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02:11at the bottom of his farm.
02:13It seemed to have established a very serious case
02:15against the son of the murdered man.
02:19There's a big one just under that rock.
02:24So then, it's, um, a murder.
02:29Well, it's conjecture to be so.
02:31Of course, I shall take nothing for granted
02:33until I've had a chance to look into it personally.
02:36Naturally.
02:41I don't wish to spoil your holiday,
02:42but I was wondering if I could persuade you
02:44to join me for a couple of days.
02:48Well, of course.
02:52Are you sure?
02:53I should be delighted.
02:57Then we must move quickly.
02:59Our local train leaves in 35 minutes.
03:11Let's go.
03:27Oh, my God.
03:51All this fresh air will kill me.
03:55The London Press don't seem much interested.
03:58Not very full accounts.
04:00Yes.
04:01Useless.
04:03So much for the London Press.
04:05It all seems depressingly simple.
04:06What persuaded you to take an interest in this case?
04:09This.
04:12Boscombe Valley Mystery.
04:14There has been a grave miscarriage of justice.
04:16The matter is urgent.
04:18We need your help.
04:19Please come if you can.
04:21Alice Turner.
04:22Good heavens.
04:23Who is Alice Turner?
04:24She is the daughter of Mr. Turner, also Australian,
04:27who owns this whole estate.
04:29Well, it's a mystery, not murder, to Miss Turner.
04:33Note the we, Watson.
04:35We need your help.
04:36If ever there was a cry from the heart, that is it.
04:38It leaps from the paper.
04:39Have you seen this lady?
04:40No, not yet.
04:42Do you remember a certain Sergeant Summerby?
04:44Summerby.
04:45Oh, yes.
04:46The case of a counterfeit Spanish dollar.
04:48Mexican.
04:49Pleasant fellow.
04:50Much admired your methods, did he not?
04:53Probably his reason for a promotion to inspector.
04:57He is in charge of the case.
04:59It was he who organized this accommodation for us.
05:01Us?
05:02You presume that I would come?
05:04No, not presume.
05:05Watson hoped.
05:06Very much hoped.
05:11Well, Mr. Holmes, and you, Doctor, it's a pleasure to see you again.
05:16Congratulations on your promotion, Inspector.
05:19Thank you, Doctor.
05:21It's a quiet district as a rule, but nonetheless my own.
05:25I have a carriage waiting.
05:27Ah, oh.
05:41McCarthy, the murdered man, rented a farm called Hatherley from Mr. Turner, who was one of
05:46the largest landed proprietors in this part of the country.
05:48Made his money in Australia.
05:50I presume that both being colonials, they had much in common.
05:54Old friends, I believe, though Mr. Turner has been in failing health for some time.
05:58He has a daughter called Alice.
06:00An only child and the most charming one.
06:03We surmise that Miss Turner and the McCarthy boy are friends.
06:08Great friends.
06:09It was Miss Turner who brings me here.
06:11All I know, Mr. Holmes, and to be quite honest with you, I'm surprised he came.
06:15Well, the case is there's plain as a backstaff.
06:17And the more I get into it, the plainer it becomes.
06:20So I have warned, Miss Turner, that this time, not even Mr. Sherlock Holmes will be able
06:24to work miracles to where we are.
06:30Beautiful countryside.
06:32Yes, yes, indeed.
06:33This is Boscon Valley.
06:34And over there, at the bottom, is Boscombe Mere, where the murder took place.
06:39Peaceful place for a tragedy.
06:41Any witnesses?
06:42I expected that question, Mr. Holmes.
06:45The principal witness is William Crowder, one of Mr. Turner's gamekeepers.
06:55It was after I'd had my dinner.
06:58Last Monday it was, the, er, the 3rd of June.
07:03Ah, ah, that's right.
07:05Now, I fed the young pheasants, er, pups we call them.
07:09You were planting out lettuces.
07:11Ah.
07:12Ah, that's right.
07:13I was setting out some lettuces, er, those lettuces over there, where my little girl
07:19Patience, she comes running up.
07:33Dad, Dad, the McAfee's are fighting.
