Page 12 - The Noorwood Mistery

'I took the train to Norwood and arrived there at about McFarlane stood up and the two policemen took him
nine o'clock. It was difficult to find Mr Oldacre's house on
the Sydenham Road and it was nine-thirty when I at last
knocked on the door of Deep Dene House.'
'Stop,' said Holmes. 'Who opened the door to you?'
'It was Mr Oldacre's housekeeper, ' McFarlane replied. 'A
woman of about fifty-five years.'
'And she told Mr Oldacre that you were there?' Holmes
went on.
'That's right,' McFarlane agreed. 'She then took me into
the dining room, where Mr Oldacre was waiting for me. We
ate a light meal of sandwiches and fruit, then Mr Oldacre
took me to his bedroom. There was a safe in the corner of
the room, and Mr Oldacre opened it and took out a lot of
papers. We looked at them together and didn't finish until
about half past eleven. Mr Oldacre said that we mustn't
wake up the housekeeper, so I left the house by the French
windows in the bedroom, which were open. I couldn't find
my walking stick, but Mr Oldacre said that he would give it
back to me next time. "I hope you will come back often,"
he said. When I left, Mr Oldacre was in his bedroom and
the safe was open. His papers were on the table. It was too
late for me to go back t4 my father's house at Blackheath,
so I went to a hotel called the Anerley Arms in Norwood
and spent the night there. I knew nothing more about Mr
Oldacre until I read the story in the newspaper this morning.
And everything that I've told you is true.'
Lestrade looked at Holmes. 'Any more questions?'
'Possibly,' said Holmes. 'But first I must go to Blackheath.'
'You mean Norwood,' said Lestrade.
'Perhaps,' replied Holmes with a strange smile. The
dining room the
room in a house Inspector didn't understand, but said nothing.
where people eat
'Mr McFarlane?' said one of the other policemen, who was
French windows
glass doors waiting at the door. 'Come with us, please.'
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down the stairs and out into Baker Street. Lestrade stayed
in the room with Holmes and Watson. Holmes looked at
McFarlane's papers, which were still on the table.
'Interesting, ' he said. 'Mr Oldacre's writing is very easy to
read in some places, but very difficult to read in others. And
here it's impossible. Can you read this, Watson?'
Watson agreed that it was impossible to read.
'And why is that?' asked Holmes.
'I've no idea,' Watson replied.
'Is this important, Mr Holmes?' asked Lestrade.
'Possibly,' said H0lmes. 'Mr Oldacre wrote his will on a
train. We can read everything that he wrote when the train
was at a station, but it's impossible to read what he wrote
when the train was moving. Mr Oldacre spent the journey
writing his will, so his train was an
express, which stopped only once
between Norwood and London Bridge.'
'Very interesting, Mr Holmes ' said
,
Lestrade, 'but I have a murderer
to see. I must go. Goodbye, Mr
Holmes. Dr Watson.'
'Goodbye, Inspector, ' said
Holmes with a smile.
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