“When I came to examine the address of the packet I observedthat it was to Miss S. Cushing. Now, the oldest sister would, ofcourse, be Miss Cushing, and although her initial was ‘S’ it mightbelong to one of the others as well. In that case we should haveto commence our investigation from a fresh basis altogether.
I therefore went into the house with the intention of clearingup this point. I was about to assure Miss Cushing that I wasconvinced that a mistake had been made when you may rememberthat I came suddenly to a stop. The fact was that I had just seensomething which filled me with surprise and at the same timenarrowed the field of our inquiry immensely.
“As a medical man, you are aware, Watson, that there is no partof the body which varies so much as the human ear. Each ear isas a rule quite distinctive and differs from all other ones. In lastyear’s Anthropological Journal you will find two short monographsfrom my pen upon the subject. I had, therefore, examined theears in the box with the eyes of an expert and had carefully notedtheir anatomical peculiarities. Imagine my surprise, then, whenon looking at Miss Cushing I perceived that her ear correspondedexactly with the female ear which I had just inspected. The matterwas entirely beyond coincidence. There was the same shorteningof the pinna, the same broad curve of the upper lobe, the sameconvolution of the inner cartilage. In all essentials it was the same ear.
“Of coune I at once saw the enormous importance of theobservation. It was evident that the victim was a blood relation,and probably a very close one. I began to talk to her abouther family, and you remember that she at once gave us someexceedingly valuable details.”
“In the first place, her sister’s name was Sarah, and her addresshad until recently been the same, so that it was quite obvioushow the mistake had occurred and for whom the packet wasmeant. Then we heard of this steward, married to the third sister,and learned that he had at one time been so intimate with MissSarah that she had actually gone up to Liverpool to be near theBrowners, but a quarrel had afterwards divided them. This quarrelhad put a stop to all communications for some months, so that ifBrowner had occasion to address a packet to Miss Sarah, he wouldundoubtedly have done so to her old address.
“And now the matter had begun to straighten itself outwonderfully. We had learned of the existence of this steward, animpulsive man, of strong passions—you remember that he threwup what must have been a very superior berth in order to be nearerto his wife—subject, too, to occasional fits of hard drinking. Wehad reason to believe that his wife had been murdered, and thata man—presumably a seafaring man—had been murdered at thesame time. Jealousy, of course, at once suggests itself as the motivefor the crime. And why should these proofs of the deed be sentto Miss Sarah Cushing? Probably because during her residence inLiverpool she had some hand in bringing about the events whichled to the tragedy. You will observe that this line of boats calls atBelfast, Dublin, and Waterford; so that, presuming that Brownerhad committed the deed and had embarked at once upon hissteamer, the May Day, Belfast would be the first place at which hecould post his terrible packet.
“A second solution was at this stage obviously possible, andalthough I thought it exceedingly unlikely, I was determined toelucidate it before going further. An unsuccessful lover mighthave killed Mr. and Mrs. Browner, and the male ear might havebelonged to the husband. There were many grave objections tothis theory, but it was conceivable. I therefore sent off a telegramto my friend Algar, of the Liverpool force, and asked him to findout if Mrs. Browner were at home, and if Browner had departed inthe May Day. Then we went on to Wallington to visit Miss Sarah.
“I was curious, in the first place, to see how far the family earhad been reproduced in her. Then, of course, she might give usvery important information, but I was not sanguine that shewould. She must have heard of the business the day before,since all Croydon was ringing with it, and she alone could haveunderstood for whom the packet was meant. If she had beenwilling to help justice she would probably have communicatedwith the police already. However, it was clearly our duty to see her,so we went. We found that the news of the arrival of the packet—for her illness dated from that time—had such an effect uponher as to bring on brain fever. It was clearer than ever that sheunderstood its full significance, but equally clear that we shouldhave to wait some time for any assistance from her.
“However, we were really independent of her help. Our answerswere waiting for us at the police-station, where I had directedAlgar to send them. Nothing could be more conclusive. Mrs.
Browner’s house had been closed for more than three days, andthe neighbours were of opinion that she had gone south to seeher relatives. It had been ascertained at the shipping offices thatBrowner had left aboard of the May Day, and I calculate that sheis due in the Thames to-morrow night. When he arrives he will bemet by the obtuse but resolute Lestrade, and I have no doubt thatwe shall have all our details filled in.”
Sherlock Holmes was not disappointed in his expectations.
Two days later he received a bulky envelope, which contained ashort note from the detective, and a typewritten document, whichcovered several pages of foolscap.
“Lestrade has got him all right,” said Holmes, glancing up at me.
“Perhaps it would interest you to hear what he says.
“My dear Mr. Holmes: