Sherlock Holmes: The Boscombe Valley Mystery PDF

## The Boscombe Valley Mystery 'I have seen young McCarthy. But now I am sure he knows as little as we do,' said Holmes. a husband already - a sailor - and that she and James are not really married. This piece of news has made poor James a lot happier. 'But if James is innocent, then who did the...

## The Boscombe Valley Mystery 'I have seen young McCarthy. But now I am sure he knows as little as we do,' said Holmes. a husband already - a sailor - and that she and James are not really married. This piece of news has made poor James a lot happier. 'But if James is innocent, then who did the murder?' 'Ah, who? I want you to notice two important facts. The first is that the murdered man went to the pool to meet someone. This person was not his son, because his son was away from home. McCarthy did not know when his son was coming back. The second fact is that the murdered man called "Cooee!", not knowing about his son's return. Those are the two things which will help to save young James. And now let us change the subject. We shall talk no more of murders and leave all that business until tomorrow.' Holmes was right: there was no rain during the night and the next day was bright and cloudless. At nine o'clock Lestrade came for us with the carriage and we left for Hatherley Farm and Boscombe Valley. 'There is serious news this morning, said Lestrade; 'I hear that Mr Turner is dangerously ill. The doctor thinks that he is dying.' 'He is quite an old man, then?' asked Holmes. 'About sixty; but his health has been bad for some time. This business has made him really ill. He was an old friend of McCarthy's and helped him in a number of ways. I have learned that he gave him free use of Hatherley Farm.' 'Is that true? This is most interesting,' said Holmes. 'Oh yes, and he has helped him in other ways too. Everyone round here speaks of his kindness to McCarthy. 'Really? Don't you think it strange then that McCarthy wanted his son to marry Turner's daughter? The Turners are rich and the McCarthys seem to be quite poor. We know that old Mr Turner has always been against the idea. His daughter told us that. Don't you find that McCarthy's friendliness is a little unusual?' 'You are always full of ideas, Mr Holmes,' said Lestrade, looking at me with a smile. 'I have come here to study the facts and they are difficult enough. Your thoughts always fly away from the real problems.' 'You are right,' said Holmes quietly. 'You do find it difficult to notice the facts.' 'Well, I have understood one fact which you do not seem to get hold of,' answered Lestrade, not very pleased. 'And that is?' 'That young McCarthy killed his father; any other way of seeing this case is just not possible.' 'Let us agree to disagree,' said Holmes, laughing. 'But if I am not mistaken, there is Hatherley Farm on the left.' 'Yes, that is it.' It was a long, low building made of grey stone and it looked comfortable. But the windows were all shut and there was no smoke coming up from the roof. It looked empty. We knocked on the door and a young servant girl came out. She showed us first the boots which old Mr McCarthy was wearing at the time of his death. She also showed us a pair of the son's boots. Holmes studied their size and shape very carefully. He then asked to see the back of the house. From there we took the path which went to Boscombe Pool. Holmes seemed to change as he hurried towards the place of the murder. He stopped being the quiet thinker of Baker Street. His face became redder and darker. His eyes shone with a hard light. He pressed his lips together and held his face down and his body low, studying the ground. His thoughts were turned so fully to the case that he did not seem to hear anything that we said. If he did, he answered only with a short word or two. He made his way quickly and silently along the path which went across the fields and then down through the trees to Boscombe Pool. The ground was soft and wet as we got nearer. There were the marks of many feet both on the path and on the short grass on each side. Sometimes Holmes hurried on, sometimes he suddenly stood still. Once he walked away from the path into a field. Lestrade and I walked behind him. Lestrade seemed bored and uninterested in what Holmes was doing but I watched my friend carefully, knowing that every movement had a meaning. Boscombe Pool is a small piece of water about one hundred and twenty yards wide. It lies at the end of the Hatherley Farm land where it joins the beautiful park land belonging to Mr Turner. Above the trees on the far side of the pool we could see the big red roofs of Turner's home. On the Hatherley