First broadcast 6th April 1988.
While convalescing in Cornwall, a depressive Holmes investigates the apparent death from apoplexy of a local woman and the unexplained sudden dementia of her two brothers.
Jeremy Brett ... Sherlock Holmes
Edward Hardwicke ... Dr Watson
Denis Quilley ... Dr Leon Sterndale
Damien Thomas ... Mortimer Tregennis
Michael Aitkens ... Reverend Roundhay
Freda Dowie ... Mrs Porter
Norman Bowler ... Owen Tregennis
Peter Shaw ... George Tregennis
Christine Collins ... Brenda Tregennis
John Saunders ... Dr Richards
Frank Moorey ... Police Inspector
Nick Ryall ... Policeman in House
While convalescing in Cornwall, a depressive Holmes investigates the apparent death from apoplexy of a local woman and the unexplained sudden dementia of her two brothers.
Jeremy Brett ... Sherlock Holmes
Edward Hardwicke ... Dr Watson
Denis Quilley ... Dr Leon Sterndale
Damien Thomas ... Mortimer Tregennis
Michael Aitkens ... Reverend Roundhay
Freda Dowie ... Mrs Porter
Norman Bowler ... Owen Tregennis
Peter Shaw ... George Tregennis
Christine Collins ... Brenda Tregennis
John Saunders ... Dr Richards
Frank Moorey ... Police Inspector
Nick Ryall ... Policeman in House
Category
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TVTranscript
00:30I'm going to do it again, I'm going to do it again, I'm going to do it again, I'm going
01:00to do it again, I'm going to do it again, I'm going to do it again, I'm going to do
01:30it again, I'm going to do it again, I'm going to do it again.
02:00Almost there. What does a Holly Street specialist know about my health? Listen folks, Dr. Moore
02:25Agar insists you have a complete rest if you wish to avoid an absolute breakdown. The sea
02:31air will do you the world of good. You should have travelled alone, Watson. Nonsense, we're
02:39on holiday.
02:46Why it's wonderful, Holly, it's wonderful. The views are spectacular. We're overlooking
03:13the most dangerous piece of coastline in the country. Your friend is a natural historian,
03:19I presume. An old acquaintance from my college days. I'll see to the luggage. Thank you.
03:40Good day to you, sir. I thought as we were going to be neighbours for the next few weeks
03:47I ought to say a few words of welcome. How very kind. And of course I've long wanted
03:53to meet Mr. Sherlock Holmes. It is indeed a pleasure, sir. Thank you, but I'm Dr. John
03:58Watson. Come in. This is my good friend, Sherlock Holmes. A thousand apologies, I should have
04:11realised. Do come in, Mr. Rounding. Very stupid of me. How did you know my name? You have
04:19an interest in archaeology, do you not? Why, yes. Deduce, Watson, come, deduce. You've
04:28got mud on the points of your shoes and beneath your knees and on the fingers of your right
04:34hand, which indicates that you've knelt on the ground for a length of time. Oh, Watson,
04:39you're coming along marvellously. You're a left-handed gardener. You're a student of
04:41archaeology. You've published a paper on the theories surrounding Neolithic burial rites.
04:46You are the Reverend Francis Roundhay, vicar of the parish of Tritannic Wallace. Astonishing,
04:53sir. Please, sit down. But left-handed? The hand with which you hold the trowel. Exactly
05:06right. Precise in every detail, but how, sir, how? Vicar, vicar, vicar. The parish magazine,
05:12it's all... The village is nearby? Oh, yes, just along the coastal path. It's secluded,
05:26but it caters for all our needs. Is that the nearest habitation? No, no, the Tregennis
05:31Estate is about a mile inland. Very nice people, and I'm sure they'll extend to you some fine
05:37Cornish hospitality. However, I've imposed enough upon you for one day. Perhaps you'd
05:44care to come and have dinner with me one evening at the vicarage? Oh, then we should impose upon
05:49you and your family. Oh, no, alas, I have no family. I live alone, except for Mr. Tregennis,
05:54who has a suite of rooms in the house. But does he not live on the estate? A family dispute. His
06:00sister and two brothers live there, but he chooses to live apart. Do you know, dinner at
06:07the vicarage is a splendid idea. We must arrange a date. Yes, well, of course, gentlemen. Good day
06:21to you. Good morning.