07:35Oh, won't be a fuss time.
07:38Well, don't you worry about it, Patience, Ted.
07:42No concern of ours.
07:44Go on, in you.
07:52That Mr. McCarthy, he had a temper, that man, you know.
07:57Oh, aye.
07:58Do you know, if he thought another gun had poached his bird, out shoot him, he'd let fly in a
08:03real fury.
08:04Was the boy, the same way inclined, no milk for me, Mr. Holmes?
08:07Er, no.
08:10No, not that I'd noticed, anyway.
08:11No, he always seemed a nice enough boy, surprised him doing such a thing.
08:17But then again, he was provoked, no doubt.
08:24Who's to say?
08:25You tell the gentleman what happened next.
08:28What?
08:29You haven't forgotten what you said in evidence of the inquest.
08:32Forgotten?
08:34I shan't forget that day, not so long as I live.
08:38Now, I just sent Patience into a mother, and I haven't planted out no more than another half box.
08:44When young McCarthy come running up, looking like he'd seen a ghost.
08:49My father's made with a terrible accident.
08:51Please, come with me.
08:52I need your help.
08:52Where is he?
08:53He's down by the mirror.
09:50You just come along with me.
09:57I brought him back here, and I sent my wife down in the trap for the police.
10:01Did the boy say anything?
10:03No.
10:03No, no, not a word.
10:05He just sat there where you are, sobbing and moaning.
10:07And I didn't take my eyes off him till they came for him, and that's the truth.
10:11Did you examine the gun at all?
10:13The butt, for instance?
10:15Er, no.
10:17No, no.
10:17Not especially.
10:19There was a bit of mud on it.
10:22He wiped it.
10:25He wiped it.
10:28Well, I might have done.
10:29I mean, it would have been natural, wouldn't it?
10:31There was Mr. McCarthy lying there dead with his head bashed in.
10:34He hadn't got that way of swatting wasps, had he?
10:36Do you believe that the boy killed his father?
10:39Well, of course I do, sir.
10:41I mean, who else could have done it?
10:44Well, I can tell you this much, gentlemen.
10:47All right?
10:47Now, I'm a gamekeeper.
10:48All right?
10:49And when a man's got a gun in his hand, strange things can happen.
10:52Oh, aye.
10:53Now, I've seen men, quiet, law-abiding gentlemen.
10:56You put a gun in their hands, they turn into near maniacs.
10:59Thank you so much, Mr. Crowder, for giving so much of your valuable time.
11:07Well, it's been a pleasure, gentlemen.
11:09It's not the first time I've been able to help the cause of justice.
11:12No, not by a long show.
11:14It was last year, Candleman's time.
11:15You remember, Inspector?
11:16No, I'm a liar.
11:18It was two years ago.
11:18We must be on our way.
11:20Well, I'm on the side of law and order, sir.
11:22The Inspector will tell you that.
11:24Indeed you are, Crowder.
11:27Goodbye.
11:33They're all the same, these country people.
11:35Once they get in the audience, they'll talk the iron leg of a donkey.
11:38Now, if you follow me, I'll take you down to the scene of the crime.
11:40No need for the moment.
11:42That's very true.
11:43No need in the circumstances.
11:45It's a sad case, but a pretty clear one.
11:48The glass is high.
11:51Weather's set fair.
11:54I should like to call on James McCarthy.
11:58I can arrange it if you wish.
11:59Tomorrow.
12:00Tomorrow.
12:02One more thing I should tell you, Mr. Holmesman.
12:04When the boy was charged with the murder, he didn't appear in the least surprised.
12:08In fact, he said it was no more than his desserts.
12:11Those were his very words.
12:13A confession?
12:14You might think so.
12:15Did he also protest his innocence?
12:17Yes.
12:18But then again, they always do, don't they?
12:20I think we'd best be getting back to the hotel.
12:22I have some call to make on the estate.
12:25Till tomorrow, then.
12:28Boss, come on.
12:42The boy said he got no more than his dessert.
12:44Well, that's a pretty suspicious remark.
12:47I mean, coming after such a damning series of events.
12:50On the contrary, it's the brightest rift I can see in the clouds at present.
