The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (1976)

1. It was October 24 in the year 1891,

2. that I heard for the first time in four months

3. from my friend Sherlock Holmes.

4. On this particular day, a telegram from his landlady, Miss Hudson,

5. had been delivered to my surgery,

6. imploring me to return to my former rooms without delay.

7. Oh, Dr. Watson, thank heavens you've come!

8. I'm at my wits' end!

9. Why? What has happened?

10. Since you left us, these last few months,

11. he's been very strange.

12. He's barricaded himself up there,

13. he won't take his food,

14. he keeps the oddest of hours.

15. I think he's taking...

16. Mrs. Hudson! I know there's someone down there with you!

17. I heard the cab stop before the door.

18. - He keeps babbling on about some... - Mrs. Hudson!

19. If that gentleman answer to the name Moriarty,

20. you may show him up and I will deal with him!

21. - I better go to him. - Oh, be careful!

22. Moriarty...

23. was a name I'd only known him to mutter

24. when in the thrall of one of his cocaine injections.

25. - Is that you, Moriarty? - It is I, Watson.

26. Watson?

27. You see it is I.

28. - Holmes, let me enter. - Not so fast.

29. You may be Moriarty in disguise.

30. - Prove you are Watson. - How on Earth am I to do that?

31. Tell me where I keep my tobacco.

32. Tobacco?

33. Well, as a rule, it's in the toe of your Persian slipper.

34. Holmes!

35. Very well.

36. I'm satisfied.

37. I assure you, my dear fellow, my plight is quite genuine.

38. What is it?

39. Have you ever heard of Professor Moriarty?

40. You have! You must have! I can see it in your face!

41. Holmes, I assure you...

42. Very well... very well.

43. But you see how it adds to the genius of the thing!

44. That man pervades London, the western world, even,

45. and no one has ever heard of him!

46. That man is my nemesis, Watson.

47. My evil genius.

48. Tea?

49. Thank you, yes.

50. Sit down, my dear fellow, sit down.

51. How have you been otherwise, Holmes?

52. Never better.

53. It's almost spring, have you noticed?

54. With all this rain and fog, you'd never think it.

55. For years past, Watson, I've been continually conscious

56. of some power behind the malefactor.

57. Some deep, organizing power which guides and inspires

58. crimes of the most varying sort... Here you are.

59. Thank you very much.

60. Yes, it is rather wet weather.

61. I was saying it yesterday to Mary...

62. He's the Napoleon of crime, Watson!

63. He's the organizer of half that is evil

64. and nearly all that's undetected in this great city,

65. in the annual of contemporary crime.

66. You see, he's a genius.

67. He's a philosopher.

68. An abstract thinker.

69. He sits, motionless like a spider in the center of his web.

70. But that web has a thousand radiations.

71. And he knows well each and every quiver of them.

72. Oh, his agent may be caught, but he...

73. He is never so much as suspected!

74. Until now, that is.

75. Until I...

76. his archenemy...

77. managed to deduce his existence

78. and penetrate his perimeters.

79. And now, his minions, having discovered my success,

80. are on my track.

81. On my... on my track... they are on my track!

82. But, Holmes,

83. What do you propose to do?

84. Do?

85. Well, for the moment I think I shall nap.

86. Nap?

87. It would cast an unworthy shadow on a great man's memory,

88. for me to detail what effects this horrible drug

89. had produced upon his faculties.

90. I returned home grappling with Holmes' fantasies concerning Moriarty

91. when I discovered a gentleman answering to that name

92. in my consulting room.

93. Oh! You startled me.

94. Dr. Watson, is it?

95. Professor Moriarty.

96. To what do I owe the honor of this late visit?

97. Oh, I apologize for the hour, but I wish to be discreet.

98. My business is urgent.

99. - Here... - Thank you.

100. I... I come to you sir,

101. because I know from your published accounts

102. that you are Mr. Sherlock Holmes' most intimate acquaintance.

103. I enjoy that distinction, yes.

104. Then perhaps you could help me to avert a scandal.

105. Doctor...

106. Your friend is...

107. well...

108. persecuting me is the only way I can put it.

109. Persecuting you?

110. I don't know how else to say it.

111. He follows me about London,

112. dogs my steps,

113. waits for me outside the Roylot School.

114. I... I'm a teacher in mathematics.

115. And— Oh, yes! And he... he sends me these.

116. "Moriarty, your days are numbered".

117. That sort of thing.

118. Doctor, Mr. Holmes is convinced that I am some sort of...

119. criminal mastermind of the most depraved order.

120. Oh, I know he is a great and a good man.

121. All England resounds with his praise.

122. But in my case, he fosters a ghastly illusion,

123. and I've come to you as his friend,

124. rather than turning the matter over to my solicitor.

125. No, no, no, that'll not be necessary.

126. My friend is not in health, that is all.

127. You see, had you known him

128. when he was in full possession of his faculties...

129. Oh, but I did.

130. - But how? - I knew both the boys,

131. Sherlock and his brother Mycroft. I was their tutor

132. at Squire Holmes' state in Sussex.

133. Brilliant lads they were!

134. Oh, the Holmes brothers.

135. I should've liked to go on, but...

136. then came... the tragedy.

137. Tragedy?

138. What tragedy?

139. You mean you...

140. you don't know?

141. I assure you Holmes has never spoken of his family or his early life.

142. I've met his brother, of course.

143. He lives at his club in Pall Mall.

144. Oh well, if Master Sherlock hasn't told you,

145. then I fail to be— see that I should be the one to divulge...

146. - Professor... - Oh, no, no, no!

147. I cannot, will not be indiscreet in this matter.

148. I only came to you because...

149. I needed so badly your help to end this most embarrassing thing.

150. Good evening, Doctor.

151. My dear John, what is to be done?

152. Only one thing, Mary...

153. Thank you, Jenny.

154. Holmes, must be weaned of his cocaine addiction.

155. There is only one man in Europe who is in a position to help us.

156. A doctor in Vienna, he wrote this article in The Lancet.

157. I've cabled him regarding Holmes. He's replied to my cable,

158. and he agrees to help,

159. provided we can get him to Vienna.

160. Vienna?

161. He will never go there.

162. You know he does not like to leave London.

163. He says it generates an unhealthy excitement in the criminal classes

164. - when they learn he's abroad. - True.

165. But, we shall provide him with an incentive he can't resist.

166. A false trail convincing him that Moriarty has fled to the continent.

167. I know how Holmes thinks, you see.

168. I've sorted it all out.

169. Of course you have.

170. Would you please tell Mr. Holmes to be silent?

171. I did not know Mycroft Holmes well.

172. I remember being astonished when, after seven years,

173. Holmes informed me of his existence.

174. Beyond the fact that both brothers were brilliant, however,

175. the similarity ended.

176. Mycroft Holmes preferred to live out an eccentric bachelorhood

177. circumscribed by the walls of his club,

178. beyond whose confines he was rarely known to venture.

179. Dr. Watson, is it?

180. Indeed I am, sir.

181. I have not seen you since that unhappy affair

182. of the Greek interpreter.

183. Mr. Holmes.

184. Tell me, what urgent business have you that concerns my brother?

185. What's happened to him?

186. How do you know anything has happened to him?

187. I've not seen you these three years,

188. and then it was in the company of Sherlock,

189. whose doings I know you chronicle.

190. Suddenly you pay me a visit at a time when most married men

191. are at home with their wives...

192. and you arrive without your alter ego,

193. and your medical bag,

194. although I know from your own statements in print

195. that you've resumed your practice.

196. Your face is drawn and haggard, proclaiming a problem of some sort.

197. And it is not too long a shot to infer

198. that my brother is the cause of your distress.

