Audio Play

AUDIO PLAY Scene: 1 (OPENING MUSIC) PETERSON SOUND: LAUGHING Ah Hamish! Youre a card you are! HAMISH ...so then she looks at me and says, is that your cat? And I says, Yes mum it be mine sure as yer Daddys beard And she says... VOICE: (DISTANT) "HEY!" PETERSON Hullo, what have we here? SOUND: SCUFFLING AND GRUNTING HAMISH No, no, thats not what she said... PETERSON It appears that poor fellow is in a spot of trouble. HAMISH Tis quite the kerfuffle at that. SOUND: WHISTLE BLOWING PETERSON Police! HAMISH Break it up now, Im warnin ye. SOUND: BREAKING GLASS SOUND: FLEEING FOOTSTEPS PETERSON Get out of here ya ruffians! HAMISH Well, that was odd now wasnt it? PETERSON He ran off!

(CONTINUED)

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2.

HAMISH Ran off an left his bird behind at that, and a fine bird it is too. PETERSON We must have spooked the poor gent. He forgot his hat as well. Its initialed H.B. HAMISH It appears the bird was bein delivered to a Mrs. Henry Baker. Why there must be a thousand Henry Bakers in this city. PETERSON I dont suppose we have much chance of finding the poor fellow and returning it do we? HAMISH Nay, but I think I might be knowin a gent who could be of some assistance. SCENE: 2 SOUND: KNOCKING SOUND: DOOR CREAKING OPEN HOLMES Why come in gentlemen? PETERSON Evenin Mr. Olmes HOLMES And what brings you gentlemen here this evening? HAMISH A bird. PETERSON A goose to be precise. HOLMES I gathered. HAMISH Well, Mr. Holmes, a few days ago we were on our way home after work. We stopped for a bit of...jollification ye might say. HOLMES Youd been drinking, yes, yes...continue.

(CONTINUED)

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3.

HAMISH Anyways, Mr. Holmes we were on the way home when a man carrying this here bird. Unfortunately, he himself in a bit of a scuffle with some ruffians the time we arrived on the scene he was gone and left his hat and his bird behind.

we saw got and by had

PETERSON Mr. Holmes, its been three days and there has been no advertisement or inquiry of any kind. We were wondering if youd be kind enough to have a look and see if you might be of some help finding the poor chap so we could return his property to him. HOLMES A noble cause indeed! Hmm...Henry Baker. Watson! Come have a look at this hat and see if we cant help restore Mr. Bakers Christmas dinner to him. WATSON But, Holmes, what can you possibly deduce from a battered old felt cap? HOLMES You know my methods. What can you gather yourself as to the individuality of the man who wore this article? WATSON Well, lets see now. Its black, not an unusual shape, much the worse for wear. HOLMES Go on. WATSON The lining used to be red silk, but is much discolored. Its dusty, and spotted...oh, this is ridiculous. I can see nothing. HOLMES On the contrary, my dear Watson, you can see everything. You fail, however, to reason from what you see. You are too timid in drawing your inferences. WATSON Well then, Holmes, what can you infer from this hat? HOLMES To your credit, Watson, it is perhaps, less suggestive than it might have been...and yet there are a few inferences which are very distinct, and a few others which represent at least a strong balance of probability. That the man is highly intellectual is, of (MORE) (CONTINUED)

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4.

HOLMES (contd) course, obvious, and also that he was fairly well-to-do within the last three years, although he has now fallen on evil days. He had foresight, though less now than formerly, pointing to a moral retrogression, which, when taken with the decline of his fortunes, seems to indicate some evil influence, probably drink, at work upon him. This may account also for the obvious fact that his wife has ceased to love him. WATSON Holmes! HAMISH How does he do that? HOLMES He has, however, retained some degree of self-respect. He is a man who leads a sedentary life, goes out little, is out of training entirely, is middle-aged, has grizzled-hair which he has had cut within the last few days, and which he anoints with lime cream. PETERSON Sweet mother of lime cream! HAMISH Hes a magician. WATSON Holmes, you cant be serious! HOLMES I most certainly am! Is it possible that even now, when I give you these results, you are yet unable to see how they were attained? WATSON I have no doubt I am very stupid. PETERSON If hes stupid, Im a mutton-head! HAMISH That is true. PETERSON Well, at least I dont drink like a dying fish. HAMISH At least I dont smell like a dying fish.