12:55The self-approach and contrition displayed by his remark appears to me to be signs of a healthy mind rather
13:00than a guilty one.
13:01Many men have been hanged on far slighter evidence.
13:05So they have.
13:05And many men have been hanged wrongfully.
13:08Oh, look.
13:08A pheasant.
13:23Witness.
13:26Witness.
13:26That's James McCarthy.
13:28I had a conversation with my father, which led to high words and almost to blows.
13:34As his temple was becoming ungovernable, I left him and went up the hill.
13:40I hadn't gone more than a hundred yards when I heard a hideous outcry which caused me to run back
13:48again.
13:50I found my father expiring on the ground with his head terribly injured.
13:58Did you see anyone near your father when you returned?
14:02No, no one.
14:03I have no idea how he came by his injuries.
14:06He was not a popular man.
14:08But as far as I know, he had no active enemies.
14:12I know nothing further of the matter.
14:14Did your father say anything to you before he died?
14:18He mumbled a few words, but all I could catch was some allusion to a rat.
14:23Silence!
14:24Be quiet!
14:28A rat.
14:30And what did you understand by that?
14:32He conveyed nothing to me.
14:34I thought...
14:36Well, I thought he was delirious.
14:39What was the point upon which you and your father had this final quarrel?
14:50I should prefer not to answer that question, sir.
14:53I'm afraid that I must press it.
14:55It really is impossible for me to tell you.
14:57But I can assure you that it had nothing to do with the sad tragedy that followed.
15:02That is for the court to decide.
15:04I need hardly point out to you that your refusal to answer will prejudice your case considerably
15:08in any future proceedings which may arise.
15:11You may sit down.
15:19Gentlemen of the jury, you are here to discover the cause of death of Mr. William McCarthy
15:24and thereafter to deliver your verdict.
15:26You have heard the facts of this crime.
15:28I believe they make the situation very clear.
15:31Mr. James McCarthy's account of his father's dying is singular to say the least.
15:37His refusal to give any details of their last conversation must go very much against him.
15:44The verdict of willful murder seemed to me to fit the facts we have heard.
15:49I hope I make myself clear.
15:55So, willful murder it was.
15:58Monstrous.
16:00Well, the boy did rather ask for him.
16:02Oh, my dear, Watson, don't you see that both you and the coroner have been to some pains
16:05to single out the strongest points in the young man's favour?
16:09Don't you see that you ultimately give him credit for too much imagination or too little?
16:13Too little if he could not invent a quarrel which would give him the sympathy of the jury.
16:17Too much if he evolved from his own inner consciousness.
16:21Anything so outre as a dying reference to a rat.
16:24Well, these country coroners do think they're little tin-pot gods.
16:28Well, it's an absolute scandal.
16:31No, no, no.
16:34I shall approach this case from the point of view that what this young man says is true.
16:39No, no, no, no, no.
17:12We have a visitor.
17:15Our young client has arrived.
17:30Come in.
17:33I'm so glad you've come, Mr. Holmes.
17:36I'm Alice Turner.
17:37This is my friend and colleague, Dr. Watson.
17:39Dr. Watson, of course.
17:42It is you who have written down some of Mr. Holmes' cases in such an interesting way.
17:47You see, I know all about you, Mr. Holmes, and your wonderful success.
17:51If you knew how much we need you now, do you yet know anything of what happened?
17:56Please sit down, Miss Turner.
17:59Inspector Somerby has told me something of it.
18:01Oh, yes, the inspector.
18:03He gave me your address.
18:05He's quite a kind man, isn't he?
18:07But he doesn't understand.
18:10How could he?
18:11He's a policeman.
18:13Mr. Holmes,
18:15James, I know that James didn't do it.
18:18I know it.
18:19And I want you to start your work knowing it, too.
18:23Never let yourself doubt upon that point.
18:26Have you known James McCarthy a long time?
18:28Yes.
18:29All my life.
18:31We have known each other since we were children.
18:34But he is too tender-hearted to hurt a fly.
18:37This charge is just absurd to anyone who really knows him.
18:40Well, I hope that we may clear him.
