"Oh, yes; no doubt that is what I must have meant," said Holmes, withhis enigmatical smile. Lestrade had learned by more experiences than hewould care to acknowledge that that razor-like brain could cut throughthat which was impenetrable to him. I saw him look curiously at mycompanion.
"I think I should like to have a word with you presently, Mr. SherlockHolmes," said he. "Now, Mr. McFarlane, two of my constables are at thedoor and there is a four-wheeler waiting." The wretched young manarose, and with a last beseeching glance at us walked from the room. Theofficers conducted him to the cab, but Lestrade remained.
Holmes had picked up the pages which formed the rough draft of the will,and was looking at them with the keenest interest upon his face.
&nb
sp; "There are some points about that document, Lestrade, are there not?"said he, pushing them over.
The official looked at them with a puzzled expression.
"I can read the first few lines, and these in the middle of the secondpage, and one or two at the end. Those are as clear as print," saidhe; "but the writing in between is very bad, and there are three placeswhere I cannot read it at all."
"What do you make of that?" said Holmes.
"Well, what do YOU make of it?"
"That it was written in a train; the good writing represents stations,the bad writing movement, and the very bad writing passing over points.A scientific expert would pronounce at once that this was drawn up on asuburban line, since nowhere save in the immediate vicinity of a greatcity could there be so quick a succession of points. Granting that hiswhole journey was occupied in drawing up the will, then the train was anexpress, only stopping once between Norwood and London Bridge."
Lestrade began to laugh.
"You are too many for me when you begin to get on your theories, Mr.Holmes," said he. "How does this bear on the case?"
"Well, it corroborates the young man's story to the extent that thewill was drawn up by Jonas Oldacre in his journey yesterday. It iscurious--is it not?--that a man should draw up so important a documentin so haphazard a fashion. It suggests that he did not think it wasgoing to be of much practical importance. If a man drew up a will whichhe did not intend ever to be effective he might do it so."
"Well, he drew up his own death-warrant at the same time," saidLestrade.
"Oh, you think so?"
"Don't you?"
"Well, it is quite possible; but the case is not clear to me yet."
"Not clear? Well, if that isn't clear, what COULD be clear? Here is ayoung man who learns suddenly that if a certain older man dies he willsucceed to a fortune. What does he do? He says nothing to anyone, buthe arranges that he shall go out on some pretext to see his client thatnight; he waits until the only other person in the house is in bed, andthen in the solitude of a man's room he murders him, burns his body inthe wood-pile, and departs to a neighbouring hotel. The blood-stains inthe room and also on the stick are very slight. It is probable that heimagined his crime to be a bloodless one, and hoped that if thebody were consumed it would hide all traces of the method of hisdeath--traces which for some reason must have pointed to him. Is allthis not obvious?"
"It strikes me, my good Lestrade, as being just a trifle too obvious,"said Holmes. "You do not add imagination to your other great qualities;but if you could for one moment put yourself in the place of this youngman, would you choose the very night after the will had been made tocommit your crime? Would it not seem dangerous to you to make so veryclose a relation between the two incidents? Again, would you choose anoccasion when you are known to be in the house, when a servant has letyou in? And, finally, would you take the great pains to conceal thebody and yet leave your own stick as a sign that you were the criminal?Confess, Lestrade, that all this is very unlikely."
"As to the stick, Mr. Holmes, you know as well as I do that a criminalis often flurried and does things which a cool man would avoid. He wasvery likely afraid to go back to the room. Give me another theory thatwould fit the facts."
"I could very easily give you half-a-dozen," said Holmes. "Here, forexample, is a very possible and even probable one. I make you a freepresent of it. The older man is showing documents which are of evidentvalue. A passing tramp sees them through the window, the blind of whichis only half down. Exit the solicitor. Enter the tramp! He seizes astick, which he observes there, kills Oldacre, and departs after burningthe body."
"Why should the tramp burn the body?"
"For the matter of that why should McFarlane?"
"To hide some evidence."
"Possibly the tramp wanted to hide that any murder at all had beencommitted."
"And why did the tramp take nothing?"
"Because they were papers that he could not negotiate."
Lestrade shook his head, though it seemed to me that his manner was lessabsolutely assured than before.
"Well, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, you may look for your tramp, and while youare finding him we will hold on to our man. The future will show whichis right. Just notice this point, Mr. Holmes: that so far as we knownone of the papers were removed, and that the prisoner is the one man inthe world who had no reason for removing them, since he was heir-at-lawand would come into them in any case."
My friend seemed struck by this remark.