"Who's there?" "Steward, sir." "I say, were not at Dover yet are we?" "No sir, but there's a message for you, sir." "In the wireless room." "I'll be right there." "Dover in fifteen minutes." "Dover in fifteen minutes." "Dover in fifteen minutes." "Dover in fifteen minutes." "Dover in fifteen minutes." "Dover in fifteen minutes." "Bless my soul." "I must have dropped off right in the midst of our most interesting conversation." "My dear young lady, what must you think of me?" "Oh please, I knew you were tired so I kept very quiet." "I wouldn't have awakened you for the world." "You're very kind." "Oh, you were telling me about your roses." "Ah, yes, yes my roses." "My beautiful roses." "Oh yes, yes we..." "We must be getting into Dover." "Well, bless my soul." "Yes indeed." " Oh, I beg your pardon." " I beg your pardon." "Yes, yes there are the white cliff's." "You know I've been dreading this moment." "Why now?" "Well, you see I have some exposed film in my camera and they might make me open it, the custom's I mean." "I should so hate to lose my little pictures." "Oh dear, that's too bad." "I wonder, it would be a great favor." "Would you mind taking care of it for me, till we get through the customs I mean?" "Well, I don't quite know" "If you'll just say it's yours being a clergyman, you're not subject to such rigid inspection." "All right." "Just a harmless little deception, eh?" "All right my dear, all right." "Oh..." "Oh dear, it nearly fell overboard." " Yes." " Oh, dear." " Are you a courier for the Royal Museum?" " Right." " Bringing in the Borgia Pearl?" " That's it." "I'll have it out for you in a jiffy." "I say, that's a clever dodge." "Needs to be for this, believe me." "There you are." "That message, sent to me on the boat it was a hoax to get me out of my stateroom." "Oh, there you are." "I was afraid that" "My dear, they...they didn't even question me." " Oh, how can I ever thank" " Don't try just send me one of your photographs, will you?" "I'll be happy to." " Goodbye." " Goodbye." "Why, Giles!" "Come on, get in." "How many times must I caution you, my sweet not to speak until the doors are shut?" "I'm sorry, I didn't expect you to meet me." "Oh, I couldn't deny myself that pleasure." "Naomi, your more beautiful than ever." "I'm glad to be back." "Yes and we're glad to have you back." "We?" "Well, an old friend of yours turned up quite unexpectedly." "He's been asking for you." "Who's that?" "I found him prowling around the room making wistful little noises like a dog." "No, it can't be." "Yes my dear, The Creeper." "I'm not going to the flat." "Oh, you'll be quite safe." "I have him under lock and key." "Now to business." "What luck?" "See for yourself." "I stuffed it with paper to stop it from rattling." "It's absolutely the biggest pearl I've ever seen." "I don't understand." "You've been had, my dear, properly had." ""My dear Conover, forgive me if I take the liberty of returning the Borgia Pearl to its lawful owners." "Devotedly, S.H."" "Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street." "Well, you might tell me what you've been doing?" "One thing at a time, old boy." "Let me get off this makeup." "Oh, I'm as stiff as a vanished eel." "It still doesn't answer my question." "What've you been up to?" "A little bit of hijacking, old boy." "Reach into the inside pocket of that coat that you're about to throw aside." "What do you find there?" "Pocketbook." "Open it." "Take out what you see." "You're fingers are now closed on a matter of fifty thousand pounds." "What?" "Huh, can't be real." "Real as death, old fellow." "The blood of twenty men upon it down through the centuries." "Where'd you get it?" "From a charming young lady, Naomi Drake." "Alias Ebet Dejue, alias Liza Vanini." "Never heard of her." "No, nor of Giles Conover either, I fancy." "No, I can't say that I have." "That's the incredible thing about it, Watson." "This man invades Europe like a plague yet no one has heard of him." "That's what puts him on the pentacle in the records of crime." "What's he do?" "Everything and nothing." "In his whole diabolical career the police have never been able to pin anything on him." "And yet, show me crime without motive, robbery without a clue, murder without a trace and I'll show you Giles Conover." "But that's amazing, Holmes." "Two years ago he disappeared from his usual haunts and I have every reason to believe that he" "Oh, here it is." "I've every reason to believe that he's back in England again." "It's like a precocity of this sinister creature" "I should feel that my own career had reached its summit." "Where is that stuff?" "Well, you think Conover's behind the theft of this pearl?" "I was never more sure of anything in my life." " Excuse me." " Oh." "Shh." "Listen." "The pearl, quick hide it." "Turn out that light." "Well, Mr. Holmes." "My apologies, Lestrade." "I was expecting Mr. Giles Conover." "Come in, won't you?" "Good evening, Doctor Watson." "Good evening." "I take it that Scotland Yard has been notified of the theft of the Borgia Pearl?" "Yes but...but" "Give it to him, Watson." "What?" "Well, I never." "That's a fine way to treat the Borgia Pearl." "I assure you, Lestrade I shall not feel safe until this pearl is in the deepest vault of the Royal Regent Museum." "I don't mind telling you, Digby I shall be glad to see the last of your precious pearl." "Precious is a feeble word, Holmes." "Look at its flawless skin, it's natural symmetry," " it's a miracle of beauty." " A miracle of horror." " Steady on now." "isn't that a bit strong?" " Is it?" "Look at its bloodstained history." "Think of all the misery's it's brought to the poor wretches who lay greedy hands on it." "Alexander Borgia died, twisted and black from poison." "Carlos of Spain became a dribbling madman." "A disastrous