18:43I should do all I can.
18:45But from what you have heard already, do you not think he is innocent?
18:49I think it is probable.
18:53I don't think my friend is so convinced.
18:56Well, I think that Mr. Holmes has been a little quick in his conclusions.
19:02But you are right.
19:04Oh, I know that you are right.
19:05James never did it.
19:09This quarrel with his father,
19:11which you would not talk about to the coroner,
19:13do you know anything of it?
19:14I believe it was because I was concerned in it.
19:17In what way?
19:20It is no time to hide anything now.
19:24Well, James and his father had many disagreements about me.
19:28Mr. McCarthy was very anxious that there should be a marriage between us.
19:33James and I have always loved each other like brother and sister.
19:36Of course, we haven't seen so much of each other lately.
19:39I have been away at boarding school for some years,
19:41and James has been studying in Liverpool.
19:45He is only 22 and has seen very little of life,
19:47and, well, I suppose he does not wish to do anything like that just yet.
19:54So there were quarrels.
19:56And this, I am sure, was one of them.
20:00How old are you, Mr. Homer?
20:04I am 18.
20:05Quite nearly 19.
20:08As you say,
20:10this is no time to hide anything.
20:16Are you in love with James McCarthy?
20:25Yes, I am, Mr. Holmes.
20:27Yes.
20:29Very much in love.
20:33There is no one else, and never will be.
20:37Even if...
20:38And he with you?
20:40I think so.
20:43I hope so.
20:45But how should I know for sure?
20:48We have never discussed marriage.
20:52Was your father in favour of such a union?
20:55No.
20:57He was averse to it.
21:00No one but Mr. McCarthy was in favour of it.
21:05Thank you...
21:07for being so frank with us.
21:10If I was to visit your father, could I see him, please?
21:13I'm afraid not.
21:15The doctor has forbidden any visitors.
21:17Oh, I'm sorry we did not know he was so ill.
21:20My father has never been strong.
21:22But this has broken him completely.
21:24He is taken to his bed,
21:25and Dr. Willow says that he is a wreck,
21:27and his nervous system is shattered.
21:29I can hardly leave him,
21:31or I would have been at the railway station to meet you.
21:33You see, Mr. McCarthy was the only man alive
21:37who had known Dad in the old days, in Australia.
21:40Australia?
21:41In Victoria, at the mines, the gold mines.
21:45That's where Dad made all his money.
21:48You have been...
21:50of material assistance to me.
21:56Will you be able to see James?
21:58Tomorrow.
21:59Tell him that I know him to be innocent.
22:03I will.
22:08Could you give him this?
22:11Of course.
22:12And if you have any news, you will tell me.
22:17I must go home now.
22:19I left my father asleep,
22:20but if he wakes and I'm not there,
22:22he'll be upset.
22:24Goodbye.
22:26Goodbye.
22:33Goodbye.
22:33And God help you in your undertaking.
23:23May I see him alone, please?
23:25As you wish, Mr. Holmes.
23:26But remember, this man is on remand accused of willful murder.
23:29And as you will know, such a man under such circumstances is unlikely to speak the truth.
23:33Oh, thank you.
23:33You're a good advice.
23:41James McCarthy.
23:43My name is Sherlock Holmes.
23:45I'm here to help you.
23:46Who should I know that?
23:48You came with a police inspector.
23:49I saw him out there.
23:51I'm here at the request of Miss Turner.
24:10I am sorry, Mr. Holmes.
24:13Lately, I've learned to trust no one.
24:16I'm afraid you've come too late.
24:18They have already made up their minds that I am guilty.
24:21Well, I have not.
24:23Well, the coroner's court.
24:24The coroner and the coroner's jury only sit to inquire into the facts.
24:29They do not sit in judgment.
24:32Well, how can I help you?
24:33I'd like you to know exactly what happened.
24:40But does it do anything else?
24:42We can talk quietly and not be over heard.
24:54Well, I've been studying in Liverpool for some three years.
24:57My father was most anxious I should have some academic qualifications.
25:02It was on that day, June the 3rd, that I returned home.
25:07Was your father expecting you?