(CONTINUED)

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5.

WATSON Gentlemen, if youre quite done...Holmes, perhaps youd best start from the beginning. HOLMES Quite right. First, the man is highly intellectual. WATSON How can you deduce that from a hat? HOLMES Its quite simple, Watson, its a question of cubic capacity. As you can easily see, this battered billycock is quite large. A man with so large a head must have something in it. WATSON Actually, Holmes, the medical profession confirms that there is no direct link between the size of ones brain and intelligence. HOLMES That is a dreadfully American notion, Watson. Been reading again have you? WATSON What about the decline of his fortunes? HOLMES This hat is three years old. These flat brims curled at the ends came in then. It is a hat of the very best quality. Look at the band of ribbed silk and the excellent lining. If this man could afford to buy so expensive a hat three years ago, and has no hat since then, then he has assuredly gone down in the world. WATSON Well, that is clear enough. PETERSON How about the foresight? HOLMES Do you see this hat securer here? There is the foresight. They are never sold upon hats. If this man ordered one, it is a sign of a certain amount of foresight, since he went out of his way to take this precaution against the wind. But see how he has broken the elastic and has not troubled to replace it? It is obvious that he has less foresight now than previously, which is a distinct proof of a weakening nature. On the other hand, he has endeavored to conceal some of these stains upon the felt by daubing them with ink, which is a sign that he has not entirely lost his self-respect. (CONTINUED)

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6.

HAMISH Amazing! Tis truly amazing. HOLMES The further points, that he is middle-aged, that his hair is grizzled, that it has been recently cut and that he uses lime cream, are all to be gathered from a close examination of the lower part of the lining. Look closely and you will see a number of loose hairs, clean cut by the barber. They all appear to be adhesive, and there is a distinct odor of lime cream. This dust too, you will observe, is not the gritty, gray dust of the street but the fluffy brown dust of the house, showing that it has been hung up indoors most of the time; while the marks of moisture upon the inside are proof positive that he perspired very freely, and therefore could hardly be in the best of training. WATSON But surely you cant be serious that his wife ceased to love him... HOLMES This hat has not been brushed for weeks. When I see you, my dear Watson, with a weeks accumulation of dust upon your hat, and when your wife allows you to go out in such a state, I shall fear that you also have been unfortunate enough to lose your wifes affection. WATSON Point taken. PETERSON e could be a bachelor. HOLMES You will recall the card on the leg of the bird. He was bringing it as a peace-offering for his wife. WATSON You have an answer for everything. HOLMES Well, gentlemen, thank you for bringing this matter to my attention. However, it appears that the bird will soon be spoiled. Why dont you take it home and should the fellow return for his goods, we will replace it. PETERSON Aye, Mr. Olmes. Thank you for your time, sir.

(CONTINUED)

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7.

HAMISH A pleasure Mr. Holmes, Dr. Watson. HOLMES Goodnight, gentlemen. SOUND: DOOR CLOSING SOUND: AUDIO TRANSITION SCENE: 3 SOUND: DOOR BURSTING OPEN HAMISH Mr. Holmes! The goose, Mr. Holmes! The goose! HOLMES What of it then? Has it returned to life and flapped oof through the kitchen window? HAMISH See here, sir! Look what I found in the birds crop. HOLMES By Jove Peterson! This is a treasure trove indeed! I suppose you know what youve got there. HAMISH A diamond, sir? A precious stone maybe? HOLMES More than a precious stone. It is the precious stone! WATSON Not the Countess of Morcars blue carbuncle! HOLMES Precisely so. I ought to know its size and shape, seeing that I have read the advertisement about it in The Times every day lately. It is absoluteluy unique, and its value can only be conjectured, but the reward offered of one thousand pounds is certainly not within a twentieth part of the market price. HAMISH A thousand pounds! Great Lord aMercy. WATSON It was lost, if I remember correctly, at the Hotel Cosmopolitan.

