Chapter 2

The course of blood ran across the room to the bed, and there was a puddle all around him that looked terribly red and shiny, and I bent down to examine it. The place where he was lying was in front of the big safe, and he was wearing his pajamas; the left sleeve was ripped, showing his bare arm, stretching out towards the safe. It looked—oh, absolutely horrible, speckled with blood, and the flesh was torn or cut off about the gold chain on his wrist; I didn't know he was wearing such a thing, and it seemed to give me a new shock.

I stopped for a moment, and when I wished to relieve her for a moment, my thoughts got distracted, and I said:

"Oh, this shouldn't surprise you; you'll see the toughest guys wearing bracelets. I have seen a judge sentence a man to death, and the wrist on which he was lifted had a gold bracelet on it."

She didn't seem to mind the words or the idea; however, she softened her silence a bit and continued to speak firmly:

"I didn't wait a moment for help, I was afraid he might bleed to death. I rang the bell, and then I went out and called for help as loudly as I could, and in what must have been a very short time, though it seemed incredibly long to me, some servants came running. Then others, until the room seemed full of staring eyes, tousled hair, and pyjamas of all kinds.

Dad carried us on a sofa, and the housekeeper, Mrs. Grant, being more intelligent than any of us, began to search for the source of the flow of blood, and in a few seconds it became evident that from the arm, which was bare, there was a deep wound—not so cleanly cut as with a knife, but like a serrated incision or tear.

Near the wrist, which seemed to have been cut into a jugular vein, Mrs. Grant bound a handkerchief around the wound and bound it tightly with a silver paper cutter. The flow of blood seemed to stop at once. By this time I had come to my senses—or what was left of them; and I sent one man to the doctor and another to the police, and when they were gone, I felt that, apart from the servants, I was alone in the house and that I knew nothing of my father or anything else; and a great idea came to me to take someone with me who could help me, and then I thought of your kind offering in the boat under the willow tree, without waiting for reflection, I asked the men to prepare a carriage at once, wrote a note, and sent it to you.

I stopped, not wanting to say anything about what I felt at the time. I looked at her, and I thought she understood, for her eyes rose to mine for a moment and then fell, leaving her cheeks like rose peonies. With apparent effort, she continued her story:

The doctor was with us for a very short time; the butler met him, entered the house with his key, and came here running. He made a tourniquet fit for the poor man's arm, and then he went home to get some apparatus; I dare say he would be back almost immediately.

Then a policeman came and sent a message to the station, and soon the superintendent was here, and then you came.

There was a long silence, and she ventured to hold her hand for a moment. Without another word, we opened the door and joined the supervisor in the hall, and he rushed to us, saying:

I was checking everything myself, and I sent a message to Scotland Yard. You see, Mr. Ross, it seems that there is so much strangeness in the case that I thought it was better to have the best man in the criminal investigation department that we could get. So I sent a letter requesting that Sergeant Dow be sent immediately, remembering him, sir, from that American poisoning case in Houston.

I said, "Oh yeah, I remember him well." In this and other cases, I have benefited many times from his skills and acumen." He has a mind that really works like any mind I know. For defense, I thought my man was innocent, and I was happy to be against us!

The supervisor said with satisfaction, "This is praise, sir!" I am glad you agreed to choose me; I did well in sending him.

It couldn't be better, and I have no doubt that we will reach the facts—and beyond!

We went up to Mr. Trilawne's room, where we found everything exactly as his daughter described it.

The house rang, and after a minute a man entered the room—a young man with sharp features, sharp grey eyes, and a front that was square and wide like his forehead. He had a black bag in his hand, which he immediately opened. Miss Trilawny gave us:

Dr. Winchester, this is Mr. Ross, and this is Supervisor Dolan.

Some of us bowed mutually and began to work without delay. We all waited, and we watched impatiently as it began to heal the wound. As he advanced, he turned from time to time to draw the supervisor's attention to some point around the wound, and the latter began writing something in his notebook.

-Look! Several parallel wounds or scratches begin on the left side of the wrist, and in some places, the major arteries are at risk.

These little wounds here, deep and rough, seem to have been made with a sharp object. This in particular appears to be made of a type of sharp wedge; the round meat looks torn as if it were a result of lateral pressure.

Turning to Miss Trilawne, he now said:

Do you think we might remove this bracelet? It is not entirely necessary now because it will drop on the wrist as it can be suspended loosely, but it may increase patient comfort later.

The poor girl is deeply red, and she answers in a low voice:

I do not know; I... I just recently came to live with my father; I know very little of his life or his thoughts, so I fear I cannot judge on such an issue.

After taking a closer look at her, the doctor said very kindly:

-Forgive me! I did not know. But anyway, don't worry. A transfer is not required at this time. If so, I should do it once at my own risk. If necessary later, we can remove it easily with a screwdriver. There is no doubt that your father has some things to keep as they are. See! There is a small key attached to it.

As he was talking, he stopped and bowed down, taking the candle he grabbed from my hand and lowering it until its light fell on the bracelet. Then he indicated that he grabbed the candle in the same position and took from his pocket a magnifying glass that modified it. When he had done a careful examination, he stood up and delivered the magnifying glass to Dolan, saying:

You better check it out yourself; this is not a regular bracelet. Gold is made with triple steel ties; look at where the corrosion is. It is clearly not intended to be removed easily; it will need more than a regular screwdriver to do so"