199. Tell me.

200. In as few words as possible,

201. I told him of his brother's condition,

202. and the promising article in The Lancet.

203. When I mentioned the visitor to my consulting room,

204. he flushed uncomfortably.

205. Professor Moriarty?

206. He appears to know both of you from the time...

207. Quite!

208. And you believe this Viennese doctor can help him?

209. The medical profession, you see, is willfully ignorant

210. of the problems of addiction.

211. He appears to have made a study of it,

212. in addition to his other work, hysteria in children.

213. Peculiar range of interest, isn't it?

214. He sounds Jewish.

215. Mr. Holmes...

216. time is of the essence!

217. At the rate your brother is using cocaine

218. he'll be dead within the year.

219. And I have no idea how on earth we could get him to the continent.

220. - No idea. - That, you may leave to me.

221. And Professor Moriarty as well.

222. - Do you have his address? - Indeed, yes.

223. Ah, Jenkins, we shall need a cab.

224. Yes, sir.

225. This'll do, cabby. Stop here, will you?

226. - Just wait a minute, will you? - Right, sir.

227. This is more than a street from the Professor's house.

228. If what you say is true, however...

229. it's as well to be discreet.

230. You see?

231. He is keeping watch.

232. - Now what? - I don't know.

233. Wait a minute!

234. Now, quickly.

235. - May we come in? - Yes.

236. Pray, do not adjust the gas, Professor.

237. My brother may return at any moment.

238. Do not do to let him see any alterations in your rooms.

239. Oh, very well.

240. What do you want?

241. This is the most ungodly hour to come calling.

242. I want you to take a brief leave of absence

243. from the Roylot school.

244. No more than three days.

245. And journey to the address on that piece of paper.

246. Three days?

247. In the memory of our past association.

248. But this is far...

249. We know where it is, sir, I give you my word.

250. And when I get there,

251. what do you wish me to do?

252. I wish you to disappear completely.

253. Come back and then resume your post.

254. - Nothing more. - Resume my post...

255. if it's still there.

256. Really, this is asking really altogether too much.

257. I hardly think so.

258. I have no great desire to rake up the past, Professor.

259. But I'm perfectly capable of it.

260. Well, of course, if you put it like that, I have very little choice.

261. When must I leave?

262. Now.

263. John, dear, this telegram just arrived for you.

264. It has begun.

265. Yes.

266. I must bustle.

267. Can your practice spare you for a few days?

268. The game is afoot, and your assistance will prove invaluable.

269. Bring Toby to 114, Munrow Road, Hammersmith.

270. Take precautions. Holmes.

271. What does he mean, "take precautions"?

272. But surely that won't be necessary.

273. I've always followed his instructions to the letter.

274. Ask Collingwood to take my rounds for me, will you?

275. When will you return?

276. I can't say. Would you, please?

277. I'm off to fetch Toby now.

278. Any further questions?

279. Just one. Who is Toby?

280. Toby is a bloodhound.

281. Readers may recall Toby's remarkable powers,

282. from my account of them in The Sign of the Four,

283. in which his superior olfactory sense

284. was materially responsible for the capture of Jonathan Small

285. and his horrible companion.

286. More recently,

287. Holmes had employed Toby to trace an orangutan

288. in the sewers of Marseille.

289. It was a case which, though I have omitted to set down,

290. was not without features of interest.

291. Holmes!

292. Holmes!

293. Where are you, Holmes?

294. No need to track, Watson. I'm right here.

295. - Hello, Toby. - Oh, good God!

296. Forgive me, my dear fellow.

297. But you know I cannot resist a touch of the dramatic.

298. And the setting was so perfect,

299. that I succumbed to temptation.

300. This way, Watson.

301. - The Professor has bolted. - Moriarty?

302. Non other. This is his house on the corner.

303. I've stayed my nights keeping watch on it.

304. But last night I made a fatal error...

305. and relaxed my vigil long enough to pay a visit

306. to the pub at the end of the road.

307. Mind the vanilla extract!

308. You mustn't worry. I've not lost my wits,

309. but you might have stepped in it.

310. Now, come forward now, carefully, now, now!

311. Smell.

312. It is vanilla extract.

313. Much better than creosote for following.

314. Go on, Toby, sniff it, boy, sniff it.

315. I poured this here when I so improvidently abandoned

316. my post last night.

317. And it worked better than I could have hoped, you see?

318. Here is his foot, that stepped into it as he got into the carriage,

319. and this narrow slit

320. is the carriage wheel itself.

321. Now, Toby, follow the wheel.

322. Watson, get the bags! We're off!

323. Where do you expect this trail to lead?

324. I assure you I haven't the faintest idea.

325. I only know that at some point Toby will exhibit some confusion.

326. That will be when the wheel of the cab we are following

327. and the Professor's foot go their separate ways.

328. Don't smoke my dear fellow.

329. The animal has enough to content with as it is.

330. Sorry.

331. Where are we?

332. Victoria, I think. Yes.

333. Come on. Come on Toby!

334. Like Gloucester at the end of his cliff, eh, Watson?

335. Yes, yes.

336. What now?

337. And now, if you would be so kind, find out what time the next...

338. Continental Boat Express...

339. leaves for Europe.

340. I, in the meantime, will remove what remains of this disguise.

341. I cannot visit the continent looking like a dustman.

342. - And the hound? - Oh, we'll take him with us.

343. I don't think we've exhausted his usefulness quite yet.

344. Porter!

345. Straight away!

346. I fear the fog has delayed us.

347. Yes, true, true, but it has also delayed him.

348. Now, where have they put my Gladstone?

349. There it is.

350. Here you are.

351. Thank you, sir.

352. Would you excuse me, my clear fellow? I'll be back in a moment.

353. There was no point in remonstrating about Holmes' use of cocaine.

354. In fact, until we reached Austria,

355. I was ironically dependent upon it.

356. Every time the train stopped,

357. we provided Toby with the remainder of the vanilla extract from a bottle,

358. and proceeded to promenade with him around the stations,

359. always without success.

360. It was at the station of Linz that an incident occurred

361. which, though seemingly unimportant at the time,

362. was not without significance later.

363. Stop!

364. Saved from a provenation, Watson.

365. Conductor, whose private coach belongs to that private carpet?

366. They all belong to the Amin Pasha, gentlemen.

367. - The train is leaving. - And who might that be?

368. Be? Why, he is the Premier of the entire Ottoman Empire.

369. And he's the man who broke the bank at Monte Carlo.

370. I hope Toby hasn't made some ghastly mistake.

371. Or else this would be the wildest goose chase in history.

372. I have every faith in that nose.

373. In all my working years as a detective,

374. I've never known anything like it.

375. Now, Watson,

376. wherever our path leads will take us to Vienna.

377. I didn't realize Vienna was so lovely.

378. Charming. It would appear the Professor engaged a cab.

379. - Oddly surprising - But unfortunate.

380. How can we proceed, Holmes?

381. I did not lose my faith entirely in the nose of our singular friend.

382. I just merely refuse to get him out until I must.

383. Now come on, Toby, earn yourself a Viennese schnitzel.

384. Surely he can't find him.

385. Well, you may be entirely correct, Watson,

386. but don't forget that cabs that cater to the railway trade

387. invariably return to the terminal

388. after they've dispensed with their fare.

389. At least that tends to be the rule in London.

390. Let us find out if the same rule applies in the continent.

391. Well, To by?

392. No, it's hopeless. He's lost the scent.

393. Very well, Watson, let's go to a hotel.

394. Cab!

395. YES, Toby?

396. I think he's onto something.

397. He's found it. He's found it!

398. Invaluable creature.

399. Sometime in the last twelve hours,

400. you picked up a fare here:

401. small man of advancing years, very pale.

