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17 pages

English

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This ingeniously plotted whodunit from detective fiction master Arthur Conan Doyle will leave you hanging on the edge of your seat. In a departure from form, Conan Doyle puts Dr. Watson into the driver's seat in this story, sending Holmes' eminently patient sidekick to Lausanne, Switzerland to investigate the strange disappearance of an aristocratic old maid.

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Publié par	The Floating Press
Date de parution	01 mars 2011
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781775452003
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0100€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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THE DISAPPEARANCE OF LADY FRANCES CARFAX
* * *
ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE

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The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax First published in 1911 ISBN 978-1-775452-00-3 © 2011 The Floating Press While every effort has been used to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the information contained in The Floating Press edition of this book, The Floating Press does not assume liability or responsibility for any errors or omissions in this book. The Floating Press does not accept responsibility for loss suffered as a result of reliance upon the accuracy or currency of information contained in this book. Do not use while operating a motor vehicle or heavy equipment. Many suitcases look alike. Visit www.thefloatingpress.com
The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax
*
"But why Turkish?" asked Mr. Sherlock Holmes, gazing fixedly at myboots. I was reclining in a cane-backed chair at the moment, and myprotruded feet had attracted his ever-active attention.
"English," I answered in some surprise. "I got them at Latimer's, inOxford Street."
Holmes smiled with an expression of weary patience.
"The bath!" he said; "the bath! Why the relaxing and expensive Turkishrather than the invigorating home-made article?"
"Because for the last few days I have been feeling rheumatic and old. ATurkish bath is what we call an alterative in medicine—a freshstarting-point, a cleanser of the system.
"By the way, Holmes," I added, "I have no doubt the connection betweenmy boots and a Turkish bath is a perfectly self-evident one to alogical mind, and yet I should be obliged to you if you would indicateit."
"The train of reasoning is not very obscure, Watson," said Holmes witha mischievous twinkle. "It belongs to the same elementary class ofdeduction which I should illustrate if I were to ask you who sharedyour cab in your drive this morning."
"I don't admit that a fresh illustration is an explanation," said Iwith some asperity.
"Bravo, Watson! A very dignified and logical remonstrance. Let mesee, what were the points? Take the last one first—the cab. Youobserve that you have some splashes on the left sleeve and shoulder ofyour coat. Had you sat in the centre of a hansom you would probablyhave had no splashes, and if you had they would certainly have beensymmetrical. Therefore it is clear that you sat at the side.Therefore it is equally clear that you had a companion."
"That is very evident."
"Absurdly commonplace, is it not?"
"But the boots and the bath?"
"Equally childish. You are in the habit of doing up your boots in acertain way. I see them on this occasion fastened with an elaboratedouble bow, which is not your usual method of tying them. You have,therefore, had them off. Who has tied them? A bootmaker—or the boyat the bath. It is unlikely that it is the bootmaker, since your bootsare nearly new. Well, what remains? The bath. Absurd, is it not?But, for all that, the Turkish bath has served a purpose."
"What is that?"
"You say that you have had it because you need a change. Let mesuggest that you take one. How would Lausanne do, my dearWatson—first-class tickets and all expenses paid on a princely scale?"
"Splendid! But why?"
Holmes leaned back in his armchair and took his notebook from hispocket.
"One of the most dangerous classes in the world," said he, "is thedrifting and friendless woman. She is the most harmless and often themost useful of mortals, but she is the inevitable inciter of crime inothers. She is helpless. She is migratory. She has sufficient meansto take her from country to country and from hotel to hotel. She islost, as often as not, in a maze of obscure pensions andboardinghouses. She is a stray chicken in a world of foxes. When sheis gobbled up she is hardly missed. I much fear that some evil has cometo the Lady Frances Carfax."
I was relieved at this sudden descent from the general to theparticular. Holmes consulted his notes.
"Lady Frances," he continued, "is the sole survivor of the directfamily of the late Earl of Rufton.