jewel, Digby." "The world would be much better off if it were sunk in the ocean from which it came." "Oh really, Mr. Holmes we'd hardly treat a national treasure in such a cavalier fashion." "If you'll kindly open the case, inspector." "Certainly, sir." "There, all snug and safe." "You call that safe?" "I've told you Giles Conover's after that pearl." "Under the circumstances, wouldn't it be better to place a guard over it?" "It has a hundred guards over it at this very moment." "Well, my eyes must be failing me I don't understand." "What's to prevent anyone from smashing the glass and pinching it?" "Would you like to try it, Doctor Watson?" "I certainly would." "Don't bother smashing the glass I'll open it for you." "Now there, help yourself." " Mr. Digby?" " Don't be alarmed Bates merely a demonstration." "May I have the pearl, Doctor?" "What again?" "That allays your fears I trust, Doctor Watson?" "If you'll step into my office, gentlemen," "I'll explain to you what happened." "How does the thing work?" "Electricity, The high priest of false security." "As you'll have noticed, gentlemen, we are well protected." "Every article in this museum is so placed" " that its removal creates a contact." " Very ingenious." "Tell me, Digby, just where in the building is the control of this ingenious electrical safety device?" "The wires are in this room." "Naturally, they're not exposed." "Well, naturally." "Well, Watson, I think our usefulness here has ended." " Goodbye, Digby." " Goodbye, Mr. Holmes." "Proved to be most interesting, thank you very much." " Goodbye, Mr. Digby." " Goodbye, Doctor." " Oh, good day, Inspector." " Good day, sir." "Oh, I'm so sorry." "Oh, accidents will happen." "Mind where you're going." "My new hat." " My apologies, Digby." " Oh, no harm done, I assure you." "On the contrary, I'm afraid the greatest harm has been done." "I beg your pardon." "Are all the objects of art in this room connected with your protective system?" "Well, most of them but why?" "This Hogarth etching for instance," " is it connected?" " Most certainly." "It's a priceless original." " Take it down will you, Watson?" " Not me." "Once bitten, twice shy." "Oh tush." "I'm not afraid of guards and gongs." "But...but." "I don't understand." "What's happened?" "Why don't the gongs ring?" "I'll tell you why because your whole elaborate system here isn't worth a brass furling." " But" " It all depends on three wires behind that strip of Chinese embroidery." " Who told you?" " You told me yourself, said the wires weren't exposed." "The only unexposed wall space in this room" "is behind this embroidery." "While you were picking up those ornaments" "I disconnected these wires just to show you how absurdly easy it would be for anyone, far less ingenious and far less resourceful than Giles Conover to do the same thing." "Now will you listen to me when I tell you to lock that pearl in the deepest, darkest vaults in all England?" "Stop thief!" "Stop thief!" "Open the door!" "Gone." "It's gone." "A workman took it, sir." "Bates is after him." "I don't understand the gongs never rang and the shutters never closed." "No, The wires were disconnected thanks to Mr. Sherlock Holmes." "A grateful nation owes you a memorial, Mr. Holmes." "You demonstrated your cleverness, oh most brilliantly." " You did put your foot in it and no mistake, Mr. Holmes." " Nonsense." " How was he to know that anyone" " How?" "Well, elementary, my dear Watson." "By his deductive reasoning of course." "Oh, shut up, Lestrade." "Deductive reasoning?" "Giving away the Borgia Pearl like a pound of tea." "Fifty thousand pounds and not tea." "What's this?" "A man who wanted to be caught, Mr. Giles Conover." " How are you, Mr. Holmes?" " But I don't understand." "This is one of our workmen." "He's been employed here for weeks." " He came highly recommended." " Yes, I've no doubt of it." " Every employee of this museum is scrupulously investigated." " My dear, Digby," "Mr. Conover's is a man of infinite resource and precaution." "Well, thank you, Mr. Holmes." "Just a bare chance that his accomplice Miss Naomi Drake might not get away with that pearl on the boat from Austin to Dover." "Pearl, what pearl?" "Who are you getting at?" "Did you search him, Bates?" "Yes, Inspector but there's not a thing on him." " He might have swallowed it." " No, he hasn't got it or he would have never allowed Bates to catch him." "While he was running away did he stop?" "Did he meet anybody?" "Why yes, sir as he went around the corner he bumped into a woman." "Did you get a good look at her?" "No sir, not good enough." "Ha, that's where you lost your pearl." "That woman was an accomplice." "Same girl that was on the boat, eh?" "Possibly." "In any event may I suggest Lestrade that you hold Mr. Conover?" "Oh, come now, Mr. Holmes haven't you made enough mistakes for one day?" "It's no crime you know in taking a job in a museum." "There's no crime in running when you're being chased." "Just what am I being held for?" "Ah...window breaking?" "Thank you, Mr. Conover." "Take him away, officer." "How long can you hold him?" "Well, you heard what he said, strictly speaking we can't." "One day, two?" " Well, make it two." " Good." "Good?" "What's good about it?" "We don't want him we want the pearl?" "That's just what I'm getting at, Watson." "One of two things has happened, either the woman he bumped into was an accomplice in which case, she has the pearl, or he managed somehow to conceal it in his flight." "He had to stick that pearl in some make shift hiding place." "He'll never rest until his confederates have it safely in their hands." "He'll try to send them a message." "You are to give him every opportunity." "But how?" "May I suggest, Lestrade that he's permitted to have his food sent in from the