402. Ja.

403. Very well, take us to his destination.

404. If I can remember where.

405. Let me refresh your memory.

406. Now it comes to me.

407. How fortunate. Watson, the luggage.

408. Toby, you're a genius.

409. We are the last thing he expects. What a confrontation, eh?

410. Why do you suppose Moriarty's chosen to visit Vienna of all places?

411. I have no idea, I assure you.

412. I say, Watson, you're very pale. What's the matter? Are you ill?

413. No, no. I don't think so.

414. - This is where you brought him? - Ja, to this house.

415. Very well.

416. Well, Watson?

417. Good boy, Toby.

418. Good boy.

419. Holmes, there's something I think you should know.

420. Not now, Watson. We mustn't disturb his concentration.

421. But, Holmes.

422. We are here to see Professor Moriarty.

423. - Herr Professor who? - This is Sherlock Holmes.

424. Herr Holmes. Come in.

425. I will take your coat.

426. You will follow me, please.

427. This way.

428. You come.

429. - We appear to be expected. - Yes.

430. You will wait in here, please, and I will call Herr Doctor.

431. I will take der hund,

432. and give to him the something to eat, ja?

433. Thank you, I think not.

434. Holmes, surely no harm will come to Toby.

435. The Professor would never dare anything so precipitated.

436. You think not? Perhaps not.

437. Very well.

438. But no bones, mind, you understand?

439. - No bones. - No bones, ja, no bones.

440. Come with me, hund.

441. Come, come.

442. Well, Watson, what do you make of it?

443. I don't know what to make of it. Do you?

444. Good morning, Herr Holmes.

445. And you too, Dr. Watson.

446. I am happy to welcome you gentlemen to my house.

447. You may remove that ludicrous beard,

448. and kindly refrain from employing

449. that ridiculous comic operetta accent.

450. I warn you, you best confess

451. or it will go bad for you, Professor Moriarty.

452. My name is Sigmund Freud.

453. You are not Moriarty.

454. But Moriarty was here.

455. - Where is he now? - He's in a hotel I believe.

456. I see.

457. You knew of this deception from the first, Watson.

458. You are the last person I would have suspected

459. capable of betraying me to my enemies.

460. You do your friend an injustice, Herr Holmes.

461. He and your brother paid Professor Moriarty

462. to journey here,

463. in the hope that you would follow him to my door.

464. - And why did they do that? - Because they were sure,

465. it was the only way that they could induce you to see me.

466. And why were they so eager for that particular event?

467. What reason occurs to you?

468. Who am I, that your friends should wish us to meet?

469. Beyond the fact that you are a brilliant Jewish physician,

470. who was born in Hungary and studied for a while in Paris,

471. and that certain radical theories of yours

472. have alienated the respectable medical community,

473. so that you have severed your connections with various hospitals

474. and branches of the medical fraternity.

475. Beyond this, I can deduce little.

476. You are married, with a child of 5.

477. You enjoy Shakespeare and possess a sense of honor.

478. This is wonderful.

479. Commonplace.

480. I'm still awaiting an explanation.

481. But first you must tell me how you guessed the details of my life

482. with such uncanny accuracy.

483. I never guess. It is an appalling habit,

484. destructive to the logical faculty.

485. A private study

486. is an ideal place for observing facets of a man's character.

487. That the study belongs to you exclusively

488. is evident from the dust.

489. Not even the maid is permitted here,

490. or she would scarcely have ventured to let matters come to this pass.

491. Go on.

492. Very well.

493. Now, when a man collects books on a subject,

494. they're usually grouped together,

495. but notice, your King James Bible, your Book of Mormon,

496. and Koran are separate—

497. across the room, in fact, from your Hebrew Bible and Talmud,

498. which sit on your desk.

499. Now, these books have a special importance for you,

500. not connected with the general study of religion, obviously.

501. The nine-branch candelabra on top of your desk

502. confirms my suspicions that you are of the Jewish faith.

503. It is called a menorah, is it not?

504. - Ja. - That you studied medicine in Paris

505. is to be inferred from the great number

506. of medical texts in that language.

507. Where else would a German use French textbooks but in France?

508. And, who but a brilliant German

509. could understand the complexities of medicine in a foreign tongue.

510. That you're fond of Shakespeare is to be deduced

511. from this book which is lying face downwards.

512. The fact that you have not adjusted the volumes suggests to my mind

513. that you no doubt intend to referring to it again in the near future.

514. Not my favorite play.

515. The absence of dust on the cover would confirm this hypothesis.

516. That you're a physician is evident

517. when I observe you maintain a consulting room.

518. Your separation from various societies

519. is indicated by these blank spaces surrounding your diploma,

520. clearly used at one time to display additional certificates.

521. Now, what can it be that forces a man

522. to remove these testimonials to his success?

523. Why, only that he has ceased to affiliate himself

524. with these various societies, hospitals, and so forth.

525. And why do this, having once troubled to join them all?

526. It is possible that he became disenchanted with one or two of them,

527. but not likely that his disillusionment extended to all.

528. Rather, I postulate it is they who became disenchanted with you, Doctor,

529. and asked you to resign from all of them.

530. Why? I have no idea.

531. But some position you have taken, evidently a medical one,

532. has discredited you in their eyes.

533. I take the liberty of inferring a...

534. theory of some sort, too radical or shocking

535. to gain ready acceptance in current medical thinking.

536. Your wedding ring tells me of your marriage.

537. Your balkanized accent hints Hungary or Moravia.

538. The toy soldier on the floor here ought, I think,

539. to belong to a small boy of 5.

540. Have I omitted anything of importance?

541. My sense of honor.

542. Well, it is implied

543. by the fact that you have removed the plaques

544. from the societies to which you no longer belong.

545. In the privacy of your study, only you would know the difference.

546. And now I think it is to you to do some explaining.

547. In candor, I ask you again why I have been brought here.

548. - You cannot guess? - I never guess.

549. I cannot think.

550. Then it is you and not I who is being less than candid, Herr Holmes.

551. For you are suffering from an abominable addiction.

552. And you choose to wrong your brother

553. and your friend, who have combined to help you throw off its yoke.

554. You disappoint me, sir.

555. Can you be the man I've come to admire not merely for his brain

556. but for his passion for justice?

557. In your heart of hearts, surely you must acknowledge your illness.

558. And your hypocrisy in condemning your staunch friends.

559. I have been guilty of these things...

560. I make no excuse.

561. But as for help, you must put it from your minds, all of you...

562. I have summoned all my will to the task, and it's no use.

563. My feet are on the inexorable path to destruction.

564. A man may sometimes retrace his steps.

565. Not from the fiendish coils of drug addiction. No man can do it.

566. I have.

567. I've taken cocaine, and I'm free from its power.

568. It is now my intention to help others.

569. If you will allow me, I will help you.

570. You cannot do this.

571. I can.

572. It will take time, and it will not be pleasant.

573. For the duration, I've arranged for both of you to stay here as guests.

574. Would that be agreeable to you?

575. It's no use, even now I'm overcome by this hideous compulsion.

576. I can reduce this compulsion for a while.

577. Do you know anything of the practice of hypnotism?

578. You propose to make me bark like a dog and crawl about the floor?

579. Through hypnosis, I will banish your craving when it exerts itself.

580. In this way, we shall artificially reduce your addiction

581. until the chemistry of your body does it naturally.

582. Now, I want you to keep your eyes fastened upon this as it swings.

583. I want you to think of nothing else.

584. Nothing else.

585. Quickly, we must search his possessions.

586. Doctor, I think I have it.

587. Don't be certain. This is not an ordinary patient.

588. - It's water. - Can it be?

