The Adventure of the Red Circle

By

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

"Well, Mrs. Warren, I cannot see that you have any particular cause foruneasiness, nor do I understand why I, whose time is of some value, should interfere in the matter. I really have other things to engageme. " So spoke Sherlock Holmes and turned back to the great scrapbookin which he was arranging and indexing some of his recent material. 

But the landlady had the pertinacity and also the cunning of her sex. She held her ground firmly. 

"You arranged an affair for a lodger of mine last year, " she said--"Mr. Fairdale Hobbs. "

"Ah, yes--a simple matter. "

"But he would never cease talking of it--your kindness, sir, and theway in which you brought light into the darkness. I remembered hiswords when I was in doubt and darkness myself. I know you could if youonly would. "

Holmes was accessible upon the side of flattery, and also, to do himjustice, upon the side of kindliness. The two forces made him lay downhis gum-brush with a sigh of resignation and push back his chair. 

"Well, well, Mrs. Warren, let us hear about it, then. You don't objectto tobacco, I take it? Thank you, Watson--the matches! You are uneasy, as I understand, because your new lodger remains in his rooms and youcannot see him. Why, bless you, Mrs. Warren, if I were your lodger youoften would not see me for weeks on end. "

"No doubt, sir; but this is different. It frightens me, Mr. Holmes. Ican't sleep for fright. To hear his quick step moving here and movingthere from early morning to late at night, and yet never to catch somuch as a glimpse of him--it's more than I can stand. My husband is asnervous over it as I am, but he is out at his work all day, while I getno rest from it. What is he hiding for? What has he done? Except forthe girl, I am all alone in the house with him, and it's more than mynerves can stand. "

Holmes leaned forward and laid his long, thin fingers upon the woman'sshoulder. He had an almost hypnotic power of soothing when he wished. The scared look faded from her eyes, and her agitated features smoothedinto their usual commonplace. She sat down in the chair which he hadindicated. 

"If I take it up I must understand every detail, " said he. "Take timeto consider. The smallest point may be the most essential. You saythat the man came ten days ago and paid you for a fortnight's board andlodging?"

"He asked my terms, sir. I said fifty shillings a week. There is asmall sitting-room and bedroom, and all complete, at the top of thehouse. "

"Well?"

"He said, 'I'll pay you five pounds a week if I can have it on my ownterms. ' I'm a poor woman, sir, and Mr. Warren earns little, and themoney meant much to me. He took out a ten-pound note, and he held itout to me then and there. 'You can have the same every fortnight for along time to come if you keep the terms, ' he said. 'If not, I'll haveno more to do with you. '

"What were the terms?"

"Well, sir, they were that he was to have a key of the house. That wasall right. Lodgers often have them. Also, that he was to be leftentirely to himself and never, upon any excuse, to be disturbed. "

"Nothing wonderful in that, surely?"

"Not in reason, sir. But this is out of all reason. He has been therefor ten days, and neither Mr. Warren, nor I, nor the girl has once seteyes upon him. We can hear that quick step of his pacing up and down, up and down, night, morning, and noon; but except on that first nighthe had never once gone out of the house. "

"Oh, he went out the first night, did he?"

"Yes, sir, and returned very late--after we were all in bed. He toldme after he had taken the rooms that he would do so and asked me not tobar the door. I heard him come up the stair after midnight. "

"But his meals?"

"It was his particular direction that we should always, when he rang, leave his meal upon a chair, outside his door. Then he rings againwhen he has finished, and we take it down from the same chair. If hewants anything else he prints it on a slip of paper and leaves it. "

"Prints it?"

"Yes, sir; prints it in pencil. Just the word, nothing more. Here'sthe one I brought to show you--soap. Here's another--match. This isone he left the first morning--daily gazette. I leave that paper withhis breakfast every morning. "

"Dear me, Watson, " said Homes, staring with great curiosity at theslips of foolscap which the landlady had handed to him, "this iscertainly a little unusual. Seclusion I can understand; but why print?Printing is a clumsy process. Why not write? What would it suggest, Watson?"

"That he desired to conceal his handwriting. "

"But why? What can it matter to him that his landlady should have aword of his writing? Still, it may be as you say. Then, again, whysuch laconic messages?"

