The Sign of Four Page #2

it possibly refer to

except this deprivation

of her father?

Tape measure,

gun.

And why should

these presents

begin immediately

after Sholto's death

unless it is that

Sholto's heir

knows something

of the mystery

and desires to

make compensation?

Are you ready Watson?

And waiting.

Have you any

alternative theory

that will meet the facts?

But what a strange

compensation!

And how strangely made!

What time is it?

It's a quarter

past the hour.

Evening Ellis.

Evening sir.

Why should somebody

write her a letter now,

rather than 6 years ago?

Again, the letter speaks

of giving her justice.

What justice can she have?

It is too much to suppose

that her father

is still alive

and there's no

other injustice

in her case that

you know of.

There are difficulties

but there are

always difficulties.

Good evening Mr Holmes.

I do hope I'm not...

Good evening.

By the way,

a curious paper was

found in Papa's desk,

which nobody

could understand.

I don't suppose it is of

the slightest importance,

but I thought you

might like to see it,

so I brought it with me.

The paper appears to be

of Indian manufacture.

At some point it's

been pinned to a board.

The diagram upon it

appears to be the plan

of part of a

large building

with numerous halls,

corridors, and passages.

There's a cross

in red ink,

and on the side is

written '3.37 from left. '

There is a curious

hieroglyphic,

The sign of four

Kartar Singh,

Indigo Singh,

Jagodish Singh,

Jonathan Small.

It appears it has been kept

carefully in a pocketbook,

for the one side is

as clean as the other.

It was in his pocketbook

that we found it.

Preserve it carefully,

Miss Morstan.

I begin to suspect

that this case may be

much deeper

and more subtle

than I ever

first supposed.

Hey, are you the parties

who come with

Miss Morstan?

I'm Miss Morstan,

and these 2 gentlemen

are my companions.

I must ask you to

give me your word

that neither of

your companions

is a police officer.

I give you my word.

Sahib awaits you.

Show them in, Khitmutgar.

Show them

straight in to me.

Your servant,

Miss Morstan.

Your servant, gentlemen.

Come in.

Come in.

Come in.

Come in to my

little sanctum.

I trust you have

no objection

to tobacco smoke?

The balsamic odor

of Eastern tobacco?

I am a little nervous

and I find my hookah

to be an invaluable...

sedative.

You will excuse

me Mr. Sholto

but I am here

at your request

to learn something,

which you desire

to tell me?

It is getting very

late and I should wish

the interview to be

as short as possible.

Well it must

take some time.

For we have to

go to Norwood

to see brother

Bartholomew.

We must all see

if we can get the better

of brother

Bartholomew.

He is angry with me for

taking the course that

has seemed right to me.

You cannot imagine

what a terrible

fellow he is

when he is angry.

If we are to

go to Norwood,

it would

perhaps be as well

if we were start at once.

No.

No that would hardly do.

I don't know what

he would say

if we came upon him

in that sudden way.

No I must prepare you

by showing you

where we all stand

to each other.

I must lay the

facts before you,

as I know them myself.

My father, the late

Major John Sholto,

came to live at

Pondicherry Lodge

in Upper Norwood

some 11 years ago.

And he had

prospered in India

and brought back with him

a considerable

sum of money,

a collection of

valuable curiosities,

and a staff of

native servants.

With these advantages

he lived in great luxury.

My brother and I were at

university at the time.

We did know, however,

that some mystery,

some positive danger,

overhung our father.

He was very fearful

of going out alone,

and he employed

2 prizefighters

to guard him.

Williams, who drove

you here tonight,

was one of them.

For some reason,

he never told anyone,

my father had a

marked aversion

to men with wooden legs.

On one occasion

he actually fired

his revolver

at a one-legged man.

A harmless tradesman

as it turned out.

I remember we

have to pay

a considerable sum

to hush it up.

Then suddenly

my father

received a letter

It was a great

shock to him.

Out.

Out of the room!

Out of the room!

What was in the letter

we could never discover?

For years my father

had suffered

with an

enlarged spleen

and from that moment on

he became rapidly worse.

But one night the doctor

informed us there was no hope

and that he wished to make

a last communication to us.

My dear family,

when we were in India

my friend, Morstan and I,

came into possession

of a considerable

treasure.

I brought it home

with me to this house,

where it's still alive.

On the day, Mr. Morstan,

had arrived home

from the East.

He came straight

to this house

to claim his share.

We gave our word Sholto.

A promise.

We gave our word

and our oath.

another time,

another life,

another world,

a solemn promise.

You tried to

betray me Morstan.

If you dare to

cross me...

My God.

The man is dead Altada.

You have nothing

to fear Sir.

I will arrange everything.

And soon it was

done Miss Morstan,

in secrecy of course

but with respect.

This is disgraceful

Mister Sholto.

Your father's behavior

was quite unforgivable.

Please Doctor.

I knew in my heart

that he was dead.

My father was

not alone then.

And I'm glad he

didn't suffer.

You're very brave

Miss Morstan.

What concerns me now

is the wishing

for this quarrel.

I cannot imagine

how my father

came to be involved

with that treasure.

I'm afraid that is

not clear Miss Morstan

I can only tell you

my father's instructions

concerning it.

The greed.

accursed greed

that has been

my besetting thing

throughout my life

has robbed her

of the treasure.

Half of which, at least,

should be hers.

You see that

chaplet there.

I had the design of

sending it to her

but could not bear

to part with it.

You

my sons

must see that

Miss Morstan

gets her share

of the treasure.

Get him away.

For Christ's sake

get him away.

We ran to the window

and out into the garden

but the intruder was gone.

My father was dead.

We soon had more striking

proof that there were

secret agencies that

work all around us.

The next day my father's

bedroom was broken into

and this was fixed

to his chest.

Remarkable.

It is the Sikkh symbol

for the numeral 4.

What the paper means

and who our secret

visitor or visitors were

we never found out.

And my brother and

I were much excited

as you could imagine

of the treasure that

my father had spoken

but try as we might

we couldn't find it.

It was maddened to think

that the hiding place

was on his very

lips when he died.

We could judge the

splendor of the riches

by the chaplet, which

he had taken out.

The pearls were

evidently of great value,

and my brother was averse

to part with them,

for, between friends,

he was a little inclined

to my father's fault.

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