589. Then, where?

590. Too heavy, too heavy.

591. Oh, Doctor.

592. When and where did Herr Holmes begin using cocaine?

593. And do you have any idea why?

594. For as long as I've known him, he's used it.

595. I believe he begun by taking it between cases to relieve the ennui.

596. - A seven percent solution. - To relieve the ennui, the boredom?

597. How did you become interested in the drug?

598. It's a sideline of mine, not directly connected with my researches.

599. A friend of mine died last year

600. as the result of its horrible properties. I was partly responsible.

601. I wrote a paper on it afterwards.

602. The piece I chanced upon in The Lancet.

603. Ja.

604. You are mainly involved in research, then?

605. I was trained as a neuropathologist,

606. with a background in localized diagnosis,

607. but there is no formal designation for what I am now.

608. I began by mapping the nervous system,

609. but I became interested in charting the mind itself.

610. I'm interested in an area of the brain I call the unconscious.

611. The unconscious?

612. You are an alienist.

613. I'm interested in hysterical cases,

614. and I use hypnosis to dig into their unconscious mind

615. where I believe the hysterical symptoms originate.

616. For example...

617. Herr Holmes' dependency on cocaine strikes me as a symptom.

618. Not a hysterical one, I grant you, but nonetheless a symptom.

619. An effect, rather than a cause.

620. What makes you say that?

621. Well, it's elementary my clear fellow.

622. Knowing something, as I do, about drugs and drug addiction,

623. I do not believe that a man succumbs to their negative appeal

624. out of mere boredom.

625. A snake!

626. A snake!

627. For pity's sake! Do you see it, Watson?

628. - What's that noise? - Don't worry, dear.

629. Doctor, may I present my wife?

630. A pleasure, madam.

631. - Freda. - Yes, madam.

632. Watson! Do you see it? You see it, Watson?

633. It's a swamp adder.

634. The deadliest snake in India.

635. It's there! Get away!

636. There's a snake here.

637. There's a snake in the grass.

638. I'm so sorry.

639. - I'm so sorry. - Yes...

640. You had a dream?

641. A dream...

642. Yes...

643. Strange...

644. I don't often remember them.

645. But this one you do?

646. Yes.

647. - And it was about a snake? - Yes.

648. A snake... that's right.

649. I dreamt about a case I once had attempted to solve.

650. A rather diabolic plot,

651. to murder a young lady.

652. You did?

653. Watson and I...

654. stood vigilant by her bedside.

655. The snake came down a bell rope by her bed,

656. through a false vent in the ceiling.

657. Every night, the murderer would... let it come down...

658. until, one night...

659. she most inevitably succumbed to it.

660. You and Dr. Watson, you... scorched the snake?

661. Yes.

662. But in my dream,

663. a very curious thing...

664. The viper...

665. turned into Professor Moriarty.

666. It's odd, don't you think?

667. Strange, yes.

668. Professor Moriarty?

669. Do you place much stock in dreams, Doctor?

670. I don't know what dreams tell.

671. Lately I have been toying with the idea that...

672. You see it?

673. Do you see it?

674. Watson! Watson!

675. - Watson, let me go! - Holmes!

676. The snake! You don't understand!

677. You insufferable cripple!

678. Sherlock Holmes' attempt to escape the coils of the cocaine,

679. in which he was so deeply enmeshed,

680. was perhaps the most harrowing and heroic effort

681. I have ever witnessed.

682. In both my professional and personal experience,

683. in both military and civilian life,

684. I can recall nothing...

685. to equal the sheer agony of it.

686. How long will he have to suffer?

687. It all depends to what extent he has saturated his system with the drug.

688. - Could it be very dangerous, this process? - Yes.

689. - How dangerous? - He can die.

690. No, no, no! Herr Holmes, please, go back to bed!

691. Go back to bed.

692. Please, you need rest.

693. Good morning.

694. A little breakfast, Herr Holmes?

695. Your fever is broken, and your pulse is normal today, Herr Holmes.

696. How do you feel?

697. Not well.

698. Yes, you do. You are much improved.

699. In fact, today we are going to force some food into you.

700. Do you remember Professor Moriarty?

701. My evil genius.

702. Yes. What of him?

703. I know what you want me to say, Doctor.

704. Very well, I shall oblige you.

705. The only time...

706. Professor Moriarty truly occupied the role of my nemesis...

707. was when it took him...

708. three weeks to make clear to me the mysteries of elementary calculus.

709. I'm not so much interested in hearing you say it,

710. as in your understanding it to be true.

711. I understand it.

712. Good.

713. Watson, is that you?

714. Come closer.

715. I don't remember very much of the...

716. past few hours.

717. Or was it days?

718. But I seem to recall...

719. shouting at you...

720. terrible things.

721. Did I do that, or did I just imagine it?

722. You just imagined it, my dear fellow.

723. Because... if I did do that...

724. I want you to know...

725. that I did not mean it.

726. You hear me?

727. I did not mean it.

728. Holmes...

729. Come, Doctor, I think he is going to sleep.

730. He'll be all right, won't he?

731. Perhaps.

732. He will need hypnosis periodically, still.

733. What troubles you? We are not being successful?

734. Perhaps.

735. There is an old maxim that warns

736. of the cure being worse than the disease.

737. Come Doctor, we owe ourselves an hour or two of fresh air.

738. In order to effect what I would describe as a total cure,

739. it is necessary to trace the origin of his compulsion.

740. The reason for his use of cocaine.

741. If we cannot exorcise the reason,

742. then he will continue susceptible.

743. How does one do that?

744. By, using the same method that your friend uses

745. when he solves a mystery...

746. Well!

747. Jews in Maunberg.

748. This place has gone downhill since I was here last.

749. You haven't been here in quite some time, sir, that much is evident.

750. In the last five years, the Jewish membership of Maunberg

751. has gone up fifty percent.

752. This is the same Dr. Freud...

753. Dr. Freud?

754. Not the same Dr. Freud who was asked to leave

755. the staff of the Algemain Krankenhaus

756. because of his charming assertion that young men sleep with their mothers.

757. By the way, Doctor, did you sleep with your mother?

758. Cheers!

759. If you would step out, mein herr,

760. my seconds will call upon you at your convenience.

761. Your quarrel is with me, sir. He merely called the challenge.

762. I've challenged him for myself.

763. Please, Doctor, let me fight my own battles.

764. Well?

765. As you wish, Herr Doctor.

766. - Do you know who I am? - I do not know who you are,

767. but I know what you are.

768. And that is quite sufficient.

769. I am the Baron Von Leinsdorf.

770. And I am the injured party.

771. The choice of weapons is mine...

772. and the time is now.

773. I feel dreadful for getting you into this.

774. - Can you beat him? - I doubt it.

775. But at least we have avoided dueling.

776. Men must find less violent methods of resolving their differences.

777. - But if you loose... - My dear fellow, it's only a game.

778. Would you wager on the outcome of this match, Herr Doctor?

779. I prefer not to cloud the issue.

780. Spin for sides, please, gentlemen.

781. Rough.

782. One set to the best of five games.

783. 15-love.

784. 30-love.

785. Freud gave up point after point.

786. Though, as the play continued, his game improved.

787. Nein!

788. The Baron leads two games to one.

789. Lovely.

790. You did rather better that last game.

791. I hope to do better still. Have you seen his backhand?

792. - It's terrible. - Yes.

793. Love-15.

794. His backhand, his backhand.

795. 15-15.

796. 30-15.

797. Very good.

798. 40-15.

799. In a contest as surprising as any I had ever witnessed,

800. intellect prevailed over brute strength.

801. Game, set and match to Dr. Freud.

802. Very well done. Congratulations.

803. Is honor satisfied?

804. Perhaps you would care for some dessert, Herr Holmes?

805. Some strudel?

806. Oh, thank you, no.

807. I have something for you, Herr Holmes.

808. It's not a Stradivarius.

809. It belonged to an uncle of mine,

810. but I thought you might like to use it while you are here.