(CONTINUED)

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8.

HOLMES Precisely so, on December twenty-second. John Horner, a plumber, was accused of having abstracted it from the ladys jewel case. The evidence against him was so strong that the case has been reffered to the Assizes. As I remember it, the upper-attendant at the hotel, a Mr. Ryder, gave evidence to the effect that he had shown Horner up to the room of the Countess of Morcar on the day of the robbery. Ryder went to attend to other business and when he returned, Horner had disappeared and the jewel with him. Horner was arrested later that day. Our little deductions have suddenly assumed a much more important and less innocent aspect. WATSON But how did the Blue Carbuncle go from being rifled from a jewel case to the crop of goose in Tottenham Court Road? HOLMES That is the question of the hour. We must now set our minds more seriously to finding Mr. Henry Baker and ascertaining what part he has played in this little mystery. Hand me a pencil and paper. WATSON What are you going to do? HOLMES We must try the simplest means first, that being an advertisement in the evening paper. Now, lets see, "Found at the corner of Goodge Street, a goose and a black felt hat. Mr. Henry Baker can have the same by applying at six thirty this evening at two-twenty-one B Baker Street." There, that is clear and concise. WATSON Yes, but will he see it? HOLMES Well, he is sure to keep an eye on the papers, since, to a poor man, the loss was a heavy one. The introduction of his name will also cause him to see it, for everyone who knows him will direct his attention to it. Here you are, Mr. Mulroy, run down to the advertising agency and have this put in the evening papers. HAMISH In which, sir?

(CONTINUED)

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9.

HOLMES Oh in the Globe, Star, Pall Mall, St. Jamess, Evening News Standard, Echo and any others that occur to you. HAMISH Very well, sir. And the stone? HOLMES Ah, yes, I shall keep the stone. Thank you. And I say, Mulroy, just buy a goose on your way back and leave it here with me, for we must have one to give to this gentleman in place of the one your family is now devouring. HAMISH Yes, sir. SOUND: DOOR CLOSING HOLMES Its a bonny thing, Watson. Just see how it glint and sparkles. Of course it is a nucleus and focus of crime. Every good stone is. They are the devils pet baits. This stone is not yet twenty years old and already there have been two murders, a suicide and several robberies brought about for the sake of this forty-grain weight of crystallized charcoal. Who would think that so pretty a toy would be a purveyor to the gallows and the prison. I shall lock it away in my strong box and drop a line to the Countess to say that we have it. WATSON Do you think this man Horner is innocent? HOLMES I cannot tell. WATSON Well, then, how do you imagine this other one, Henry Baker, had anything to do with the matter? HOLMES It is, I think, much more likely that Henry Baker is an absolutely innocent man, who had no idea that the bird which he was carrying was of considerably greater value than if it were made of solid gold. That, however, I shall determine by a very simple test if we have an answer to our advertisement. WATSON And you can do nothing until then?

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10.

HOLMES Nothing. WATSON In that case, I shall continue my professional round. But, I shall come back in the evening at the hour you have mentioned, for I should like to see the solution of so tangled a business. HOLMES Very glad to see you. I dine at seven. There is a woodcock, I believe. Though, in view of recent occurences perhaps I ought to ask Mrs. Hudson to examine its crop. WATSON (LAUGHING) I shall see you at half-past six then. SOUND: DOOR CLOSING SOUND: CLOCK TICKING SCENE: 5 SOUND: KNOCKING SOUND: DOOR CREAKING OPEN HOLMES Mr. Baker, come in. Oh and youve brought Dr. Watson with you. Right on time, Doctor. WATSON We met just outside. HOLMES Pray, take the chair by the fire Mr. Baker. It is a cold night and I observe that your circulation is more adapted for summer than winter. BAKER Thank you, Mr. Holmes. HOLMES Is this your hat, Mr. Baker. BAKER It most undoubtedly is my hat! HOLMES We have retained these things for some days because we expected to see an advertisement from you giving your (MORE) (CONTINUED)

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11.

