• 5 months ago
First broadcast 28th February 1991.

A governess is arrested for the murder of her employer's wife.

Jeremy Brett ... Sherlock Holmes
Edward Hardwicke ... Dr. Watson
Daniel Massey ... J. Neil Gibson
Celia Gregory ... Maria Gibson
Catherine Russell ... Grace Dunbar
Niven Boyd ... Marlow Bates
Andrew Wilde ... Sergeant Coventry
Stephen Howard ... Mr. Ferguson
Philip Bretherton ... Mr. Joyce Cummings Q.C.
Dean Magri ... Billy

Category

📺
TV
Transcript
01:00♪♪
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02:10Your mama's homeland and your country too.
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03:09Never allow yourself to love someone too deeply, Mr. Bates.
03:13It will destroy you.
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03:26♪♪
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04:06♪♪
04:16♪♪
04:26So you've come.
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05:03You have a case, Holmes.
05:05Ha! The faculty of observation is certainly contagious.
05:09It has enabled you at once to probe my secret.
05:12Yes, I have a case.
05:14After a month of trivialities and stagnation,
05:17the wheels move once more.
05:20Might I share it?
05:22There's little to share, but we'll discuss it
05:24after you consume those two hard-boiled eggs
05:26with which our temporary cook has favored us.
05:29Their condition may not be unconnected
05:31with a copy of The Family Herald,
05:33which I observed yesterday on the hall table.
05:37Even so trivial a matter as cooking an egg
05:40demands an attention
05:42which is incompatible with a love romance
05:44in that excellent periodical.
05:47I hope Mrs. Hudson is enjoying her holiday.
05:50Ha!
05:53You've heard of Neil Gibson, the gold king?
05:57What do you mean, the American senator?
05:59Well, he was senator of some western state.
06:02He's better known as the greatest gold-mining magnate of the world.
06:05Yes, I know of him.
06:07He stayed in England for some time, didn't he?
06:09He bought a consular estate in Hampshire some five years ago.
06:12You may have heard of the tragic death of his wife.
06:14That's why the name is familiar.
06:16I know nothing of the details.
06:18The fact is that the case,
06:20though exceedingly sensational,
06:22appears to present no difficulty.
06:24The interesting personality of the accused,
06:26Miss Grace Dunbar,
06:28does not obscure the clearness of the evidence.
06:30That is the view taken by the Cardinal's jury
06:32and also in the police court proceedings.
06:35It is a thankless business, Watson.
06:38I can discover facts, but I cannot change them.
06:41Unless some new and entirely unexpected ones come to light,
06:44I do not see what my client can hope for.
06:46Your client?
06:48I'm falling into your involved habit of telling a story back.
06:54I don't believe this.
06:56You must read this first.
07:03Dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes,
07:06I cannot see the best woman God ever made
07:09go to her death without doing all that is possible to save her.
07:13I can't explain things.
07:15I can't even try to explain them.
07:17But I know beyond all doubt
07:19that Miss Dunbar is innocent.
07:21You know the facts.
07:23Who doesn't?
07:25There has been the gossip of the country
07:27and never a voice raised forth.
07:29It's the damned injustice of it all that makes me crazy.
07:32That woman has a heart that wouldn't let her kill a fly.
07:36Maybe I have a clue and don't know it.
07:38Anyway, all I know and all I have and all I am
07:42are for your use if only you can save her.
07:45You hardly have time to master all these cuttings,
07:48so I must give it to you in a nutshell
07:50if you take an intelligent interest in the proceedings.
07:53Mr. Gibson, as I understand,
07:55is a man who married a Brazilian wife
07:57of whom I know nothing, said that she was master prime,
08:00all the more unfortunate
08:02as the very attractive governess
08:04superintended the education of 2 children.
08:06These are the 3 people concerned
08:08seen as the grand old manor house.
08:10As for the tragedy,
08:12it takes place across a bridge
08:14over a lake half a mile from the house.
08:17The wife was found late at night
08:19by a gamekeeper on that bridge.
08:22She was clad in a dinner dress
08:25and a revolver bullet through her brain.
08:30No weapon was found near her
08:32and there was no local clue as to her murder.
08:36No weapon near her mark, that Watson.