811. Thank you for this.

812. Eat some strudel, Herr Holmes.

813. Siggy, a special envoy from the hospital is here.

814. Excuse me, gentlemen.

815. He says it's an emergency.

816. Holmes, really, you must take some nourishment.

817. Attempted suicide.

818. My coat, please.

819. I'm all right for the moment.

820. That remains to be seen.

821. Your craving could reassert itself at any moment.

822. I think you'd rather come with me.

823. It may prove instructive.

824. Come on, Holmes. I'll get your hat and coat.

825. She's lucky to be alive, if you want my opinion, Dr. Freud.

826. She threw herself off the Olgarten Bridge last night

827. and into the canal before anyone could prevent her.

828. We put her under sedation when she was brought in.

829. It should be wearing off now.

830. There she is.

831. - But isn't that... - Precisely.

832. Lola Deveraux, whose head of red hair

833. was, till recently, the toast of four continents.

834. That lady possessed a remarkable mezzo soprano,

835. and displayed a fondness for lilies, did she not?

836. A passion. She was surrounded by them.

837. So much so that she called herself the Lady of the Lilies.

838. She was a patient of mine some months ago.

839. Remarkable woman.

840. But see, Herr Holmes, where the ravages of cocaine lead.

841. I thought I had cured her.

842. You did.

843. I cured her?

844. She's had a terrible relapse and tried to destroy herself.

845. I think I've never seen anything so fiendish.

846. Fiendish? What do you mean?

847. She has not relapsed voluntarily.

848. See gentlemen, these bruise marks on the lady's wrists and ankles,

849. She's been bound hand and foot, and force-fed with drugs.

850. What?

851. Only her own courage and determination

852. enabled her to escape confinement.

853. Note these grind cuts on her feet.

854. She used them, without shoes,

855. to break a window in her prison,

856. and then used the shards of broken glass

857. to free herself from her bounds.

858. Second story window.

859. How did you deduce that, Holmes?

860. Look at these.

861. She destroyed them sliding down to the ground, probably...

862. holding onto a drain pipe.

863. But why should she then suicide, after struggling to free herself?

864. Elementary, my dear Freud.

865. Once free, her addiction began to reassert itself.

866. To satisfy it meant returning to captivity.

867. There was only one other method

868. of dealing with her dependence on the drug.

869. We mustn't take what he says too seriously.

870. - After all, he's still going... - I know what you're thinking, Doctor.

871. I doubt the evidence would sustain another interpretation.

872. He's not that sick.

873. But if his conclusions are accurate...

874. It's all right, FrÃoulein Devereux, you're quite safe now.

875. Oh, Dr. Freud.

876. Safe...

877. Oh, my God.

878. FrÃoulein Devereux.

879. FrÃoulein Devereux, this is Sherlock Holmes.

880. Ah, yes...

881. The great English detective.

882. How do you do?

883. FrÃoulein Devereux...

884. can you recall anything of your abduction?

885. I was at the station...

886. On my way to Monte Carlo.

887. A man arrived with message for me.

888. A message from whom?

889. Please feel free to speak, Miss Deveraux...

890. being an addict myself, I have every sympathy for your condition.

891. From my friend...

892. the Baron Von Leinsdorf.

893. He was planning to join me...

894. in Monte Carlo...

895. but it wasn't from him.

896. It was simply a ruse to draw me out of the station.

897. Once outside...

898. I was bundled into a landau with the...

899. blinds drawn.

900. I was gagged, tied, blindfolded...

901. Where I was ta ken, or by whom...

902. I cannot say.

903. Or Why?

904. No idea why.

905. One last question...

906. Can you describe your abductor...

907. the man who approached you in the station?

908. It was a little man.

909. Dark haired...

910. he wore a bowler.

911. - It was days ago. - I know, I know.

912. But... try.

913. His skin was very bad...

914. pockmarked.

915. And his teeth were bad too.

916. He walked with little nervous...

917. - jumps. - How was he dressed?

918. Like a tradesman?

919. I really didn't notice.

920. I haven't seen him since.

921. Please...

922. Gentlemen, would you leave us alone for a few minutes, please?

923. Of course.

924. Madam,

925. your strength is an example to us all.

926. Now...

927. we have to begin all over again, Doctor?

928. Ja.

929. Are you afraid?

930. Afraid?

931. A woman as beautiful as I,

932. has seen everything fearful by age seventeen.

933. I'm not afraid, only tired.

934. Very tired...

935. Herr Holmes, you will be serving me, Miss Deveraux,

936. and yourself if you work along with me in this matter.

937. - It's impossible. - Why?

938. - Work is the very thing you need. - Dr. Watson is right.

939. At this point, work will greatly facilitate your cure.

940. That may well be, but have you considered

941. the effect my condition might have on Miss Deveraux's case.

942. No, gentlemen. Having owned my addiction,

943. I must also own the time in need of constant supervision.

944. Your hypnotic therapy may be required at any time, Doctor.

945. In fact I'm not so sure that... I don't need it now.

946. No, you best hand this matter over to the Viennese police.

947. A man who believes his mathematics tutor to be the...

948. - serpent from Eden... - What?

949. Serpent from Eden?

950. Is not the person to grapple with the intricacies

951. of Miss Deveraux's abduction.

952. But, Holmes, you said yourself the lady's courage was an example.

953. That I cannot follow, I fear.

954. - Doctor... - Herr Holmes,

955. the Vienna police are no better than Scotland Yard.

956. Now, assume you were concerning yourself with this case...

957. what would be your next move?

958. Will you please take me home and hypnotize me.

959. I tell you I'm having an attack.

960. I will hypnotize you right here... if you answer my question.

961. You are blackmailing me into helping your patient?

962. You are both my patients, and I will decide what is best for both of you.

963. Now kindly answer my question.

964. You leave me no choice.

965. Very well.

966. My first move, if I were concerning myself with this affair.

967. Would be to follow that man there.

968. That man? Why on earth follow him?

969. - What's he to do with it? - He seems to be waiting for someone.

970. He's waiting for us. He followed us here from the hospital.

971. - How do you know that? - Because I saw him!

972. Now, keep your promise.

973. Why? Why should he be concerned with us?

974. Dr. Freud, you see but you do not observe.

975. A faculty you must cultivate.

976. Describe that man to me.

977. - You can see him yourself... - Describe him!

978. He's wearing a bowler... dressed as a tradesman...

979. long ragged coat, black shoes,

980. scarred face...

981. He's the man who abducted FrÃoulein Devereux.

982. - Now... will you keep your promise? - Yes.

983. Devil take him! Come on!

984. Why a chemist?

985. Well, think, Watson.

986. Chemists dispense drugs...

987. and drugs were the steady diet of our abducted Miss Devereux.

988. And the likelihood is,

989. that whoever held her prisoner

990. knew of her dependence on them... and wished to reestablish it.

991. See, when somebody has turned into an addict

992. they turn into a slave.

993. However, if one is cured by some miracle,

994. as Miss Deveraux was,

995. their addiction is very likely a secret confined to the past.

996. Yet, whoever kidnapped her knew of it.

997. Somewhat intimately.

998. However, it's dangerous to theorize in advance of the facts.

999. Herr Holmes!

1000. Herr Holmes, Dr. Watson will follow that man!

1001. - I will take you home. - No! Come on!

1002. He's playing with us.

1003. Why?

1004. Ought we to let him go?

1005. No.

1006. I must say, he doesn't look the sort to initiate such an abduction.

1007. Doubtless you are correct, Watson.

1008. He is merely a supernumerary in our drama.

1009. Hired by one of the principals.

1010. But who and why? To have her ransomed by her lover?

1011. Do you know the Baron?

1012. Oh, we had the occasion once to play a set of tennis.

1013. Tennis?

1014. - Who won? - Dr. Freud did,

1015. the Baron has no backhand.