outside?" "Huh?" "Oh." "Here we are, Inspector." "Here is his tray just the way Mr. Conover left it." "Oh." "Ten to one there's a message in there somewhere." "Yes, what makes you so blinking sure there's a message in it?" "Because he asked me for a lend of me pencil, that's why and he promised a quid if I'd keep my mouth shut." "Oh he did, did he?" "Cunning, ain't he?" "Well, there's some that's cunninger." "He's got the wrong pig by the ears this Mr. Giles Conover." "Yes." "He hasn't got Mr. Sherlock Holmes to deal with." "Well, nothing there." "There might be a note stuck on underneath." "Oh." "Seeing eye, that's what you've got to have." "Nothing much gets by you, Inspector." "Oh, we all slip up once in a while." "No one's infallible, you know." "That's funny." "Got you Mr. Giles Conover." "Here, hang on to this." "What is it?" "You'll soon see, a note to his accomplice or I'm a Dutchman." "Yes." "Fancy me pulling Mr. Sherlock Holmes' chestnuts out of the fire." "There she comes." "Thought he'd fool me didn't he, bless the little man." "This will tell us where the Borgia Pearl is." "It means promotion for me, sure as you're alive." "What'd it say?" "What do you care what it says?" "It didn't say where the Borgia Pearl was at, Inspector." "Just you clear up this tray, that's all you got to do." "And see it gets back to the restaurant." "Very good, Inspector." "Holmes and his theories." "Naddie my girl, get a move on will you?" "What are you staring at that plate for?" "Oh, I ain't a staring at it I'm a washing it, see?" "Well, I ain't paying you to go to sleep on your feet, you know?" "Go on you old bag of grease." "Wash your own dirty dishes." "See?" "Here, you can't do that there here." "It's lovely weather, ain't it?" "Holmes, you drive me raving mad standing there scraping on that filthy fiddle as if you haven't got a care in the world." "All the time your reputation's been dragged in the mud." "My dear Watson, I really must caution you against hitting newspaper reporters in the teeth." "It ah...isn't dignified." "Well he deserved it, the idiot." "But how did you know I struck a reporter?" "Observation, my dear fellow." "You come in here with two copies of the morning paper." "The thing you never do unless there's an article in which you wish to keep for your files." "You talk about my reputation being dragged in the mud." "Obviously I've been the subject of a scuttles attack in connection with the theft of the Borgia Pearl." "Oh, you certainly have." "This article practically suggests you stood to profit by the deal, and it implies that you were working with Conover." " Yes, I'm afraid I'm in for it, Watson." " Indeed you are." "But, how did you know I struck the fellow?" "Oh that, well you come in here, jumping off the handle at me," "Berating me like a mother who boxes her child's ears after snatching it from under a tram." "A very human impulse, Watson and one that suggests that you've been taking up the cudgels on my behalf." "What a remarkable deduction." "Not when you consider that the skin is missing from the first and second knuckles of your right hand." "Didn't hurt." "Good old, Watson." "It's like you to stand by a man who's been discredited." "Oh, rubbish." "We've been in tighter spots than this." "Not many, I'm afraid." "Well, come along, old fellow." "What have we here?" "Kippers." "Kippers, splendid." "I'm as hungry as a bee on a flower." "Come in." "Don't get up." "I haven't got a minute." " I've just popped in to tell you" " I know, to tell me that you can't hold Conover any longer." "In fact, you've already let him go." "Never a doubt." "How did you know?" "Elementary, my dear Lestrade." "You know as well as I do that you can't hold a man for more than forty-eight hours" " without bringing a charge against him." " That's right." " Have one won't you?" " Thanks." "Well, I've got to be off." "Off to solve another baffling crime I suppose?" "You might call it that, Doctor but to me it's just another routine murder." "Oh?" "Who is it?" "A bloke named Harker, military man." "Harker?" "Horace Harker?" " That's right you know him?" " I've heard of him." "Horace Harker." "Yes, I remember him." "He's a major in India." " He's retired." " Uh-huh" " So he's been murdered, has he?" " That's right." "Had his back broke." "Well, now I've got to be off." "Wait a minute." "What did you say?" "Had his back broke." "You know, spine snapped." " That's it." " That's what?" "It's come at last, Watson, the thing we've been waiting for." "Now hold on, hold on." "Keep your shirt on." "There's no mystery about it." "He must have fallen down in the struggle that's all." "Nonsense." "Here's your coat, Watson." " What is all this?" " We're giving Lestrade a hand." " Well, the Borgia Pearl we can't" " The Borgia Pearl were after." " Come along, Lestrade." " I don't want a hand." "Borgia Pearl were after." "Giving Lestrade a hand." " Watson!" " I'm coming." "Giving Lestrade a hand." "Lestrade is always going morning noon..." "And this is exactly how you found him?" "Yes, sir." "Nobody's touched him but the police sergeant." " Back broken, eh?" " Snapped clean, sir." "Died instantaneous the doctor said." "Lestrade, would you mind if Doctor Watson has a look at him?" " Not at all." " Thank you." "Watson, I'd like to know whether the break is cervical, thoracal, lumbar and I'll wager it's lumbar." "Oh, tosh." "Who found the body, Murdock?" " She did, sir." "His housekeeper." " Oh." "Said she came in to clear away supper things and found him lying there." "And that's the first and last word we've been able to get out of her." "Oh it is, is it?" "Well, I'll soon get a word out of her." "Here you" " I shouldn't do that if I were you, Lestrade." " Why not?" "The woman's suffering from shock." "Cataleptic if you ask me." " I ain't asking