06:51Cornish hospitality. Weather-pitted slabs of granite. Ancient tombs scattered throughout
07:04the length and breadth of this peninsula. Like the sea. I suppose death is always with us.
07:13Quite so.
07:19Quite often during those days in Cornwall, Holmes would strike out alone. The mystery
07:43and glamour of the place, with its sinister atmosphere of forgotten nations, appealed to
07:48the imagination of my friend. He spent much of his time in long walks and solitary meditation.
08:18One morning, however, my friend's convalescence was violently interrupted. Gentlemen, I urge
08:47you to consult the police. Holmes is a sick man. Yes, but getting better all the time, Watson.
08:53This is a matter of some emergency. Mr. Holmes, Mr. Holmes, we can only regard it as a special
09:06providence that you should chance to be here at this time, for in all England you are the one
09:10man we truly need. I've tried to explain to Mr. Tregennis and Mr. Roundhay that you're in
09:14convalescence. I'm sure they'd be very sympathetic. Please sit down. Thank you. The fact is, as I've
09:23explained to Dr. Watson, the most extraordinary and tragic affair has occurred here during the
09:28night. You have my full attention. Perhaps I'd better say a few words first. This is Mr. Tregennis
09:36of whom I spoke. Now, Mr. Tregennis spent last night in the company of his brother, George and
09:44Owen, and his sister, Brenda, at their house at Tridanic Water. He left them, playing cards around
09:50the dining table in excellent health and spirits, but on his return this morning discovered a truly
09:58bizarre state of affairs. All three, both alive and dead, retained upon their faces an expression
10:05of utmost horror. Dead? A convulsion of terror. It was dreadful to look upon. Was there any sign of anyone else in the house?
10:21Only Mrs. Porter, cook and housekeeper. She'd slept deeply and heard no sound in the night.
10:27Is anything missing? Disarranged? Nothing, Mr. Holmes. What could possibly frighten a young woman to death
10:37and two strong men out of their senses? Yes, well, indeed. I'm sure, Holmes, that the local police
10:41will have reached some conclusions. I have an erroneous theory, Holmes. Think. Tell me about last night, Mr. Tregennis.
10:52Well, Mr. Holmes, I slept there, as Vicar has said. My elder brother, George, proposed a game of whist afterwards.
11:07Or a quarter past ten when I moved to go. Who let you out? Mrs. Porter had gone to bed, so I let myself out.
11:16The window of the room in which they sat was closed, but the blind was not drawn down.
11:23There was no change in door or window this morning, nor any reason to think that any stranger had been to the house.
11:32Yet there they sat, driven clean mad with terror. I'll never get a sight of that room out of my mind as long as I live.
11:44Yes, the facts are most remarkable. Mr. Tregennis, do you have any theory of your own which might account for them?
11:53It is devilish. Devilish, Mr. Holmes. It is not of this world.
12:01Well, if the matter is beyond humanity, it is certainly beyond me. I trust so, Holmes.
12:08Now think. Think very carefully, Mr. Tregennis, about the evening that you spent together.
12:20If anything can stand out in your memory which might throw some light upon this tragedy.
12:26There is nothing, Mr. Holmes.
12:29Were they nervous people? Did they ever show any sign of apprehension?
12:34Not to my knowledge, Mr. Holmes.
12:37Then there's nothing in which you can assist me.
12:45There is one thing that occurs to me. As I sat at table, my back was to the window.
12:51And my brother George, he being my partner at cards, was facing it.
12:56I saw him once look hard over my shoulder. So I turned round and looked also.
13:03The blind was up, the window shut, but I could just make out the bougies on the lawn.
13:10It seemed to me for a moment that I saw something moving among them.
13:15I couldn't even say if it were man or animal, but I just thought I saw something there.
13:22Did you not investigate?
13:25The matter passed as unimportant.
13:27Did you have any premonition of evil?
13:30None that I was aware of.
13:32Did you hear the terrible news so early this morning?
13:35I'm an early riser. I generally take a walk before breakfast.
13:39This morning I'd hardly started when Dr. Richards overtook me in his carriage.
13:44Mr. Grigenius, I've just had an urgent message from your sister's house.
13:49What's happened?