1016. No backhand?

1017. That is interesting.

1018. What is this place?

1019. There's no one here.

1020. They're here.

1021. They're here.

1022. Doctor, I think I have need of your services.

1023. - Now? - If Dr. Freud would be so kind.

1024. I don't know if you can see the watch.

1025. I beg you to try.

1026. Yes, yes... sit, sit. Look at me. Don't cover your face.

1027. Open your eyes!

1028. Concentrate on the watch. Focus on the watch.

1029. As it swings back and forth, I want you to think of nothing else.

1030. Now you are getting drowsy.

1031. Now you are falling asleep.

1032. You are falling asleep.

1033. Now you are asleep.

1034. You are fast asleep and the urge for cocaine is diminishing.

1035. The very thought of cocaine is making you sick...

1036. They are just horses.

1037. They're not just horses. They're the most intelligent horses in the world,

1038. and they've been trained to kill!

1039. - Oh, my God. - Wake up, Holmes!

1040. Bring him out of it, man! Bring him out of it!

1041. Distract the horses. I must have some time.

1042. - Wake up, Herr Holmes, do you hear? - Come on, come on.

1043. Come here. Come on, come on.

1044. Come on.

1045. Wake up, without your craving for cocaine. Wake up.

1046. Are you all right?

1047. - What has happened? - We have entered a trap.

1048. Someone has arranged for us to get trampled to dead.

1049. Come on, come on. Come to me.

1050. Come on, come on.

1051. We must make ourselves a target.

1052. Quickly!

1053. This way!

1054. Stand right where you are. Don't move till I tell you.

1055. Jump!

1056. Watson!

1057. Watson, are you all right?

1058. Very well, thank you.

1059. Hurry, man. The hospital. I fear we may be too late.

1060. Why the hospital?

1061. Is it possible you do not see?

1062. The little man we followed, his job was merely to lead us astray?

1063. I gather his instructions were somewhat more specific,

1064. nevertheless astray will do. It would give them time!

1065. Time to do what?

1066. My dear.

1067. I had no idea.

1068. Oh, darling.

1069. But it's all right now.

1070. Dr. Freud came and told me where you were.

1071. He didn't want me to see you, not for a day or two...

1072. but I couldn't wait.

1073. Oh, Carl.

1074. Oh, if you only knew.

1075. Do not speak about it.

1076. It's all over now.

1077. I have come to take you away.

1078. - But, Dr. Freud said— - I made him change his mind.

1079. After your terrible ordeal as a prisoner in that warehouse,

1080. the last place you ought to be is a cold, impersonal hospital.

1081. The warehouse.

1082. Yes.

1083. Come on, my darling. It's all over.

1084. Ah, sister.

1085. FrÃoulein Devereux is leaving.

1086. You had better come along with me and see that she is taken care of properly.

1087. Of course, Herr Baron.

1088. Where are you taking me?

1089. Somewhere safe, away from all this.

1090. Is something wrong?

1091. No.

1092. Just give me my flowers.

1093. - As I feared. - It's impossible.

1094. Do you see what you've done?

1095. Do you know what havoc you've wrought by forcing me to take this case?

1096. Oh, I bungled it.

1097. Why? Why was I so stupid just to listen to you?

1098. Why do you insist on taking all the blame, Herr Holmes?

1099. What is this egocentric streak of melodrama in you

1100. that does not allow anyone to share in your triumphs or disasters?

1101. I followed the wrong man!

1102. You are a human being, not a machine.

1103. Gentlemen, please, please get a hold of yourselves!

1104. This is not the time to apportion blame!

1105. A woman is in danger.

1106. Women are always dangerous.

1107. Dr. Watson is right.

1108. There's no time for this discussion.

1109. Where can they have taken her?

1110. Not home, certainly.

1111. Perhaps to her original prison.

1112. No, no, no. Out of the question.

1113. They have no way of knowing what she found out about the place

1114. or how much she might have revealed to us.

1115. We know its location, surely.

1116. And that is reason enough for not returning there.

1117. Its location? How do we know that?

1118. Watson, Watson, Watson. She was found on the Olgarten Bridge

1119. after a heroic escape down a drainpipe.

1120. As an addict, how much strength could she have had?

1121. From how far off could she have gone?

1122. - Dr. Freud. - Ja?

1123. What buildings front the Danube Canal by the bridge?

1124. Warehouses.

1125. They won't take her there again.

1126. Well, the situation calls for more than ratiocination.

1127. Doctor, would you kindly return home

1128. and bring Toby?

1129. Ah, yes, Toby. I think perhaps

1130. you should accompany me.

1131. You needn't worry, Dr. Watson will prevent my stealing hospital's

1132. supplies of cocaine.

1133. You underestimate us both, Herr Holmes.

1134. Time is wasting, Doctor! Will you bring the dog here

1135. as fast as you can?

1136. I am on the case, and you have placed me there.

1137. Now you must follow my instructions.

1138. And have the goodness to fetch Dr. Watson's revolver.

1139. I don't think you ought to have spoken to him like that.

1140. No sign of a struggle.

1141. Curious.

1142. Hold on. What's this?

1143. A lily.

1144. Perhaps she had it in her hair.

1145. Hardly with a stem this long, I think.

1146. Watson!

1147. Look at this!

1148. Ingenious creature. She's left us a trail. Come on!

1149. What about Dr. Freud? Shouldn't we wait for him?

1150. To hang, Dr. Freud! Come on!

1151. You see? I was right!

1152. Look there!

1153. There's another, Watson.

1154. IZI Once, yes, once is a lark IZI

1155. lZITwice, though, loses the spark El

1156. IZI Once, yes, once is delicious IZI

1157. [Z But twice would be vicious IZI

1158. IE Or just repetitious [Z

1159. IE Someone's bound to be scarred [Z

1160. IZI Yes, I know that is hard IE

1161. [Z But no matter the vice IZI

1162. IZI I never do anything twice IZI

1163. IZI Je me souviens the abbot IZI

1164. [Z Who worshipped at my feet [Z

1165. lZI Who dressed me in a wimple and in veils IZI

1166. IZI He made a proposition IZI

1167. IZI Which I found rather sweet IZI

1168. [Z And handed me a hammer and some nails IZI

1169. IZI In time we lay contented IZI

1170. IZI But he began again IZI

1171. IZI By fingering the beads around our waists IZI

1172. IZI I whispered to him then IZI

1173. lZI We'll have to say "amen" IZI

1174. IZI For I had developed more Catholic tastes IZI

1175. IZI Once, yes, once can be nice IZI

1176. IZI Love requires some spice IZI

1177. [Z If you've something in view IE

1178. IZI Something to do, totally new IZI

1179. IZI I'll be there in a trice IZI

1180. IZI But I never do anything twice IZI

1181. Something with red hair, I think.

1182. - What do you feel, old man? - Red hair.

1183. Oh, I definitely fancy red hair tonight.

1184. Not quite your color, madame.

1185. All right.

1186. Mademoiselle, ale.

1187. What you see is what is available.

1188. Wait a minute.

1189. Good evening, gentlemen.

1190. Would you like to have a look?

1191. - Really, madame. - You too.

1192. Watson.

1193. - Watson. - It's nice, isn't it?

1194. Voile, gentlemen.

1195. Here is Chloe.

1196. She has red hair.

1197. Something a little more fiery, don't you think, Watson?

1198. No, I don't see anything in here.

1199. - What's in there? - You can't go in there.

