5 A Shocking Attack

Chapter 5 A Shocking Attack After leaving Miss Stoner, Sherlock Holmes and I walked over to the Crown Inn and secured an upper-floor room. From our window, we had a good view of the inhabited wing of Stoke Moran. At dusk, Dr. Grimesby Roylott arrived at the house in his trap. The young driver had some difficulty undoing the heavy iron gates, and we heard an angry roar of impatience from the doctor as he shook his fist at the boy.

"I fear we may be in some danger tonight, Watson," said Holmes gravely. "Clearly you saw more in that house than I did," I said. "I saw all you did, but perhaps I deduced a little more. There were some very odd things about those rooms." "Like the ventilator shaft?" "I knew that would be there before we came to Stoke Moran." "You did? How?" "You remember Miss Stoner telling us that her sister could smell her stepfather's cigars? That's when I knew there had to be an opening in the wall between the two rooms, however small." "But what's the significance of a tiny opening between the rooms, Holmes? A rat could barely pass through it." "Yes, and it serves no obvious purpose; that's what bothers me. It's the same with the bell pull, which was put in at around the same time. Also, did you notice anything unusual about the bed?" "It was clamped to the floor."

"Did you ever see a bed fastened like that before?" "I can't say I have." "The lady couldn't move her bed, so it would have to be in the same position beneath the ventilator and the rope." I shivered at his use of the word rope instead of bell pull. Yet he was right—it was clearly never meant to be a bell pull. I began to see the dim outlines of a subtle and horrible crime. I only prayed we were in time to prevent it. We stared into the darkness, waiting for our signal. Hours passed and I began to fear that

something had gone wrong. Perhaps Dr. Roylott had broken into his stepdaughter's bedroom. Then, at the stroke of eleven, a single bright light shone from the house. "That's the signal," cried Holmes, springing to his feet. "It's coming from the middle window." A moment later, we were outside on the dark road, a chill wind blowing in our faces and just that lonely yellow light to guide us to our destination. It wasn't difficult to enter the grounds—the old wall surrounding the property had several breaks in it. After making our way through the trees, we crossed the lawn and were

about to enter through the window when a nearby movement made us jump. Something sprang out of a clump of bushes and darted across the lawn. It looked like a hideous little child. "Hell's teeth!" I whispered. "Did you see that?" Holmes seemed, at first, as startled as I was, for I felt his hand close tightly around my wrist. Then he broke into a low laugh. "That," he said, "was the baboon." I had forgotten about Roylott's strange pets, and I let out a strangled sigh. "Maybe we'll find the cheetah on our shoulders next," I muttered.

Holmes was first through the window. After I had clambered in behind him, he quietly closed the shutters and moved the lamp to the table. We removed our shoes to make less noise. "Let's not speak," Holmes whispered in my ear. "The smallest sound could be fatal to our plans." I nodded to show I understood. "And stay awake," he whispered. "Your life may depend on it." I took out my gun and rested it on the table within easy reach. Holmes took the lamp over to the bed. He seated himself there, laying his long, thin cane on the blanket beside him. Next to it he placed a box of matches. Then he switched off the lamp, leaving us in complete darkness. This was necessary because even the dimmest light would