McCarthy was acquitted2 at the Assizes on the strength of a number of objections which had been drawn out by Holmes and submitted to the defending counsel. Old Turner lived for seven months after our interview, but he is now dead;and there is every prospect that the son and daughter may come to live happily together in ignorance of the black cloud which rests upon their past.
一天清晨，我和妻子正在吃早飯，女仆送來了一份電報。電報是歇洛克·福爾摩斯發的，裏麵寫著：
不知你這幾天有沒有空？我剛剛得到英國西部關於波思克姆比溪穀慘案的來電。你的到來將會使我欣喜萬分。這個地方有著非常優美的景色和新鮮的空氣。希望你可以十一時十五分從帕丁頓出發。
“親愛的，你覺得如何？”餐桌另一邊的妻子看了看我說，“你想去嗎？”
“我也不知道該怎麽說才好。我現在有很多事要做。”
“噢，安斯特魯瑟會接替你的工作的。最近你的臉色總是有點蒼白。我想，環境的改變對你也許會有好處的，再說了，對於歇洛克·福爾摩斯參與的案件你不是一直很有興趣嗎？”
“在辦案過程中，我也確實學到了不少東西，就因為這個，如果他需要我幫助我不過去的確對不起他。”這時我回答道，“不過，要去那裏，我現在就要開始收拾行李了，因為半個小時後就得出發。”
我曾經在阿富汗參過戰，在那裏學會了如何快速地行動，做出反應，以及隨時起身就走。必須攜帶的生活用品並不是很多，因此半個小時後我就坐在出租車上，帶著我的行李箱，車聲轔轔地向帕丁頓車站行進。歇洛克·福爾摩斯在站台上徘徊著。他的上身穿一件長長的灰色旅行鬥篷，頭上戴一頂緊緊箍著頭的便帽：這樣的裝束更加顯現了他身材的瘦長。
“華生，你能來真是太好了，”他說道，“現在有一個可靠的人在我身邊，情況就很不一樣了。當地有關方麵的協助有時候是毫無用處的，甚至還帶有先入為主的偏見。你去占著那個角落裏的兩個空位置，我去買車票。”
在車廂裏，陪伴我和福爾摩斯一起乘車的就是他帶來的那些亂七八糟的報紙。他先翻著這些報紙，看完後就在紙上記錄著什麽，有時又非常安靜地思考著，在我們的列車經過雷丁之前他一直都是這樣。之後，他又突然把這些報紙全都卷起來扔到了行李架上。
“對於這個案件，你聽說過什麽情況嗎？”他問道。
“沒有，我已經很長時間不看報紙了。”
“倫敦報紙新聞裏的描述都差不多，我一直希望從最新的報紙上找到一點有用的信息。根據我的推測，這個案件應該是看上去很簡單，而實際偵破起來卻很難。”
“你這話怎麽說得自相矛盾呢？”
“但這話含義深刻。不正常的現象總是可以提供一些線索給我們。不過，有些案件看上去非常平常，沒有什麽異樣，可我們卻連這是不是犯罪都難以斷定。然而，對於這個案件他們卻已經認定是一起兒子殺害父親的案件了。”
“你是說，那是個謀殺案？”
“唔，這也隻是他們的猜想。我隻有在親自調查了這個案件後才會做出判斷。我現在就把到目前為止我了解的情況向你大概地說一下。
“波思克姆比溪穀位於赫裏福德郡，是一個鄉村，但是距離羅斯不遠。約翰·特納先生擁有著那個地區最大的農場。他在澳大利亞賺了大筆錢，回來後投資了農場。他把自己的農場裏的一個叫哈瑟裏的農場租給了同樣在澳大利亞奮鬥過的查爾斯·邁卡西先生。他們兩個就是在那個殖民地上認識的，因此，很自然他們定居時選擇了距離彼此很近的地方。顯然，特納比較富有，所以邁卡西成了他的佃戶。不過看上去他們還是和以前一樣，很平等。邁卡西有一個十八歲的兒子，特納則有一個十八歲的女兒，這是他惟一的女兒。他們兩個人的妻子都已經去世，多年以來一直不大與周圍英國鄰居來往。邁卡西父子兩人很喜歡鍛煉，所以人們經常在附近的賽馬場上看到父子倆的身影。邁卡西有一男一女兩個仆人。特納家族很大，大約有五六口人。以上這些就是我盡可能搜集到的關於這兩個家庭的情況。現在我們再來談一談具體事情。