08:39Is this too condensed or can you follow it clearly?
08:42No, no, no, it's all very clear,
08:44but why suspect the governess?
08:46In the first place, there was some very direct evidence.
08:49The dead woman had a note upon her
08:52making an appointment at the bridge.
08:54Touch nothing, Mr. Bates.
08:56And signed by the governess.
08:58Mr. Gibbs sent his farm manager for the police
09:02and stayed with the body
09:04insisting that nothing should be removed
09:07until the police arrived just after 11.
09:10Then there is the evidence
09:13of the revolver with one discharged chamber
09:16and a caliber which corresponded with the bullet.
09:20Yes, I see it here.
09:22It was found in the drawer of her wardrobe.
09:28In the drawer of her wardrobe.
09:31That's pretty damning.
09:33So the two juries thought.
09:35It is now referred to the assizes in Winchester.
09:38And the motive?
09:43Mr. Gibson is a very attractive man.
09:46If his wife dies,
09:48who more likely to succeed her than the young lady
09:51who had already, by all accounts,
09:53received pressing attentions from her employer?
09:56Fortune, power,
09:58all depending upon one middle-aged man.
10:02Ugly, Watson.
10:04Very ugly.
10:06Nor could she prove an alibi.
10:08On the contrary, she had to admit
10:10that she was down to the bridge by 9 o'clock.
10:13A servant had seen her hurrying there.
10:15Well, that really does seem final.
10:18And yet, Watson...
10:21And yet...
10:23If I'm not mistaken,
10:25that is our client, considerably before his time.
10:28Gentleman to see, sir?
10:30Mr. Neil Gibson.
10:32No, sir, not him. His name's Bates.
10:34And he looks a bit aggravated.
10:36Thank you, Billy.
10:39I had only a short time, Mr. Bates.
10:41I know Mr. Gibson is coming.
10:43I am manager of his estate.
10:45Mr. Holmes, he's a villain, an infernal villain.
10:48Strong words, Mr. Bates.
10:50I have to be emphatic, Mr. Holmes.
10:52I'm only here for the world.
10:54And you're his manager.
10:56Oh, I've given him notice.
10:58In a couple of weeks, I shall have shaken off his cursed slavery.
11:01He's a hard man, Mr. Holmes, hard to all about him.
11:03But his wife was his chief victim.
11:05He was brutal to her.
11:07Oh, yes, sir, brutal.
11:09Now, how she'd come by her death, I do not know.
11:11But let me tell you, he made her life a misery.
11:13She was a creature of the tropics.
11:15A Brazilian by birth, as you no doubt know.
11:17Yes, sir, I understand. Please continue.
11:19Tropical by birth, tropical by nature.
11:21She was a child of the sun.
11:23And of passion.
11:25She loved him as only such women can love.
11:27We all felt for her.
11:29Hated him for the way he treated her.
11:31But he's plausible. And cunning.
11:33And that's all I have to tell you.
11:35Don't take him at face value.
11:37There is more behind. Now I'll go.
11:39No, please don't detain me. He's almost due.
11:44Well, well, well.
11:46Mr. Gibson has a nice, loyal household.
11:48A warning is a useful one.
12:18Mr. Gibson, straight upstairs, sir.
12:31This is my friend and colleague, Dr. Watson.
12:39Now, let me say right here, Mr. Holmes.
12:41Money is nothing to me in this business.
12:43You can burn it.
12:45If it's any use in lighting you to the truth,
12:47the innocent, this woman, has to be cleared.
12:49It's up to you to do it.
12:51Now, name your figure.
12:53My professional charges are at a fixed rate.
12:55I do not vary them,
12:57save when I remit them altogether.
12:59Well, if money makes no difference to you,
13:01think of the reputation.
13:03If you pull this off,
13:05every newspaper in England and America
13:07will be booming you.
13:09You'll be the talk of two continents.
13:11I do not think I'm in need of booming, Mr. Gibson.
13:13Please, let us get down to the facts.
13:16Well, you'll find most of the main ones
13:18in the press reports.
13:20I don't think I can add much to them,
13:22but if there's anything you'd wish more light on,
13:24well, I'm here to give it.
13:26Well, there is just one point.
13:28What is it?
13:30What are your exact relations with Miss Dunbar?