13:50I'm not quite sure, sir, but you'd better come with me.
13:55She's been dead at least six hours.
13:59No sign of violence.
14:04How?
14:06I've never seen the like, Mr. Grigenius.
14:10Not in all my years as a...
14:16Are you all right?
14:18I've got you.
14:21Are you all right?
14:23I've got you.
14:25Over here.
14:28There we go.
14:30We nearly had him on our hands as well.
14:37Where are you going, Holmes?
14:38To Danic Water without delay.
14:40With your permission, Mr. Holmes, I'll go on ahead.
14:42Thank you, Vicar, quickly, otherwise we'll be there before you.
14:44Holmes, I must protest.
14:45Save your protestations for later, Watson.
14:47Much later.
14:49I gather you were divided in some way from your family.
14:52I is so, Mr. Holmes.
14:54Though the matter is past and done with.
14:56All was forgiven and forgotten and we were the best of friends.
14:59We were a family of tin miners at Red Ruth.
15:02Sold out our venture to a company.
15:05So retired, with enough to keep us.
15:08I won't deny there was some bad feeling over the division of the money.
15:11It stood between us for a number of years.
15:14Nevertheless...
15:20You decided not to leave Cornwall.
15:22I suppose I entertained some hopes of returning home one day.
15:27Holmes!
15:33Holmes, stand back!
15:42My brothers.
15:44They're taking them to Elsie.
15:49They're taking them to Elsie.
16:07It's a lovely house, Mr. Trevennis.
16:11It's a very sad house.
16:13This is the window through which you saw the shadowy form.
16:16Approximately what distance was it from the glass?
16:22I'd say not less than ten feet.
16:25I guess...
16:28About here.
16:30There's no sign of a forced entry.
16:32Then the window, of course, would have remained locked.
16:34It's just to make sure of that.
16:36Even in Cornwall...
16:39It's quite all right, Mr. Holmes.
16:41An accident.
16:47Thank you.
16:51Could you let Mrs. Porter on her way back?
17:17I should like to meet the housekeeper.
17:19Of course.
17:21Oh, but please try to avoid causing further distress.
17:25Death is always distressing, Mr. Trevennis.
17:27Ah.
17:30The chairs.
17:32They must have been moved after the police left the house.
17:36That one here, Mr. Holmes.
17:38One over there.
17:40That one over there.
17:42That one over there.
17:44One over there.
17:46This one here.
17:48And this one...
17:50over here.
17:52Has anything else been moved?
17:55All is as I remember it.
17:57You must understand there was a great deal of fuss and confusion when I arrived this morning.
18:02These may have been moved without thought given to their significance in a criminal investigation.
18:06Criminal?
18:08That is a very interesting word.
18:11So you no longer subscribe to the theory of a supernatural explanation?
18:17I don't know.
18:19Where were people sitting?
18:22I sat here, facing Georgie, my brother George.
18:27Winner sat next to me, winner across from her.
18:30Well, that's curious.
18:32I mean from this position.
18:35The figure outside of the window must have been well over six feet.
18:41I can only tell you what I saw, Mr. Holmes.
18:44Ah, this is my housekeeper.
18:47Mrs. Porter.
18:49I'd like you to meet these gentlemen, my dear.
18:56She was so beautiful.
19:01So beautiful.
19:05She is still very upset.
19:07We're all very upset, Mr. Roundhay.
19:10Go and sit down.
19:12I will not stay in this house one moment longer than I have to, sir.
19:18I shall rejoin my family in St. Ives.
19:21But you're part of our family.
19:23My family, true Guinness, is dead, sir.
19:27Dead or as good as.
19:29I'm still alive.
19:33Mrs. Porter.
19:38Excuse me now.
19:40Mrs. Porter.
19:50My name is Sherlock Holmes.
19:52And I'd like you to tell me all that you know.
19:56Mr. Holmes is a detective.
19:58He's going to try and find out what happened to Brenda.
20:00Don't you worry.
20:03Please, leave nothing out.
20:08I can tell you very little, Mr. Holmes.
20:18You'll be cheating.
20:20I am not cheating.
20:22Owen, will you tell your dear sister to play by the rules?
20:26She's your sister, too. You tell her.
20:29But she's on your side.