HOLMES (contd) address. I am at a loss to know why you did not advertise. BAKER Well, Mr. Holmes, shillings have not been so plentiful as they once were. I had no doubt that the gang of roughs who assaulted me had carried off both my hat and the bird. I did not care to spend more money in a hopeless attempt in recovering them. HOLMES Very naturally. By the way, about the bird, we ate it. BAKER You ate it! HOLMES Quite. It would have been of no use to anyone had we not done so. But, I presume that this other goose upon the sideboard, which is about the same weight and perfectly fresh, will answer your purpose equally well? BAKER Oh, certainly, certainly. HOLMES Of course, we still have the feathers, legs, crop and so on of your other bird, so if you wish... BAKER (LAUGHS HEARTILY) They might be useful to me as relics of my adventure, but beyond that I can hardly see what use the dijecta membra of my late acquaintance are going to be to me. No, sir, that bird will do just fine. HOLMES There is your bird then and there your hat. By the way, would it bore you to tell me where you got the other bird from? I am somewhat of a fowl fancier and I have seldom seen a better grown goose. BAKER Certainly, sir. There are a few of us who frequent the Alpha Inn. This year our good host, Windigate by name, instituted a goose club, by which, on consideration of some few pence every week, we were each to receive a bird at Christmas. My pence were duly paid and the rest is familiar to you. I am much indebted to you good sirs. A merry Christmas to you.

(CONTINUED)

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12.

WATSON And you Mr. Baker. SOUND: DOOR CLOSING HOLMES Well, so much for Mr. Henry Baker. It is quite certain he knows nothing whatever about the matter. Are you hungry, Watson? WATSON Not particularly. HOLMES Then I suggest we turn our dinner into a supper and follow up on this clue while it is still hot! WATSON By all means. HOLMES Then grab your coat. SOUND: DOOR OPENING SOUND: AUDIO TRANSITION SCENE: 6 HOLMES Ah! There it is, Watson. The Alpha Inn. SOUND: DOOR OPENING HOLMES Mr. Windigate I presume. WINDIGATE At your service, gentlemen. HOLMES Your drinks should be excellent if they are as good as your geese. WINDIGATE My geese!? HOLMES Indeed. I was speaking only a half an hour ago with Mr. Henry Baker, a member of your goose club.

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13.

WINDIGATE Ah, yes, I see. But, thems not our geese. HOLMES Indeed! Whose then? WINDIGATE Well, I got two dozen of them from a salesman in Covent Garden. HOLMES Indeed? I know some of them. Which was it? WINDIGATE Breckinridge is his name. HOLMES Indeed! WINDIGATE Indeed. WATSON Indeed. HOLMES I dont know him. Well, heres to your good health and prosperity. Good-night. SOUND: DOOR OPENING AND CLOSING SOUND: RUSHING WIND HOLMES Now for Mr. Breckinridge. Remember, Watson, that though we have so homely a thing as a goose at one end of this chain, we have at the other a man who will certainly get seven years penal servitude unless we can establish his innocence. It is possible that our inquiry may only confirm his guilt; but, in any case, we have a line of investigation which has been missed by the police, and which a singular chance has place in our hands. Let us follow to the bitter end. Faces to the south, then, and quick march! SOUND: FOOTSTEPS SOUND: AUDIO TRANSITION

14.