13:34I suppose you are within your rights.
13:36You may be doing your duty
13:38in asking such a question, Mr. Holmes.
13:40We would agree to suppose.
13:42Then I can assure you
13:44that our relations
13:46were always and entirely
13:48those of an employer
13:50towards a young lady
13:52whom he never conversed with or even saw,
13:54save when she was
13:56in the company of his children.
14:06I'm rather the busy man,
14:08Mr. Gibson.
14:10I don't have time or taste
14:12for aimless conversations.
14:15I wish you good morning.
14:17What the devil do you mean by this,
14:19Mr. Holmes?
14:21Do you dismiss my case?
14:23No, Mr. Gibson, I dismiss you.
14:26The case is quite sufficiently complicated
14:28without the added difficulty of false information.
14:30Meaning that I lied?
14:32I tried to express it
14:34as delicately as I could,
14:36but if you insist upon the word,
14:38I will not contradict you.
14:40Don't be noisy, Mr. Gibson.
14:42I find after breakfast any argument
14:44most unsettling.
14:46I suggest a little stroll in the open air
14:48and some quiet thought will be greatly
14:50to your advantage.
14:52I've broken stronger men than you, Mr. Holmes.
14:54Nobody crosses me
14:56and gets the better of it.
14:58So many have said so,
15:00yet here I am.
15:02R. Watsonley has a great deal
15:04yet to learn.
15:06How on earth did you know about his relationship
15:08with the governess?
15:10Bluff, Watson. Bluff.
15:12I considered the passionate
15:14and unbusinesslike tone of his letter
15:16and contrasted it with his manner and appearance.
15:18It was pretty clear there was some
15:20deep emotion centered upon the accused
15:22woman rather than the victim.
15:24I bluffed him by giving the impression
15:26that I was absolutely certain of it.
15:28When in reality you were only suspicious.
15:30Do you think he'll come back?
15:32He is sure to come back.
15:34He must come back.
15:44BELL RINGS
15:55KNOCKING
16:04DOOR OPENS
16:08Oh, no, no, my dear Watson.
16:10I fear you will not improve any reputation
16:12I have acquired.
16:14By adding the Thorbridge Mr.
16:16to your annals, I fear I have made a
16:18serious misjudgment.
16:20Holmes?
16:22The senator may not have returned,
16:24but surely his letter
16:26has engaged you on behalf of
16:28Miss Dunbar.
16:30She's the one in need.
16:32Might we not pay her a visit?
16:34In the cells of Winchester.
16:36But we require the official permits.
16:39Well, we have the means to apply.
16:43Of course, it may not be quite ethical.
16:45But practical, yes.
16:47Practical! I congratulate you.
17:02FOOTSTEPS
17:16You solved our problem, Watson?
17:18Some officious little pipsqueak of a clerk
17:20queried both the letter and our home office permits.
17:22He demanded a personal authorization
17:24from Gibson himself.
17:26But you sorted it out, only by the good fortune
17:28of meeting her lawyer, Mr. Cummings.
17:30Let's go to a brief audience with her.
17:32Mr. Joyce Cummings, a man with a rising reputation
17:34that is certainly in her favor.
17:54It really is a providence to see you here,
17:56Mr. Holmes.
17:58It's been days and I really am at my wits' end
18:00to find any evidence to say.
18:02She'll admit to writing a note and keeping a rendezvous
18:04with Mrs. Gibson.
18:06She has little choice, but beyond that
18:08I've advised her to reserve her defense.
18:10Quite so.
18:14FOOTSTEPS
18:16FOOTSTEPS
18:28This is Mr. Sherlock Holmes
18:30and his colleague, Dr. Watson.
18:32Your employer, Mr. Gibson,
18:34has engaged me to look into this unhappy matter.
18:36Oh!
18:38I'm very grateful to Mr. Gibson.
18:40It is incredible that the charge
18:42against me has been sustained.
18:44I thought the whole thing would clear itself up
18:46in the police court.
18:48My dear Amelia, I beg of you
18:50to have no illusions.
18:52Mr. Cummings here will assure you
18:54all the cards at present are against you.
18:56Mr. Gibson is convinced of your innocence,
18:58but it would be a cruel deception to pretend
19:00that you are not in very great danger.
