”YoumustsurelyrememberthegreatWorthingdonbankbusiness,”saidHolmes。”Fivemenwereinit——thesefourandafifthcalledCartwright。Tobin,thecare-taker,wasmurdered,andthethievesgotawaywithseventhousandpounds。Thiswasin1875。Theywereallfivearrested,buttheevidenceagainstthemwasbynomeansconclusive。ThisBlessingtonorSutton,whowastheworstofthegang,turnedinformer。OnhisevidenceCartwrightwashangedandtheotherthreegotfifteenyearsapiece。Whentheygotouttheotherday,whichwassomeyearsbeforetheirfullterm,theysetthemselves,asyouperceive,tohuntdownthetraitorandtoavengethedeathoftheircomradeuponhim。Twicetheytriedtogetathimandfailed;athirdtime,yousee,itcameoff。IsthereanythingfurtherwhichIcanexplain,Dr。
Trevelyan?””Ithinkyouhavemadeitallremarkableclear,”saidthedoctor。”Nodoubtthedayonwhichhewasperturbedwasthedaywhenhehadseenoftheirreleaseinthenewspapers。””Quiteso。Histalkaboutaburglarywasthemerestblind。””Butwhycouldhenottellyouthis?””Well,mydearsir,knowingthevindictivecharacterofhisoldassociates,hewastryingtohidehisownidentityfromeverybodyaslongashecould。Hissecretwasashamefulone,andhecouldnotbringhimselftodivulgeit。However,wretchashewas,hewasstilllivingundertheshieldofBritishlaw,andIhavenodoubt,Inspector,thatyouwillseethat,thoughthatshieldmayfailtoguard,theswordofjusticeisstilltheretoavenge。”
SuchwerethesingularcircumstancesinconnectionwiththeResidentPatientandtheBrookStreetDoctor。
Fromthatnightnothinghasbeenseenofthethreemurderersbythepolice,anditissurmisedatScotlandYardthattheywereamongthepassengersoftheill-fatedsteamerNorahCreina,whichwaslostsomeyearsagowithallhandsuponthePortuguesecoast,someleaguestothenorthofOporto。Theproceedingsagainstthepagebrokedownforwantofevidence,andtheBrookStreetMystery,asitwascalled,hasneveruntilnowbeenfullydealtwithinanypublicprint。
AdventureIX
TheGreekInterpreterDuringmylongandintimateacquaintancewithMr。
SherlockHolmesIhadneverheardhimrefertohisrelations,andhardlyevertohisownearlylife。
Thisreticenceuponhisparthadincreasedthesomewhatinhumaneffectwhichheproduceduponme,untilsometimesIfoundmyselfregardinghimasanisolatedphenomenon,abrainwithoutaheart,asdeficientinhumansympathyashewaspre-eminentinintelligence。Hisaversiontowomenandhisdisinclinationtoformnewfriendshipswerebothtypicalofhisunemotionalcharacter,butnotmoresothanhiscompletesuppressionofeveryreferencetohisownpeople。Ihadcometobelievethathewasanorphanwithnorelativesliving,butoneday,tomyverygreatsurprise,hebegantotalktomeabouthisbrother。
Itwasafterteaonasummerevening,andtheconversation,whichhadroamedinadesultory,spasmodicfashionfromgolfclubstothecausesofthechangeintheobliquityoftheecliptic,cameroundatlasttothequestionofatavismandhereditaryaptitudes。Thepointunderdiscussionwas,howfaranysingulargiftinanindividualwasduetohisancestryandhowfartohisownearlytraining。”Inyourowncase,”saidI,”fromallthatyouhavetoldme,itseemsobviousthatyourfacultyofobservationandyourpeculiarfacilityfordeductionareduetoyourownsystematictraining。””Tosomeextent,”heanswered,thoughtfully。”Myancestorswerecountrysquires,whoappeartohaveledmuchthesamelifeasisnaturaltotheirclass。But,nonetheless,myturnthatwayisinmyveins,andmayhavecomewithmygrandmother,whowasthesisterofVernet,theFrenchartist。Artinthebloodisliabletotakethestrangestforms。””Buthowdoyouknowthatitishereditary?””BecausemybrotherMycroftpossessesitinalargerdegreethanIdo。”
Thiswasnewstomeindeed。IftherewereanothermanwithsuchsingularpowersinEngland,howwasitthatneitherpolicenorpublichadheardofhim?Iputthequestion,withahintthatitwasmycompanion’smodestywhichmadehimacknowledgehisbrotherashissuperior。Holmeslaughedatmysuggestion。”MydearWatson,”saidhe,”Icannotagreewiththosewhorankmodestyamongthevirtues。Tothelogicianallthingsshouldbeseenexactlyastheyare,andtounderestimateone’sselfisasmuchadeparturefromtruthastoexaggerateone’sownpowers。WhenIsay,therefore,thatMycrofthasbetterpowersofobservationthanI,youmaytakeitthatIamspeakingtheexactandliteraltruth。””Isheyourjunior?””Sevenyearsmysenior。””Howcomesitthatheisunknown?””Oh,heisverywellknowninhisowncircle。””Where,then?””Well,intheDiogenesClub,forexample。”
