Sherlock Holmes and the House of Fear Page #7

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Did he say anything

before he left?

Yes.

He wasn't very

kind to me at first.

He was standing just

where your standing

Mr. Holmes.

He asked me if

had any tobacco

but as you know

I don't smoke.

And I suggested

that he might take

some of Captain Simpson's.

Well he pulled

out his pipe

and he was just

about to fill it

when he said,

Oh this may be important.

I must see Holmes at once.

Thank you, Mr. Alastair.

And don't you move.

This wall measures

twenty-eight feet outside

and inside it's obviously

several feet less.

Oh what are you

looking for?

Entrance to a passage.

What passage?

It could only be in

that outside wall.

Oh we could knock the wall

down for you Mr. Holmes.

What you don't

realize, Lestrade,

is they're desperate.

They'd stop at nothing

and they've got

Doctor Watson.

They, who's they?

Get those

candles will you?

All right.

What are you doing here?

I don't like to be alone.

Got it.

Good gracious.

That was for the

entrance to the stairs

leading to the old

smuggler's cave

down below.

I forgot it was there.

Give me the light.

Oh dear.

Blimey!

Quiet they'll hear us.

Who's they?

See for yourself Lestrade.

Lord (unintelligible)

Well strike me down.

All right

everybody, hands up,

you're under arrest.

But who's in there?

The Good Comrades.

Oh no, no.

They're dead.

Are they?

Come on now into

the line all of you.

I thought you

were all dead.

That's what they

wanted us to think.

Watson!

Raeburn,

King,

Davies,

Cosgrave,

Merrivale,

Simpson,

how dreadful of you.

Thank heaven

your safe Watson.

Well thank heavens

you came Holmes.

In another minute

they would have

thrown me in the sea

and got away on a boat

chartered by Simpson.

It's out there

now off shore.

Congratulations Lestrade.

You bagged the lot.

That's all right

Mr. Holmes.

And may I congratulate

you gentlemen

on a very ingenious plan.

I must confess

if you wouldn't have

over embellished

into the business

of the orange pips

this sinister

significance

of the happenings

of Driercliff House

might have escaped my

attention all together.

Your quite eloquent

Mr. Holmes.

And if Captain Simpson

hadn't removed his

tobacco from the library

you might still have

perfected your escape.

Incidentally, Lestrade,

I think you'll find

that each of

these gentlemen

has his share of

the insurance money

probably in a

well-stuffed money belt.

You fool Simpson.

I told you somebody would

notice that tobacco jar.

A fool am I?

Who asked this detective

to come stay at the house?

He did.

I had to the way you and

Merrivale were acting.

Shut up Cosgrave.

Don't tell me to shut up.

You and your orange pips.

You said they would

divert suspicion

but did they?

No.

You and your orange

pips fixed us.

All right, all right,

get back into

line all of you.

Now come on.

You get back into

line all of you.

Now then, hand

over that money.

Here, here, here

no more tricks like that.

If it hadn't been

for the sharp eyes

of Mr. Holmes here

you might of...

you might of shot someone.

And I thought you

were my friends.

Such good friends.

How could you?

Never mind my good men,

you'll soon be

in the dump

with the rest of them.

No, Lestrade,

Mr. Alastair's

completely innocent.

They selected him

as their dupe.

Oh.

It's all clear to me,

Holmes, except one thing,

why did they

kill MacGregor?

Because MacGregor didn't

believe in ghosts.

One night on the beach

he saw a man he

thought was dead,

probably our friend

big foot there

and was rash enough

to write Lestrade

a note about it.

That note was his

death warrant.

Very pretty

theorizing Mr. Holmes

but you can't

prove a thing.

That remains to be seen.

Lestrade will

you pick up

Captain Simpson's

revolver

and have a look at it?

One bullet fired?

That's right Mr. Holmes.

I have no doubt that the

ballistics will prove

that the missing bullet

killed Alex MacGregor.

It's good enough for me.

If what you say is

true Mr. Holmes

there ain't a jury

in the country that

won't convict them.

And so just retribution

has been visited

upon the six members

of the Good Comrades,

whose nefarious plan

was unmasked in

the nick of time.

By the brilliant

detective work

of Inspector Lestrade

of Scotland Yard.

Of all the balderdash,

Lestrade hasn't got

the faintest idea

what it was all about.

I don't know Watson.

After all we know

who is responsible

for solving the mystery

of the Good Comrades.

That's right.

If it hadn't been

for Mr. Holmes

that headline might

have been about me.

Mr. Holmes one

thing puzzles me.

What?

How did they manage

those fake murders?

Oh elementary my dear

Charles, elementary.

I can explain all that.

Whenever there

was a funeral

of some old chap in

the neighborhood

they dug up the body

and dressed it

in the clothes

of all their members,

then they staged

a fake death

and mutilated the body

beyond all

recognition.

In the meantime,

the so-called corpse

disappeared quietly

into the smuggler's room

underneath

Driercliff House.

I think...

I think that about

sums the whole thing.

Tell me Doctor Watson,

in the simulated death

of Captain Simpson

how do you account

for the tattooing

on the torso?

Tattooing on the torso...

well I...

Go on Watson, tell him.

Well the tattoo...

well the tattooing

on the torso...

sorry Holmes.

Captain Simpson

was an expert

with a tattoo needle.

He merely duplicated

the poor rigged ship

on the chest

of the corpse.

I also observed that

the design on the torso

had been done

within the previous

twenty-four hours.

Dear me.

What a gruesome idea.

Out of gratitude of

what you've done

the companies

that I represent

wish you to accept

this check.

No Mr. Chalmers,

I think Mr.

Alastair here

is much more deserving

of a reward than I am.

Dear me they took

me in completely.

I didn't help you

solve the case.

No but you did

much more than that.

It was your timely warning

when you drew

our attention

to the empty tobacco jar

and saved the life

of my dear friend

and colleague,

Doctor John H. Watson.

That's very nice

of you old man.

And by enabling us

to continue our long

and happy

association together.

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