Chapter 4

Watson picks up the narrative of the present day. White Mason is a friendly, quiet, but capable man. He
meets Holmes, Watson, and MacDonald at Birlstone and helps everyone get settled, all the while talking
about the case. He explains to Holmes how he checked the hammer that was found near the body (there
was no evidence of it being involved in the crime) and the gun, which had the initials P, E, and N on it.

Holmes informs them it is an American gun put out by the Pennsylvania Small Arms Company; this
knowledge surprises and pleases Mason.

The group discuss the possibility of whether an outsider was in the house, or if the murder was staged.
MacDonald proffers his interpretation. He assumes the murder was premeditated, but wonders why the
killer would choose such a loud weapon. Holmes asks about signs of someone climbing out of the moat,
but there were none.

The men walk toward Manor House and Watson contemplates that the scene seems fit for a tragedy. As
they near the house Mason points out the window and informs Holmes of how shallow the moat is:
three feet at the deepest.

Ames admits the group to the house. The conversation returns to the murder. Suicide is ruled out, but
the issue of the loud weapon remains. It seems unlikely that the person made the muddy footprint,
opened the window, marked the sill, took the ring off, and left before Cecil found Douglas. Surely
someone came in earlier that day, hid, and then killed Douglas, using the sawed-off shotgun because the
murder was personal. Douglas probably came in, put down the candle, struggled, grabbed the hammer,
and was then shot. The man left the card and escaped across the moat.

Holmes listens; even though the men ask for his opinion, he demurs until he has more facts. He asks for
Ames, and questions him. He inquires about the mark, and Ames said he had seen it before. Ames also
says Douglas was a bit more nervous the last day he saw him than usual.

After this line of questioning Holmes turns to the card, which MacDonald says seems like it belongs to a
secret society; he also considers the strangeness of the wedding ring and the fact that there has been no
arrest yet.
A knock sounds, and Cecil Barker interrupts to say they’ve found the killer’s bicycle hidden in a clump of
evergreens not far off

Chapter 6

Watson decides to let the detectives talk amongst themselves and head back to the village inn. First,
though, he decides to wander about the lovely and peaceful gardens around Manor House. As he comes
across a clump of yew trees with a bench, he sees Barker and Mrs. Douglas. They seem very friendly:
Mrs. Douglas’s face is lit up unlike it was in the house, and the two lean in toward each other intimately.

Watson turns to leave, but the pair identifies him, and Barker calls him over. Watson is cool and says he
cares not for their business. He makes to leave but they call him back. Mrs. Douglas asks if Holmes is the
sort of detective who does things on his own, or if he would tell law enforcement the things he finds out.
Watson is annoyed by this and moves to leave again, but the woman cries out and he is struck by the
sincerity in her voice. He finally concedes that Holmes is an independent investigator, but that he has
great respect for the men with whom he works. Watson walks away, and sees the two whispering to one
another.

Holmes later says he wants none of their confidence. He then cheerfully says he is making progress as
long as they can find the missing dumbbell, for only one was found in the study near the body. Watson is
surprised and wonders what this has to do with the case. Holmes replies that no one works out with only
one dumbbell.

Holmes is the picture of contentment and intellectual excitement. He lights his pipe and begins to
ruminate. He notes that Mrs. Douglas and Barker are collaborating on the lie. There was no way that the
murderer could have killed Douglas and left in the amount of time allotted. The assassin must have been
alone with Douglas for some time before killing him. The gunshot was clearly the cause of death, but it
most likely happened earlier than Barker described. In fact, the housekeeper had mentioned hearing a
muffled noise like a door slamming a half hour before the gunshot was said to have gone off, and this
was probably the real shot. What, he wonders, did Barker and Mrs. Douglas do in that half hour? It is a
badly stage-managed affair, he observes.

Watson asks if he thinks the two of them murdered Douglas; Holmes prefers not to answer that directly,
though he indicates that they were certainly involved somehow. Everyone questioned told him that the
Douglases seemed very much in love. There is also the issue of the “Valley of Fear,” and association of
danger with Douglas. Watson is skeptical of this, and Holmes humors him. He says yes, perhaps they
made all that up to cover their tracks, but the choice of the shotgun as weapon makes no sense. It is also
absurd that they would take the dead man’s wedding ring; this practically advertised their putative affair.

Holmes continues, suggesting that it seems likely that an outsider connected to Douglas who was
desirous of seeking some sort of vengeance came and killed the man. Barker and Mrs. Douglas arrived,
Holmes speculates, and the assassin spoke to them and convinced them that if they said anything he
would reveal a scandalous secret about Douglas. The man then escaped and decided to go on foot and
left his bicycle. Barker and Mrs. Douglas set up the scene.