"I cannot imagine. "

"It opens a pleasing field for intelligent speculation. The words arewritten with a broad-pointed, violet-tinted pencil of a not unusualpattern. You will observe that the paper is torn away at the side hereafter the printing was done, so that the 's' of 'soap' is partly gone. Suggestive, Watson, is it not?"

"Of caution?"

"Exactly. There was evidently some mark, some thumbprint, somethingwhich might give a clue to the person's identity. Now. Mrs. Warren, you say that the man was of middle size, dark, and bearded. What agewould he be?"

"Youngish, sir--not over thirty. "

"Well, can you give me no further indications?"

"He spoke good English, sir, and yet I thought he was a foreigner byhis accent. "

"And he was well dressed?"

"Very smartly dressed, sir--quite the gentleman. Dark clothes--nothingyou would note. "

"He gave no name?"

"No, sir. "

"And has had no letters or callers?"

"None. "

"But surely you or the girl enter his room of a morning?"

"No, sir; he looks after himself entirely. "

"Dear me! that is certainly remarkable. What about his luggage?"

"He had one big brown bag with him--nothing else. "

"Well, we don't seem to have much material to help us. Do you saynothing has come out of that room--absolutely nothing?"

The landlady drew an envelope from her bag; from it she shook out twoburnt matches and a cigarette-end upon the table. 

"They were on his tray this morning. I brought them because I hadheard that you can read great things out of small ones. "

Holmes shrugged his shoulders. 

"There is nothing here, " said he. "The matches have, of course, beenused to light cigarettes. That is obvious from the shortness of theburnt end. Half the match is consumed in lighting a pipe or cigar. But, dear me! this cigarette stub is certainly remarkable. Thegentleman was bearded and moustached, you say?"

"Yes, sir. "

"I don't understand that. I should say that only a clean-shaven mancould have smoked this. Why, Watson, even your modest moustache wouldhave been singed. "

"A holder?" I suggested. 

"No, no; the end is matted. I suppose there could not be two people inyour rooms, Mrs. Warren?"

"No, sir. He eats so little that I often wonder it can keep life inone. "

"Well, I think we must wait for a little more material. After all, youhave nothing to complain of. You have received your rent, and he isnot a troublesome lodger, though he is certainly an unusual one. Hepays you well, and if he chooses to lie concealed it is no directbusiness of yours. We have no excuse for an intrusion upon his privacyuntil we have some reason to think that there is a guilty reason forit. I've taken up the matter, and I won't lose sight of it. Report tome if anything fresh occurs, and rely upon my assistance if it shouldbe needed. 

"There are certainly some points of interest in this case, Watson, " heremarked when the landlady had left us. "It may, of course, betrivial--individual eccentricity; or it may be very much deeper thanappears on the surface. The first thing that strike one is the obviouspossibility that the person now in the rooms may be entirely differentfrom the one who engaged them. "

"Why should you think so?"

"Well, apart form this cigarette-end, was it not suggestive that theonly time the lodger went out was immediately after his taking therooms? He came back--or someone came back--when all witnesses were outof the way. We have no proof that the person who came back was theperson who went out. Then, again, the man who took the rooms spokeEnglish well. This other, however, prints 'match' when it should havebeen 'matches. ' I can imagine that the word was taken out of adictionary, which would give the noun but not the plural. The laconicstyle may be to conceal the absence of knowledge of English. Yes, Watson, there are good reasons to suspect that there has been asubstitution of lodgers. "

"But for what possible end?"

"Ah! there lies our problem. There is one rather obvious line ofinvestigation. " He took down the great book in which, day by day, hefiled the agony columns of the various London journals. "Dear me!" saidhe, turning over the pages, "what a chorus of groans, cries, andbleatings! What a rag-bag of singular happenings! But surely the mostvaluable hunting-ground that ever was given to a student of theunusual! This person is alone and cannot be approached by letterwithout a breach of that absolute secrecy which is desired. How is anynews or any message to reach him from without? Obviously byadvertisement through a newspaper. There seems no other way, andfortunately we need concern ourselves with the one paper only. Hereare the Daily Gazette extracts of the last fortnight. 'Lady with ablack boa at Prince's Skating Club'--that we may pass. 'Surely Jimmywill not break his mother's heart'--that appears to be irrelevant. 'Ifthe lady who fainted on Brixton bus'--she does not interest me. 'Everyday my heart longs--' Bleat, Watson--unmitigated bleat! Ah, this is alittle more possible. Listen to this: 'Be patient. Will find somesure means of communications. Meanwhile, this column. G. ' That istwo days after Mrs. Warren's lodger arrived. It sounds plausible, doesit not? The mysterious one could understand English, even if he couldnot print it. Let us see if we can pick up the trace again. Yes, herewe are--three days later. 'Am making successful arrangements. Patience and prudence. The clouds will pass. G. ' Nothing for a weekafter that. Then comes something much more definite: 'The path isclearing. If I find chance signal message remember code agreed--One A, two B, and so on. You will hear soon. G. ' That was in yesterday'spaper, and there is nothing in to-day's. It's all very appropriate toMrs. Warren's lodger. If we wait a little, Watson, I don't doubt thatthe affair will grow more intelligible. "