you, Mr. Holmes." " Naturally." "Get her out of here, Murdock." "Get her to a hospital." "Can't you see she's suffering from cata...from shock." "Come on now." "Nobody's going to hurt you." "Major Harker seems to have thought very highly of Napoleon." "He's rather overdone it." "Mm-hmm." "I don't think much of that one." "Where was the break, Watson?" "One of the lumbar vertebrae as you thought, the third vertebrae." "I can't for the life of me imagine how it happened." "I can." "Oh, really?" "Well, it happened just as I thought." "The house breaker comes in through this window over here." "So you see Mr. Sherlock Holmes I shan't be needing you after all." " Simple as A-B-C isn't it?" " Yeah." "The murderer comes in through that open window," "Major Harker's having supper over there, with his back to him, carry on." "Well, he tiptoes over behind his victim here." "Harker rises, they come to gripes." "They barge all around the room banging into this table, dishes go every which way," "Harker falls and breaks his back." "Simple ain't it?" "So simple, my dear Lestrade as to be almost childish." "For instance, will you kindly explain how the dishes that were on this table could have been knocked off in the struggle and this silver milk jug left standing and all these knives and forks and spoons in perfect arrangement?" "Well Mr. Holmes, if it's a psychology of knives and forks and milk jugs you're talking about I beg to be excused." "I'm trying to account for this broken china, Lestrade." "That's the outstanding feature of this case whether you know it or not." "All these broken plates, plaster ornament, bric-a-brac, why was all this china mashed and nothing else disturbed?" "Why?" "Yes and how about his back being broken?" "A man can't just fall down and break his back" " in that casual way, you know." " Right you are, Watson." "External force is indicated." "There's no doubt about it." "Major Harker's back was broken deliberately." "I suppose you're going to tell us just who did it?" "Yes, I think I can." "I've never known but one killer who used that technique." "What?" "Oh, come on, he's dead and done for." "Can you remember him?" "Am I likely to forget the Hoxton Creeper?" "Hoxton Creeper?" "Hoxton Horror I called him." "A monster, Watson with a chest of a buffalo and the arms of a gorilla." "His particular method of murder is back breaking and it's always the same, the third lumbar vertebrae." "How horrible." "Do you mean to stand there and tell me you think he's still alive?" "Why they got him two years ago trying to escape from Devil's Island." " Did they?" " Yeah." "I wonder." "I'll lay you odds he's in London at this very moment." "All right Mr. Holmes, you stick to your theories I'll stick to my facts." "That's fair enough." "Do me a favor will you?" "Anything your little heart desires." "This broken china get it all swept up carefully and send it to me at Baker Street, will you?" "All right but what do you want it for anyway?" "Oh, just a souvenir." "Come along, Watson" "I think our usefulness here has ended." "Mind you sweep it all up, Lestrade." "As a matter of fact, Watson what I did not tell Lestrade, since I can't prove it, is that the Hoxton Creeper has always been Giles Conover's right arm when it comes to killing." "When you heard that Major Harker's back was broken you suspected The Creeper, eh?" "Naturally, can't be mere coincidence that the Creeper comes back into the scene just as Giles Conover reappears in London." "I see but how does Harker tie up with that gang?" "I haven't the foggiest notion." "Buy a box of matches, gentlemen?" "But there is a connection or Harker wouldn't be lying there now with his back broken." "My surmise is that Giles Conover has lost the Borgia Pearl and is trying desperately to get it back just as we are." "Do you really think so?" "I'm just as sure of it as I am that we're being shadowed this very moment." "Eyes front, Watson." "Come on." "Listen." "Have you got your revolver?" " Yes." " Then get it ready." "Huh?" " Taxi?" " No thank you." "Come on, Watson." "Conover's gang." "We're on the right track, Watson." ""Due primarily to the brilliant work of Inspector Lestrade."" "Brilliant work of Inspector Lestrade, rubbish!" "Lestrade couldn't even see the stripes on a zebra." "Hello. "Housekeeper held."" "They arrested the housekeeper." "Whoa!" "How could a little woman of that size break a man's back?" "Lestrade's an idiot." "Well, what the dear public don't know, the dear public won't worry about." "That's funny." "I had it here a moment ago." "Extraordinary thing." "Where can it be?" "I lifted it." "Oh, what would Holmes do?" "I know, reconstruct the.." "Reconstruct it, that's it." "I was sitting here, cutting, paste, reach for pipe, matches, light..." "Well then, it ought to be..." "And so it is." "Eureka." "Well done." "Pure deductive reasoning." "Pretty good." "I must tell Holmes about that." "He couldn't have done better himself." "The first door on the right, sir." "Oh, thank you." "Thank you, Madame." "Come in." "Doctor Watson, I believe." "Is Mr. Holmes in?" "Well he's out, sir." "He'll be back any minute." "Won't you come in and wait?" "Thank you very much." "Thank you." "Won't you sit down, sir?" "Thank you." "Have a cigarette?" "No thank you." "No, doctor won't allow me to smoke cigarettes but may I?" "Yes, yes sir." "You'll find matches on the table." "Oh, thank you very much." "You know, my health has never been the same since that dreadful affair at Farnsworth Castle." "Farnsworth Castle?" "The Farnsworth case, I thought I recognized you." "Just a minute, I'll tell you who you are." "Really?" "Yes, simple deduction." "The bowed shoulders of the scholar, the open constancy of the churchmen, you must be Lord Farnsworth's brother," "Archdeacon Farnsworth." "No sir, I'm