“6月3日，也就是上個星期一下午三點鍾左右，邁卡西從他在哈瑟裏的住所出發，步行到波思克姆比池塘。這個池塘其實是一個小湖，由從波思克姆比溪穀傾瀉而下的溪流匯集而成。他曾經在上午和仆人一起到過羅斯，並且告訴仆人說，他要抓緊時間辦事，因為下午三點他還要會見一個很重要的人。可他去赴約後就再也沒有回來了。
“哈瑟裏農場距離波思克姆比池塘四分之一英裏，在這段路上有兩個人看見過他。其中一個是一位老年婦女，至於她的名字我沒有在報紙上找到，另一個是特納先生雇來看守獵場的，叫威廉·科勞德。在這兩個人的證詞中，都說邁卡西先生當時是一個人走過這段路的。那個看守獵場的人還說，他看見邁卡西先生走過去幾分鍾之後，邁卡西先生的兒子詹姆斯·邁卡西也跟了上去，他的腋下還夾著一把獵槍。他可以肯定，當時走在前麵的邁卡西先生一定是在追隨其後的兒子的視野之內的。直到晚上聽說了那件慘案，他才想到了白天這件事。
“在獵場看守人威廉·科勞德目睹邁卡西父子從那裏經過，後來又消失在他的視線之內以後，其他人也看到了他們父子二人。波思克姆比池塘周圍的樹林很茂密，離池塘比較遠的周圍的草叢也很茂密。有一個十四歲的女孩子——波思克姆比溪穀莊園看門人的女兒佩興斯·莫蘭，她當時就在附近的一片叢林裏采摘鮮花。她說自己當時看到邁卡西先生和他的兒子在樹林邊靠近池塘的地方；那時父子兩個人好像在爭吵著什麽，她聽見老邁卡西先生在大罵他的兒子，她甚至看到了那個兒子舉起自己的雙手，好像是要打自己的父親似的。他們暴力的行為把這個小姑娘給嚇跑了，到家之後她告訴了母親自己看到的情景。她離開樹林時，邁卡西父子倆人還在波思克姆比池塘附近爭執著，她害怕他們會真的動起手來。她的話還沒有說完，小邁卡西跑來說他看到父親已經死了，請求看門人的幫助。他當時看上去很激動，連帽子和槍都沒有帶，在他的袖子和衣服角上可以看到斑斑血跡。他把他們帶到了池塘邊上，發現了池塘邊草地上的屍體。死者的頭部由於受到了某種又重又鈍的武器的襲擊凹陷了下去。從傷口上判斷，他兒子用自己的槍的槍托打死父親的可能性很大，那支槍就扔在離池塘不遠的草地上。所以警察迅速逮捕了這個小兒子，並在星期二宣布犯有謀殺罪，星期三將提交羅斯地方法官審判，羅斯地方法官現已把這個案件提交巡回審判法庭去審理。以上這些是驗屍官和違警罪法庭處理這件案件後的陳述。”
我馬上接道：“我簡直無法想像還有比這更惡毒的案件了。如果現場可以作為證據來證明罪行的話，那麽現在這案子就是一個典型。”
福爾摩斯一邊回答一邊在思考著什麽：“現場被用作證據很靠不住。表麵上看，它似乎是揭穿了某件案子的全部真相，不過，隻要你稍微改變一下觀點，你就會發現這些現場同樣可以作為相反情況的證明，而且這種證明同樣是明確的。不過可以肯定的是，現在的證據對這個年輕人很不利。他是殺人犯這種可能性是存在的。可周圍確實有些人相信他是無辜的，其中包括農場主的女兒特納小姐，她還委托了萊斯特雷德來接手這件案子，為小邁卡西的清白辯護——你或許還記得萊斯特雷德就是同‘血字的研究’案件有關的那個偵探——但是，萊斯特雷德覺得這個案子實在是不好處理，於是又找到了我。正是因為這個，兩個中年紳士放棄了在家吃飽飯之後舒舒服服的休息，而以每小時五十公裏的速度迅速地趕往案發現場。”
我說：“我覺得這些事實都太明顯了，對於你處理這個案子可能沒有多大的啟發。”
他笑著回答說：“明顯的事實是最容易迷惑人的，不過也許我們可以很幸運地找到另外一些很明顯的事實，盡管這些事實在萊斯特雷德看來也許是不明顯的。對於萊斯特雷德的說法，我們或者找到根據證明它或者徹底推翻它，但我們使用的方法將是他根本想像不到的，甚至是理解不了的。你很了解我，不會覺得我是在自我吹噓吧？隨便舉個例子吧，我很清楚地看到了，你們家的窗戶在右邊，而恐怕對於萊斯特雷德先生來說，這樣的事實卻並不明顯。”
