.
"on the tuesday peter carey was in one of his blackest
moods, flushed with drink and as savage as a dangerous wild
beast. he roamed about the house, and the women ran for it
when they heard him coming. late in the evening he went
down to his own hut. about two o'clock the following
morning his daughter, who slept with her window open, heard
a most fearful yell from that direction, but it was no
unusual thing for him to bawl and shout when he was in
drink, so no notice was taken. on rising at seven one of
the maids noticed that the door of the hut was open, but so
great was the terror which the man caused that it was
midday before anyone would venture down to see what had
become of him. peeping into the open door they saw a sight
which sent them flying with white faces into the village.
within an hour i was on the spot and had taken over the case.
"well, i have fairly steady nerves, as you know, mr.
holmes, but i give you my word that i got a shake when i
put my head into that little house. it was droning like a
harmonium with the flies and bluebottles, and the floor and
walls were like a slaughter-house. he had called it a
cabin, and a cabin it was sure enough, for you would have
thought that you were in a ship. there was a bunk at one end,
a sea-chest, maps and charts, a picture of the _sea unicorn_,
a line of log-books on a shelf, all exactly as one would expect
to find it in a captain's room. and there in the middle of it
was the man himself, his face twisted like a lost soul in torment,
and his great brindled beard stuck upwards in his agony.
right through his broad breast a steel harpoon had been driven,
and it had sunk deep into the wood of the wall behind him.
he was pinned like a beetle on a card. of course, he was quite
dead, and had been so from the instant that he had uttered that
last yell of agony.
"i know your methods, sir, and i applied them. before i
permitted anything to be moved i examined most carefully
the ground outside, and also the floor of the room. there
were no footmarks."
"meaning that you saw none?"
"i assure you, sir, that there were none."
"my good hopkins, i have investigated many crimes, but i
have never yet seen one which was committed by a flying
creature. as long as the criminal remains upon two legs
so long must there be some indentation, some abrasion,
some trifling displacement which can be detected by
the scientific searcher. it is incredible that this
blood-bespattered room contained no trace which could have
aided us. i understand, however, from the inquest that
there were some objects which you failed to overlook?"
the young inspector winced at my companion's ironical
comments.
"i was a fool not to call you in at the time, mr. holmes.
however, that's past praying for now. yes, there were
several objects in the room which called for special
attention. one was the harpoon with which the deed was
committed. it had been snatched down from a rack on the
wall. two others remained there, and there was a vacant
place for the third. on the stock was engraved 'ss. _sea
unicorn_, dundee.' this seemed to establish that the crime
had been done in a moment of fury, and that the murderer
had seized the first weapon which came in his way. the
fact that the crime was committed at two in the morning,
and yet peter carey was fully dressed, suggested that he
had an appointment with the murderer, which is borne out by
the fact that a bottle of rum and two dirty glasses stood
upon the table."
"yes," said holmes; "i think that both inferences are permissible.
was there any other spirit but rum in the room?"
"yes; there was a tantalus containing brandy and whisky on
the sea-chest. it is of no importance to us, however,
since the decanters were full, and it had therefore not
been used."
"for all that its presence has some significance," said
holmes. "however, let us hear some more about the objects
which do seem to you to bear upon the case."
"there was this tobacco-pouch upon the table."
"what part of the table?"
"it lay in the middle. it was of coarse seal-skin -- the
straight-haired skin, with a leather thong to bind it.
inside was 'p.c.' on the flap. there was half an ounce of
strong ship's tobacco in it."
"excellent! what more?"
stanley hopkins drew from his pocket a drab-covered
note-book. the outside was rough and worn, the leaves
discoloured. on the first page were written the initials
"j.h.n." and the date "1883." holmes laid it on the table
and examined it in his minute way, while hopkins and i
gazed over each shoulder. on the second page were the
printed letters "c.p.r.," and then came several sheets of
numbers. another heading was argentine, another costa
rica, and another san paulo, each with pages of signs and
figures after it.
"what do you make of these?"
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