no archdeacon." "Well then, you're the man who found the body in the bathtub." "No, it was the butler who found the body" " and I was in the cupboard." " Oh yes, yes." "Strangled wasn't he?" "No, no shot." "Oh shot, yes of course, shot, yes." "Lord Farnsworth's uncle, wasn't it?" "I am Lord Farnsworth's uncle." "Oh, of course." "My mistake." "Your Farnsworth uncle." "And your name is" "Theopolus Kirby," "Lord Farnsworth's uncle and biographer." "Of course, I remember you well." "I..." "Holmes will be very glad to see you." "He maybe a bit late." "By the way, as he isn't here if there's anything that I can do." "Same...same training as Holmes, pure deductive reasoning." "For example, I can see that you're in trouble." "On the contrary, sir." "I've never been happier." "Oh, my mistake, never been happier." "I've been looking for some little token of gratitude, which I could give to Mr. Holmes and at last I think I've found something that he'll appreciate." "It's Doctor Johnson's great dictionary, an early folio." " Early folio." "Doctor Johnson dictionary," " Yes." "I'm quite sure that he'd be very excited about that." "That's very kind of you." "I'm a bit of a book collector myself." "Oh, no please, please, I.." "I," "I've inscribed a little dedication." "It may be a little flowery perhaps but, well it's straight from my heart, to his I hope and it's just a little private." "Oh, yes of course, a little private and you want him to be the first to read it." "That is so." "You're very understanding, sir." "Thank you very much." "Now, I'm afraid I must go." "I'm sorry I cannot stay any longer." "Don't you worry about the book, sir" "I give you my word that Sherlock Holmes will be the first person to open it." "Oh, that makes me very happy, sir." "Very happy." " Goodbye, sir." " Bye, Doctor." "I'm sorry you can't stay." "1757." "Huh." "An early folio." "Must be worth a lot of money." "Bugger." "Yes." "Who?" "Mrs. Pennyweather." "There's no Mrs. Pennyweather here." "This is Doctor Watson not Mrs. Pennyweather" "Wrong number I'm afraid." "I don't think Holmes would mind if I just..." "Come in, come in." "Oh, hello, Mrs. Hudson." "I've brought your tea and when Mr. Holmes comes in see that he eats a bite like a good sole." "Certainly my dear, I'd be glad to." "I have a hard time getting him to eat." " Oh, good afternoon, Mrs. Hudson." " Oh, I just brought your tea." "Thank you." " And be sure you drink it." " I will." "Hello, Watson." "Hello." "Too bad you're late." " An old chap was here to see you." " Oh?" "Sorry to have missed you." "What old chap?" "Theopolus Kirby." "The Lord Farnsworth's uncle." "You remember the Farnsworth case?" "Yes, indeed I do and I remember Theopolus Kirby too." "Quite a scholar and like most scholars, poorer than a church mouse." "What's he want?" "He brought you a present." "First folio of Doctor Johnson's dictionary." "Must be worth a lot of money." "He's written an inscription in it, bless his heart," " out of gratitude." " That's very nice of him." " Would you like to have a look at it?" " Have a cup of tea?" "Oh thanks, old boy, put it down there." "Gratitude is a rare quality in these days." "Let's see what he wrote." "Watson, have you been smoking a cigar?" "No, the old boy smoked one." "Kirby wasn't a smoking man as I remember him." "And even if he were he wouldn't be smoking a Bolivar cabinet size, imported from Havana, especially for connoisseurs." "Well, if you're not sure of him there's plenty of samples of his writing in the shelves over there." " Why don't you compare them" " Don't touch that book." " What?" " Give it to me." "I'm sorry, Watson but unless I'm greatly mistaken" " you've been entertaining Mr. Giles Conover." " What?" "Stand back from that book." "Great Scott!" "He meant that for you." "Oh, that's very gratifying." " Gratifying?" " Certainly." "Conover wouldn't go to all this trouble to eliminate me if I weren't in his way and obviously I am in his way because he hasn't yet found the Borgia Pearl and as long as he hasn't" "All right let me have it." "Here." "Yes, yes." "Oh, Lestrade." "Yes." "What?" "Say that again." "Don't touch a thing." "No not a thing do you understand?" " Right, We'll be with you." " What is it, Holmes?" "Another murder, a little old lady with her back broken." " No!" "Yes and in a litter of smashed china." "That was exactly how I found my sister." "There, there, there, steady my dear, steady." "You live here, Miss Carey?" "No, Mr. Holmes." "I teach history at a school in Cardiff." "I came home today for the holidays." "This card, Mr. Holmes, the very last thing she did." ""To my dear Ellen." "To inspire her and her pupils with love."" "A gift for you." "What was it, Miss Carey?" "I don't know." "I'll never know now." "I found it on the desk over there." "She was writing it when..." "Why do you stand there?" "Why don't you find the beast who committed this dreadful crime?" "Look here, Miss Carey there's just one question I" "That'll be quite enough questions." "You come along with me, my dear." "What you need is a sedative." "I'll telephone for a nurse." "There, there, my dear." "You'll be quite all right." "Pitiable." "Poor little woman." " Back broken, eh?" " Snapped clean, sir." " Same as Major Harker's?" " Yes." "Once more we find the body in a litter of smashed china." "What do you make of that?" "Coincidence I'd call it." " Would you?" " Yeah." "Curious isn't it?" "Two murders at the opposite ends of London." "People who couldn't conceivably have had anything in common." "Their backs broken and smashed china around their bodies." "Well, things do get smashed in a struggle you know." "Including the plates that are hung on these wire racks on the walls?" " When a lady gets hysterical" " She may do many desperate things but my dear Lestrade she does