19:02I will conceal nothing.
19:04What were the true relations
19:06between you and Mr. Gibson's wife?
19:08Permit, what permit?
19:11How dare you
19:13take this liberty, Mr. Holmes?
19:15Mr. Gibson.
19:17And you, Cummings,
19:19I did not engage you, sir, to conspire against me.
19:21These men are here under false pretenses.
19:23I did not authorize their visit.
19:25They're deceivers. I demand their removal at once.
19:27Mr.
19:29You've made a disturbance,
19:31Mr. Gibson, worthy of bedlam.
19:33I'll have you crushed for this, Holmes.
19:35Or it'll profit you nothing.
19:37Mr. Holmes.
19:39We are leaving, Superintendent.
19:41Mr. Cummings,
19:43for the moment, Mr. Dunbar.
19:47You must put your faith in Sherlock Holmes.
19:53I'm sorry.
19:55Mr.
19:57Ferguson.
20:01There is an excellent exhibition
20:03of the museum across the street.
20:05The museum closes at five.
20:11I hardly think it's a matter for Charlie Superintendent.
20:13A misunderstanding.
20:29Ah, the copy of the lease
20:31of the Buckbrook glassworkers
20:33dated 1578.
20:37These Huguenots, are they
20:39any relation of yours?
20:41Possibly.
20:43Monsieur Henri de Portal
20:45and his paper-making of Leverstoke.
20:47They've had the manufacture
20:49of banknotes for over 100 years.
20:51It's good to know that there's money
20:53somewhere in your family.
21:03Good afternoon, Mr. Ferguson.
21:07Mr. Neil Gibson wishes to see you
21:09at Thor Place at 11 o'clock tomorrow morning.
21:11This evening will be more convenient.
21:13The morning.
21:1511 o'clock, Mr. Holmes.
21:17Will the motor be sent for us?
21:21There is a train which will take you to Thor Village.
21:24Mr. Gibson is a busy man.
21:26He expects punctuality.
21:33How did you know that he was going to turn?
21:35I gambled.
21:37To put me enough of an impression upon Miss Dunbar
21:39to turn us back into favor.
21:41We are, after all, her only hope.
21:43Now, Watson, we must find a comfortable inn for the night
21:45so that we can arrive punctually
21:47at Thor Place at 9 o'clock in the morning.
21:49I thought he said 11.
21:519, Watson.
21:53To meet Sergeant Coventry of the local police.
21:57At all events, Mr. Holmes,
21:59I'd rather have you than Scotland Yard.
22:01If a matter gets called into a case
22:03and the local loses all credit for success,
22:05you may be blamed for failure.
22:07But now you play straight.
22:09So I've heard.
22:11I need not appear to the matter at all.
22:13That's very handsome of you.
22:15And your friend, Dr. Watson, can be trusted.
22:17I know.
22:19Now, there is one question I'd like to ask you.
22:21And I breathe it in no soul but you.
22:23Don't you think there might be a case
22:25against Mr. Neil Gibson himself?
22:27According to the servants,
22:29after dinner,
22:31he'll have no company at all
22:33until the alarm at 11.
22:35As I've been considering, Mr. Gibson.
22:37These Americans already
22:39have their pistols in our full car.
22:41There was this pistol, you know.
22:43One of a pair he had.
22:45One of a pair? Where is the other?
22:47These gentlemen have all kinds of firearms
22:49of one sort or another.
22:51We never quite matched that particular pistol.
22:53The box was made for two.
22:55Now, this is where the body lay.
22:57I gathered from the press reports
22:59that the shot was fired at close quarters.
23:01Very close, sir.
23:03Near the right temple?
23:05Just behind it, sir.
23:07How did the body lie?
23:09On the back, sir.
23:11No trace of a struggle.
23:13No mark. No weapons.
23:15The short note from Miss Dunbar
23:17was clutched in her left hand.
23:19Clutched?
23:21Yes, sir.
23:23We could hardly open her fingers.
23:25Now, the note, as I remember,
23:27was quite short.
23:29Yes, and be it Thorbridge,
23:319 o'clock, G. Dunbar.
23:33Wasn't that it?
23:35So it was, sir.
23:37The point of the note is obscure, is it not?
