They still had hopes that the trainer had for some reason takenout the horse for early exercise, but on ascending the knoll nearthe house, from which all the neighboring moors were visible,they not only could see no signs of the missing favorite, but theyperceived something which warned them that they were in thepresence of a tragedy.
“About a quarter of a mile from the stables John Straker’sovercoat was flapping from a furze-bush. Immediately beyondthere was a bowl-shaped depression in the moor, and at thebottom of this was found the dead body of the unfortunate trainer.
His head had been shattered by a savage blow from some heavyweapon, and he was wounded on the thigh, where there was along, clean cut, inflicted evidently by some very sharp instrument.
It was clear, however, that Straker had defended himself vigorouslyagainst his assailants, for in his right hand he held a small knife,which was clotted with blood up to the handle, while in his lefthe clasped a red and black silk cravat, which was recognizedby the maid as having been worn on the preceding evening bythe stranger who had visited the stables. Hunter, on recoveringfrom his stupor, was also quite positive as to the ownership ofthe cravat. He was equally certain that the same stranger had,while standing at the window, drugged his curried mutton, and sodeprived the stables of their watchman. As to the missing horse,there were abundant proofs in the mud which lay at the bottom ofthe fatal hollow that he had been there at the time of the struggle.
But from that morning he has disappeared, and although a largereward has been offered, and all the gypsies of Dartmoor are onthe alert, no news has come of him. Finally, an analysis has shownthat the remains of his supper left by the stable-lad contain anappreciable quantity of powdered opium, while the people at thehouse partook of the same dish on the same night without any illeffect.
“Those are the main facts of the case, stripped of all surmise,and stated as baldly as possible. I shall now recapitulate what thepolice have done in the matter.
“Inspector Gregory, to whom the case has been committed, is anextremely competent officer. Were he but gifted with imaginationhe might rise to great heights in his profession. On his arrivalhe promptly found and arrested the man upon whom suspicionnaturally rested. There was little difficulty in finding him, for heinhabited one of those villas which I have mentioned. His name,it appears, was Fitzroy Simpson. He was a man of excellent birthand education, who had squandered a fortune upon the turf, andwho lived now by doing a little quiet and genteel book-makingin the sporting clubs of London. An examination of his bettingbookshows that bets to the amount of five thousand pounds hadbeen registered by him against the favorite. On being arrested hevolunteered that statement that he had come down to Dartmoorin the hope of getting some information about the King’s Pylandhorses, and also about Desborough, the second favorite, whichwas in charge of Silas Brown at the Mapleton stables. He did notattempt to deny that he had acted as described upon the eveningbefore, but declared that he had no sinister designs, and hadsimply wished to obtain first-hand information. When confrontedwith his cravat, he turned very pale, and was utterly unable toaccount for its presence in the hand of the murdered man. His wetclothing showed that he had been out in the storm of the nightbefore, and his stick, which was a penang-lawyer weighted withlead, was just such a weapon as might, by repeated blows, haveinflicted the terrible injuries to which the trainer had succumbed.
On the other hand, there was no wound upon his person, whilethe state of Straker’s knife would show that one at least of hisassailants must bear his mark upon him. There you have it allin a nutshell, Watson, and if you can give me any light I shall beinfinitely obliged to you.”
I had listened with the greatest interest to the statement whichHolmes, with characteristic clearness, had laid before me. Thoughmost of the facts were familiar to me, I had not sufficientlyappreciated their relative importance, nor their connection toeach other.
“Is it not possible,” I suggested, “that the incised wound uponStraker may have been caused by his own knife in the convulsivestruggles which follow any brain injury?”
“It is more than possible; it is probable,” said Holmes. “In thatcase one of the main points in favor of the accused disappears.”
“And yet,” said I, “even now I fail to understand what the theoryof the police can be.”
“I am afraid that whatever theory we state has very graveobjections to it,” returned my companion. “The police imagine,I take it, that this Fitzroy Simpson, having drugged the lad, andhaving in some way obtained a duplicate key, opened the stabledoor and took out the horse, with the intention, apparently, ofkidnapping him altogether. His bridle is missing, so that Simpsonmust have put this on. Then, having left the door open behindhim, he was leading the horse away over the moor, when he waseither met or overtaken by the trainer. A row naturally ensued.
Simpson beat out the trainer’s brains with his heavy stick withoutreceiving any injury from the small knife which Straker usedin self-defence, and then the thief either led the horse on tosome secret hiding-place, or else it may have bolted during thestruggle, and be now wandering out on the moors. That is thecase as it appears to the police, and improbable as it is, all otherexplanations are more improbable still. However, I shall veryquickly test the matter when I am once upon the spot, and untilthen I cannot really see how we can get much further than ourpresent position.”
