Sherlock Holmes-E31: The Case Of The Exumed Client
30min | Crime, Drama, Mystery | TV Series (1954–1955)
Sir Charles Farnsworth is found dead in his mysterious Farnsworth Castle. It turns out that Farnsworth had a clause inserted in this will that his death, no matter what the apparent cause, would be investigated by Sherlock Holmes. Holmes' investigation reveals traces of arsenic in the man's body, and there seems to be no shortage of people who knew Sir Charles who wanted him dead.
Stars: Ronald Howard, Howard Marion-Crawford, Archie Duncan
30min | Crime, Drama, Mystery | TV Series (1954–1955)
Sir Charles Farnsworth is found dead in his mysterious Farnsworth Castle. It turns out that Farnsworth had a clause inserted in this will that his death, no matter what the apparent cause, would be investigated by Sherlock Holmes. Holmes' investigation reveals traces of arsenic in the man's body, and there seems to be no shortage of people who knew Sir Charles who wanted him dead.
Stars: Ronald Howard, Howard Marion-Crawford, Archie Duncan
Category
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Short filmTranscript
00:30I am the resurrection and the life, saith the Lord.
01:00He that believeth in me, although he were dead, shall live.
01:04And he that liveth and believeth shall not die.
01:08Unto almighty God, we commend his body to the ground,
01:13earth to earth, ashes to ashes,
01:17dust to dust, in sure and certain hope
01:20that at the resurrection he will rise again to everlasting life.
01:25Amen.
01:26Well, that completes the formal contents of Sir Charles's will.
01:31May I be the first to congratulate you, Sir George,
01:33as the new heir to Farnsworth Castle?
01:35A mansion of crumbling stone and a morbid legend.
01:39Oh, plus an estate with a handsome revenue.
01:42All our legacies were most liberal, Mr. Clarkson.
01:45My brother was a generous man.
01:47He was a bully and a braggart.
01:49George, please. Charles is dead now.
01:51He treated you more like one of his hounds than his wife.
01:54He treated you more like one of his hounds than his wards, Sylvia.
01:56And you know it.
01:57Henry, you can now do what you've always dreamed of doing.
02:00Buy your own medical practice.
02:02Two thousand pounds. I'm overwhelmed.
02:05I suppose that finishes the will, Clarkson.
02:08Well, not quite, Sir George.
02:10Your cousin Charles added a most unusual codicil.
02:14Having made many enemies in my life,
02:16and suspecting that any one of them may be tempted
02:19to bring my earthly days to an abrupt end,
02:21I hereby direct, no matter how I die,
02:24that Sherlock Holmes be engaged to investigate the circumstances of my death.
02:29Sherlock Holmes?
02:31The detective. But it's absurd.
02:33Charles died from a heart attack.
02:35You signed the death certificate yourself, Reeves.
02:37I won't allow Holmes to investigate.
02:39I'm afraid Mr. Holmes has already commenced his investigation.
02:43A court order was issued this morning.
02:45A court order for what?
02:47The exhumation of Sir Charles' body.
02:51The autopsy has been completed.
02:55Sir Charles died from arsenic poisoning.
03:10Ah, Elizabeth.
03:12It's incredible.
03:14Who could have done it? Arsenic.
03:17Only one of us. You or I or Henry.
03:21Or Sylvia.
03:22Oh, no. Not Sylvia, no. She had no reason.
03:25She had the same reason we all had.
03:27Charles' death set her free just as it set the rest of us free.
03:31Are Holmes and Lestrade still up in the tower room?
03:34Yes, and Dr. Watson is there too.
03:37Why is Holmes so interested in the tower room?
03:40Because Charles died there, I suppose.
03:42Or perhaps Mr. Holmes is interested in the letter room.
03:51That ridiculous, gruesome legend.
03:56Murder is what I believe in, Holmes, not legends.
03:59Well, you know, Lestrade, legends are sometimes put to surprising and modern uses.
04:04By the way, what is the legend, Holmes?
04:06Well, it dates back to the Wars of the Roses.
04:08A sentry fell asleep here one night while on watch.
04:11As a result, they chopped his head off.