23:39Well, sir, it seemed, if I may be bold as to say, sir,
23:41the only really clear point in the whole case.
23:43Assuming the note is genuine.
23:45She certainly received it some time before.
23:47Say, an hour or two.
23:49Why was she then clasping it in her left hand?
23:51She had no need to refer to it in the interview.
23:54Does not that seem remarkable?
23:56Well, sir, as you put it, perhaps it does.
24:03That is curious.
24:05Oh, yes, sir, we noticed that.
24:07I expect it to have been done by some passer-by.
24:11It took some violence to do that.
24:13It was a hard knock.
24:15Not from above, but from below.
24:17You see, it's on the lower edge of the parapet, Watson.
24:19Yes.
24:21And in a direct line with the position of the body.
24:25It's probably of no matter.
24:30No footprints, you say?
24:32The ground was iron-hard, sir.
24:34No marks at all.
24:36Then we had nothing more to learn here.
24:48You are early in the morning.
24:50You are early, Mr. Holmes.
24:52It is often the case with punctuality, Mr. Ferguson.
24:56Mr. Gibson is in a meeting.
24:58He is not ready to see you.
25:00I'll take care of him, Ferguson.
25:10I'm very glad to see you, gentlemen.
25:13As we are a little early, perhaps we could see the gunman.
25:20Hmm.
25:43A man who has his enemies.
25:45Oh, yes.
25:47If you knew him and his methods.
25:49The loaded revolver in a drawer by his bed.
25:51He's a man of violence, sir.
25:53Have you ever seen him strike his wife?
25:55Yes, more than once.
25:58Our gold king does not seem to shine in private life.
26:01Holmes.
26:04That's the box that contained the murder weapon.
26:06It was one of a pair. The other is missing.
26:10Mr. Ferguson is sure to know that you are consulting with us.
26:13Does that hold no alarm for you?
26:15There's nothing he can do to hurt me now.
26:17Sir.
26:19Perhaps Peter Karnes assures the school.
26:25Grab the children.
26:26Send away.
26:28On a visit to America.
26:36All of Hondas.
26:38Their Brazilian heritage from their mother's side.
26:43Miss Dunbar would seem to be a remarkable teacher.
26:45The children doubted on her.
26:48See, Watson.
26:50The Ricardo Franco hills.
26:52See those unscalable cliffs,
26:54which tie by the foot of man and never touched,
26:56where monsters from the dawn of history might still roam.
26:59That's Martins, the Indian hunter.
27:02You know about him.
27:05His victims, women and children.
27:07Pitiful.
27:09Would you say that Maria Gibson
27:11was jealous of Miss Dunbar and her influence over the children?
27:15There was no love lost between them.
27:17But that was because she could see
27:19her husband was under the lady's spell, too.
27:21Get out of here, Bates!
27:30Mr. Bates' views are not relevant, Mr. Holmes.
27:32They're distorted by his infatuation for my late wife.
27:35Who knows, Mr. Gibson, what is and what is not relevant?
27:40You're like a surgeon who wants every symptom
27:42before he can give a diagnosis.
27:45It is only a patient who has reason
27:47in deceiving his surgeon who conceals the facts.
27:51I can assure you
27:53that the relations between Miss Dunbar and myself
27:56do not touch this case.
27:58Surely that is for me to decide.
28:03Most men have a little private reserve
28:05in some corner of their souls
28:07where they don't welcome intruders.
28:09You burst suddenly into mine.
28:11What is it you want?
28:13The truth.
28:23I met my wife
28:25when I was gold-hunting in Brazil.
28:27She was the daughter
28:29of a government official in Manaus.
28:33Even now, as I look back with a colder eye,
28:36she had a rich passion of nature,
28:38tropical, ill-balanced,
28:40very different from the American women I love.
28:44It was only when the romance had passed
28:46that I realized we had nothing,
28:48absolutely nothing in common.
28:51My love failed me.
28:53But you know the wonderful way of women.
28:56Do what I might,
28:58nothing could turn her from me.
29:00If I've been harsh to her, even brutal,
29:02it was because I knew that if I could kill her love
29:05or if it turned to hate, it would be easier for us both.
29:08But nothing changed her.