1200. Come on, Watson.

1201. Watson, the queen wouldn't like it.

1202. Through there!

1203. Dr. Freud.

1204. I see.

1205. It's all right, Herman.

1206. Really, gentlemen, for this sort of amusement,

1207. you need not come to my establishment.

1208. How did you get here before us?

1209. By trying to think where they would hide FrÃoulein Devereux if,

1210. as you posited, they would no longer use the original hiding place.

1211. Knowing something of FrÃoulein Devereux's past,

1212. it occurred to me that the safest place to hide a demimonde

1213. might be among a bevy of demimondes.

1214. You are beginning to think like me.

1215. We followed a trail of lilies.

1216. I take it, however, that we have not found FrÃoulein Devereux.

1217. Not FrÃoulein Devereux.

1218. Doctor, please get up from the bed very slowly

1219. and move to one side. Try not to disturb anything.

1220. Watson, lock the door.

1221. She's one of the sisters of mercy at the hospital.

1222. Precisely. She was probably abducted along with Fraulein Devereux

1223. to prevent her describing the men who took her away.

1224. Well done, my dear Doctor.

1225. But it was only one man, not men.

1226. I found no trace of a struggle. The ladies accompanied him willingly.

1227. Why?

1228. Eliminate the impossible, my dear Doctor,

1229. and whatever remains, however improbable,

1230. must be the truth.

1231. - The Baron? - Bravo! Excellent.

1232. Really, Doctor, I must congratulate you. Yes, the Baron.

1233. The only person so intimately connected with Miss Deveraux's present

1234. that he might know something of her past.

1235. He planned to use this stuff to keep her tractable.

1236. But why? Why abduct his own mistress?

1237. We have not yet concluded our examination.

1238. Throat slit, left to right.

1239. It's a ritual slay.

1240. Common in Muslim rites and practices.

1241. Sharp, curved blade.

1242. The body is still warm.

1243. Rigor not yet set in.

1244. Muslims? You mean religious differences at the bottom of all this?

1245. I can't believe it.

1246. Murdering nuns in brothels...

1247. Watson, don't move your foot!

1248. What have we here?

1249. Turkish.

1250. "Latakia."

1251. Many people smoke Turkish cigarettes.

1252. Yes, but only Turks smoke this brand.

1253. The cigarette paper is indigenous to the Ottoman Empire.

1254. Our Turkish tobacco is shipped raw

1255. and processed in Europe and in England.

1256. It must be...

1257. a strand of carpet.

1258. Also Turkish.

1259. I think I know what has become of our Miss Deveraux.

1260. It's only a theory, mind, but I venture to suggest it fits the facts.

1261. Doctor, have you ever heard of the Amin Pasha?

1262. Of course. But what can he have to do with all of this?

1263. Everything, or I am much mistaken.

1264. It is my theory that he was a ardent admirer of our Miss Deveraux.

1265. As I recall, red hair exercises a peculiar fascination for the Pasha.

1266. Circassian women frequently do for Muslims.

1267. No doubt he met her at Monte Carlo, in the company of the Baron.

1268. Holmes, the lady is still in danger.

1269. You mustn't succumb.

1270. Don't worry, Watson. I won't.

1271. Even

1272. - Watson. - Herr Baron.

1273. The revolver.

1274. You will empty your pockets.

1275. Give all the cocaine you brought to Dr. Watson. Watson!

1276. Now, I will make a series of statements,

1277. and you will agree or disagree, depending on their accuracy.

1278. Is that understood?

1279. _ Say Yes! _ Yes!

1280. - The Baron— - I see everything.

1281. The whole thing turns on two psychological points:

1282. the Baron's compulsive gambling

1283. and the Amin Pasha's fascination for red headed women.

1284. Bravo, Doctor. Your powers of observation and inference

1285. would make you a great detective.

1286. The Baron is a compulsive gambler.

1287. - Yes - He lost a fortune this season

1288. - at Monte Carlo. - Yes.

1289. The Amin Pasha bought up all his outstanding notes

1290. in order to control him completely.

1291. Really, Doctor, you positively scintillate. What next?

1292. He offered to tear up the notes in exchange for FrÃoulein Devereux.

1293. Whom he wish to add to his seraglio.

1294. - His harem. - Yes.

1295. The Baron agreed and hired you to abduct his mistress.

1296. Yes.

1297. Knowing of her former narcotic addiction,

1298. you were instructed to revive it

1299. in order to render her pliant and dependent.

1300. Yes.

1301. So much for the psychological point of view.

1302. It's the next series of steps that confuses me.

1303. Well, if you will permit me, perhaps I can explain them to you.

1304. Shut up!

1305. All that is necessary is to combine your methods and my own.

1306. I am all attention.

1307. The Baron's plan is clear.

1308. In another day or so, he could have turned a perfectly docile woman

1309. over to his creditor.

1310. But she foiled his plans by escaping.

1311. It was then a race to see which of them could recover her first.

1312. The Baron was desperate. Without her, he was lost.

1313. He managed to trace her to the hospital somehow

1314. and was on the point of spiriting away this morning.

1315. It was his black carriage that we passed on our way in.

1316. But something stopped him.

1317. See, I think he recognized you, Doctor,

1318. from your tennis match.

1319. He ascertained, after we left, that we had been to see Miss Deveraux.

1320. It was now essential to get us out of the way for a time,

1321. and this gentlemen here sorted that.

1322. Watson! Grab him!

1323. Sit him down!

1324. Yes.

1325. The Baron abducted her again. This time in person.

1326. And she went willingly enough under the circumstances.

1327. But something arosed her suspicions.

1328. Perhaps it was his insistence that the nun accompany them.

1329. And she left us a trail of flowers.

1330. He brought her here to hide while he located the Pasha.

1331. Isn't that true?

1332. - Yes. - But they were probably dogging

1333. his footsteps from the beginning, and this is where they overtook him.

1334. Q.E.D.

1335. The ladies— They do seem to cause trouble.

1336. Don't they?

1337. Where is the Pasha now?

1338. He told the Baron he was only in the city for a few days.

1339. Something about a government conference in Istanbul.

1340. - What? - What?

1341. Do you recall a Turkish gentleman leaving here?

1342. The Amin Pasha.

1343. The Amin Pasha. Yes, of course I remember him.

1344. Though I have missed him.

1345. He commissioned a special—

1346. He has his own cars, you know.

1347. I put together the train myself, what, three hours ago.

1348. - Bound for Istanbul? - Ja.

1349. We also will commission a special.

1350. That one there, if you don't mind.

1351. Doctor...

1352. there is no need for you to accompany us.

1353. If you'd sooner depart.

1354. I would not.

1355. That woman is my patient.

1356. - Stout fellow. - Good!

1357. - Then we are off! - No, gentlemen, please.

1358. It takes time to commission a train. And money.

1359. And we must telegraph ahead to clear the points.

1360. Watson.

1361. Where was this train originally heading?

1362. - This is the Dresden Local. - It is now the Orient Express.

1363. I'll do it!

1364. All right, she's clear!

1365. Come on, Watson. Let's get some steam up.

1366. Watson, take over.

1367. The man's tired.

1368. We've got to make more steam.

1369. We need your help.

1370. I will not. This is railway property you are stealing.

1371. The Amin Pasha is stealing a woman!

1372. She's been carried out of the country against her will!

1373. Is this true?

1374. And you— you are the police?

1375. My name is Sherlock Holmes.

1376. Out of the way.

1377. The last of the coal, Holmes.

1378. We have burned everything, Herr Holmes.

1379. I know.

1380. FrÃoulein Devereux is forfeit.

1381. We've lost.

1382. Just a moment.

1383. That isn't true.

1384. Come down, and do likewise!

1385. Oh, no, no, no. Please, gentlemen.

1386. No, no, you must not do that. That is railway property.

1387. - Keep her going! - No, please, gentlemen.

