"See here, sir! See what my wife found in its crop!" He held outhis hand and displayed upon the centre of the palm a brilliantlyscintillating blue stone, rather smaller than a bean in size, butof such purity and radiance that it twinkled like an electricpoint in the dark hollow of his hand.
Sherlock Holmes sat up with a whistle. "By Jove, Peterson!" saidhe, "this is treasure trove indeed. I suppose you know what youhave got?"
"A diamond, sir? A precious stone. It cuts into glass as thoughit were putty."
"It's more than a precious stone. It is the precious stone."
"Not the Countess of Morcar's blue carbuncle!" I ejaculated.
"Precisely so. I ought to know its size and shape, seeing that Ihave read the advertisement about it in The Times every daylately. It is absolutely unique, and its value can only beconjectured, but the reward offered of 1000 pounds is certainlynot within a twentieth part of the market price."
"A thousand pounds! Great Lord of mercy!" The commissionaireplumped down into a chair and stared from one to the other of us.
"That is the reward, and I have reason to know that there aresentimental considerations in the background which would inducethe Countess to part with half her fortune if she could butrecover the gem."
"It was lost, if I remember aright, at the Hotel Cosmopolitan," Iremarked.
"Precisely so, on December 22nd, just five days ago. John Horner,a plumber, was accused of having abstracted it from the lady'sjewel-case. The evidence against him was so strong that the casehas been referred to the Assizes. I have some account of thematter here, I believe." He rummaged amid his newspapers,glancing over the dates, until at last he smoothed one out,doubled it over, and read the following paragraph:
"Hotel Cosmopolitan Jewel Robbery. John Horner, 26, plumber, wasbrought up upon the charge of having upon the 22nd inst.,abstracted from the jewel-case of the Countess of Morcar thevaluable gem known as the blue carbuncle. James Ryder,upper-attendant at the hotel, gave his evidence to the effectthat he had shown Horner up to the dressing-room of the Countessof Morcar upon the day of the robbery in order that he mightsolder the second bar of the grate, which was loose. He hadremained with Horner some little time, but had finally beencalled away. On returning, he found that Horner had disappeared,that the bureau had been forced open, and that the small moroccocasket in which, as it afterwards transpired, the Countess wasaccustomed to keep her jewel, was lying empty upon thedressing-table. Ryder instantly gave the alarm, and Horner wasarrested the same evening; but the stone could not be foundeither upon his person or in his rooms. Catherine Cusack, maid tothe Countess, deposed to having heard Ryder's cry of dismay ondiscovering the robbery, and to having rushed into the room,where she found matters as described by the last witness.Inspector Bradstreet, B division, gave evidence as to the arrestof Horner, who struggled frantically, and protested his innocencein the strongest terms. Evidence of a previous conviction forrobbery having been given against the prisoner, the magistraterefused to deal summarily with the offence, but referred it tothe Assizes. Horner, who had shown signs of intense emotionduring the proceedings, fainted away at the conclusion and wascarried out of court."
"Hum! So much for the police-court," said Holmes thoughtfully,tossing aside the paper. "The question for us now to solve is thesequence of events leading from a rifled jewel-case at one end tothe crop of a goose in Tottenham Court Road at the other. Yousee, Watson, our little deductions have suddenly assumed a muchmore important and less innocent aspect. Here is the stone; thestone came from the goose, and the goose came from Mr. HenryBaker, the gentleman with the bad hat and all the othercharacteristics with which I have bored you. So now we must setourselves very seriously to finding this gentleman andascertaining what part he has played in this little mystery. Todo this, we must try the simplest means first, and these lieundoubtedly in an advertisement in all the evening papers. Ifthis fail, I shall have recourse to other methods."
"What will you say?"
"Give me a pencil and that slip of paper. Now, then: 'Found atthe corner of Goodge Street, a goose and a black felt hat. Mr.Henry Baker can have the same by applying at 6:30 this evening at221B, Baker Street.' That is clear and concise."
"Very. But will he see it?"
"Well, he is sure to keep an eye on the papers, since, to a poorman, the loss was a heavy one. He was clearly so scared by hismischance in breaking the window and by the approach of Petersonthat he thought of nothing but flight, but since then he musthave bitterly regretted the impulse which caused him to drop hisbird. Then, again, the introduction of his name will cause him tosee it, for everyone who knows him will direct his attention toit. Here you are, Peterson, run down to the advertising agencyand have this put in the evening papers."
"In which, sir?"
"Oh, in the Globe, Star, Pall Mall, St. James's, Evening News,Standard, Echo, and any others that occur to you."
"Very well, sir. And this stone?"
"Ah, yes, I shall keep the stone. Thank you. And, I say,Peterson, just buy a goose on your way back and leave it herewith me, for we must have one to give to this gentleman in placeof the one which your family is now devouring."
When the commissionaire
had gone, Holmes took up the stone andheld it against the light. "It's a bonny thing," said he. "Justsee how it glints and sparkles. Of course it is a nucleus andfocus of crime. Every good stone is. They are the devil's petbaits. In the larger and older jewels every facet may stand for abloody deed. This stone is not yet twenty years old. It was foundin the banks of the Amoy River in southern China and is remarkablein having every characteristic of the carbuncle, save that it isblue in shade instead of ruby red. In spite of its youth, it hasalready a sinister history. There have been two murders, avitriol-throwing, a suicide, and several robberies brought aboutfor the sake of this forty-grain weight of crystallised charcoal.Who would think that so pretty a toy would be a purveyor to thegallows and the prison? I'll lock it up in my strong box now anddrop a line to the Countess to say that we have it."
"Do you think that this man Horner is innocent?"
"I cannot tell."
"Well, then, do you imagine that this other one, Henry Baker, hadanything to do with the matter?"
"It is, I think, much more likely that Henry Baker is anabsolutely innocent man, who had no idea that the bird which hewas carrying was of considerably more value than if it were madeof solid gold. That, however, I shall determine by a very simpletest if we have an answer to our advertisement."
"And you can do nothing until then?"
"Nothing."
"In that case I shall continue my professional round. But I shallcome back in the evening at the hour you have mentioned, for Ishould like to see the solution of so tangled a business."
"Very glad to see you. I dine at seven. There is a woodcock, Ibelieve. By the way, in view of recent occurrences, perhaps Iought to ask Mrs. Hudson to examine its crop."