elapt1c/ElapticAI-512 · Datasets at Hugging Face

text stringlengths 0 149M
which Holmes had brought with him. Among these he rummaged and read,
with intervals of note-taking and of meditation, until we were past
Reading. Then he suddenly rolled them all into a gigantic ball and
tossed them up onto the rack.

“Have you heard anything of the case? he asked.

“Not a word. I have not seen a paper for some days.

“The London press has not had very full accounts. I have just been
looking through all the recent papers in order to master the
particulars. It seems, from what I gather, to be one of those simple
cases which are so extremely difficult.

“That sounds a little paradoxical.

“But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a clue.
The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more difficult it
is to bring it home. In this case, however, they have established a
very serious case against the son of the murdered man.

“It is a murder, then?

“Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing for granted
until I have the opportunity of looking personally into it. I will
explain the state of things to you, as far as I have been able to
understand it, in a very few words.

“Boscombe Valley is a country district not very far from Ross, in
Herefordshire. The largest landed proprietor in that part is a Mr. John
Turner, who made his money in Australia and returned some years ago to
the old country. One of the farms which he held, that of Hatherley, was
let to Mr. Charles McCarthy, who was also an ex-Australian. The men had
known each other in the colonies, so that it was not unnatural that
when they came to settle down they should do so as near each other as
possible. Turner was apparently the richer man, so McCarthy became his
tenant but still remained, it seems, upon terms of perfect equality, as
they were frequently together. McCarthy had one son, a lad of eighteen,
and Turner had an only daughter of the same age, but neither of them
had wives living. They appear to have avoided the society of the
neighbouring English families and to have led retired lives, though
both the McCarthys were fond of sport and were frequently seen at the
race-meetings of the neighbourhood. McCarthy kept two servants—a man
and a girl. Turner had a considerable household, some half-dozen at the
least. That is as much as I have been able to gather about the
families. Now for the facts.

“On June 3rd, that is, on Monday last, McCarthy left his house at
Hatherley about three in the afternoon and walked down to the Boscombe
Pool, which is a small lake formed by the spreading out of the stream
which runs down the Boscombe Valley. He had been out with his
serving-man in the morning at Ross, and he had told the man that he
must hurry, as he had an appointment of importance to keep at three.
From that appointment he never came back alive.

“From Hatherley Farmhouse to the Boscombe Pool is a quarter of a mile,
and two people saw him as he passed over this ground. One was an old
woman, whose name is not mentioned, and the other was William Crowder,
a game-keeper in the employ of Mr. Turner. Both these witnesses depose
that Mr. McCarthy was walking alone. The game-keeper adds that within a
few minutes of his seeing Mr. McCarthy pass he had seen his son, Mr.
James McCarthy, going the same way with a gun under his arm. To the
best of his belief, the father was actually in sight at the time, and
the son was following him. He thought no more of the matter until he
heard in the evening of the tragedy that had occurred.

“The two McCarthys were seen after the time when William Crowder, the
game-keeper, lost sight of them. The Boscombe Pool is thickly wooded
round, with just a fringe of grass and of reeds round the edge. A girl
of fourteen, Patience Moran, who is the daughter of the lodge-keeper of
the Boscombe Valley estate, was in one of the woods picking flowers.
She states that while she was there she saw, at the border of the wood
and close by the lake, Mr. McCarthy and his son, and that they appeared
to be having a violent quarrel. She heard Mr. McCarthy the elder using
very strong language to his son, and she saw the latter raise up his
hand as if to strike his father. She was so frightened by their
violence that she ran away and told her mother when she reached home
that she had left the two McCarthys quarrelling near Boscombe Pool, and
that she was afraid that they were going to fight. She had hardly said
the words when young Mr. McCarthy came running up to the lodge to say
that he had found his father dead in the wood, and to ask for the help
of the lodge-keeper. He was much excited, without either his gun or his
hat, and his right hand and sleeve were observed to be stained with
fresh blood. On following him they found the dead body stretched out
upon the grass beside the pool. The head had been beaten in by repeated
blows of some heavy and blunt weapon. The injuries were such as might
very well have been inflicted by the butt-end of his son’s gun, which
was found lying on the grass within a few paces of the body. Under
these circumstances the young man was instantly arrested, and a verdict
of ‘wilful murder’ having been returned at the inquest on Tuesday, he
was on Wednesday brought before the magistrates at Ross, who have
referred the case to the next Assizes. Those are the main facts of the
case as they came out before the coroner and the police-court.

“I could hardly imagine a more damning case, I remarked. “If ever
circumstantial evidence pointed to a criminal it does so here.

“Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing, answered Holmes
thoughtfully. “It may seem to point very straight to one thing, but if
you shift your own point of view a little, you may find it pointing in

which Holmes had brought with him. Among these he rummaged and read,

with intervals of note-taking and of meditation, until we were past

Reading. Then he suddenly rolled them all into a gigantic ball and

tossed them up onto the rack.

“Have you heard anything of the case? he asked.

“Not a word. I have not seen a paper for some days.

“The London press has not had very full accounts. I have just been

looking through all the recent papers in order to master the

particulars. It seems, from what I gather, to be one of those simple

cases which are so extremely difficult.

“That sounds a little paradoxical.

“But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a clue.

The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more difficult it

is to bring it home. In this case, however, they have established a

very serious case against the son of the murdered man.

“It is a murder, then?

“Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing for granted

until I have the opportunity of looking personally into it. I will

explain the state of things to you, as far as I have been able to

understand it, in a very few words.

“Boscombe Valley is a country district not very far from Ross, in

Herefordshire. The largest landed proprietor in that part is a Mr. John

Turner, who made his money in Australia and returned some years ago to

the old country. One of the farms which he held, that of Hatherley, was

let to Mr. Charles McCarthy, who was also an ex-Australian. The men had

known each other in the colonies, so that it was not unnatural that

when they came to settle down they should do so as near each other as

possible. Turner was apparently the richer man, so McCarthy became his

tenant but still remained, it seems, upon terms of perfect equality, as

they were frequently together. McCarthy had one son, a lad of eighteen,

and Turner had an only daughter of the same age, but neither of them

had wives living. They appear to have avoided the society of the

neighbouring English families and to have led retired lives, though

both the McCarthys were fond of sport and were frequently seen at the

race-meetings of the neighbourhood. McCarthy kept two servants—a man

and a girl. Turner had a considerable household, some half-dozen at the

least. That is as much as I have been able to gather about the

families. Now for the facts.

“On June 3rd, that is, on Monday last, McCarthy left his house at

Hatherley about three in the afternoon and walked down to the Boscombe

Pool, which is a small lake formed by the spreading out of the stream

which runs down the Boscombe Valley. He had been out with his

serving-man in the morning at Ross, and he had told the man that he

must hurry, as he had an appointment of importance to keep at three.

From that appointment he never came back alive.

“From Hatherley Farmhouse to the Boscombe Pool is a quarter of a mile,

and two people saw him as he passed over this ground. One was an old

woman, whose name is not mentioned, and the other was William Crowder,

a game-keeper in the employ of Mr. Turner. Both these witnesses depose

that Mr. McCarthy was walking alone. The game-keeper adds that within a

few minutes of his seeing Mr. McCarthy pass he had seen his son, Mr.

James McCarthy, going the same way with a gun under his arm. To the

best of his belief, the father was actually in sight at the time, and

the son was following him. He thought no more of the matter until he

heard in the evening of the tragedy that had occurred.

“The two McCarthys were seen after the time when William Crowder, the

game-keeper, lost sight of them. The Boscombe Pool is thickly wooded

round, with just a fringe of grass and of reeds round the edge. A girl

of fourteen, Patience Moran, who is the daughter of the lodge-keeper of

the Boscombe Valley estate, was in one of the woods picking flowers.

She states that while she was there she saw, at the border of the wood

and close by the lake, Mr. McCarthy and his son, and that they appeared

to be having a violent quarrel. She heard Mr. McCarthy the elder using

very strong language to his son, and she saw the latter raise up his

hand as if to strike his father. She was so frightened by their

violence that she ran away and told her mother when she reached home

that she had left the two McCarthys quarrelling near Boscombe Pool, and

that she was afraid that they were going to fight. She had hardly said

the words when young Mr. McCarthy came running up to the lodge to say

that he had found his father dead in the wood, and to ask for the help

of the lodge-keeper. He was much excited, without either his gun or his

hat, and his right hand and sleeve were observed to be stained with

fresh blood. On following him they found the dead body stretched out

upon the grass beside the pool. The head had been beaten in by repeated

blows of some heavy and blunt weapon. The injuries were such as might

very well have been inflicted by the butt-end of his son’s gun, which

was found lying on the grass within a few paces of the body. Under

these circumstances the young man was instantly arrested, and a verdict

of ‘wilful murder’ having been returned at the inquest on Tuesday, he

was on Wednesday brought before the magistrates at Ross, who have

referred the case to the next Assizes. Those are the main facts of the

case as they came out before the coroner and the police-court.

“I could hardly imagine a more damning case, I remarked. “If ever

circumstantial evidence pointed to a criminal it does so here.

“Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing, answered Holmes

thoughtfully. “It may seem to point very straight to one thing, but if

you shift your own point of view a little, you may find it pointing in