04:13Ever since that time, anyone who sleeps here is supposed to die.
04:17Nonsense.
04:18Quite, and yet Sir Charles slept here and he did die.
04:21It's a coincidence.
04:22He'd already taken the poison. He had to die somewhere.
04:25You know, that window is much too narrow for anyone to get in or out.
04:29With that door locked, this place becomes a classic sealed room.
04:33It was arsenic that killed him, Holmes, not the room.
04:37Or the legend.
04:38Or the legend.
04:39Dr. Watson, you read the autopsy report. What's your opinion?
04:43Well, there is one thing that struck me as odd.
04:45This is January.
04:47Sir Charles had eaten grapes the night he was poisoned.
04:49What's that got to do with it?
04:51Well, you don't very often find grapes in January.
04:53Not in England, anyway.
04:56Clever, Watson.
05:02Grapes in January, eh?
05:03Yeah.
05:10Arsenic.
05:11Out of this jar.
05:13And someone in this room gave it to him.
05:16Each of you came from his death.
05:18We all had access to that jar, Inspector.
05:21The arsenic was used for garden spraying.
05:24Anyway, Charles didn't eat or drink a single thing that night.
05:27The rest of us didn't.
05:28Then why weren't all of you poisoned, too?
05:31Miss Farnsworth, what prompted your brother to sleep in the tower room the night he died?
05:38I prompted him, Mr. Holmes.
05:40I challenged him to.
05:43Oh, really? Why?
05:46To put his constant bragging to the test.
05:50It started at dinner that night.
05:56Elizabeth, your meals are getting progressively more inedible.
06:01If you can't do better, I suggest you find your own home and run it.
06:06I'll try to do better, Charles.
06:08Elizabeth, I liked your dinner.
06:11What do you know about decent food?
06:13What do you know about anything?
06:16I know how to run your estate for you.
06:18And a mess you're making of it, too,
06:20with half the tenants overdue in their rents.
06:23I won't sweat a man's rent out of him, Charles.
06:26You'll get the rest of the rents by tomorrow,
06:29or out you go, bag and baggage.
06:35What have you got to say to that?
06:37I'll collect the rents by noon tomorrow.
06:40Why must you always humiliate us, Charles?
06:42Have you no decency, no human feelings?
06:45I'm not a weak knee like George here, if that's what you mean.
06:49Courage isn't always physical, Charles.
06:52Courage?
06:53Do you remember the time I locked you in the tower room?
06:56You screamed like a stuck pig.
06:58I was seven years old, not a big, brave man like you.
07:01I'm not a big, brave man like you.
07:04I was seven years old, not a big, brave man like you.
07:07What do you mean by that?
07:10You dared lock a little boy in that room.
07:13But you never dared spend a night in it yourself.
07:15You think I believe that stupid legend?
07:18Yes. And fear it.
07:20Just as you fear anything you cannot hear or see or touch.
07:24You locked me in to frighten me,
07:26because you yourself would have been frightened.
07:34Elizabeth, get me a candle.
07:36I'm spending the night in the tower room.
07:38But Charles, you mustn't. You're harmed.
07:40Don't talk like an idiot, Reeves.
07:42Frightened of what? An old wives' tale?
07:49I will fetch him the candle.
08:04I had to break open the tower room next morning.
08:07I found him dead.
08:11Interesting.
08:13What kind of grapes were served at dinner that night?
08:16Grapes? No grapes were served?
08:19We haven't had grapes in the house for months.
08:22Then who gave Sir Charles the grapes he ate that night?
08:26Because he did eat grapes. That's how he was poisoned.
08:30No one gave my brother grapes, Inspector.
08:34You're wrong. The murderer did.
08:36Strange. The grapes won't solve your case, you know.
08:40The solution lies in the tower room.
08:43Now look here Holmes, you've already gone into all that and...
08:45And I'm going to find it.
08:47How can you do that, Holmes?
08:48By spending the night in the tower room myself.
09:04Mr. Holmes, I think you are wrong...
09:06to take the legend of Farnsworth Castle so lightly.
09:09On the contrary, Miss Farnsworth.