20:31It's rather late and I do have to get back to the vicarage.
20:38Mortimer, you must stay here for the night.
20:42Oh, please say you will.
20:44Well, don't force him to stay if he doesn't want to, Brenda.
20:48Oh, really?
20:50I thought we'd put an end to our squabbling.
20:53Mortimer is just as much my brother as you and Georgie.
20:57Don't worry, dear brother.
20:59I know where I'm not welcome and why this has at all.
21:02You disowned us. Or have you forgotten?
21:05We'll be all right now, Beth, if you wish to retire.
21:08Is Mr. Tregennis staying with us tonight?
21:10Why? Do you also object to my presence, Mrs. Porter?
21:13Mortimer!
21:15I want to know, should I air your room, sir?
21:22Sorry.
21:27Thank you, Beth. That'll be quite all right.
21:30Mr. Tregennis will not be staying.
21:32Mr. Tregennis will not be staying.
21:35Very good, Miss Brenda.
21:37Is it customary to have a fire in the room at this time of year?
21:40It was a cold and damp night, Mr. Holmes.
21:43I must say, I thought it was rather humid.
21:46I suffer with a mild blood disorder.
21:48I feel the cold on even warm nights.
21:50I know how you feel.
21:52Now, Mrs. Porter, was the door to this room closed when you entered this morning?
21:57Oh, certainly, sir.
22:00HE WHIMPERS
22:26When I recovered,
22:28I threw wide the window to let in the morning air.
22:31Then I ran down to the lane
22:34and sent a farm lad for the doctor.
22:39And the rest I think you know, sir.
22:47Mrs. Porter's right.
22:49She's very beautiful.
22:51Yes, but something's missing.
22:53Tregennis is lying about a mild blood disorder.
22:55I'll stake my reputation on that.
22:57We'll see.
23:21Watson.
23:23Watson.
23:28Look at this.
23:31That's very unusual.
23:39It won't do! It won't do!
23:42Three people previously stricken by some conscious or unconscious human agency.
23:49Now, when exactly did this event occur?
23:53They'd finished playing cards.
23:57It was past their usual alphabet.
23:59Apparently the chairs had not been pulled back from the table.
24:02Well, it must have been only moments after Tregennis left the house.
24:06Exactly.
24:10You're conscious, of course, how I managed to obtain a clear impress of his foot.
24:14Yes, I guess something was wrong.
24:21Having got a sample print, I can pick out his tracks, among the others.
24:26I can follow his movements.
24:29For the length of his stride, he returned swiftly to the vicarage.
24:34If Tregennis disappeared,
24:37then almost instantly some other person affected the card player.
24:42How can we reconstruct that person?
24:45But is there any evidence, really, Watson,
24:48that anyone did creep up to that window?
24:51The only suggestion comes from Tregennis,
24:54who says that his brother reacted to some movement in the garden.
24:58How was this impression of horror conveyed?
25:09You're Mr. Sherlock Holmes, the detective.
25:12And you're Dr. Leon Stonedale,
25:15the great lion hunter and famous African explorer.
25:18Have you made any progress?
25:20Some.
25:21The country police are utterly at fault.
25:23Tell me what you know about the fate of the Tregennis family.
25:27What is your interest, Dr. Stonedale?
25:30My claim, to be taken into your confidence,
25:33is that during my many residences here,
25:36I have come to know this family of Tregennis very well.
25:39Indeed, upon my Cornish mother's side, I may call them cousins.
25:44So their strange fate has naturally been a great shock to me.
25:49Do you know of anything that could help us in our inquiry?
25:52Nothing at all.
25:54I may tell you that I had got as far as Plymouth
25:57upon my way to Africa when news reached me.
25:59I came straight back here to help in any way I can.
26:08Did you lose your boat?
26:11I will take the next.
26:15That is friendship indeed.
26:17I tell you, they were relatives.
26:20Did your baggage go on with the boat?
26:22Some of it. Most of it remained in the hotel.
26:25Surely this event could not have found its way into the Plymouth Morning Papers.
26:30No, sir. I received a telegram.
26:33From whom?
26:35You are very inquisitive, Mr. Holmes.
26:38It is my business.
26:40The vicar, Mr. Roundy, sent it, recalling me to Tredannick Wallace.