not run around the walls like a mouse." "No, those plates were taken down and smashed deliberately and it was done after she was killed and not before." "Is that another one of your little theories, Mr. Holmes?" "No it's a fact, and easily demonstrable." "If you lift up that body I think you'll find there's not a vestige of broken china underneath." "Just to prove your wrong." " Here, lend a hand here, Bleeker." " All right, sir." "Easy does it." "Light as a feather, ain't she?" "What did I tell you?" "Look at that, Lestrade." "That china was broken after her dead body was flung there on the floor?" "But why, why was it done?" "Well, as I see it we're dealing with a monomaniac and after each and every one of these murders he goes into a bestial fury and smashes things." "But why bric-a-brac and nothing but bric-a-brac?" "Why should a murderer who's strong enough to break Major Harker's back, vent his bestial fury by breaking up dinky little cups and saucers when he could just as easily break up a large chair or smash a big table?" "There's no accounting for the workings of the criminal mind." "Oh, nonsense." "He follows a pattern and there's purpose in it." "Would you have those broken fragments collected and sent to me at Baker Street please?" "Oh, what's the use?" "You won't find any fingerprints in them." "Perhaps not." "But broken china is the one thing these murders have in common." "We've got to get to the heart of this mystery and quickly too." "Don't you realize there's a monster at large in the city bent on destruction?" "We don't know why, we don't know where." "But somewhere at any moment." "Blast that cat." "I'd swear I put her out." "That's funny." "I'm sure I drew those library curtains." "I'm afraid I must disagree with the newspapers, Watson." "The Hoxton Creeper, to the best of my knowledge, is not a madman or if he is then there's method in his madness and that method I'm convinced is supplied by Giles Conover." "Do you think all this broken china is just a blind to make it look like the work of a madman?" "On the contrary, my dear fellow." "The smashed china shows purpose, it shows motive." "And purpose and motive are the last things a sane man would wish to imply if he were posing as a madman." "Why smash the china?" "The killer didn't choose to smash the china he had to smash it." "Huh?" "Had to?" "What for?" "Oh, possibly to cover up something else that was smashed." "Some object identical in all three cases." "The clue that we're looking for." "Why mess about with the plaster?" "You'll find more chance at finding the clue you're looking for in the china cause there is much more china." "And there's too much china, Watson and too little plaster, which leads me to suspect that the greater conceals the less and if the china was smashed to cover up the plaster." "Curious notion." "Oh, look." "Bird." "Matter of fact I had thought of it myself." "Oh, did you really?" "And it was very tactful of you not to mention it." "Here, what do you make of this?" "Cocked head." "Soldier, eh." "No doubt of it." "Part of a bust, military hat." "Late 18th century I should think." "Well, that's funny." "Here we are in the second house." "Here's a shoulder, a bit of a chest and a metal on it." "Looks like it might have come from the same bust?" "Identical." "Same plaster, same proportion, same military subject and this piece comes from the house of the second murder while these pieces came from the house of the first." " We're getting warmer, Watson." " Wait a minute, wait a minute." "I've got something over here." "Here we are." "Look, here's a nose, there's a mouth and a bit of a chin" " from the third house." " Put them under his hat." " The little corporal himself." " Right, Watson." "Napoleon." "A single statue made of fragments from three different houses." " Identical busts in each house, huh?" " Yes." "Put the pieces down here." "I told you this china was smashed to cover up something else." "But why smash Napoleon?" "Think Watson, think." "Something was hidden in one of those busts" "Something that Conover's looking for." " You don't mean that" " Precisely, the Borgia Pearl." "But how did it get in the bust in the first place?" "That's what they're going to find out." "We're going to get a hold of that guard." "The one that chased Conover down the street the day he stole the Borgia Pearl." "Get your hat, I'll get a taxi." ""Get your hat, I'll get a taxi."" "Borgia Pearl." "The Napoleon bust." "Now we're driving about London looking at broken glass." "Borgia Pearl..." "Here we are, sir." "This is where I nabbed him." "He was beating it along here like a frightened rabbit when I come up from behind and made the pinch." "That isn't true." "Well, strike me dead if it isn't, sir." "Isn't it true that he went in there?" "Well, he was trying...he was" "Well, out with it man did he or didn't he?" "Well as a matter of fact he did duck in there, but I made the pinch right on this very spot like I said." "Can you tell us exactly what happened?" "Why yes, sir." "He runs in here in full length and up to this door." "Was the door open?" "Just like it is, sir but when I got here from the head of the stairs the door was bolted." "So I started to climb in this here window." "Was the window open too?" "No, sir." "I had to force it." "When suddenly the door opens, out he nips and I made the pinch right on that very spot like I told you." "How long was Conover out of your sight?" "I'd should say less than a minute, Mr. Holmes." "That's why I didn't want to mention it before." "I didn't think it was important." "Important." "Great heavens man, come on." "Oh, I beg your pardon?" "Gentleman, this is not my sales room this is my workshop." "What can I..." "Oh. it is you, is it?" "Catching more thieves today?" "Ah, no I was explaining here