“Great excitement was caused in Esher and the neighbouringdistrict when it was learned late last night that an arrest hadbeen effected in connection with the Oxshott murder. It willbe remembered that Mr. Garcia, of Wisteria Lodge, was founddead on Oxshott Common, his body showing signs of extremeviolence, and that on the same night his servant and his cookfled, which appeared to show their participation in the crime. Itwas suggested, but never proved, that the deceased gentlemanmay have had valuables in the house, and that their abstractionwas the motive of the crime. Every effort was made by InspectorBaynes, who has the case in hand, to ascertain the hiding place ofthe fugitives, and he had good reason to believe that they had notgone far but were lurking in some retreat which had been alreadyprepared. It was certain from the first, however, that they wouldeventually be detected, as the cook, from the evidence of one ortwo tradespeople who have caught a glimpse of him through thewindow, was a man of most remarkable appearance—being a hugeand hideous mulatto, with yellowish features of a pronouncednegroid type. This man has been seen since the crime, for he wasdetected and pursued by Constable Walters on the same evening,when he had the audacity to revisit Wisteria Lodge. InspectorBaynes, considering that such a visit must have some purposein view and was likely, therefore, to be repeated, abandoned thehouse but left an ambuscade in the shrubbery. The man walkedinto the trap and was captured last night after a struggle in whichConstable Downing was badly bitten by the savage. We understandthat when the prison is brought before the magistrates a remandwill be applied for by the police, and that great developments arehoped from his capture.”
“Really we must see Baynes at once,” cried Holmes, pickingup his hat. “We will just catch him before he starts.” We hurrieddown the village street and found, as we had expected, that theinspector was just leaving his lodgings.
“You’ve seen the paper, Mr. Holmes?” he asked, holding one outto us.
“Yes, Baynes, I’ve seen it. Pray don’t think it a liberty if I giveyou a word of friendly warning.”
“Of warning, Mr. Holmes?”
“I have looked into this case with some care, and I am notconvinced that you are on the right lines. I don’t want you tocommit yourself too far unless you are sure.”
“You’re very kind, Mr. Holmes.”
“I assure you I speak for your good.”
It seemed to me that something like a wink quivered for aninstant over one of Mr. Baynes’s tiny eyes.
“We agreed to work on our own lines, Mr. Holmes. That’s whatI am doing.”
“Oh, very good,” said Holmes. “Don’t blame me.”
“No, sir; I believe you mean well by me. But we all have our ownsystems, Mr. Holmes. You have yours, and maybe I have mine.”
“Let us say no more about it.”
“You’re welcome always to my news. This fellow is a perfectsavage, as strong as a cart-horse and as fierce as the devil. Hechewed Downing’s thumb nearly off before they could master him.
He hardly speaks a word of English, and we can get nothing out ofhim but grunts.”
“And you think you have evidence that he murdered his latemaster?”
“I didn’t say so, Mr. Holmes; I didn’t say so. We all have our littleways. You try yours and I will try mine. That’s the agreement.”
Holmes shrugged his shoulders as we walked away together.
“I can’t make the man out. He seems to be riding for a fall. Well,as he says, we must each try our own way and see what comes ofit. But there’s something in Inspector Baynes which I can’t quiteunderstand.”
“Just sit down in that chair, Watson,” said Sherlock Holmeswhen we had returned to our apartment at the Bull. “I want to putyou in touch with the situation, as I may need your help to-night.
Let me show you the evolution of this case so far as I have beenable to follow it. Simple as it has been in its leading features, ithas none the less presented surprising difficulties in the way of anarrest. There are gaps in that direction which we have still to fill.
“We will go back to the note which was handed in to Garciaupon the evening of his death. We may put aside this idea ofBaynes’s that Garcia’s servants were concerned in the matter. Theproof of this lies in the fact that it was he who had arranged forthe presence of Scott Eccles, which could only have been done forthe purpose of an alibi. It was Garcia, then, who had an enterprise,and apparently a criminal enterprise, in hand that night in thecourse of which he met his death. I say ‘criminal’ because only aman with a criminal enterprise desires to establish an alibi. Who,then, is most likely to have taken his life? Surely the person againstwhom the criminal enterprise was directed. So far it seems to methat we are on safe ground.
“We can now see a reason for the disappearance of Garcia’shousehold. They were all confederates in the same unknowncrime. If it came off when Garcia returned, any possible suspicionwould be warded off by the Englishman’s evidence, and all wouldbe well. But the attempt was a dangerous one, and if Garcia didnot return by a certain hour it was probable that his own life hadbeen sacrificed. It had been arranged, therefore, that in such acase his two subordinates were to make for some prearrangedspot where they could escape investigation and be in a positionafterwards to renew their attempt. That would fully explain thefacts, would it not?”
The whole inexplicable tangle seemed to straighten out beforeme. I wondered, as I always did, how it had not been obvious tome before.
“But why should one servant return?”
“We can imagine that in the confusion of flight somethingprecious, something which he could not bear to part with, hadbeen left behind. That would explain his persistence, would itnot?”
“Well, what is the next step?”
“The next step is the note received by Garcia at the dinner.
It indicates a confederate at the other end. Now, where was theother end? I have already shown you that it could only lie insome large house, and that the number of large houses is limited.