Watson is a bit more convinced, but still wary. Holmes announces he needs a night alone in the study to
think about this. He says he needs only an umbrella, which Watson points out is a useless weapon.

That evening, MacDonald and Mason return. MacDonald is pleased because he was able to trace the
bicycle to a man named Hargrave. This man, clearly an American but carrying a British suitcase and the
bicycle, checked into a hotel two days ago. There is no more information about his background, and no
knowledge of what he did after he left yesterday with his bicycle. MacDonald reads the description of
the man, which is quite curious because it sounds like Douglas, the murdered man.

MacDonald offers a theory as to what happened. Hargrave carried the shotgun in his valise and set off
for Manor House. He hid his bicycle and waited for Douglas. He intended to use the gun outside where it
would have attracted no undue notice. Douglas never came outside, so Hargrave snuck into the house,
shot Douglas, and escaped.

Holmes nods in appreciation, and tells them bluntly Barker and Mrs. Douglas are in a conspiracy
together. Mason sighs and says that the woman has never been to America, and thus this is all very
strange. Holmes tells them his plan to stay in the study and figure out why there is only one dumbbell.
Watson retires to bed. Holmes wakes him in the middle of the night and asks if Watson would be afraid
to sleep in the same room as a lunatic or an idiot. Watson is surprised and says no, and Holmes replies
that that is a good thing.

Chapter 5

Ames recounts his version of the events of the night of Douglas's murder. He had worked for Douglas for
about five years and found him a friendly employer. Douglas never seemed very restless except for the
day of his murder. That night Ames did not hear the shot because he was in the pantry at the time, but
he did hear the bell ringing wildly. He saw Mrs. Douglas coming down the stairs and Mr. Barker urging
her to go back. She was not screaming or crying.

The housekeeper was nearer to the front of the house but only heard the bell ringing. She was hard of
hearing and may not have heard the shot because of that. She saw Mr. Barker, pale and anxious, coming
out of the study. He told Mrs. Allen to stay with Mrs. Douglas, and she did.

Cecil Barker speaks with the men next. He adds nothing to the account that he’d told the other
detectives. He sees the bloodstain as conclusive, but does not know how the killer escaped. He speaks of
Douglas next, explaining that they met when Cecil was a young man in California. Douglas emigrated
there and the two became partners at a mining claim. Douglas sold his share and moved to England;
when Barker moved there as well, they renewed their friendship.

It seemed to Barker than Douglas had some sort of danger hanging over him, and he wondered if some
sort of secret society Douglas belonged to was after him—perhaps that was why he moved to England.

Answering the detectives’ questions, Barker states that he and Douglas knew each other for five years.
The only place Douglas had mentioned was Chicago. He was not very social at the mining claim, and one
time a hard-looking crowd came looking for him. They were Americans but not miners, which had
seemed suspicious. Barker also tells them that Douglas was always armed.

MacDonald asks how close Barker is to Mrs. Douglas. When the detective’s questions become a bit more
probing, Barker grows angry. Finally he says that Douglas’s one fault was jealousy. He was fond of Barker
and his wife, but Douglas always seemed angry whenever the two of them would talk or share a look.
MacDonald asks if Barker knew the wedding ring is gone, and Barker says it seems that way. MacDonald
fixates on that and asks what he means; Barker explains that yes, the ring is gone, but he does not know
why. MacDonald also asks about when the candle was lit; Barker explains that he lit the lamp and blew
out the candle when he came in.

Not long after this interview, the group meets Mrs. Douglas, a beautiful and elegant woman of thirty. She
asks if they have found anything; Watson thinks it sounds like there is more of an undertone of fear than
hope to her query.

She gives her account of hearing the shot and being sent back to her room. When asked about her
background she replies that she had been married to Douglas for five years. She admits that she knew
there was some sort of danger about him but he always refused to tell her anything. Her intuition and
listening skills, though, helped her ascertain some of what bothered him. The words 'Valley of Fear' stuck
out in her mind, and she would hear him bemoan the fact that they would never get out of this valley.
When she would ask him about this, he explained nothing to her, but she figured out that the name
'Bodymaster McGinty' has something to do with this terrible place.

MacDonald asks if there is any reason she can think of that someone would take the wedding ring,
especially as she professed to a lot of romance between she and her husband, and for a second Watson
thinks he sees a smile on her face. She says she has no idea.

The questioning ends and Mrs. Douglas leaves. Holmes muses for a moment and asks Ames to come in.
He inquires what shoes Barker was wearing the night of the murder. Ames responds that he was wearing
house slippers. Holmes finds the slippers and looks on the bottom. They are covered in blood, and the
mark of the window matches that of the sole of the slipper. The men are all astonished.