6 A Double Life

Chapter 6 A Double Life The bell rang for the next race, which Holmes had placed a bet on, so Colonel Ross and I had to wait a little longer to hear exactly how Silver Blaze had killed John Straker. The colonel had an appointment in London that evening, and it was on the train journey back to town that we heard the rest of the story. "The horse," said Sherlock Holmes, "acted to defend itself. I'm afraid, Colonel, that John Straker was not the man you thought him to be. In fact, he was a scoundrel who led a double life." "I don't believe it!" cried the colonel. "I'm afraid it's true. I went down to Dartmoor last Thursday convinced that Fitzroy Simpson was our culprit, but as we arrived at Straker's house, I was struck by an idea that changed everything. Do you remember when I remained

seated in the carriage after you had all got out? I was thinking about the curried mutton." "I confess, I cannot see the significance," said the colonel. "Curried mutton," said Holmes, "is spicy enough to disguise the taste of powdered opium. If it had been any other dish, the eater would have noticed the presence of the drug. "There's no way that Fitzroy Simpson could have arranged for curried mutton to be served at the Straker house that night. That's how I knew Simpson was innocent. Someone living in the house must have added the opium to Ned Hunter's dish.

"The other curious fact about that night was the silence of the dog. The dog guarded the stables, yet someone had gone in and stolen Silver Blaze and the dog didn't bark. That told me that this late-night visitor was someone the dog knew well. "Putting the curried mutton and the silent dog together, I was fairly sure that John Straker was our horse thief. The question was: why? The answer was provided by that strange knife found in Straker's hand—a delicate, surgical knife that was completely unsuitable for use as a weapon. But Straker hadn't intended on using it as a weapon; he was planning to perform surgery on Silver Blaze.

"There have been cases in the past where trainers have made lots of money by hurting their own horses to stop them winning and then betting on other horses. You must have heard of such practices, Colonel?" "Yes, but I never imagined Straker would be capable of such villainy." "He planned to make a slight cut in the tendon of the horse's leg. With such a knife, he could do so and leave barely a trace on the skin. People would think the horse had become lame due to over-exercise or rheumatism, but no one would suspect foul play. Straker experimented on the sheep in the field next to his house, which is why three of them are now lame.

"Of course, such a lively animal would have roused the soundest of sleepers when it felt the prick of the knife, which is why Straker decided to take the horse out on the moor." "That's why he had the candle in his pocket," said the colonel, "and it explains that burnt match you found. But why would he do this? I paid the man well." "A clue might be found among the papers we found in his pockets. You remember the bills we found for a hat and dress bought by a certain Mr. Derbyshire? I thought it odd that a man should carry around another man's bills, so when I got back to London, I paid a visit to the shop where the hat was purchased.

"I showed the shop assistant a photograph of Straker and she said it was the man she knew as Mr. Derbyshire. When she described the woman who was with him, it didn't sound anything like Mrs. Straker. He'd clearly been leading a double life. His mistress in London had expensive taste in hats and dresses, which was why he felt the need to make some extra money by injuring Silver Blaze." "So how did Silver Blaze end up killing Straker?" I asked.