So it proved; for in the morning I found my friend standing on thehearthrug with his back to the fire and a smile of completesatisfaction upon his face. 

"How's this, Watson?" he cried, picking up the paper from the table. "'High red house with white stone facings. Third floor. Second windowleft. After dusk. G. ' That is definite enough. I think afterbreakfast we must make a little reconnaissance of Mrs. Warren'sneighbourhood. Ah, Mrs. Warren! what news do you bring us thismorning?"

Our client had suddenly burst into the room with an explosive energywhich told of some new and momentous development. 

"It's a police matter, Mr. Holmes!" she cried. "I'll have no more ofit! He shall pack out of there with his baggage. I would have gonestraight up and told him so, only I thought it was but fair to you totake your opinion first. But I'm at the end of my patience, and whenit comes to knocking my old man about--"

"Knocking Mr. Warren about?"

"Using him roughly, anyway. "

"But who used him roughly?"

"Ah! that's what we want to know! It was this morning, sir. Mr. Warren is a timekeeper at Morton and Waylight's, in Tottenham CourtRoad. He has to be out of the house before seven. Well, this morninghe had not gone ten paces down the road when two men came up behindhim, threw a coat over his head, and bundled him into a cab that wasbeside the curb. They drove him an hour, and then opened the door andshot him out. He lay in the roadway so shaken in his wits that henever saw what became of the cab. When he picked himself up he found hewas on Hampstead Heath; so he took a bus home, and there he lies now onhis sofa, while I came straight round to tell you what had happened. "

"Most interesting, " said Holmes. "Did he observe the appearance ofthese men--did he hear them talk?"

"No; he is clean dazed. He just knows that he was lifted up as if bymagic and dropped as if by magic. Two a least were in it, and maybethree. "

"And you connect this attack with your lodger?"

"Well, we've lived there fifteen years and no such happenings ever camebefore. I've had enough of him. Money's not everything. I'll have himout of my house before the day is done. "

"Wait a bit, Mrs. Warren. Do nothing rash. I begin to think that thisaffair may be very much more important than appeared at first sight. It is clear now that some danger is threatening your lodger. It isequally clear that his enemies, lying in wait for him near your door, mistook your husband for him in the foggy morning light. Ondiscovering their mistake they released him. What they would have donehad it not been a mistake, we can only conjecture. "

"Well, what am I to do, Mr. Holmes?"

"I have a great fancy to see this lodger of yours, Mrs. Warren. "

"I don't see how that is to be managed, unless you break in the door. I always hear him unlock it as I go down the stair after I leave thetray. "

"He has to take the tray in. Surely we could conceal ourselves and seehim do it. "

The landlady thought for a moment. 

"Well, sir, there's the box-room opposite. I could arrange alooking-glass, maybe, and if you were behind the door--"

"Excellent!" said Holmes. "When does he lunch?"

"About one, sir. "

"Then Dr. Watson and I will come round in time. For the present, Mrs. Warren, good-bye. "

At half-past twelve we found ourselves upon the steps of Mrs. Warren'shouse--a high, thin, yellow-brick edifice in Great Orme Street, anarrow thoroughfare at the northeast side of the British Museum. Standing as it does near the corner of the street, it commands a viewdown Howe Street, with its ore pretentious houses. Holmes pointed witha chuckle to one of these, a row of residential flats, which projectedso that they could not fail to catch the eye. 

"See, Watson!" said he. "'High red house with stone facings. ' There isthe signal station all right. We know the place, and we know the code;so surely our task should be simple. There's a 'to let' card in thatwindow. It is evidently an empty flat to which the confederate hasaccess. Well, Mrs. Warren, what now?"

