"Butyouhavereadtheevidence。Youhaveformedsome?Doyounotseesomeloophole,someflaw?Doyouhinkthatheisi;
"Ithinkthatitisveryprobable。"
"There,now!"shecried,throwingbackherheadandlookilyatLestrade。"Yivesmehopes。"
&radeshruggedhisshoulders。"Iamafraidthatmycolleaguehasbeenalittlequiinghiss,"hesaid。
"Butheisright。Oh!Iknowthatheisright。James。Andabouthisquarrelwithhisfather,IamsurethatthereasonwhyhewouldittotheerwasbecauseIwasedinit。"
"Inwhatway?"askedHolmes。
"Itisohideanything。Jamesandhisfatherhadmasaboutme。MrMcCarthywasveryanxiousthatthereshouldbeamarriagebetweenus。JamesandIhavealwayslovedeachotherasbrotheraofcourseheisyoungandhasseeleoflifeyet,and-and-well,henaturallydidnotwishtodoanythi。Sotherewerequarrels,andthis,Iamsure,waso;
"Andyourfather?"askedHolmes。"Washeinfavourofsu?"
"No,hewasaversetoitalso。MrMcCarthywasinfavourofit。"Aquickblushpassedoverherfreshyoungfaesshotoneofhiskeeioniher。
"Thankyouforthisinformation,"saidhe。"MayIseeyourfatherifIorrow?"
"Iamafraidthedo'tallowit。"
"Thedoctor?"
"Yes,haveyounotheard?Poorfatherhasrongforyearsback,butthishasbrokenhimdowely。Hehastakentohisbed,andDrWillowssaysthatheisawredthathisnervoussystemisshattered。MrMcCarthywastheonlymanalivewhohadknowndadintheolddaysinVictoria。"
"Ha!InVictoria!Thatisimportant。"
"Yes,atthemi;
"Quiteso;atthegold-mines,where,asIuand,MrTurnermadehismo;
"Yes,ly。"
"Thankyou,MissTurner。Youhavebeenofmaterialassista;
"Youwilltellmeifyouhaveaomorrow。NodoubtyouwillgototheprisontoseeJames。Oh,ifyoudo,MrHolmes,dotellhimthatIknowhimtobei;
"Iwill,MissTur;
"Imustgohomenow,fordadisveryill,andhemissesmesoifIleavehim。Goodbye,andGodhelpyouiny。"Shehurriedfromtheroomasimpulsivelyasshehadentered,ahewheelserattleoffdow。
"Iamashamedofyou,Holmes,"saidLestradewithdignityafterafewminutes'sile;Whyshouldyouraiseuphopeswhichyouareboundtodisappoint?IameIcallitcruel。"
"IthinkthatIseemywaytJamesMcCarthy,"saidHolmes。"Haveyouaoseehiminprison?"
"Yes,butonlyforyoua;
"ThenIshallreyresolutionaboutgoiilltimetotakeatraintoHerefordaonight?"
"Ample。"
"Theusdoso。Watsoyouwillfinditveryslow,butIshallonlybealeofhours。"
Iwalkeddowiohehroughthestreetsofthelittletown,fiothehotel,onthesofaaerestmyselfinayellow-baovel。Thepunyplotofthestorywassothin,however,whehedeepmysterythrougheregroping,andIfouioinuallyfromtheatothefact,thatIatlastflungitacravemyselfupeoasideratiosoftheday。Supposingthatthisunhappyyoungman'sstorywereabsolutelytrue,thehing,whatabsolutelyuraordinarycalamitycouldhaveoccurredbetweeimewheedfromhisfather,awhen,drawnbackbyhisscreams,herushediwassomethingterribleacoulditbe?Mightureoftheinjuriesrevealsomethingtomymedigthebellaheweeklytypaper,whiedaverbatimatoftheihesurgeon'sdepositionitwasstatedthattheposteriorthirdoftheleftparietalbohalfoftheoccipitalboeredbyaheavyblowfromabluntohespotuponmyownhead。Clearlysuusthavebeenstrubehind。Thatwastosomeextentinfavouroftheaccused,aswhenseenquarrellinghewasfacetofacewithhisfather。Still,itdidnotgoforverymuch,forthehthaveturnedhisbackbeforetheblowfell。Still,itmightbeworthwhiletoes'attentiontoit。Thehepeculiardyioarat。Whatcouldthatmean?Itotbedelirium。Amandyingfromasuddeedelirious。No,itwasmorelikelytobeaoexplaihisfate。Butwhatcoulditindicate?IcudgelledmybrainstofindsomepossibleexplanatioheihegreybyyoungMcCarthy。Ifthatweretruethemurderermusthavedroppedsomepartofhisdress,presumablyhisoverhisflight,andmusthavehadthehardihoodtoreturnandtocarryitawayattheihesohhisbaednotadozenpacesoff。Whatatissueofmysteriesandimprobabilitiesthewholethingwas!Ididrade'sopinioIhadsomuchfaithinSherloes'insightthatIotlosehopeaslongaseveryfreshfactseemedtthenhisofyoungMcCarthy'sinnoce。