document.
The words were sureIy cut out
from ''the Times'' Ieading articIe.
Do you have yesterday's
evening Times, Watson?
I read yesterday's Times. There is nothing
there about the arrivaI of Sir Henry.
- There couIdn't be anything because
I've just arrived... - Sir Henry.
TeII me, Dr. Mortimer, couId you teII the
skuII of a Negro from that of an Esquimau?
That is my speciaI hobby.
The supra-orbitaI crest, the faciaI
angIe, the maxiIIary curve...
I do have my speciaI hobby too.
There is as much difference to my eyes
between the Ieaded bourgeois type of
a Times articIe and the sIovenIy print
of an evening haIf-penny paper
...as there couId be between your Negro
and your Esquimau. - I understand.
A Times Ieader is
entireIy distinctive.
- So someone cut out this message
with scissors? - NaiI-scissors.
But why is the Iast word
written by hand?
That is eIementary, Watson.
He couId not find it in print.
- What eIse can you say about it?
- There are one or two indications.
The words are not gIued on in
an accurate Iine. That may point
to agitation and hurry upon
the part of the cutter.
Then I am aImost certain that this
Ietter has been written in a hoteI.
Why?
You see, Doctor Mortimer,
a private pen and ink-bottIe...
...are seIdom aIIowed to be
in such an awfuI state.
Sir Henry! Sir Henry.
- Yes? What?
- Now it is your turn.
Now teII us, has anything eIse of interest
happened to you since you have been in London?
Nothing.
Mr.HoImes, I onIy just
arrived in London.
Ah, Dr.Watson, you know,
I have spent nearIy aII
My chiIdhood and youth in
the States and in Canada.
I studied there.
I say, I... I Iost
one of my boots.
You asked if anything had happened.
I Iost my boot.
Sir Henry, you wiII find your boot.
- I just thought it might be curious.
- You must have misIaid it, that's aII.
Don't think that I pity
them, gentIemen.
It is that I onIy bought the pair Iast night
in the Strand, and I have never had them on.
You put out new boots
to be cIeaned?
Not exactIy. They were tan boots.
I don't much Iike this coIour
and I Ieft a note that they...
...be varnished with bIack wax.
So that they be bIack.
But why didn't you buy bIack boots?
Why, Sir Henry?
And what is strange about it?
What are you driving at?
What do you mean,
Dr.Watson?
Watson, it is becoming interesting.
Look to the right.
We'II try to have
a good Iook at this man.
Damn, he noticed us.
- Who was the man?
- I have not an idea.
- Did you see the face?
- I noticed the beard.
Me too. And most IikeIy it
is faIse.
- A spy?
- I think so.
BaskerviIIe has been very cIoseIy
shadowed since he has been in town.
How eIse couId it be known that he
stopped at the NorthumberIand HoteI?
Are they pIaying me for
a sucker in this hoteI?
For a sucker?
For a sucker.
If that chap can't find my missing
boot there wiII be troubIe!
- Good afternoon, gentIemen. StiII Iooking
for your boot? - Good afternoon, HoImes.
I can take a joke with the best,
but they've got a bit over the mark.
Last night they took one of my new ones,
and to-day they have sneaked one of the oId.
Nowhere in the worId
in no other hoteI...
...has anything so mad
and queer happened to me!
- Good morning, Watson.
- Good morning.
Dr. Mortimer, did you notice,
that you were foIIowed this...
...morning from my house?
- FoIIowed! By whom?
That, unfortunateIy, is what
I cannot teII you.
Try to remember if you have among your
neighbours or acquaintances in the viIIage...
...any man with a beard?
Why, yes. Barrymore, Sir CharIes's
butIer, is a man with...
...a fuII beard.
- And where is Barrymore now?
He is in BaskerviIIe HaII.
The house is in his charge.
That can be easiIy checked.
We shaII do the foIIowing.
We shaII send two wires. One
to Barrymore to BaskerviIIe HaII.
'Is aII ready for Sir Henry?' The second
wiII be sent to the postmaster In Devonshire
with instructions to be deIivered
personaIIy to Barrymore.