SCENE: 7 HOLMES Good evening. Cold night. BRECKINRIDGE Mm HOLMES Sold out of geese, I see. BRECKINRIDGE Let you have five hundred tomorrow. HOLMES Thats no good. BRECKINRIDGE Well, there are some on that stall over there. HOLMES Ah, but I was reffered to you. BRECKINRIDGE Who by? HOLMES The landlord of the Alpha. BRECKINRIDGE Oh yes, I sent him a couple adozen HOLMES Fine birds they were too. Now, where did you get them from. BRECKINRIDGE Now then, mister. What are you driving at!? Lets have it straight now. HOLMES It is straight enough. I should like to know who sold you the geese which you have supplied to the Alpha. BRECKINRIDGE Well now, I shant tell you. So now! HOLMES Oh, it is a matter of no importance; but I dont know why you would be so warm over such a trifle.

(CONTINUED)

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15.

BRECKINRIDGE Warm! Youd be as warm, maybe, if you were as pestered as I am. When I pay good money for a good article there should be an end of the business, but its, "Where are the geese?" and, "Who did you sell the geese to?". One would think they were the only geese in the world, to hear the fuss that is made over them. HOLMES Well, I have no connection with any other people who have been making inquiries. If you wont tell us, the bet is off, that is all. But, I am always ready to back my opinion on a matter of fowls, and I have a fiver on it that the bird I ate is country bred. BRECKINRIDGE Well then youve lost your fiver. Its town bred. HOLMES Its nothing of the kind. BRECKINRIDGE I say it is. HOLMES I dont believe it. BRECKINRIDGE Dyou think you know more about fowls than I, who have handled them ever since I was a nipper? I tell you, all those birds that went to Alpha were town bred. HOLMES Youll never persuade me to believe that. BRECKINRIDGE Will you bet, then? HOLMES Its merely taking your money, for I know that I am right. But, Ill have a sovereign on with you, just to teach you not to be obstinate. BRECKINRIDGE Eh, Bill! Bring them books out ere...Now then mister, I thought that I was all out of geese, but before I finish youll find that there is still one left in my shop. WATSON I think he means you.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: HOLMES Yes, Watson, I gathered.

16.

BRECKINRIDGE Thats the list of the folk from whom I buy. Dyou see? Well then, here on this page are the country folk and the numbers after their names are where their accounts are on the big ledger. Now then! You see this other page in red ink? Well that is a list of my town suppliers. Now, look at that third name. Just read it out to me. HOLMES Mrs. Oakshott, one seventeen Brixton road - two four nine BRECKINRIDGE Quite right, now turn there in the ledger. HOLMES Here you are, Mrs. Oakshott, one seventeen Brixton road, egg and poultry supplier. BRECKINRIDGE Now then, whats the last entry? HOLMES December twenty-second. BRECKINRIDGE Quite so. And underneath? HOLMES Sold to Mr. Windigate of the Alpha. BRECKINRIDGE What do you have to say now? HOLMES A bet is a bet, my dear man. Here is your sovereign. Come, Watson. SOUND: FOOTSTEPS HOLMES (LAUGHING) Watson, when you see a man with whiskers of that cut and the "Pink un" protuding out of his pocket, you can always draw him by a bet. I daresay, that if I had put a hundred pounds down in front of him, that man would not have given me such complete information as was drawn from him by the idea that he was doing me on a wager.

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17.

WATSON Shall we continue on to Mrs. Oakshotts? HOLMES Perhaps we should reserve it for tomorrow. Though it is clear from what that surly fellow said that there are others besides ourselves who are anxious about the matter... BRECKINRIDGE (SHOUTING) Ive had enough of you and your geese! If you come pestering me anymore with your silly talk Ill set the dog on you! You bring Mrs. Oakshott here and Ill answer her, but what have you to do with it? Did I buy the geese off you? RYDER No, but one of them was mine all the same. BRECKINRIDGE Well, then ask Mrs. Oakshott for it. RYDER She told me to ask you! BRECKINRIDGE Well, you can ask the King of Proosia for all I care. Ive had enough of it! SOUND: DOOR SLAMMING HOLMES This may have saved us a visit to Brixton road. Come with me, Watson, and we will see what is to made of this fellow. SOUND: FOOTSTEPS RYDER Who are you then? What do you want? HOLMES You will excuse me, but I could not help overhearing the question which you put to the salesman just now. I think that i could be of assistance to you. RYDER You? Who are you? How could you know anything of the matter?