09:11I'm taking it very seriously.
09:17Then be on guard, Mr. Holmes, and stay awake.
09:34Holmes, how can you possibly solve the mystery here?
09:37Quite simply, Watson.
09:40The murderer is going to try and kill me.
09:43Why?
09:45Because I'm Sherlock Holmes.
09:49Can I stay with you?
09:53No, no, thanks. All the same, old boy.
10:04Holmes, if anything happens, you will shout, won't you?
10:09Yes, yes. Loud and strong.
12:34Watson.
13:01Watson.
13:03Watson.
13:34Watson.
13:37Watson.
13:54Watson.
14:00Watson.
14:02Oh, shit!
14:32Holmes!
14:34Holmes!
15:03Holmes!
15:15Poison. Watson, I'll get you back to my room.
15:32Arsenic, Watson. Quickly, the antidote. Arsenic!
16:03He's very cunning, Watson.
16:06Yes, maybe, Holmes, but I don't understand.
16:08After all, you and I ate the same thing the entire evening.
16:23Watson, I think I know the killer's secret.
16:27Watson, I think I know the killer's secret.
16:45Perhaps... perhaps I'd better go out and wake Holmes.
16:48It is getting rather late.
16:50Not that I believe in any of this superstitious nonsense, mind you, but...
16:54But you do believe in murder, eh, Dr. Reeves?
16:58Holmes!
16:59Well, it seems that everyone is surprised at my appearance this morning.
17:03Perhaps relieved is a better word, Mr. Holmes.
17:06I dare say there's somebody who's not very relieved.
17:09What are you talking about?
17:14I was poisoned last night.
17:18I am alive this morning thanks to a bit of good luck
17:22and some ingenious foresight on the part of Dr. Watson.
17:26On the afternoon that Dr. Watson learnt the true cause of Sir Charles's death,
17:31he ordered the ingredients of an arsenic antidote from the local chemist.
17:36I wonder who, sitting at this table now, is cursing that foresight.
17:41Do we have to be afraid of every bite we put into our mouths?
17:44Do we have to be afraid of every bite we put into our mouths?
17:47Not every bite, Sir George.
17:49Only food with a flavour strong enough to conceal the taste of arsenic.
17:53Something like grapes, for example.
17:58If you want to know who poisoned the grapes, I can tell you that too.
18:01The person who bought the grapes in a London fruit shop on the day Sir Charles died.
18:08I rather imagined you'd trace those grapes, Lestrade.
18:11Who did, in fact, buy them?
18:14Miss Sylvia Taylor.
18:17You're lying!
18:19Let her answer that, Sir George.
18:23Yes, I bought them.
18:27Sylvia!
18:29And gave them to Sir Charles when he was in the Tower Room.
18:32Yes, but I didn't poison them. I swear I didn't.
18:38For some reason, which he did not yet explain,
18:40Holmes doubted Lestrade's case against Sylvia Taylor.
18:44Furthermore, he reasoned that the killer would take refuge in her arrest,
18:47letting the case end there and accepting his own safety.
18:51He revealed to me that our only hope was to force the killer into making another move in spite of himself.
18:58The first step was publicly to denounce Lestrade's case
19:01in such a way that the inspector himself would be convinced that he needed more evidence.
19:06This, Holmes hoped, would frighten the killer.
19:10More evidence?
19:12You could spend a lifetime going over this place with your magnifying glass.
19:15And I wouldn't even attempt it,
19:17but a whole battery of men could accomplish it in a very short time indeed.
19:20Now look here.
19:22A whole battery of men?
19:24Hmm.
19:25Lestrade, how soon do you think you'll get up here
19:27as sufficient men from Scotland Yard to carry out a systematic and thorough search?
19:31Hmm. Tonight, maybe.
19:33Certainly by tomorrow morning.
19:35Just a moment here. This is my home.
19:38Lestrade, I think Sir George is going to be rather anxious
19:41that they come armed with a search warrant.
19:45I'll get in touch with the Yard immediately.
19:59Watson, you're sure no one's left the house?
20:01Bobby on the door said nobody had gone in or out all day.
20:05Well, I hope we haven't been outwitted on this.