"I have it all ready for you. If you will both come up and leave yourboots below on the landing, I'll put you there now. "

It was an excellent hiding-plate which she had arranged. The mirrorwas so placed that, seated in the dark, we could very plainly see thedoor opposite. We had hardly settled down in it, and Mrs. Warren leftus, when a distant tinkle announced that our mysterious neighbour hadrung. Presently the landlady appeared with the tray, laid it down upona chair beside the closed door, and then, treading heavily, departed. Crouching together in the angle of the door, we kept our eyes fixedupon the mirror. Suddenly, as the landlady's footsteps died away, therewas the creak of a turning key, the handle revolved, and two thin handsdarted out and lifted the tray form the chair. An instant later it washurriedly replaced, and I caught a glimpse of a dark, beautiful, horrified face glaring at the narrow opening of the box-room. Then thedoor crashed to, the key turned once more, and all was silence. Holmestwitched my sleeve, and together we stole down the stair. 

"I will call again in the evening, " said he to the expectant landlady. "I think, Watson, we can discuss this business better in our ownquarters. "

"My surmise, as you saw, proved to be correct, " said he, speaking fromthe depths of his easy-chair. "There has been a substitution oflodgers. What I did not foresee is that we should find a woman, and noordinary woman, Watson. "

"She saw us. "

"Well, she saw something to alarm her. That is certain. The generalsequence of events is pretty clear, is it not? A couple seek refuge inLondon from a very terrible and instant danger. The measure of thatdanger is the rigour of their precautions. The man, who has some workwhich he must do, desires to leave the woman in absolute safety whilehe does it. It is not an easy problem, but he solved it in an originalfashion, and so effectively that her presence was not even known to thelandlady who supplies her with food. The printed messages, as is nowevident, were to prevent her sex being discovered by her writing. Theman cannot come near the woman, or he will guide their enemies to her. Since he cannot communicate with her direct, he has recourse to theagony column of a paper. So far all is clear. "

"But what is at the root of it?"

"Ah, yes, Watson--severely practical, as usual! What is at the root ofit all? Mrs. Warren's whimsical problem enlarges somewhat and assumesa more sinister aspect as we proceed. This much we can say: that itis no ordinary love escapade. You saw the woman's face at the sign ofdanger. We have heard, too, of the attack upon the landlord, which wasundoubtedly meant for the lodger. These alarms, and the desperate needfor secrecy, argue that the matter is one of life or death. The attackupon Mr. Warren further shows that the enemy, whoever they are, arethemselves not aware of the substitution of the female lodger for themale. It is very curious and complex, Watson. "

"Why should you go further in it? What have you to gain from it?"

"What, indeed? It is art for art's sake, Watson. I suppose when youdoctored you found yourself studying cases without thought of a fee?"

"For my education, Holmes. "

"Education never ends, Watson. It is a series of lessons with thegreatest for the last. This is an instructive case. There is neithermoney nor credit in it, and yet one would wish to tidy it up. Whendusk comes we should find ourselves one stage advanced in ourinvestigation. "

When we returned to Mrs. Warren's rooms, the gloom of a London winterevening had thickened into one gray curtain, a dead monotone of colour, broken only by the sharp yellow squares of the windows and the blurredhaloes of the gas-lamps. As we peered from the darkened sitting-roomof the lodging-house, one more dim light glimmered high up through theobscurity. 

"Someone is moving in that room, " said Holmes in a whisper, his gauntand eager face thrust forward to the window-pane. "Yes, I can see hisshadow. There he is again! He has a candle in his hand. Now he ispeering across. He wants to be sure that she is on the lookout. Nowhe begins to flash. Take the message also, Watson, that we may checkeach other. A single flash--that is A, surely. Now, then. How manydid you make it? Twenty. Do did In. That should mean T. AT--that'sintelligible enough. Another T. Surely this is the beginning of asecond word. Now, then--TENTA. Dead stop. That can't be all, Watson?ATTENTA gives no sense. Nor is it any better as three words AT, TEN, TA, unless T. A. Are a person's initials. There it goes again! What'sthat? ATTE--why, it is the same message over again. Curious, Watson, very curious. Now he is off once more! AT--why he is repeating it forthe third time. ATTENTA three times! How often will he repeat it?No, that seems to be the finish. He has withdrawn form the window. What do you make of it, Watson?"