to Mr. Holmes and Doctor Watson" " Thank you Bates that will be all." " Thank you, sir." " Good day, Bates." " Good day, sir." "Mr. Gelder our time is short and believe me when I tell you" " that lives are at stake." " Lives?" "Please answer my questions as briefly as possible." "Last Tuesday at ten minutes past twelve where were the workman who are usually employed in this room?" "It was their dinner hour they were out." "On this table over here?" "You had some busts of Napoleon standing to dry did you not?" "Yes, I did but how did you know?" "Never mind that now, how many were there?" "Six, just like these busts of Beethoven." "Six busts of Napoleon Bonaparte." "Six, are you sure, no more no less?" "Yes, I'm positive." "Watson, look sharp will you?" "Go to that door to the alley and do exactly as I tell you." " Huh?" " No, not huh." "Just do it, leave your stick." "What do you think I am an alley cat?" "Go outside and close the door." "Stand over there will you?" " Me?" " Yes, please." "Ready, Watson?" "Ready, Holmes." "All right, come in quickly." "Close the door." "Bolt it." "Turnaround." "Take two steps forward." "Stop." "Wait a moment." "Look around you." "Now, look over here." "Wait a minute." "Now run over here." "Pause a moment." "Look at these wet plaster busts." "Look back to the door." "Take a coin out of your pocket." "Come on, hurry man, hurry." "Now, stick your finger in one of these wet plaster busts." "Go on, go on, do it, do it." "Put the coin in." "Put it in, put it in!" "Now smooth over the plaster, covering up the hole." "Mad." "Both of them." "Fifty-four seconds." "That's close enough." "Conover could have done it faster." "He acted on his own while you had to wait for instructions." " You mean to say that" " Precisely." "Conover stuck that Borgia Pearl in one of those six wet plaster busts of Napoleon." " What?" " Gelder." "Gelder, what happened to those six busts?" " You are not the first one asking me that?" " No, who was the other?" " A woman." " When?" "Was it Wednesday the day after the thief was taken?" "Yes, it was." " Naomi Drake, Watson." " Naomi Drake?" " What did you tell her?" " The same as I'm telling you," " they were delivered all six of them." " Yes, yes but to whom?" "To Amos Hodder's Art Shop on Kensington Road." "Amos Hodder." "Watson." "Huh?" "What an amusing statue." "Most amusing." "Is it, why?" "Cause I say it is." "Pretend to be interested." "What?" "Oh, fine bit of molding, Holmes." "What a most amusing statue." "Most amusing." " Sit down in that chair." " Huh?" "Sit down in that chair." "Let no one else in or out of that door." "Attend to the gentleman, Miss Benzenger." "Yes, Mr. Hodder." "Oh, mercy me." "Here, here." "What have you broken now?" "I never saw such a one for breakage." "You aren't even worth half the wages you earn." "But it's my poor eyesight, Mr. Hodder." "I can't help my eyes now can I?" "What have you broken this time?" "One of the Copenhagen Vases, eh?" "Well that makes four." "There was a flying mercury yesterday and the two Napoleons the very day you came." "I never broke the Napoleons I tell you" "I found them that way." " Mr. Hodder may I trouble you?" " Well, I beg your pardon I'm sure but this sort of thing is most trying." "What can I do for you, sir?" "My name is Holmes, Sherlock Holmes." "I'm doing a little private investigating in connection with some busts of Napoleon that you purchased from George Gelder's plaster shop." "I understand there were six busts of Napoleon here on Wednesday morning last." "That's correct, Mr. Holmes." "Now let me see I think I heard you say that two of the busts of Napoleon were broken by accident." "Accident." "That clumsy girl." "Oh Benzenger, put the vases up on the shelf before you break the rest of them and sweep up this litter, will you?" "Yes, Mr. Hodder." "Well, don't be too hard on the poor girl Mr. Hodder accidents will happen you know." "Now tell me, you say that two of the busts were broken here in the shop, the third went to Major Harker, a fourth to Miss Carey and a fifth to Mr. Thomas Sandeford." "Yes, sir." "And by the strangest coincidence" " all three of those persons" " It was not a coincidence, Mr. Hodder." "Bless my soul." "Tell me, what happened to the sixth bust?" "I..." "I sold it same as the others." "To whom?" "Do you remember?" "Some doctor or other." "I have his name in my account book." "My memory for names is rather poor." "Now where is the retched thing?" "Ah yes, yes here we are." "Let's see, it would be Wednesday or Thursday." "Any luck?" "The best of luck I think, Watson." "Fortunately for us we arrived here before Naomi Drake." "Ah, here we are sold to Doctor Joseph Caldecot, thirteen LaBrennan Road, Stratham." "Good, that's just what I wanted." "Take down the address will you, Watson?" "Got a pencil?" "Doctor Joseph Caldecot." "Joseph Caldecot." "13 LaBrennan Road..." "This name and address, Hodder." "Is that your handwriting?" "Look carefully." "Why no the doctor is mine" " but the rest is changed." " Shh." "Quiet." "Oh, rest my soul it's a forgery." "Ink eradicator has been used and another name written in." "Think carefully." "Can you remember the name of the doctor that you wrote here?" "Oh, dear me, I'm poor at names you know?" "This is very much like it." "Very much." "Clever devil." "She's made the names sound alike to throw you off." "This telephone is there," " is there an extension in there?" " Why yes." " What are you going to do, Holmes?" " Shh." "Quiet." "You were right Giles, it worked like a charm." "He'll be off to the wrong end of town presently." "Yes, I'm leaving at once." "Thanks my dear, that's what I wanted to know." "I shall start at once." "Meet me in two hours." "Same place, eh?" "Why of course he's here." "He's sitting right behind me." "Then I shan't meet