“ ‘Keep your forgiveness for those who ask for it,’ he answered,turning away from me with a sneer. I saw that he was too hardenedfor any words of mine to influence him. There was but one wayfor it. I called in the inspector and gave him into custody. A searchwas made at once not only of his person but of his room and ofevery portion of the house where he could possibly have concealedthe gems; but no trace of them could be found, nor would thewretched boy open his mouth for all our persuasions and ourthreats. This morning he was removed to a cell, and I, after goingthrough all the police formalities, have hurried round to you toimplore you to use your skill in unravelling the matter. The policehave openly confessed that they can at present make nothing ofit. You may go to any expense which you think necessary. I havealready offered a reward of ￡1000. My God, what shall I do! I havelost my honour, my gems, and my son in one night. Oh, what shallI do!”
He put a hand on either side of his head and rocked himself toand fro, droning to himself like a child whose grief has got beyondwords.
Sherlock Holmes sat silent for some few minutes, with hisbrows knitted and his eyes fixed upon the fire.
“Do you receive much company?” he asked.
“None save my partner with his family and an occasional friendof Arthur’s. Sir George Burnwell has been several times lately. Noone else, I think.”
“Do you go out much in society?”
“Arthur does. Mary and I stay at home. We neither of us care forit.”
“That is unusual in a young girl.”
“She is of a quiet nature. Besides, she is not so very young. Sheis four-and-twenty.”
“This matter, from what you say, seems to have been a shock toher also.”
“Terrible! She is even more affected than I.”
“You have neither of you any doubt as to your son’s guilt?”
“How can we have when I saw him with my own eyes with thecoronet in his hands.”
“I hardly consider that a conclusive proof. Was the remainder ofthe coronet at all injured?”
“Yes, it was twisted.”
“Do you not think, then, that he might have been trying tostraighten it?”
“God bless you! You are doing what you can for him and for me.
But it is too heavy a task. What was he doing there at all? If hispurpose were innocent, why did he not say so?”
“Precisely. And if it were guilty, why did he not invent a lie? Hissilence appears to me to cut both ways. There are several singularpoints about the case. What did the police think of the noisewhich awoke you from your sleep?”
“They considered that it might be caused by Arthur’s closing hisbedroom door.”
“A likely story! As if a man bent on felony would slam hisdoor so as to wake a household. What did they say, then, of thedisappearance of these gems?”
“They are still sounding the planking and probing the furniturein the hope of finding them.”
“Have they thought of looking outside the house?”
“Yes, they have shown extraordinary energy. The whole gardenhas already been minutely examined.”
“Now, my dear sir,” said Holmes. “is it not obvious to you nowthat this matter really strikes very much deeper than either youor the police were at first inclined to think? It appeared to you tobe a simple case; to me it seems exceedingly complex. Considerwhat is involved by your theory. You suppose that your son camedown from his bed, went, at great risk, to your dressing-room,opened your bureau, took out your coronet, broke off by mainforce a small portion of it, went off to some other place, concealedthree gems out of the thirty-nine, with such skill that nobody canfind them, and then returned with the other thirty-six into theroom in which he exposed himself to the greatest danger of beingdiscovered. I ask you now, is such a theory tenable?”
“But what other is there?” cried the banker with a gesture ofdespair. “If his motives were innocent, why does he not explainthem?”
“It is our task to find that out,” replied Holmes; “so now, if youplease, Mr. Holder, we will set off for Streatham together, anddevote an hour to glancing a little more closely into details.”
My friend insisted upon my accompanying them in theirexpedition, which I was eager enough to do, for my curiosityand sympathy were deeply stirred by the story to which we hadlistened. I confess that the guilt of the banker’s son appearedto me to be as obvious as it did to his unhappy father, but still Ihad such faith in Holmes’ judgment that I felt that there mustbe some grounds for hope as long as he was dissatisfied with theaccepted explanation. He hardly spoke a word the whole way outto the southern suburb, but sat with his chin upon his breast andhis hat drawn over his eyes, sunk in the deepest thought. Ourclient appeared to have taken fresh heart at the little glimpse ofhope which had been presented to him, and he even broke into adesultory chat with me over his business affairs. A short railwayjourney and a shorter walk brought us to Fairbank, the modestresidence of the great financier.