Ihadneverheardoftheinstitution,andmyfacemusthaveproclaimedasmuch,forSherlockHolmespulledouthiswatch。”TheDiogenesClubisthequeerestclubinLondon,andMycroftoneofthequeerestmen。He’salwaystherefromquartertofivetotwentytoeight。It’ssixnow,soifyoucareforastrollthisbeautifuleveningIshallbeveryhappytointroduceyoutotwocuriosities。””Fiveminuteslaterwewereinthestreet,walkingtowardsRegent’sCircus。”Youwonder,”saidmycompanion,”whyitisthatMycroftdoesnotusehispowersfordetectivework。
Heisincapableofit。””ButIthoughtyousaid——””Isaidthathewasmysuperiorinobservationanddeduction。Iftheartofthedetectivebeganandendedinreasoningfromanarm-chair,mybrotherwouldbethegreatestcriminalagentthateverlived。Buthehasnoambitionandnoenergy。Hewillnotevengooutofhiswaytoverifyhisownsolution,andwouldratherbeconsideredwrongthantakethetroubletoprovehimselfright。AgainandagainIhavetakenaproblemtohim,andhavereceivedanexplanationwhichhasafterwardsprovedtobethecorrectone。Andyethewasabsolutelyincapableofworkingoutthepracticalpointswhichmustbegoneintobeforeacasecouldbelaidbeforeajudgeorjury。””Itisnothisprofession,then?””Bynomeans。Whatistomeameansoflivelihoodistohimthemeresthobbyofadilettante。Hehasanextraordinaryfacultyforfigures,andauditsthebooksinsomeofthegovernmentdepartments。MycroftlodgesinPallMall,andhewalksroundthecornerintoWhitehalleverymorningandbackeveryevening。
Fromyear’sendtoyear’sendhetakesnootherexercise,andisseennowhereelse,exceptonlyintheDiogenesClub,whichisjustoppositehisrooms。””Icannotrecallthename。””Verylikelynot。TherearemanymeninLondon,youknow,who,somefromshyness,somefrommisanthropy,havenowishforthecompanyoftheirfellows。Yettheyarenotaversetocomfortablechairsandthelatestperiodicals。ItisfortheconvenienceofthesethattheDiogenesClubwasstarted,anditnowcontainsthemostunsociableandunclubablemenintown。Nomemberispermittedtotaketheleastnoticeofanyotherone。SaveintheStranger’sRoom,notalkingis,underanycircumstances,allowed,andthreeoffences,ifbroughttothenoticeofthecommittee,renderthetalkerliabletoexpulsion。Mybrotherwasoneofthefounders,andIhavemyselffounditaverysoothingatmosphere。”
WehadreachedPallMallaswetalked,andwerewalkingdownitfromtheSt。James’send。SherlockHolmesstoppedatadoorsomelittledistancefromtheCarlton,and,cautioningmenottospeak,heledthewayintothehall。ThroughtheglasspanelingI
caughtaglimpseofalargeandluxuriousroom,inwhichaconsiderablenumberofmenweresittingaboutandreadingpapers,eachinhisownlittlenook。
HolmesshowedmeintoasmallchamberwhichlookedoutintoPallMall,andthen,leavingmeforaminute,hecamebackwithacompanionwhomIknewcouldonlybehisbrother。
MycroftHolmeswasamuchlargerandstoutermanthanSherlock。Hisbodywasabsolutelycorpulent,butisface,thoughmassive,hadpreservedsomethingofthesharpnessofexpressionwhichwassoremarkableinthatofhisbrother。Hiseyes,whichwereofapeculiarlylight,waterygray,seemedtoalwaysretainthatfar-away,introspectivelookwhichIhadonlyobservedinSherlock’swhenhewasexertinghisfullpowers。”Iamgladtomeetyou,sir,”saidhe,puttingoutabroad,fathandliketheflipperofaseal。”IhearofSherlockeverywheresinceyoubecamehischronicler。Bytheway,Sherlock,Iexpectedtoseeyouroundlastweek,toconsultmeoverthatManorHousecase。Ithoughtyoumightbealittleoutofyourdepth。””No,Isolvedit,”saidmyfriend,smiling。”ItwasAdams,ofcourse。””Yes,itwasAdams。””Iwassureofitfromthefirst。”Thetwosatdowntogetherinthebow-windowoftheclub。”Toanyonewhowishestostudymankindthisisthespot,”saidMycroft。”Lookatthemagnificenttypes!Lookatthesetwomenwhoarecomingtowardsus,forexample。””Thebilliard-markerandtheother?””Precisely。Whatdoyoumakeoftheother?”