“這你是怎麽知道的？”
“我親愛的朋友，我太了解你了，我知道你保持著那種軍人所特有的整潔的習慣。你的胡子必定是每天早上都刮的，這樣的季節，陽光是可以作為光源的。在你刮左邊的時候，越靠近下麵的部分就越不幹淨，這樣一直延續到下巴時，就刮得很不幹淨了。很明顯，左邊的光線沒有右邊的光線好。你是一個很愛整潔的人，我很難想像，要是兩邊的光線一樣的話，你怎麽會把胡子刮成這樣呢？我提到這個細節是用來作為我進行推理和判斷的例證。這個是我所擅長的，或許對於我們現在正在進行的調查會有所幫助。所以，對於在傳訊的過程中所提出的幾個不是很重要的問題很值得懷疑。”
“什麽問題？”
“看來並不是在案發現場逮捕他的，而是在哈瑟裏農場。當巡官告訴他說他被逮捕的時候，他說對此他並不感到奇怪，這是他罪有應得。他這麽說，很自然就消除了驗屍陪審團心中僅存的一點點懷疑。”
我忍不住喊了出來，“那是他自己坦白了啊。”
“不對，因為事後有人提出了不同的意見，證明他是無辜的。”
“事情都發展到了這個地步才有人提出不同的意見，這值得懷疑。”
福爾摩斯說：“不，那是在目前的情況下，在黑暗之中我們可以看到的最明亮的一道光線。就算他再無知，也不可能察覺不到擺在他麵前的不利形勢。假設在被逮捕的時候，他故意表現出很吃驚或者是很生氣的樣子，我反而會覺得這值得懷疑，因為這樣的情況下，驚奇和生氣是不自然的，而這正好可以作為一個詭計多端的人用來迷惑別人的手段。對於當時的情況，他很坦然地承認了，這說明，要麽他是無辜的，要麽他就是格外鎮靜的。而他說這些都是他罪有應得這樣的話，隻要稍加考慮你會發現也是很自然的——他當時站在自己的生身父親屍體的旁邊，恰恰就是在這一天他曾經和父親爭吵過，根據那個提供了重要證據的小女孩的說法，他甚至曾經舉起手來準備打自己的父親。所以從他所說的話裏我們可以看出他是一個很孝順的兒子，可不是一個剛剛殺了人的罪犯所能假裝得出來的。”
我搖了搖頭，“可是有很多被判處死刑的人，他們被判的時候能證明他們犯罪的證據比這個案子要少之又少。”
“不錯，很多人就是這樣被送上絞刑架的，但他們被絞死很可能是冤枉的。”
“那個年輕人自己怎麽說？”
“對於支持他的那些人，他交代的情況並不會給他們多少鼓勵，但還是能給我們一點兒啟示的，你自己可以找到，你看看吧。”
在一大捆報紙裏，他找出了一張赫裏福德郡當地的報紙，將一頁翻過來折起來，給我指了指那個不幸的年輕人交代的一大段話。我穩穩地坐在一個車廂的角落裏仔細地讀著這些東西。他是這麽交代的：死者惟一的兒子詹姆斯·邁卡西先生在法庭上做出這樣的證詞：
“我在布裏斯托爾呆了三天，上個星期一回到了家裏。我父親當時不在家，女用人告訴我，他和馬車夫約翰·科布驅車到羅斯去了。到家後不久我聽見他坐著馬車回來了，當我向窗外看時，我發現下車之後他很快就往外走了，當時我並不知道他要去哪裏。於是我拿著槍慢慢地向波思克姆比池塘那個方向跟了上去，打算到池塘那一邊的養兔場去看看。獵場看守人威廉·科勞德在證詞裏說他看到我，事實上我也看到了他。不過他卻錯誤地認為我是在跟蹤父親。其實我根本不知道父親在我前麵。在距離池塘有一百碼的地方，我聽到了‘庫伊！’的喊聲，這是父親叫我的時候所用的信號。所以我迅速地向前跑去，在池塘的旁邊發現了他。見到我之後他好像很驚訝，還粗聲粗氣地問我為什麽會在那個地方。於是我們談了一會話，後來爭吵了起來，我還差點動了手，因為我父親脾氣很不好。我看到他的火氣慢慢地快要控製不住了，就趕快離開了他，轉身返回哈瑟裏農場，不過我離開還不到一百五十碼的時候，一個很可怕的聲音從身後傳來，於是我就又跑了回去。我看到父親躺在了地上，頭上受了很重的傷，已經奄奄一息了。我扔下槍，抱起他，可是幾乎就是在一瞬間他斷了氣。我在他身邊跪了幾分鍾，之後就去求特納先生的看門人幫助我，因為當時我所在的地方離他家最近。當我回到父親那裏的時候，周圍沒有任何入，我根本就不知道是誰殺了他。他的人際關係並不是很好，由於他待人冷漠，讓人敬畏；不過據我所知，還沒有誰會要殺他。這些就是我所知道的全部。”