Собака Баскервилей / The Hound of the Baskervilles. Артур Конан Дойл

clerk had appeared.

      “No, sir; I have looked for it all over the hotel, but I have not found it.”

      “Well, either that boot comes back today or I’ll see the manager and tell him that I leave this hotel.”

      “I shall find it, sir—I promise you that.”

      “Well, Mr. Holmes, you’ll excuse my troubling you about such a trifle—”

      “I do not think it is a trifle.”

      “Why, you take it very seriously. What do you make of it?”

      “Well, I don’t say I understand it yet. Your case is very complex, Sir Henry.”

      We had a pleasant lunch in which little was said of the business which had brought us together.

      After lunch we went to Sir Henry’s room, where Holmes asked Baskerville about his plans.

      “To go to Baskerville Hall.”

      “And when?”

      “At the end of the week.”

      “I think,” said Holmes, “that your decision is a good one. I have evidence that you are being followed in London, and in this great city it is difficult to discover who these people are or why they are doing it. You did not know, Dr. Mortimer, that you were followed this morning from my house?”

      “Followed! By whom?”

      “I have no idea. Do you know any man with a black, full beard?”

      “No—or, let me see—why, yes. Barrymore, Sir Charles’s butler, is a man with a full, black beard.”

      “Ha! Where is Barrymore?”

      “He is at the Hall.”

      “We had better make sure that he is really there, or if he may be in London.”

      “How can you do that?”

      “Give me a telegraph form. ‘Is all ready for Sir Henry?’ That will do. Address to Mr. Barrymore, Baskerville Hall. What is the nearest telegraph-office? Grimpen. Very good, we will send a second wire to the postmaster, Grimpen: ‘Telegram to Mr. Barrymore must be delivered into his own hand. If absent, please return wire to Sir Henry Baskerville, Northumberland Hotel.’ That will let us know before evening whether Barrymore is in Devonshire or not.”

      “By the way,” said Baskerville. “Dr. Mortimer, who is this Barrymore?”

      “He is the son of the old caretaker, who is dead. They have looked after the Hall for four generations now. He and his wife are a very respectable couple.”

      “At the same time,” said Baskerville, “it’s clear enough that so long as there are none of the family at the Hall these people have a fine home and nothing to do.”

      “That is true.”

      “Did Barrymore get anything by Sir Charles’s will?” asked Holmes.

      “He and his wife had five hundred pounds each.”

      “Ha! Did they know that they would receive this?”

      “Yes; Sir Charles was very fond of talking about his will.”

      “That is very interesting.”

      “I hope,” said Dr. Mortimer, “that you do not look with suspicious eyes upon everyone who received any money from Sir Charles, for he also left me a thousand pounds.”

      “Indeed! And anyone else?”

      “There were many small sums to a large number of people and organizations. The rest went to Sir Henry.”

      “And how much was the rest?”

      “Seven hundred and forty thousand pounds.”

      Holmes looked surprised. “I had no idea that it was such a gigantic sum,” said he.

      “The total value of the estate was close on to a million.”

      “It is a sum for which a man might play a risky game!”

      “And have you made your will, Sir Henry?”

      “No, Mr. Holmes, I have not. I’ve had no time, for it was only yesterday that I arrived.”

      “Well, Sir Henry, I think you’d better go to Devonshire without delay. But you certainly must not go alone.”

      “Dr. Mortimer returns with me.”

      “But Dr. Mortimer has his practice, and his house is miles away from yours. He may be unable to help you. No, Sir Henry, you must take with you someone, who will be always by your side.”

      “Could come yourself, Mr. Holmes?”

      “If matters came to a crisis I should try to be present; but you can understand that, with my consulting practice and with the other cases on hand, it is impossible for me to be absent from London for a long time.”

      “Whom would you recommend, then?”

      Holmes laid his hand upon my arm.

      “If my friend agrees there is no man who is better to have at your side when you are in trouble.”