25:09No, no, not exactly.
25:10He knew I was due for a few days' holiday, but not the exact day.
25:14Our local carrier took me up to the farm from the village.
25:19Nice to see you back, Master James.
25:21Oh, it's nice to be back, George.
25:23Hey, stand. Stand.
25:24Is my father in the house?
25:26No, no.
25:26Oh, went off about five minutes ago.
25:29Looks as though he had something on his mind.
25:31All right, George.
25:33Will you be wanting pony later?
25:36No, no, I'll write tomorrow.
25:38I might take the gun, see if I can put a few rabbits.
25:41They need shooting.
25:42The place is crawling with them.
25:45Welcome.
26:01Tell the father.
26:04James?
26:06What are you doing here?
26:09I'm just going for a few days, that's all.
26:12Well, I don't want you down here.
26:14So get off out of me.
26:15Keep away from me.
26:15Do you understand?
26:17Yes.
26:18Why?
26:19None of your damn business.
26:20Just do as you're told.
26:24James.
26:31Now you are here.
26:33Get over to Turner's place and tell that girl you'll marry her.
26:36I'll do no such thing, Luke, father.
26:37We have been through all this before.
26:38Do as I tell you, boy, you damn disobedient little bastard.
26:44Give me the gun.
26:48Give me the gun.
26:49It's my life, and I'm going to run it the way I like.
26:57All right.
26:59Damn you.
27:01I'll throw you out.
27:02I'll ruin you.
27:04You see.
27:06Now get off out of it!
27:14I had hardly gone any distance at all when I heard a terrible scream.
27:20I ran back down and found my father lying on his side.
27:24Did you see anyone else?
27:25No one.
27:26No movement anywhere?
27:27No.
27:28My attention was entirely on my father.
27:30He was terribly wounded.
27:34You would not tell the coroner about this quarrel with your father?
27:38It was something private.
27:40It was no business of his.
27:42Was it not because this confrontation with your father might seem to incriminate you?
27:47No.
27:48No, it was because it concerned Alice.
27:52It was no business of the coroner's or anyone else's.
27:55I wasn't going to have her name bandied about in the courtroom.
27:58Hmm.
28:00You do know that Alice loves you, James.
28:06And believes you to be innocent.
28:09Yes, I know.
28:12The thought of her love and her faith in me has kept me in some sort of insanity in this
28:18horrible place.
28:19And if you did not wish to marry her as your father so clearly wished, perhaps you did not share
28:26her love.
28:28I did.
28:30I did.
28:31I do, Mr. Holmes.
28:32I love Alice Turner.
28:34You know, I, I adore her.
28:37I worship the very crown she treads on.
28:41But, and you, I could not ask her to marry me because, because I was married already.
28:59Don't you think you'd better tell me about it?
29:06When, when I first started studying in Liverpool, my father gave me a very generous allowance.
29:13I was too generous for my own good.
29:16I became very wild and fell in with a bad set of people.
29:21In a fit of drunken madness, I went through a form of marriage in a register office to a woman
29:29much older than I was.
29:33A barmaid.
29:37I hardly ever saw Alice at that time.
29:39Of course, I couldn't tell my father.
29:41He would certainly have thrown me out as he'd so often threatened.
29:44Yes, I'm sure he would.
29:46Have you any idea who would have killed your father so brutally?
29:52None whatsoever.
29:55Do you know, I go over the scene day after day after day in my mind.
30:03But I am as puzzled as everyone else is.
30:08Don't give up, Holmes.
30:10Thank you, Mr. Holmes.
30:13Oh, Mr. Holmes.
30:15It hardly concerns all this business, but perhaps I should tell you, some good has come out of this evil.
30:23Since I've been in here, I've received a message from the woman I married,
30:27who has read in the newspapers that I am in serious trouble and likely to be hanged.
30:34She wrote that she had a husband already in the Bermuda dockyard.
30:37Good, Holmes.
30:39So, there is no legal tie between us all.
30:44If only I had known before.
30:49You're right to tell me.
31:00Poor fellow.
31:02Must have been maddening to be upbraided by his father
31:05for not doing something he would give his very eyes to do.