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18.

HOLMES My name is Sherlock Holmes, it is my business to know what other people dont know. RYDER But you can know nothing of this? HOLMES Excuse me, I know everything of it. You are endeavoring to trace some geese which were sold by Mrs. Oakshott, of Brixton road, to a salesman named Breckenridge, by him in turn to Mr. Windigate of the Alpha, and by him to his club, of which Mr. Henry Baker is a member. RYDER Oh, sir! You are the very man I have longed to meet. I can hardly explain to you how interested I am in this matter. HOLMES In that case we had better discuss it in a cozy room rather than in this wind-swept marketplace. But, pray tell me, before we go farther, who it is I have the pleasure of assisting. RYDER My name is...John..John Robertson. HOLMES No, no, the real name. It is always awkward doing business with an alias. RYDER (STAMMERING) Well, then, my real name is James Ryder. HOLMES Precisely so. Head attendant at the Hotel Cosmopolitan. Pray step into the cab and I shall soon be able to tell you everything which you would wish to know. SOUND: HORSES HOOVES SOUND: AUDIO TRANSITION SCENE: 8 HOLMES Here we are! The fire looks very seasonable in this weather. You look cold, Mr. Ryder. Pray take the basket chair. I will just put on my slippers before we settle into this little matter of yours. Now then! You want to know what became of those geese?

(CONTINUED)

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19.

RYDER Yes, sir. HOLMES Or rather, I fancy, of that goose. It was one bird, I imagine, in which you were interested - white, with a black bar across the tail. RYDER Oh sir! Can you tell me where it went to? HOLMES It came here. RYDER Here? HOLMES Yes, and that you after it egg that RYDER You...you know. HOLMES The game is up, Ryder. My good man, are you alright? Hold up, man or youll be into the fireplace! Watson, help Mr. Ryder back to his chair. Give him a dash of brandy. - Ah, now he looks a sight more human. - I have almost every link in my hands, and all the proofs which I could possibly need, so there is little which you need to tell me. Still, that little may as well be cleared up to make the case complete. You had heard, Ryder, of this blue stone of the Countess of Morcars? RYDER It was Catherine Cusack who told me of it. HOLMES I see. Her ladyships waiting-maid. Wel, the temptation of sudden wealth so easily acquired was too much for you, as it has been for better men before you, but you were not very scrupulous in the means you used. It seems to me, Ryder, that there is the making of a very pretty villain in you. You knew that this man, Horner, the plumber, had been concerned in some such matter before, and that suspicion would rest the more readily on him. What did you do then? You made some small job in my ladys room - you and your confederate Cusack and you managed that he should be the man sent for. (MORE) (CONTINUED) a remarkable bird it proved. I dont wonder should take an interest in it. It laid an egg was dead - the bonniest, brightest little blue was ever seen. I have it here in my museum.

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20.