29:11She still adored me in these English woods
29:13as she had adored me 20 years before
29:15on the banks of the Amazon.
29:18Then came Miss Dunbar.
29:20She is also a very beautiful woman,
29:22and I'll admit to you that I could not live
29:24under the same roof in daily contact with her
29:27without feeling a passionate regard for her.
29:29You blame me, Mr. Holmes?
29:31I don't blame you for feeling it.
29:33I should blame you for expressing it
29:35since she was under your protection.
29:37I'm not pretending to be any better than I am.
29:39I guess all my life I've been a man
29:41that reached out his hand for what he wanted.
29:43And I never wanted anything more
29:45than the love and possession of that woman.
29:47I told her so.
29:49You did, did you?
29:51I said if I could, I'd marry her.
29:53But it was out of my power.
29:55Money was no object.
29:57I'd do all I could to make her happy and comfortable.
29:59Very generous of you.
30:01Now, see here, Mr. Holmes,
30:03I came to you on a question of evidence, not morals.
30:05I'm not asking for criticism.
30:07It is only for the lady's sake
30:09that I take on this case at all.
30:11Nothing that she is accused of
30:13is worse than what you yourself admitted.
30:15That you tried to ruin a defenseless girl
30:17who was under your roof.
30:19You know, some of you rich men must be taught
30:21that all the world cannot be bribed
30:23into condoning your offenses.
30:25That's how I feel myself about it now.
30:27I thank God my plans did not work out.
30:29She'd have none of it.
30:31She wanted to leave the house.
30:33Leave the house.
30:35Instantly.
30:37But why did she not?
30:39Others were dependent upon her.
30:41It was no light matter for her to let them down.
30:45When I'd sworn that she should never be molested again,
30:47she consented to stay.
30:51But there was another reason.
30:53She knew the influence that she had over me,
30:55that it was stronger
30:57than any other influence in the world.
30:59She wanted to use it for good.
31:03You're cruel.
31:05You destroy good people who can't stand up to you.
31:09Not everyone shares your strength.
31:11Can't you see that?
31:13You call it a fair fight.
31:15But it isn't fair!
31:17She saw it different.
31:19She believed that a fortune for one man
31:21that was more than he needed
31:23should not be built on 10,000 ruined men
31:25who were left without the means of life.
31:28With your children, you show such tenderness and love.
31:33Treat the world in the same way.
31:35She found that I listened to what she said.
31:38So she stayed?
31:40And then this came along.
31:43Mr. Gibson, can you throw any light upon it?
31:46One explanation.
31:48I give it to you, Mr. Holmes, for what it's worth.
31:51There's no doubt that my wife was bitterly jealous.
31:54She might have planned to murder Miss Dunbar
31:56or threaten her with a gun
31:58and so frighten her into leaving us.
32:00Maybe there was a scuffle.
32:02The gun went off and shot the woman who held it.
32:06Yes, it is a possibility.
32:08It is the only alternative to deliberate murder.
32:12But she utterly denies it.
32:14What is against such a supposition?
32:16Miss Dunbar herself.
32:18We have just one day left before the trial.
32:21You must grant me permission to visit her once more.
32:24If ever in your life you showed your powers, Holmes,
32:27put them into this case.
32:29Now.
32:32But I cannot promise you
32:34that my conclusions will be such as you desire.
32:41Come, Watson.
32:57We have several vital questions to ask this young lady.
33:00And I must confess that the case would seem
33:02to be a very black one against her
33:04if it were not for one thing.
33:06What is that?
33:08The finding of a pistol in her wardrobe.
33:10That seems to be the most damning incident of all.
33:12Not so, Watson.
33:14It is my only firm ground for hope.
33:16We must look for consistency.
33:18Where there is a want of it, we must suspect deception.
33:24Come on, Holmes.
33:27Miss Dunbar is depending on us.
33:29Watson,
33:31visualize yourself in the character of Miss Dunbar
33:34where a cold, premeditated fashion
33:36is about to get rid of her rival.
33:38What will be your actions and your thinking?
33:40Well, I've written a note.
33:42The victim has come.
33:44I've taken the weapon from the gunroom.
33:46The crime is done.
33:48Workmen like him complete. And now, the weapon.
33:52Of course.