1388. Please, gentlemen.

1389. What are you doing here? Get back to the controls.

1390. Here. Let me help you!

1391. Berger, take these and put them in the firebox.

1392. Don't forget the roof.

1393. Look at this! What are you doing?

1394. Here!

1395. Herr Holmes, look.

1396. The Pasha's special.

1397. Berger, Berger, you're a wizard!

1398. We are right behind them. No more points to switch.

1399. Put on all the steam we have!

1400. Open the valves!

1401. We must catch them before they cross the Danube.

1402. Watson! Watson!

1403. It's the Baron.

1404. They're closing the barriers!

1405. Stop the train!

1406. Ram them.

1407. Sorry!

1408. That's the Baron, all right!

1409. Doubtlessly making sure that his goods arrive in Istanbul undamaged.

1410. - How is he? - Flesh wound. He'll live.

1411. Berger, how can we put on more speed?

1412. Release what we're pulling.

1413. There she goes!

1414. Quickly.

1415. Quickly.

1416. Holmes! Holmes! Look! He's done the same thing!

1417. Fritz, the brake.

1418. Brace yourself!

1419. He's made a fatal mistake.

1420. Fritz, keep her close.

1421. Pour on every ounce you can.

1422. Watson, I'll trouble you for the service revolver.

1423. What will you do?

1424. What I can. Keep her close.

1425. Faster! More speed!

1426. Faster!

1427. Closer!

1428. Bring her closer!

1429. Well, what are you waiting for?

1430. You are very brave with a revolver,

1431. but are you so confident with a saber?

1432. If you want the young woman,

1433. shouldn't we fight for her?

1434. - What are you doing? - To see what's happening.

1435. FrÃoulein Devereux may need me.

1436. - I'm coming with you. - No. Stay here!

1437. Your leg will not bear! Keep watch here!

1438. Shoot, Holmes! Shoot, man!

1439. Shoot!

1440. Stop!

1441. Throw it down, infidel.

1442. They will die to reach you.

1443. Not before you do.

1444. I do not believe in this manner of solving problems,

1445. but you leave me no choice. Call them off.

1446. You haven't the nerve.

1447. I'm finding it.

1448. Tell them to put down their knives.

1449. FrÃoulein Devereux.

1450. Watch your step, Holmes!

1451. More wood, Berger! More wood!

1452. No backhand, Holmes! No backhand!

1453. Are you all right?

1454. Yes, thank you.

1455. Well done, Holmes! Bloody well done!

1456. Life is going to seem very quiet after you've gone, Herr Holmes.

1457. You have important work of your own, I know. We will meet again.

1458. Perhaps.

1459. Doctor.

1460. Ja?

1461. Your hypnotic therapy has saved me from a terrible addiction.

1462. And beyond that, your judgment has saved my life.

1463. Your judgment and Watson's here.

1464. For him, there'll be a lifetime to repay the debt.

1465. What can I do for you?

1466. Let me hypnotize you once more before you go.

1467. What?

1468. But I tell you I'm cured.

1469. I know, but there is another part of your mind

1470. to which I would also like to say farewell.

1471. When did you first start using cocaine?

1472. When I was twenty.

1473. Where?

1474. In the university.

1475. Why?

1476. Why?

1477. I was unhappy.

1478. Why did you become a detective?

1479. To punish the wicked and see justice done.

1480. Have you ever known wickedness personally?

1481. Have you?

1482. Yes.

1483. What was this wickedness?

1484. My mother deceived my father.

1485. She had a lover?

1486. Yes.

1487. And what was the injustice?

1488. What was the injustice?

1489. No! No!

1490. - He shot her. - No!

1491. Your father murdered your mother?

1492. Yes.

1493. And the lover?

1494. What became of him?

1495. He fled.

1496. Who was he?

1497. Who was he?

1498. My tutor.

1499. Professor Moriarty?

1500. Yes.

1501. Professor Moriarty.

1502. All right. Sleep now.

1503. Sleep and remember nothing.

1504. Do you understand?

1505. You remember nothing.

1506. - I understand. - Good. Now sleep.

1507. - The Napoleon of crime. - What?

1508. Holmes was right about him from the very beginning.

1509. Professor Moriarty, I mean.

1510. It becomes clear.

1511. As he himself would observe, see how much is explained by these facts.

1512. We understand not only the origin of his addiction

1513. and his hatred of Professor Moriarty,

1514. but also his suspicion of women, so well recorded by you, Doctor,

1515. and also his choice of profession:

1516. detector of wickedness, punisher of injustice.

1517. You are the greatest detective of them all.

1518. I'm a physician whose province is the troubled mind,

1519. which means that, in this case, I have simply

1520. borrowed some of your friend's techniques—

1521. - Holmes? - ... and applied them to himself.

1522. You will recall we spoke of an area of the mind called the unconscious.

1523. Well, he has led me to it.

1524. He has given me the clues himself.

1525. But how?

1526. I will confine myself to an observation made by your English playwright.

1527. The one he has deduced I'm so fond of reading.

1528. We are such stuff as dreams are made on.

1529. Wake up, Herr Holmes.

1530. Did I tell you anything of importance?

1531. I vaguely recall you asking me questions.

1532. It was not very interesting.

1533. We must hurry. Your train leaves within the hour,

1534. and my wife would like to say farewell.

1535. Also my son, upon whom you have made a distinct impression.

1536. He speaks of studying the violin.

1537. And I would like you to have this one, by the way, as a souvenir.

1538. What will become of Miss Deveraux, I wonder, after all she's been through.

1539. Oh, she will emerge unscathed.

1540. Women are like cats. Have you never noticed?

1541. Invariably, they land on their feet.

1542. Oh, come, come. You're unfair. She's been through a great deal, Holmes.

1543. And not so much as thanked us for saving her from a deal worse,

1544. to say nothing of enquiring after any hurts we may have suffered in her behalf.

1545. I've come to a conclusion about Miss Deveraux.

1546. A theory based on Dr. Freud's techniques.

1547. I believe that a woman of her caliber— a lady—

1548. would not descend to a life of shame without a valid cause.

1549. This isn't a train.

1550. It isn't, is it?

1551. We are going back to London.

1552. You are, my dear chap. I'm not.

1553. At least not for the time, anyway.

1554. I need some time to myself, Watson.

1555. A little holiday.

1556. I don't like this, Holmes. I don't like it at all.

1557. When will you return?

1558. Oh, one day.

1559. In the meantime, inform my brother of my decision,

1560. and tell Mrs. Hudson my rooms are not to be touched.

1561. Is that clear?

1562. - Holmes— - Rest assured, my dear fellow.

1563. It's only that I must complete my recovery.

1564. Give my best to Mrs. Watson.

1565. Good-bye, To by.

1566. But how will you live?

1567. When my arm is better,

1568. you would do well to follow the concert career of a violinist named Sigerson.

1569. But my readers— your readers—

1570. What Will I tell them?

1571. Anything you like.

1572. Tell them I was murdered by my mathematics tutor.

1573. They'll never believe you, in any case.

1574. Good-bye, Watson!

1575. Good-bye, Holmes!

1576. Good-bye!

1577. A chair, sir?

1578. - Oh, yes. Thank you. - This way, please.

1579. Thank you.

1580. Are you surprised?

1581. Well, I confess I am.

1582. I was not aware that you were bound for Budapest

1583. or even contemplating going abroad.

1584. It is an odd coincidence.

1585. But I'm not sorry for it.

1586. Journeys alone are always so tedious, don't you find?

1587. Especially when they are long.

1588. Will this be a long journey?

1589. That all depends.

1590. But I do think it will seem shorter

1591. if there are two of us.

1592. Don't you?

1593. I hope it will not seem too short.