you not till you've got rid of him." "Oh nonsense, my dear." "His devotion to you is most touching." "But I tell you I just can't stand having him near me." "Giles?" "Giles?" "Yes, my dear?" "What is it?" "I thought you'd hung up." "Hardly, Naomi." "I understand there's another doctor same name, not listed in the directory." "You sure you've given me the right man?" "I'm positive." "Doctor Julian Boncourt," "Eighteen Chelsea Place." "Thank you, my dear." "Don't worry about The Creeper." "I'll take care of him." "Watson, telephone Doctor Julian Boncourt, tell him to take the bust of Napoleon that he bought here and to go the nearest police station." "Just let go, Naomi," "I'm here to catch you." "Think your clever, don't you?" " You can't hold me." " Come on." "Come on down." "What charges are against me?" "Peddling matches without a license." "Constable, put the cuffs on her she's an accomplice in three murders possibly four." "Leave me alone, you can't do this to me." "No one there." "I can hear it ringing." "Better drive slowly." "I wouldn't like to get picked up with our passenger in the back." "Well, he's pretty quiet back there." "What's he up to?" "He's got Naomi's vanity case." "Stay here till I call you." "Doctor Boncourt." "Yes, yes what'd you want?" "Don't you see I'm busy?" "I shan't keep you very long." " I've only come to ask" " How did you get in here?" "Who are you?" "I'm also a very busy man." "Doctor, I understand you bought a bust of Napoleon a few days ago." "I should like to look at it." "What are you talking about?" "Will you get out of here please or must I call the police?" "Stay away from that telephone you old fool." "Where's that bust?" "Unfortunately, it is broken." "Broken?" "Yes, you will find the pieces over there." "in the container." "But you won't find the Borgia Pearl there my dear, Conover." "Drop that gun." "The bust is still unbroken and quite safe." "You're still full of your little surprises, Mr. Holmes." "Back up against that wall." "I don't like your work, Conover." "I've seen quite a bit of it both here in London and elsewhere on the continent." "Don't like the smell of you either." "That underground smell, the sick sweetness of decay." "You haven't robbed and killed merely for gain like any ordinary, halfway decent thug." "No, you're in love with cruelty for it's own sake." "And the world will be much better off without you." "It will give me great pleasure" "Don't move." "Put your hands up." "That's it." "You know I never would have thought of disconnecting those wires if it hadn't been for your excellent example at the Royal Regent Museum." "It has been said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery." "Oh yes, I'm willing to learn from an old master hand." "Come now, where's that bust?" "Doctor Boncourt took it with him to the police station." "Oh, that's a very feeble lie." "You'd hardly have let it out of your hands, you'd of been afraid Doctor Boncourt would have met us coming in." "Us?" "Yes, you know whom I mean." "Creeper!" "Creeper!" "Stay where you are." "Now listen, go to the room at the head of the stairs, the one with the two glass panels in the door." "You know what to look for." "And if you should meet Doctor Boncourt on the way pay him your respects." "You'll hang for this Conover." "Just as Naomi Drake will hang." "They caught Naomi Drake, you know?" "Well that's too bad that's her fault." "No it's your fault, Conover." "It's all your fault." "Poor Naomi." "Now stay where you are!" "I shouldn't let The Creeper know if I were you." "He wouldn't like it if he knew you'd let her down." "He's crazy about Naomi." "She's a very pretty girl." "Now you're trying to scare me, Mr. Holmes but it won't work." "You've got nothing on Naomi, she'll get off." "Oh, no she won't." "She lost her head you see when she found she was cornered." "Grabbed a large pair of shears and stabbed Doctor Watson to death." "She'll hang for that you know and it's all your fault." "You got her into this and you won't raise a hand to help her, will you?" "She'll hang by her soft, white neck." "Trustees will put their hands on that pretty body of hers and throw it in the quick lime." "Stay back." "Do you hear me?" "Stay back!" "That's it." "Give it some more." "Go on, put your shoulders to it." "Give it some more." "That's it." "It'll go." "Holmes." "Thank heavens." "Come in, gentlemen." "But where's Boncourt?" "He's quite safe." "Lestrade, send one of your men upstairs, will you?" "Tell Doctor Boncourt that all is well." " Gently though, he's old and his heart is weak." " I see." "That's why I didn't dare send him out of the house." "He's up there." "All right, up you go." "You see, if he'd run into Conover and The Creeper." "Conover and who?" "The Creeper my dear, Lestrade that you said didn't exist anymore." "Where is he?" "You'll find him the laboratory." "Conover too." "Come on." "You won't need your revolver nor handcuffs." "Oh." "You got them." "Yes." " Did they find the bust?" " No." "Well, what did you do with it?" "My time was very short, Watson so I put the bust in the last place" "I thought that Conover would look for it." "He literally brushed by it as he came in." "Amazing and the Borgia Pearl's inside that?" "If it isn't" "I shall retire to Sussex and keep bees." "Look, there it is." "By Jove." "The Borgia Pearl." "The blood of five more victims on it." "Well anyhow, Conover was one of them." "What's Conover?" "No more than a symbol of the greed and cruelty and lust for power that have set men at each other's throats down through the centuries and the struggle will go on, Watson for a pearl, kingdom," "perhaps even world dominion till the greed and cruelty have burned out of every last one of us and when that time comes perhaps even the pearl will be washed clean again."