26:45I see.
26:47May I ask if your suspicions point in any particular direction?
26:56Well, I can hardly answer that.
27:01Then I am wasting my time.
27:07Oh, God!
27:17All right.
27:25To work the brain without sufficient material is like racing an engine.
27:28It cracks itself to pieces.
27:32Wait for me at the cottage.
27:34Where are you going?
27:35Cheer up, Watson.
27:37See air, sunshine, patience.
27:41All will be revealed.
27:46TREDANNICK WALLACE
28:17TREDANNICK WALLACE
28:26Mr. Holmes! Mr. Holmes!
28:29Mr. Holmes! We have to have a written, Mr. Holmes!
28:32What's happened?
28:33My poor parish is never released!
28:35He's in the house!
28:37What has happened?
28:40TREDANNICK WALLACE
28:44Dead about three hours, I'd say.
28:46Same symptoms exactly as Brenda Tregennis.
28:48Limbs convulsed, fingers contorted,
28:50as though he died from a very paroxysm of fear.
28:54That it should happen under my roof.
28:57Has his bed been selected?
28:59Oh, yes, most definitely.
29:09TREDANNICK WALLACE
29:40TREDANNICK WALLACE
29:51Ah, who opened this window?
29:53By my housekeeper.
29:55She was the first into the room this morning.
29:57Where is she now?
29:58Oh, she's taken to her bed with a severe headache,
30:01no doubt greatly affected by the shock.
30:05I am most terribly sorry to inconvenience you in this way.
30:08I know you both came to these parts to rest, but...
30:11That isn't easy with Holmes around.
30:14He likes nothing better than to sink his teeth
30:16into a problem of this sort.
30:19But two deaths, Dr. Watson, in the space of two days.
30:22This is the work of the devil.
30:24Make no mistake.
30:26Put your faith in the known and tangible, Mr. Roundhay.
30:29Put your faith in the known and tangible, Mr. Roundhay.
30:54I trust nothing has been touched, sir?
30:56No, everything's exactly as it was.
30:58Right then.
31:00I'll need a statement from you and your housekeeper.
31:03Master, I'm afraid she's still rather ill.
31:06Check upstairs.
31:13Oh, excuse me.
31:16Who are these gentlemen?
31:18Oh, Mr. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson from London.
31:25I've heard of you, Mr. Holmes.
31:28I'd appreciate it if you would lead this inquiry
31:30to the official police.
31:33As you wish.
31:34I do, sir.
31:40Would you direct the inspector's attention
31:42towards the window upstairs and the lamp on the table?
31:44Each is suggestive.
31:47Together, they're almost conclusive.
31:49Watson.
31:52Good afternoon.
31:54Good luck.
31:58Good luck.
32:28What on earth are you doing?
32:30An experiment.
32:32To test a theory.
32:34Isn't that the lamp that was in Tregerris's room?
32:36Yes, I know.
32:38Oh, I see you've bought an identical one.
32:42I purchased it from a delightful little shop in the village.
32:45That's where you've been all afternoon.
32:49There is a single lamp in the house.
32:51It's the only one I've ever seen.
32:53It's the only one I've ever seen.
32:56There is a single point of resemblance
33:00in the reports that we've heard.
33:02Now, this concerns the effect
33:07on the atmosphere of the room
33:10upon those who first entered it.
33:13First, Dr. Richards.
33:15Then, Mrs. Porter.
33:17And Grandhay's housekeeper was taken ill this morning.
33:21In each case,
33:24there is a combustion going on in the room.
33:28In the first case, a fire.
33:31In the second, a lamp.
33:33Now, the fire perhaps was necessary,
33:35but the lamp
33:37was lit when it was already broad daylight.
33:41A comparison of the oil consumed in this
33:44and Tregerris's lamp proves that point.
33:48But why?
33:50Something was burned
33:52producing an atmosphere,
33:55causing a strange toxic effect.
33:58In the first instance, that of the Tregerris family,
34:01a substance was placed in the fire,
34:04and the fire would carry the fumes to some extent up the chimney.
34:08Only Brenda Tregerris, who was closest to the fire, was killed.
34:13Her brothers were exhibiting that lunacy
34:16which is evident in the first effect of the drug.
34:20In the other case, of course,
34:22the result was complete.