33:54Precisely, Watson.
33:56Those depths would hide it forever.
33:59Your best friend would hardly call you a schemer.
34:01Yet I cannot picture you carrying it home
34:03and putting it in your wardrobe,
34:05the very first place that would be searched.
34:07This Rovalva, for example.
34:09She disclaims all knowledge of it.
34:11You're saying that it was placed in her wardrobe.
34:13But by who?
34:15By someone who wished to incriminate her.
34:17Ah, Cummings.
34:23Ah, Mr. Barr.
34:25We have had lengthy conversations with Mr. Gibson
34:27and he has informed us
34:29of your relations with him
34:31and of your innocence in the matter.
34:33But you need not pain yourself with that part of the story.
34:35But we do need to know something.
34:37Of your feelings towards Mrs. Gibson.
34:45I had no wish to wrong Mrs. Gibson.
34:49But she loved her husband so vividly
34:51in a physical sense
34:53that she could hardly understand
34:55the mental, even spiritual tie
34:57which held him to me.
34:59Or imagine that it was only my desire
35:01to influence his powerful good
35:03which kept me under his roof.
35:07I can see now that I was wrong to stay.
35:11Nothing could have justified me in remaining
35:13where I was a cause of such unhappiness.
35:17My client may be loath to mention it,
35:19but she has managed to persuade Mr. Gibson
35:21to finance a mission of mercy
35:23to resettle tribes.
35:25In particular, the Bororo Indians
35:27who have fallen victim to unscrupulous
35:29gold and rubber prospectors.
35:31The venture is thriving.
35:33We saw your pictures in the school.
35:37Like so many of those warrior Indians,
35:39Mr. Gibson can sometimes
35:41give people a misleading impression.
35:43Now, Miss Dunbar,
35:45will you tell us exactly
35:47what happened that evening?
35:49I received a note
35:51from Mrs. Gibson in the morning.
35:53It implored me to meet her at the bridge
35:55after dinner.
35:57This note.
35:59Did you keep it?
36:01No. She asked me to destroy it
36:03and to hide my answer at the sundial in the garden.
36:05I saw no reason
36:07for such secrecy,
36:09but she was very much afraid of her husband
36:11who treated her with a harshness
36:13for which I frequently reproached him.
36:15I can only imagine that she did not wish him
36:17to know of our interview.
36:19Yet she kept your reply very carefully.
36:21Yes. I was surprised to hear
36:23she had it in her hand when she died.
36:25Well, what happened then?
36:27She was waiting for me.
36:29So...
36:31you have come.
36:33Never did I realize till that moment
36:35how much she hated me.
36:41She was like a madwoman.
36:43I think she was mad
36:45because she was aware of deception
36:47which insane people may have.
36:49You're cruel. You have no heart.
36:51You don't know how to love. You have no passion.
36:53How else could she have met me
36:55with unconcern every day?
36:57You're standing there
36:59on the bridge
37:01shrieking her curses at me.
37:07I curse the day that you were born!
37:11And yet,
37:13when you met her death shortly after you left,
37:15you heard no shout.
37:17No, I heard nothing.
37:19I was so agitated and horrified
37:21by her terrible outbreak
37:23that I rushed to get back to the peace of my own room.
37:25I was
37:27incapable of noticing anything that happened.
37:29Your own room.
37:31Did you leave it again before the next morning?
37:33Yes.
37:35When they brought the poor creature
37:37back to the house.
37:43Did Mr. Gibson seem to you
37:45much perturbed?
37:47He is a very strong, self-contained man.
37:49I do not think
37:51he would ever show his emotions on the surface.
37:53But you
37:55who knew him so well.
37:57Yes, I could see that he was deeply concerned.
38:03Now.
38:07We come to the all-important point.
38:09This pistol that was found in your room,
38:11you'd never seen it before?
38:13Never, I swear it.
38:15When was it found?
38:17Next morning, when the police made their search.
38:19Yes, among your clothes.
38:21Yes, at the bottom of my wardrobe
38:23in one of the drawers.
38:25And you cannot guess how long it had been there?
38:27It could not have been there the morning before
38:29because I tied it out of the wardrobe.
38:31So you're suggesting that someone came into your room
38:33and placed it there in order to incriminate you?