"A cipher message, Holmes. "

My companion gave a sudden chuckle of comprehension. "And not a veryobscure cipher, Watson, " said he. "Why, of course, it is Italian! TheA means that it is addressed to a woman. 'Beware! Beware! Beware!'How's that, Watson?

"I believe you have hit it. "

"Not a doubt of it. It is a very urgent message, thrice repeated tomake it more so. But beware of what? Wait a bit, he is coming to thewindow once more. "

Again we saw the dim silhouette of a crouching man and the whisk of thesmall flame across the window as the signals were renewed. They camemor rapidly than before--so rapid that it was hard to follow them. 

"PERICOLO--pericolo--eh, what's that, Watson? 'Danger, ' isn't it?Yes, by Jove, it's a danger signal. There he goes again! PERI. Halloa, what on earth--"

The light had suddenly gone out, the glimmering square of window haddisappeared, and the third floor formed a dark band round the loftybuilding, with its tiers of shining casements. That last warning cryhad been suddenly cut short. How, and by whom? The same thoughtoccurred on the instant to us both. Holmes sprang up from where hecrouched by the window. 

"This is serious, Watson, " he cried. "There is some devilry goingforward! Why should such a message stop in such a way? I should putScotland Yard in touch with this business--and yet, it is too pressingfor us to leave. "

"Shall I go for the police?"

"We must define the situation a little more clearly. It may bear somemore innocent interpretation. Come, Watson, let us go across ourselvesand see what we can make of it. "

Two

As we walked rapidly down Howe Street I glanced back at the buildingwhich we had left. There, dimly outlined at the top window, I couldsee the shadow of a head, a woman's head, gazing tensely, rigidly, outinto the night, waiting with breathless suspense for the renewal ofthat interrupted message. At the doorway of the Howe Street flats aman, muffled in a cravat and greatcoat, was leaning against therailing. He started as the hall-light fell upon our faces. 

"Holmes!" he cried. 

"Why, Gregson!" said my companion as he shook hands with the ScotlandYard detective. "Journeys end with lovers' meetings. What brings youhere?"

"The same reasons that bring you, I expect, " said Gregson. "How yougot on to it I can't imagine. "

"Different threads, but leading up to the same tangle. I've beentaking the signals. "

"Signals?"

"Yes, from that window. They broke off in the middle. We came over tosee the reason. But since it is safe in your hands I see no object incontinuing this business. "

"Wait a bit!" cried Gregson eagerly. "I'll do you this justice, Mr. Holmes, that I was never in a case yet that I didn't feel stronger forhaving you on my side. There's only the one exit to these flats, so wehave him safe. "

"Who is he?"

"Well, well, we score over you for once, Mr. Holmes. You must give usbest this time. " He struck his stick sharply upon the ground, on whicha cabman, his whip in his hand, sauntered over from a four-wheelerwhich stood on the far side of the street. "May I introduce you to Mr. Sherlock Holmes?" he said to the cabman. "This is Mr. Leverton, ofPinkerton's American Agency. "

"The hero of the Long Island cave mystery?" said Holmes. "Sir, I ampleased to meet you. "

The American, a quiet, businesslike young man, with a clean-shaven, hatchet face, flushed up at the words of commendation. "I am on thetrail of my life now, Mr. Holmes, " said he. "If I can get Gorgiano--"

"What! Gorgiano of the Red Circle?"

"Oh, he has a European fame, has he? Well, we've learned all about himin America. We KNOW he is at the bottom of fifty murders, and yet wehave nothing positive we can take him on. I tracked him over from NewYork, and I've been close to him for a week in London, waiting someexcuse to get my hand on his collar. Mr. Gregson and I ran him toground in that big tenement house, and there's only one door, so hecan't slip us. There's three folk come out since he went in, but I'llswear he wasn't one of them. "

"Mr. Holmes talks of signals, " said Gregson. "I expect, as usual, heknows a good deal that we don't. "

In a few clear words Holmes explained the situation as it had appearedto us. The American struck his hands together with vexation. 

"He's on to us!" he cried. 

"Why do you think so?"

"Well, it figures out that way, does it not? Here he is, sending outmessages to an accomplice--there are several of his gang in London. Then suddenly, just as by your own account he was telling them thatthere was danger, he broke short off. What could it mean except thatfrom the window he had suddenly either caught sight of us in thestreet, or in some way come to understand how close the danger was, andthat he must act right away if he was to avoid it? What do yousuggest, Mr. Holmes?"