34:24So, it's a poison
34:26which works by combustion.
34:29Yes.
34:33Now, the obvious place to look
34:35was the smoke guard of the lamp in Tregerris's room.
34:38There, sure enough, I perceived a number of flaky ashes,
34:42and round the edges, a fringe of brownish powder
34:45which had not yet been consumed.
34:47Half of this I took, the other half I left for the police.
34:52We will see
34:54if we can reproduce the same effect with our own lamp.
34:57What?
34:59Oh, no, Holmes, that's insane!
35:01I cannot force you to stay.
35:04But I mean to have the answer.
35:08Of course I shall stay.
35:11I thought I knew why Watson.
35:14Would you open the door, please?
35:18DOOR OPENS
35:24Now, would you like to just sit there?
35:37Are you ready?
35:47DOOR CLOSES
36:17DOOR OPENS
36:47DOOR OPENS
36:53You must stand clear, Mr. Holmes, or you'll be thrown underfoot.
37:07Holmes!
37:09Holmes!
37:11Holmes!
37:13Holmes!
37:15For God's sake, can you hear me?
37:17John!
37:20Thank God you're all right.
37:22That was a stupid and dangerous thing to do.
37:24We could have been killed.
37:27It was not just a vile experiment, even for myself.
37:30Doubtless so for a friend.
37:33I really am extremely sorry.
37:46DOOR OPENS
37:56All the evidence points to Tregennis being the criminal in the first tragedy and victim in the second.
38:01Yes, had anyone else come in, the family would have certainly risen from the table.
38:05Then Tregennis's own death was suicide.
38:09DOOR KNOCKS
38:11That'll be Dr. Leon Sterndale. Would you let him in, please?
38:14Thank you.
38:23Please, come in, Dr. Sterndale.
38:25It seems you're expected.
38:29I held you on note about an hour ago, but let me state directly,
38:33I don't take kindly to being summoned by anybody.
38:36I thought it better to discuss the matter here.
38:39No risk of eavesdropping.
38:41I fail to see, sir, what you can have to speak about,
38:44which affects me personally in the most intimate fashion.
38:48The killing of Mortimer Tregennis.
38:55I have lived so long among savages and beyond the law,
38:59that I have got into the way of being a law unto myself.
39:04You would do well, Mr. Holmes, to remember that,
39:06for I have no desire to do you an injury.
39:09Nor are you, Dr. Sterndale.
39:13But surely the clearest proof of it is that, knowing what I know,
39:16that I've sent for you and not for the police.
39:19If this is a bluff upon your part, sir,
39:21you have chosen the wrong man for your experiment.
39:23No, no, no, the bluff is upon your side, not upon mine.
39:28Now, I will tell you the facts upon which my conclusions are based.
39:32Of your return from Plymouth,
39:34and allowing much of your property to go on to Africa,
39:36I shall say nothing except that it informed me
39:39that you were one of the factors which had to be taken into account
39:43in the reconstructing of this drama.
39:48This telegram from the hotel confirms what you told me.
39:51Now, when we last met, you asked me whom I suspected,
39:55and I refused to answer you.
39:57Then you departed.
39:59But you didn't go home.
40:01Oh, no, Dr. Sterndale.
40:03You went to the vicarage.
40:06And you waited there for some time.
40:08How do you know that?
40:10I followed you.
40:12I saw no one.
40:14That is what you may expect to see when I follow you.
40:17You spent a restless night.
40:21You made certain plans.
40:24And then, in the early hours, you proceeded to put them into action.
40:28You returned to the vicarage.
40:31Collected some distinctive red gravel from the cliff path.
40:41The house by night was in daylight.
40:44But the inhabitants were not staring.
40:48You threw some red gravel up at the window of the lodge at Tregennes.
40:52You threw some red gravel up at the window of the lodge at Tregennes.
41:12Sterndale!
41:15I must speak with you urgently.
41:18Is how?
41:19The doors are locked.
41:21Where is the key?
41:22It is of the utmost importance!
41:32You entered through the sitting room window.
41:36You had an interview.
41:38A short one.
41:39And you walked up and down the room.
41:44You withdrew as you had come.
41:47You were wearing the same pair of studded walking shoes.