31:10If he's innocent,
31:12who did it?
31:13Indeed.
31:13Well, perhaps I can help.
31:15I've not been entirely idle in your absence.
31:18In the surgeon's deposition at the inquest,
31:20it states that the posterior third of the left parietal bone
31:24and the left half of the occipital bone
31:27were shattered by blows from a blunt weapon.
31:30Now, that's here, right?
31:32Behind.
31:34But the evidence states that they were quarrelling
31:38face to face.
31:39That's a very nice piece of deduction, Watson.
31:44But hardly a valid one.
31:46MacArthur could have easily turned his back
31:47the moment the girl had run off.
31:49But I'm so glad that you're coming round to my way of thinking.
31:52And Miss Turner's, the boy's innocent.
31:55Now, Holmes, you're putting words in my mouth.
31:56I didn't say that.
31:57But you're thinking it just a little.
32:06Those boots were the ones the Master was wearing
32:09at the time he was murdered, sir.
32:13I've cleaned them up since, of course.
32:16Those?
32:17Those were a pair of Master Jameses.
32:20We bought them new, last Micklemas.
32:23Thank you, George.
32:24Now, let us get on to the mirror.
32:34This is the place, Mr. Holmes.
32:36You still see traces of the blood.
32:41Please, would you keep clear of this area?
32:52Why did you enter the mirror, Inspector?
32:56Well, you fished about with the rake.
32:58I thought there might be some weapon thrown there
33:00or some other trace.
33:01If only I'd been here before they came,
33:03like I heard a buffalo and wallowed all over it.
33:07This must be the gamekeeper and his gang.
33:10These tracks are young McCarthy's.
33:14And these.
33:16Twice he walked.
33:27Once he ran.
33:31So the soles of the feet are deeply marked.
33:33The heels are hardly visible.
33:36That would bear out his story.
33:38He ran when he saw his father on the ground.
33:40It doesn't work at it.
33:41I'll say that.
33:44The father paced up and down.
33:46Right here.
33:50What have we here?
33:53Tiptoes.
33:57Tiptoes.
33:59Square toes.
34:01Most unusual boots.
34:04Where did Mr. Square toes come from?
34:18You made a rare blood-down for Mr. Overs.
34:26Ah.
34:32It has been a case of considerable interest.
34:35Come.
34:41Thank you, George.
34:43Thank you, sir.
34:45Would you deliver this note?
34:49Yes, sir.
34:50Indeed.
34:51Right away.
35:06Ah, this name, Mr. Inspector.
35:11The murder was done with it.
35:16I've seen old marks.
35:18There are none.
35:19Well, how do you know, then?
35:20The grass was growing under it.
35:22It's only been there a few days.
35:24It corresponds with the injuries.
35:26And the murderer?
35:27It's a tall man, left-handed,
35:30limps with the right leg,
35:31wears thick-soled shooting boots with square toes,
35:34smokes Indian cigars,
35:36uses a cigar holder,
35:38and carries a blunt penknife in his pocket.
35:48You're a brilliant man, Mr. Holmes,
35:50and I wish I had your brains.
35:52Your theories are all very well,
35:54but I'm still not convinced.
35:56Not this time.
35:57We have to deal with a hard-headed British jury.
36:01Well, you've had your chance, Inspector.
36:04I'm a practical man, Mr. Holmes.
36:06I cannot undertake to go around the country
36:08looking for a left-handed gentleman with a gamby leg.
36:12Must have become the laughingstock of Cheshire.
36:15You shall see.
36:17You work your method,
36:19I shall work mine.
36:26Now, let us take this morning's work.
36:31From my examination of the ground,
36:33I gained details as to the personality of the criminal.
36:36But how?
36:37You know my method.
36:39It is founded upon the observance of trifles.
36:42Well, his height, I know you might roughly judge
36:44by the length of his stride,
36:46his boots by his traces,
36:47but the man's lameness...
36:49The impression of his right foot
36:50was always less distinct than that of the left.
36:52Why? Because he limped.
36:53His left-handedness.