"That we go up at once and see for ourselves. "

"But we have no warrant for his arrest. "

"He is in unoccupied premises under suspicious circumstances, " saidGregson. "That is good enough for the moment. When we have him by theheels we can see if New York can't help us to keep him. I'll take theresponsibility of arresting him now. "

Our official detectives may blunder in the matter of intelligence, butnever in that of courage. Gregson climbed the stair to arrest thisdesperate murderer with the same absolutely quiet and businesslikebearing with which he would have ascended the official staircase ofScotland Yard. The Pinkerton man had tried to push past him, butGregson had firmly elbowed him back. London dangers were the privilegeof the London force. 

The door of the left-hand flat upon the third landing was standingajar. Gregson pushed it open. Within all was absolute silence anddarkness. I struck a match and lit the detective's lantern. As I didso, and as the flicker steadied into a flame, we all gave a gasp ofsurprise. On the deal boards of the carpetless floor there wasoutlined a fresh track of blood. The red steps pointed towards us andled away from an inner room, the door of which was closed. Gregsonflung it open and held his light full blaze in front of him, while weall peered eagerly over his shoulders. 

In the middle of the floor of the empty room was huddled the figure ofan enormous man, his clean-shaven, swarthy face grotesquely horrible inits contortion and his head encircled by a ghastly crimson halo ofblood, lying in a broad wet circle upon the white woodwork. His kneeswere drawn up, his hands thrown out in agony, and from the centre ofhis broad, brown, upturned throat there projected the white haft of aknife driven blade-deep into his body. Giant as he was, the man musthave gone down like a pole-axed ox before that terrific blow. Besidehis right hand a most formidable horn-handled, two-edged dagger layupon the floor, and near it a black kid glove. 

"By George! it's Black Gorgiano himself!" cried the American detective. "Someone has got ahead of us this time. "

"Here is the candle in the window, Mr. Holmes, " said Gregson. "Why, whatever are you doing?"

Holmes had stepped across, had lit the candle, and was passing itbackward and forward across the window-panes. Then he peered into thedarkness, blew the candle out, and threw it on the floor. 

"I rather think that will be helpful, " said he. He came over and stoodin deep thought while the two professionals were examining the body. "You say that three people came out form the flat while you werewaiting downstairs, " said he at last. "Did you observe them closely?"

"Yes, I did. "

"Was there a fellow about thirty, black-bearded, dark, of middle size?"

"Yes; he was the last to pass me. "

"That is your man, I fancy. I can give you his description, and wehave a very excellent outline of his footmark. That should be enoughfor you. "

"Not much, Mr. Holmes, among the millions of London. "

"Perhaps not. That is why I thought it best to summon this lady to youraid. "

We all turned round at the words. There, framed in the doorway, was atall and beautiful woman--the mysterious lodger of Bloomsbury. Slowlyshe advanced, her face pale and drawn with a frightful apprehension, her eyes fixed and staring, her terrified gaze riveted upon the darkfigure on the floor. 

"You have killed him!" she muttered. "Oh, Dio mio, you have killedhim!" Then I heard a sudden sharp intake of her breath, and she spranginto the air with a cry of joy. Round and round the room she danced, her hands clapping, her dark eyes gleaming with delighted wonder, and athousand pretty Italian exclamations pouring from her lips. It wasterrible and amazing to see such a woman so convulsed with joy at sucha sight. Suddenly she stopped and gazed at us all with a questioningstare. 

"But you! You are police, are you not? You have killed GiuseppeGorgiano. Is it not so?"

"We are police, madam. "

She looked round into the shadows of the room. 

"But where, then, is Gennaro?" she asked. "He is my husband, GennaroLucca. I am Emilia Lucca, and we are both from New York. Where isGennaro? He called me this moment from this window, and I ran with allmy speed. "

"It was I who called, " said Holmes. 

"You! How could you call?"

"Your cipher was not difficult, madam. Your presence here wasdesirable. I knew that I had only to flash 'Vieni' and you would surelycome. "

The beautiful Italian looked with awe at my companion. 