20:07It's been a very tiring time, Holmes,
20:09watching every move that's being made and getting nowhere.
20:12Yes, we can't afford to let up now, Watson.
20:14The pressure's really on him, you know.
20:16He's got fear to contend with.
20:21Oh, Holmes, why do you keep crossing to that window?
20:24You know, I think it's your pacing up and down all day
20:26that's made me more nervous than anything else.
20:32There it is, Watson.
20:33What?
20:35Quickly, Watson, the tower rope.
20:37Coming, Holmes.
20:44Watson, would you go downstairs immediately
20:46and tell Lestrade to bring our four friends up here?
20:48Who are you up to?
20:49As I had hoped, the killer has left us
20:51all the necessary components of a trap.
20:53Well, you'd better hurry, Watson.
20:55We have little time to lose.
20:56Right.
21:05Won't you sit down here?
21:13Just what's the point of this séance exactly, Holmes?
21:17We're going to find a murderer, Lestrade.
21:23Yes, but why here?
21:25Perhaps the legend's going to tell us.
21:28Yes, Lestrade, the legend.
21:31Yes, Lestrade, the legend.
21:34The weird tale of a headless sentry.
21:37And the most convenient one for the murderer,
21:40who didn't anticipate an autopsy.
21:44Yet why did he choose this room to murder in?
21:47What is the mysterious connection between the tower
21:51room and death?
21:54Please stop.
21:56I don't want to stay here any longer.
21:58I'm sorry, Miss Taylor, but we must stay here and wait.
22:01Perhaps all night.
22:03Who knows?
22:05But this is insane.
22:09I don't feel very well.
22:12Could we open the window?
22:14I'll open it for you, Elizabeth.
22:16It is getting rather stuffy in here.
22:19Don't bother, Dr. Reeves.
22:20I've already tried to open it myself.
22:22It's quite impossible.
22:24My head is spinning.
22:27You've got to open the window.
22:28I feel faint.
22:30Please open the window.
22:32I've already told you, Miss Farnsworth.
22:34It's quite impossible.
22:35I don't believe you.
22:37We'll make him open the window.
22:40Elizabeth, calm yourself.
22:43It's just this eerie room that's getting on your nerves.
22:53That confounded wind.
22:55It's enough to send you out of your mind.
22:57Mr. Holmes, can't we settle this downstairs?
23:01Please try to be calm, all of you.
23:03As I said before, we may have quite a long wait here.
23:17Let me out of here.
23:19Elizabeth.
23:21Open the window.
23:22Do something.
23:23Stop it.
23:24Isn't it bad enough without you going out?
23:27You fools.
23:28You fools.
23:29You don't understand.
23:30We've got to have air up ahead and take up in the window.
23:33Let me go.
23:34Let me go.
23:35It will kill us all.
23:48It really wasn't necessary to smash the window, Miss Farnsworth.
23:53Oh, Watson, there's a package in that drawer behind you.
23:57Bring it to me, will you?
23:58Yes, of course.
24:00You see, Miss Farnsworth, I took the precaution of replacing your arsenic candles with harmless ones.
24:07Of course, you couldn't be aware of that, could you?
24:10Arsenic candles?
24:11Yes, Lestrade.
24:13Like the one that killed Sir Charles.
24:19Sir Charles died of poison grapes.
24:21Oh, no, Lestrade.
24:22It was a far more ingenious method of killing than that.
24:25A small room,
24:27a tiny window,
24:29and a candle
24:31impregnated with arsenic
24:33and giving off fatal fumes.
24:36Ingenious, yes.
24:39And it's practical.
24:41You can inhale arsenic as a gas.
24:52Follow that, sir.
24:58You see, Lestrade, the person who placed those candles there
25:02wasn't going to sit through the night and wait for death.
25:06She had to give herself away.
25:10I'm sorry to upset all of you, but quite frankly,
25:14I didn't know which one of you it was.
25:17But, Holmes, why did she choose this room to destroy the candles?
25:21Because this was the only room in the castle
25:24that she could be sure would be deserted that night.
25:27The legend, you see.
26:17THE END
26:47THE END