HOLMES (contd) Then, when he had left, you rifled the jewel case, raised the alarm, and had this unfortunate man arrested. You then RYDER Have mercy! Oh Mr. Holmes, think of my father, my mother! It would break their hearts. I never went wrong before. I never will again. I swear it. Ill swear it on a Bible. Oh dont bring it into court. Oh please dont. HOLMES Get back in your chair! It is very well to cringe and crawl now, but you thought little enough of this poor Horner in the dock for a crime of which he knew nothing. RYDER I will fly, Mr. Holmes. I will leave the country, sir. Then the charge against him will break down. HOLMES Hum! We will talk about that. And true account of the next act. How the goose, and how came the goose Tell us the truth, for there lies safety. RYDER I will tell you just as it happened, sir. When Horner had been arrested, it seemed to me that it would be best for me to get away with the stone at once, for I did not know at what moment the police might not take it into their heads to search me and my room. There was no place about the hotel where it would be safe. I went out, as if on some commission, and I made for my sisters house. She had married a man named Oakshott, and lived in Brixton road, where she fattened fowls for the market. All the way there every man I met seemed to be a policeman or a detective, and, for all that it was a cold night, the sweat was pouring down my face before I came to Brixton road. My sister asked me what was the matter, and why I was so pale, but I told her I had been upset by the jewel robbery at the hotel. then I went into the back yard and smoked a pipe, and wondered what it would be best to do. I have a friend named Maudsley in Kilburn who went to the bad. He could show me how to turn the jewel into money. But with so many policemen patroling the streets, how was I to get to Kilburn. I was leaning against the wall at the time and looking at the geese which were waddling all about round my feet and suddenly an idea came into my head. (MORE) (CONTINUED) now let us hear the came the stone into into the open market? your only hope of

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21.

RYDER (contd) My sister had told me some weeks before that I could have the pick of her geese for a Christmas present, and I knew that she was always as good as her word. I would take my goose now and in it I would carry my jewel to Kilburn. I drove one of the birds behind a shed in the yard, a fine big one, with a barred tail. I caught it, pried its bill open and thrust the jewel down as far as my finger would reach. The bird gave a gulp and I felt stone pass along its gullet and down into its crop. But, the creature fluttered and flapped and out came my sister to see what was the matter. As I turned to speak to her, the bird broke loose and fluttered off among the others. Whatever were you doing with that bird, Jem?, says she. Well said I you said youd give me one for Christmas, and I was feeling which one was the fattest. Oh, says she, weve set yours aside for you - Jems bird we call it. Its the big white one over yonder. Thank you, Maggie, says I, but if its all the same to you, Id rather have the one I was handling just now. But the other is a good three pound heavier said she, and we fattened it expressly for you. Never mind, Ill have the other, and Ill take it now said I. Oh very well she said kinda huffy-like, kill it and take it with you. Well, I did what she said, Mr. Holmes and I took it to Kilburn, but when we went to open the goose my heart turned to water - there was no stone. I hurried back to my sisters and into the yard, no birds. I asked my sister where they were and she said at Breckenridges in Covent Gardens. I asked my sister if there was another with a barred tail and she said there were two, she could never tell them apart. Well then, of course, I saw it all and I ran off as hard as my feet would take me to this man Breckenridge, but he had sold off the lot at once and not one word would he tell me about where they went. You heard him yourself tonight. Well, hes always answered me like that. My sister thinks I am going mad. Sometimes I think that I am myself. And now - and I am myself a branded theif, without ever having touched the wealth for which I sold my character. God help me! God help me! (sobbing) SOUND: FOOTSTEPS SOUND: DOOR CREAKING OPEN HOLMES Get out. RYDER What, sir?! Oh Heaven bless you!

(CONTINUED)

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22.

HOLMES No more words, get out! SOUND: CLAMMERING STEPS SOUND: DOOR SLAMMING WATSON You let him go. HOLMES After all, Watson, I am not retained by the police to supply their deficiencies. If Horner were in danger it would be another thing; but this fellow will not appear against him, and the case must collapse. I suppose that I am commuting a felony, but it is possible that I am saving a soul. This fellow will not go wrong again; he is too terribly frightened. Send him to jail now, and you make him a jail bird for life. Besides, it is the season of forgiveness. WATSON Youre a good man, Holmes. HOLMES Nay, Watson. I suppose we are all but a temptation away from being just as that man. I am no exception. Now, if you will have the goodness to touch the bell, Doctor, we will begin anoth investigation, in which, also a bird will be the chief feature.