"I do not understand how you know these things, " she said. "GiuseppeGorgiano--how did he--" She paused, and then suddenly her face lit upwith pride and delight. "Now I see it! My Gennaro! My splendid, beautiful Gennaro, who has guarded me safe from all harm, he did it, with his own strong hand he killed the monster! Oh, Gennaro, howwonderful you are! What woman could every be worthy of such a man?"

"Well, Mrs. Lucca, " said the prosaic Gregson, laying his hand upon thelady's sleeve with as little sentiment as if she were a Notting Hillhooligan, "I am not very clear yet who you are or what you are; butyou've said enough to make it very clear that we shall want you at theYard. "

"One moment, Gregson, " said Holmes. "I rather fancy that this lady maybe as anxious to give us information as we can be to get it. Youunderstand, madam, that your husband will be arrested and tried for thedeath of the man who lies before us? What you say may be used inevidence. But if you think that he has acted from motives which arenot criminal, and which he would wish to have known, then you cannotserve him better than by telling us the whole story. "

"Now that Gorgiano is dead we fear nothing, " said the lady. "He was adevil and a monster, and there can be no judge in the world who wouldpunish my husband for having killed him. "

"In that case, " said Holmes, "my suggestion is that we lock this door, leave things as we found them, go with this lady to her room, and formour opinion after we have heard what it is that she has to say to us. "

Half an hour later we were seated, all four, in the small sitting-roomof Signora Lucca, listening to her remarkable narrative of thosesinister events, the ending of which we had chanced to witness. Shespoke in rapid and fluent but very unconventional English, which, forthe sake of clearness, I will make grammatical. 

"I was born in Posilippo, near Naples, " said she, "and was the daughterof Augusto Barelli, who was the chief lawyer and once the deputy ofthat part. Gennaro was in my father's employment, and I came to lovehim, as any woman must. He had neither money nor position--nothing buthis beauty and strength and energy--so my father forbade the match. Wefled together, were married at Bari, and sold my jewels to gain themoney which would take us to America. This was four years ago, and wehave been in New York ever since. 

"Fortune was very good to us at first. Gennaro was able to do aservice to an Italian gentleman--he saved him from some ruffians in theplace called the Bowery, and so made a powerful friend. His name wasTito Castalotte, and he was the senior partner of the great firm ofCastalotte and Zamba, who are the chief fruit importers of New York. Signor Zamba is an invalid, and our new friend Castalotte has all powerwithin the firm, which employs more than three hundred men. He took myhusband into his employment, made him head of a department, and showedhis good-will towards him in every way. Signor Castalotte was abachelor, and I believe that he felt as if Gennaro was his son, andboth my husband and I loved him as if he were our father. We had takenand furnished a little house in Brooklyn, and our whole future seemedassured when that black cloud appeared which was soon to overspread oursky. 

"One night, when Gennaro returned from his work, he brought afellow-countryman back with him. His name was Gorgiano, and he hadcome also from Posilippo. He was a huge man, as you can testify, foryou have looked upon his corpse. Not only was his body that of a giantbut everything about him was grotesque, gigantic, and terrifying. Hisvoice was like thunder in our little house. There was scarce room forthe whirl of his great arms as he talked. His thoughts, his emotions, his passions, all were exaggerated and monstrous. He talked, or ratherroared, with such energy that others could but sit and listen, cowedwith the mighty stream of words. His eyes blazed at you and held youat his mercy. He was a terrible and wonderful man. I thank God thathe is dead!

"He came again and again. Yet I was aware that Gennaro was no morehappy than I was in his presence. My poor husband would sit pale andlistless, listening to the endless raving upon politics and upon socialquestions which made up or visitor's conversation. Gennaro saidnothing, but I, who knew him so well, could read in his face someemotion which I had never seen there before. At first I thought thatit was dislike. And then, gradually, I understood that it was morethan dislike. It was fear--a deep, secret, shrinking fear. Thatnight--the night that I read his terror--I put my arms round him and Iimplored him by his love for me and by all that he held dear to holdnothing from me, and to tell me why this huge man overshadowed him so. 