36:55The blow was delivered from immediately behind him,
36:57yet it was on the left-hand side.
36:58Watson, he must have been a left-handed man, of course.
37:02He stood behind that tree
37:03during the confrontation between father and son.
37:07He even smoked.
37:09Smoked?
37:11Cigar ash.
37:14An Indian cigar.
37:16You will remember my little monograph
37:18on the subject of ashes
37:20from pipe, cigar and cigarette tobacco.
37:23One hundred different varieties, if I remember.
37:27A hundred and forty, thank you, Watson.
37:28Having discovered the ash,
37:31I discovered this stump
37:35which the man had thrown
37:36among the moths.
37:38An Indian cigar rolled in Rotterdam.
37:42You will notice that the end
37:44has not been in his mouth.
37:46So, he used a cigar holder.
37:48The tip has been cut off,
37:50not bitten.
37:52But the cut is not a clean one.
37:54So, I did use the blunt pen knife.
37:59You are lazy.
38:02Among the words mumbled by the dying man.
38:06The only word that young McCarthy could understand
38:08was the word rat.
38:13Rat.
38:17Most curious.
38:21Come with me.
38:23Come with me.
38:37Now.
38:38Now.
38:40What do you read?
38:41A rat.
38:42And now?
38:43Boy, a rat.
38:44Boy, a ballarat.
38:46That is the word the man uttered.
38:48Australia.
38:50Someone from Ballarat.
38:51What is Ballarat known for?
38:55It's Goldfields.
38:56I see the direction which all this points.
38:58I'm Australian from Ballarat
38:59and one who was at home in the district.
39:04I sound very much mistaken.
39:06He's here.
39:09Mr. John Turner.
39:20Mr. Hans.
39:22Dr. Watson.
39:24My daughter told me you were lodging here.
39:27Did you get my note?
39:28Yes.
39:29Yes.
39:30Something about coming here to avoid a scandal.
39:33Better than meeting up at the hall.
39:35People might talk.
39:37Why did you wish to see me?
39:50Oh, yes.
39:54I don't know about you, McCarthy.
39:59My friend, Watson, will jot down a few facts.
40:03I promise you there will not be useless.
40:04It is absolutely needed.
40:08Do sit down.
40:20You didn't know the dead man, McCarthy.
40:23He was a devil incarnate.
40:27God keep you out of the clutches of a man such as he.
40:31His grip has been upon me these many years
40:33and he's blasted my life.
40:38I'll tell you first,
40:39I came to be in his power.
40:43I was in the early 60s at the diggings.
40:46I was a young chap then.
40:49Hot-blooded and reckless.
40:51Well, I had no luck with my claim.
40:54Took to the bush and became what you'd call a highway robber.
40:59There was a little gang of us
41:00who lived a wild, free life of it.
41:03Sticking up a station from time to time
41:06or stopping the wagon on the road from the diggings.
41:09They called me Black Jack of Ballarat.
41:13I believe they still remember the Ballarat gang
41:16and the colony.
41:39The wagon driver was McCarthy
41:41and I spared him.
41:43Get out of it!
41:44Go on, shift!
41:46Do a botany!
41:47Fast!
42:10We got away with the gold.
42:14My mate and I were wealthy men
42:16beyond the dreams of avarice.
42:20There was...
42:25There was a price on our head.
42:37I decided to make for England.
42:40I determined to settle down to a quiet and respectable life.
42:46I bought this estate.
42:48It included the whole village, even this inn is mine.
42:51I set myself to do a little good with my money
42:54to make up for the way in which I'd earned it.
42:57I married.
43:02I was a happy man, you might say, until McCarthy laid his grip upon me.
43:15He followed my trail.
43:17He followed my trail.
43:18When he first came here, he'd hardly had a coat to his back or a boot to his foot.
43:23Here we are, Jack, he said.
43:25Here we are, Jack, he said.
43:26You can have a keeping of us, me and my little boy.
43:30And if you don't, England's a fine law-abiding country.
43:36And there's always a policeman, Andy.
43:40I was a sitting duck for blackmail.
43:43There was no shaking him off.
43:45There was no rest, no peace, no forgetfulness.