38:35Incriminate you?
38:39It must have been so.
38:41When?
38:43Um,
38:45well, it could only have been at mealtime
38:47or else during the hours when I would be
38:49in the schoolroom with the children.
38:51As you were when you received the note?
38:53Yes, from that time onward for the whole morning.
38:55Thank you, Mr. Bauer.
39:00Is there any other point
39:02which could help me in my investigation?
39:05I can think of none.
39:09Holmes, might I have a word
39:11with you in private?
39:13Forgive me, Mr. Bauer.
39:29Holmes, I'd like to put you my case
39:31for believing that Mr. Gibson
39:33committed the murder of his wife.
39:35We have a man who, by his own admission,
39:37is used to breaking people who stand in his path.
39:39Well, his wife stood in his path,
39:41but then Miss Dunbar rejected him.
39:43Now, what better than to kill the one
39:45and incriminate the other?
39:50To kill the two birds
39:52with one stone, so to speak.
39:54You don't believe
39:56that Gibson's confession was sincere?
39:58Wasn't it Bates who said he was plausible and cunning?
40:00His confession was a clever means to put us off the scent.
40:02I don't think of it like this.
40:04He somehow discovers that his wife has arranged a meeting.
40:06During the day, he takes the two pistols
40:08from the box.
40:10One he conceals in the drawer of her wardrobe
40:13after discharging one barrel,
40:15which he could easily do in the woods
40:17without attracting attention.
40:19He is alone all that evening.
40:21He sees Miss Dunbar return
40:23and grasps his opportunity.
40:25He commits the deed and flings
40:27the murder weapon far into the lake.
40:32Holmes?
40:36Holmes?
40:38Holmes!
40:40Oh, Watson.
40:44I have been sluggish in mind
40:46and wanting
40:48in that mixture of imagination
40:50and reality which is the basis
40:52of my art.
40:54You have put me
40:56entirely to shame!
40:58You will be
41:00hearing from me, Mr. Cummings.
41:02For the hell of the God of Justice
41:04and my colleague, Dr. Watson,
41:06I will give you a case that will make England win.
41:08Miss Dunbar, you have my assurance
41:10that the clouds are lifting
41:12and that the light of truth
41:14is breaking through
41:16confidence and confidence.
41:20We need our good friend, Sergeant Coventry,
41:22a ball of stout twine.
41:24Sergeant Coventry, a ball
41:26of stout twine
41:28and a grappling hook.
41:30A grappling hook?
41:40Watson, I have some recollection that you go armed
41:42on these little excursions of ours.
41:44Just as well for you that I do more than once.
41:46My revolver has been a good friend to you
41:48and a little care of your own safety.
41:50Yes, I am inclined
41:52to be absent-minded in these matters.
41:54Do you have your revolver on you?
42:00It's heavy.
42:02Remarkably heavy.
42:04Solid bit of work.
42:06You know, I believe this is going to have a very
42:08intimate connection with the mystery that we're
42:10investigating. Would you mind
42:12unloading it?
42:23Will you be at home this evening, Mr. Gibson?
42:25I should have some news for you.
42:27You have half a day,
42:29Mr. Holmes.
42:53You have seen me miss my mark
42:55before, Watson.
42:57I have an instinct for such things,
42:59but it has sometimes played me false.
43:02We can but try.
43:04We both stand exactly where the body lay.
43:10Your theory about the gold king, though
43:12admirable in its psychology, did not
43:14quite adhere to the facts.
43:18I have to say, Watson,
43:20that you have
43:24visualized yourself
43:26in the character of a woman
43:28who in a cold, premeditated
43:30fashion is about to get rid
43:32of a rival.
43:34I mean, of course,
43:36Mrs. Maria Gibson.
43:40For all your deductions about Gibson being
43:42the perpetrator of this crime, substitute
43:44his wife. Imagine
43:46that it was she
43:48who took the pistols from the gun room,
43:50who fired the single
43:52shot in the woods, who placed
43:54the gun in Miss Dunbar's
43:56wardrobe.
43:58Cold,
44:00crafty,
44:02premeditated,
44:04down to the last detail.
44:08Ah, fine.
44:18Was it ever about exact
44:20demonstration?
44:22My revolver, Holmes.
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