"He told me, and my own heart grew cold as ice as I listened. My poorGennaro, in his wild and fiery days, when all the world seemed againsthim and his mind was driven half mad by the injustices of life, hadjoined a Neapolitan society, the Red Circle, which was allied to theold Carbonari. The oaths and secrets of this brotherhood werefrightful, but once within its rule no escape was possible. When wehad fled to America Gennaro thought that he had cast it all offforever. What was his horror one evening to meet in the streets thevery man who had initiated him in Naples, the giant Gorgiano, a man whohad earned the name of 'Death' in the south of Italy, for he was red tothe elbow in murder! He had come to New York to avoid the Italianpolice, and he had already planted a branch of this dreadful society inhis new home. All this Gennaro told me and showed me a summons whichhe had received that very day, a Red Circle drawn upon the head of ittelling him that a lodge would be held upon a certain date, and thathis presence at it was required and ordered. 

"That was bad enough, but worse was to come. I had noticed for sometime that when Gorgiano came to us, as he constantly did, in theevening, he spoke much to me; and even when his words were to myhusband those terrible, glaring, wild-beast eyes of his were alwaysturned upon me. One night his secret came out. I had awakened what hecalled 'love' within him--the love of a brute--a savage. Gennaro hadnot yet returned when he came. He pushed his way in, seized me in hismighty arms, hugged me in his bear's embrace, covered me with kisses, and implored me to come away with him. I was struggling and screamingwhen Gennaro entered and attacked him. He struck Gennaro senseless andfled from the house which he was never more to enter. It was a deadlyenemy that we made that night. 

"A few days later came the meeting. Gennaro returned from it with aface which told me that something dreadful had occurred. It was worsethan we could have imagined possible. The funds of the society wereraised by blackmailing rich Italians and threatening them with violenceshould they refuse the money. It seems that Castalotte, our dear friendand benefactor, had been approached. He had refused to yield tothreats, and he had handed the notices to the police. It was resolvednow that such an example should be made of them as would prevent anyother victim from rebelling. At the meeting it was arranged that he andhis house should be blown up with dynamite. There was a drawing oflots as to who should carry out the deed. Gennaro saw our enemy'scruel face smiling at him as he dipped his hand in the bag. No doubt ithad been prearranged in some fashion, for it was the fatal disc withthe Red Circle upon it, the mandate for murder, which lay upon hispalm. He was to kill his best friend, or he was to expose himself andme to the vengeance of his comrades. It was part of their fiendishsystem to punish those whom they feared or hated by injuring not onlytheir own persons but those whom they loved, and it was the knowledgeof this which hung as a terror over my poor Gennaro's head and drovehim nearly crazy with apprehension. 

"All that night we sat together, our arms round each other, eachstrengthening each for the troubles that lay before us. The very nextevening had been fixed for the attempt. By midday my husband and Iwere on our way to London, but not before he had given our benefactorfull warning of this danger, and had also left such information for thepolice as would safeguard his life for the future. 

"The rest, gentlemen, you know for yourselves. We were sure that ourenemies would be behind us like our own shadows. Gorgiano had hisprivate reasons for vengeance, but in any case we knew how ruthless, cunning, and untiring he could be. Both Italy and America are full ofstories of his dreadful powers. If ever they were exerted it would benow. My darling made use of the few clear days which our start hadgiven us in arranging for a refuge for me in such a fashion that nopossible danger could reach me. For his own part, he wished to be freethat he might communicate both with the American and with the Italianpolice. I do not myself know where he lived, or how. All that Ilearned was through the columns of a newspaper. But once as I lookedthrough my window, I saw two Italians watching the house, and Iunderstood that in some way Gorgiano had found our retreat. FinallyGennaro told me, through the paper, that he would signal to me from acertain window, but when the signals came they were nothing butwarnings, which were suddenly interrupted. It is very clear to me nowthat he knew Gorgiano to be close upon him, and that, thank God! he wasready for him when he came. And now, gentleman, I would ask youwhether we have anything to fear from the law, or whether any judgeupon earth would condemn my Gennaro for what he has done?"

"Well, Mr. Gregson, " said the American, looking across at the official, "I don't know what your British point of view may be, but I guess thatin New York this lady's husband will receive a pretty general vote ofthanks. "

"She will have to come with me and see the chief, " Gregson answered. "If what she says is corroborated, I do not think she or her husbandhas much to fear. But what I can't make head or tail of, Mr. Holmes, is how on earth YOU got yourself mixed up in the matter. "

"Education, Gregson, education. Still seeking knowledge at the olduniversity. Well, Watson, you have one more specimen of the tragic andgrotesque to add to your collection. By the way, it is not eighto'clock, and a Wagner night at Covent Garden! If we hurry, we might bein time for the second act. "