43:48Turn where I would, there was his cunning, grinning face at me elbow.
43:52Whatever he wanted, he must have, and whatever it was, I gave him without question.
43:57Land, money, houses.
44:02Till at last he asked a thing I could not give.
44:06He asked for Alice.
44:10His son and my girl had grown up.
44:13He knew I was in weak health.
44:15Seemed a fine stroke to him that his son should step into the whole property.
44:21And there I was firm.
44:23I would not have his cursed stock mixed with mine.
44:27Not that I had any dislike for the lad.
44:30But his father's blood was in him.
44:32And that was enough.
44:34I stood firm.
44:36McCarthy threatened.
44:38I braved him to do his worst.
44:42We arranged to meet at the mere, halfway between our two houses.
44:47To talk it over.
44:50James.
44:51As I listened to his talk, all that was black and bitter seemed to come uppermost.
44:56He was urging his son to marry my daughter with as little regard for what she might think
45:00as a slut from off the streets.
45:04Do as I tell you boy, you damned disobedient little bastard.
45:07It drove me mad to think that I and all that I held dear should be in the power of
45:11such a man.
45:12It's my life and I'm gonna run it the way I like.
45:15I was a dying and desperate man.
45:18If I could silence that foul tongue, I could still save me and my family's reputation in this valley.
45:23Get off out of it!
45:47Get off out of it!
45:52Get off out of it!
45:54Get off out of it!
46:08Get off out of it!
46:11Get off out!
46:13Get off out of it!
46:17I did it, Mr. Holmes.
46:21which held me was more than I could suffer.
46:24I've struck him down with no more compunction
46:27than if he'd been some foul and venomous beast.
46:36That is the true story, gentlemen.
46:42I've already cared.
46:51It is not for me to judge you,
46:53but I hope that we may never be exposed to such a temptation.
46:58I pray not, sir.
47:01I'm a dying man.
47:05I've had the diabetes for years.
47:09My doctor says it's a question of whether I shall live a month.
47:14Yet I'd rather die under my own roof than in a jail.
47:17Jack McCarthy must be got off, however.
47:19Oh, God help me,
47:21but I wouldn't let that young man come to harm.
47:25I'll give you my word that I'd have spoken out
47:27if it went against him at the Assizes.
47:29I'm very glad to hear you say so.
47:32I'd have spoken now
47:33had it not been for my dear girl.
47:37It would break her heart.
47:43It would break her heart
47:44when she hears that I'm arrested.
47:46It may not come to that.
47:50We are not the police.
47:54I am no official agent.
47:58I'm here at your daughter's request.
48:03Alice.
48:04Alice.
48:08Well, what do you intend to do?
48:12In view of your health, nothing.
48:15You are yourself aware that you'll have to answer for your deed
48:17at a higher court than the Assizes.
48:22If young McCarthy is condemned,
48:24I shall be forced to use this confession.
48:26If not,
48:29it will never be seen by mortal eye.
48:31And your secret,
48:32whether you be alive or dead,
48:33shall be safe with us.
48:34What is your wedding?
48:59Yes.
49:03What are you interested?
49:04Your own deathbeds when they come will be the easier for the thought of the peace that you've given to
49:12mind.
49:36Oh, God, God bless.
49:49Turner, John Stewart, 16th of August, Boscombe Hall, Cheshire.
49:55After a long illness, bravely born, beloved father of Alice.
50:02Now, we're free to use that confession at young McCarthy's trial.
50:08No, by no means.
50:10My promise was they would not be used unless McCarthy is condemned.
50:14And I think I've given enough objections to the charge to ensure his acquittal.
50:18I hope so.
50:37There we go.
50:39There we go.
50:41I hope so.
50:49Hey!
50:51Hey!
50:52Hey!
50:53Hey!
50:54Hey!
50:55Hey!
50:55Hey!
51:37I love you.
51:39I love you, too.
51:41Will you marry me?
51:44Yes, I will.
51:56A happy ending to a brilliant case.
52:00I congratulate you, Holmes.
52:03I must admit there are certain aspects to this case
52:05which even I did not anticipate.
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