41:51Which at the present moment are upon your feet.
41:55When Mortimer Tregennes was dead.
42:04The ring you gave Brenda Tregennes.
42:09Yes.
42:14Yes.
42:19Brenda Tregennes.
42:22Yes.
42:33For years I loved her.
42:36For years she loved me.
42:40There is the secret of the Cornish seclusion which people so marveled at.
42:47It brought me close to the one person on this earth.
42:52Who was dear to me.
42:56I couldn't marry her.
42:58For I had a wife who left me but whom by the deplorable laws of England I could not divorce.
43:08For years Brenda waited.
43:11For years I waited.
43:12For years I waited.
43:19And this was what we waited for.
43:27Rante knew.
43:29He was in our confidence hence his telegram to me at Plymouth.
43:33What was my baggage?
43:35Or Africa to me?
43:38When I learned that such a fate had befallen my darling.
43:43There you have the missing clue to my actions Mr. Holmes.
44:01I understand that you sir are a doctor of medicine.
44:05Have you ever heard of Radix Pedis Diaboli?
44:09Devil's foot root.
44:13No I can't say that I have.
44:15Well it is no reflection upon your professional knowledge.
44:18For I believe that save for one sample in a laboratory in Buda there is no other specimen in Europe.
44:24It is used as an ordeal poison by the medicine men in certain districts of West Africa.
44:31And it is kept as a secret by them.
44:38You already know so much Mr. Holmes.
44:40It is clearly to my interest that you should know all.
44:46I've already explained the relationship in which I stood to the Tregennis family.
44:52There had been a quarrel about money which estranged this man Mortimer.
44:56A sly, subtle, scheming man.
44:59But for Brenda's sake I was friendly with her brother.
45:03One day a few weeks ago he came to my cottage.
45:06And I showed him some of my African curiosities.
45:10Among other things I exhibited the devil's foot.
45:15Poison you say? Fascinating.
45:19You wouldn't think so if you were to try it.
45:22The smallest amount could be fatal.
45:24In this powder form it reacts instantaneously when burned.
45:28It stimulates those brain centers which control the emotion of fear.
45:32Madness or death is the fate of the unfortunate native
45:38who is subjected to the ordeal by the priest of his tribe.
45:42Can it be detected?
45:44Not by European science.
45:48A few days later my cottage was broken into.
45:52But since nothing seemed to have been taken I gave the matter no heed
45:56until Mr. Rounder's telegram arrived at Plymouth.
45:59This villain Mortimer had thought that I would be at sea before news reached me
46:05and that I should be lost for years in Africa.
46:09But of course I returned immediately.
46:12And I could not hear the details without being assured
46:17that it was my poison which had been used
46:20and that Mortimer Tregennis himself was the murderer.
46:26Was the murderer.
46:29My soul cried out for revenge.
46:33You murdered her.
46:36For money you murdered your own sister.
46:39You can't prove that.
46:41No jury in the land will believe you.
46:43I am my own jury Mr. Tregennis.
46:46Judge, jury and executioner.
46:55No.
47:15I lit the lamp.
47:17I put the powder above it.
47:25And then...
47:36In five minutes he died.
47:41My God, how he died.
47:46But my heart was fled.
47:50For he endured nothing which my innocent darling had not suffered before him.
47:56You can take what steps you like, Mr. Holmes.
48:00But there can be no man living
48:03who fears death less than I do now.
48:15What are your plans?
48:19I have no plans.
48:21What are your plans?
48:25I was intending to bury myself in Central Africa.
48:29My work there is but half done.
48:39Go and do the other half.
48:45I for one am not prepared to stop you.
48:52God bless you.
48:55Both of you.
49:07Not for the first time, Holmes.
49:10You presume to take the law into your own hands.
49:13I have never loved.
49:16But if I did,
49:18and if the woman I had loved had met with such an end,
49:22I might act even as our lawless lion hunter has done.
49:28Wouldn't you?
49:31Yes, I suppose so.
49:34But that's not what I intend to do.
49:36Wouldn't you?
49:39Yes, I suppose so.
49:42But that's not the point.
49:44The point is, why should I do the work of the official police?
49:48And as you're very fond of telling me,
49:51I'm on holiday!
50:06I'm on holiday!
50:36I'm on holiday!