“The injury from which the unfortunate veteran was suffering was found to be a jagged cut some two inches long at the back part of his head, which had evidently been caused by a violent blow from a blunt weapon. Nor was it difficult to guess what that weapon may have been. Upon the floor, close to the body, was lying a singular club of hard carved wood with a bone handle. The colonel possessed a varied collection of weapons brought from the different countries in which he had fought, and it is conjectured by the police that this club was among his trophies. The servants deny having seen it before, but among the numerous curiosities in the house it is possible that it may have been overlooked. Nothing else of importance was discovered in the room by the police, save the inexplicable fact that neither upon Mrs. Barclay’s person nor upon that of the victim nor in any part of the room was the missing key to be found. The door had eventually to be opened by a locksmith from Aldershot.

「大佐が負った傷は / 約二インチの長さにわたるギザギザした裂傷だと判明した / 後頭部の / これはどうやら鈍器による猛打によるものらしかった◆どのような凶器が使われたかを推定するのに困難はなかった◆死体の側の床の上に / 堅い木に彫り物があり、柄が骨製の奇妙な棍棒が落ちていた◆大佐は様々な武器のコレクションを所蔵していた / 彼が戦闘に行った色々な国から運んできた / そして警察は推定した / この棍棒は彼の戦利品の中にあったと◆使用人は以前にそれを見たことがないと言った / しかし家の中には無数に奇妙なものがあり / それが見落とされるのはありうることだった◆警察が部屋を捜査して、他に重要なものは見つからなかった / ただ、説明のつかない事は / バークレイ夫人の体からも / 夫の体からも / 部屋のどこからも無くなった鍵が見つからなかった事だ◆扉は最終的にオールダーショットの鍵屋によって開けられた」

“That was the state of things, Watson, when upon the Tuesday morning I, at the request of Major Murphy, went down to Aldershot to supplement the efforts of the police. I think that you will acknowledge that the problem was already one of interest, but my observations soon made me realize that it was in truth much more extraordinary than would at first sight appear.

「これが出来事の状態だ / ワトソン / 火曜日の朝に / 僕は、マーフィー少佐の求めでオールダーショットに行った / 警察の捜査を補完するために◆君は認めるだろうと思う / この事件はすでに面白いものだと / しかし僕は調査をしてすぐに気付いた / 実際、最初に見えたものよりも遥かに異常だと」

“Before examining the room I cross-questioned the servants, but only succeeded in eliciting the facts which I have already stated. One other detail of interest was remembered by Jane Stewart, the housemaid. You will remember that on hearing the sound of the quarrel she descended and returned with the other servants. On that first occasion, when she was alone, she says that the voices of her master and mistress were sunk so low that she could hardly hear anything, and judged by their tones rather than their words that they had fallen out. On my pressing her, however, she remembered that she heard the word David uttered twice by the lady. The point is of the utmost importance as guiding us towards the reason of the sudden quarrel. The colonel’s name, you remember, was James.

「部屋を調べる前に / 僕は使用人達を相互尋問してみた / しかし既に分かっている事実を引き出せただけだった◆面白いほかの事実を / メイドのジェーン・スチュワートが覚えていた◆君は覚えているだろう / 言い争う声を聞いて / 彼女は下がって他の使用人を連れて戻ってきたと◆最初の場面で / 彼女が一人だったとき / 彼女は夫婦の声が非常に小さくて / ほとんど何も聞き取れなかったと言った / そして言葉ではなく声の調子で彼らが喧嘩をしていると判断した◆しかし、しつこく聞いたら / 彼女は夫人が二度 David という言葉を口走ったのを思い出した◆これは最高に重要な点だ / 突然の言い争いの原因に我々を導く◆大佐の名前は、覚えているだろうが、ジェームズだ」

“There was one thing in the case which had made the deepest impression both upon the servants and the police. This was the contortion of the colonel’s face. It had set, according to their account, into the most dreadful expression of fear and horror which a human countenance is capable of assuming. More than one person fainted at the mere sight of him, so terrible was the effect. It was quite certain that he had foreseen his fate, and that it had caused him the utmost horror. This, of course, fitted in well enough with the police theory, if the colonel could have seen his wife making a murderous attack upon him. Nor was the fact of the wound being on the back of his head a fatal objection to this, as he might have turned to avoid the blow. No information could be got from the lady herself, who was temporarily insane from an acute attack of brain-fever.

「この事件には一つの出来事がある / 警察と使用人の両方に最も強い印象を与えた◆それは大佐の顔のゆがみだ◆それは / 彼らの説明によれば / 不安と恐怖で物凄く恐ろしい形相になっていた / 人間の表情がここまでなるのかというほど◆彼を見ただけで気を失ったのは一人ではない / その効果は恐ろしいばかりだ◆彼が自分の運命を予期していたのは間違いない / そしてそれが彼の物凄い恐怖の原因だ◆これは / もちろん / 警察の理論に上手く合致する / もし大佐の妻が殺そうとして襲ってくるところを見たのなら◆傷が後頭部にあるという事実は / この理論にとって致命的ではない / 彼は襲撃をかわそうとして振り向いたかもしれない◆夫人からは何の情報も得られていない / 彼女は激しい脳炎発作で一時的に狂乱状態だ」

“From the police I learned that Miss Morrison, who you remember went out that evening with Mrs. Barclay, denied having any knowledge of what it was which had caused the ill-humour in which her companion had returned.

「警察から聞いたところでは / モリソンさんは / バークレイ夫人とあの夜出かけたと君も覚えているだろう / 何も知らないと言っていてる / バークレイ夫人が帰ったときに機嫌が悪くなる原因は」

“Having gathered these facts, Watson, I smoked several pipes over them, trying to separate those which were crucial from others which were merely incidental. There could be no question that the most distinctive and suggestive point in the case was the singular disappearance of the door-key. A most careful search had failed to discover it in the room. Therefore it must have been taken from it. But neither the colonel nor the colonel’s wife could have taken it. That was perfectly clear. Therefore a third person must have entered the room. And that third person could only have come in through the window. It seemed to me that a careful examination of the room and the lawn might possibly reveal some traces of this mysterious individual. You know my methods, Watson. There was not one of them which I did not apply to the inquiry. And it ended by my discovering traces, but very different ones from those which I had expected. There had been a man in the room, and he had crossed the lawn coming from the road. I was able to obtain five very clear impressions of his footmarks: one in the roadway itself, at the point where he had climbed the low wall, two on the lawn, and two very faint ones upon the stained boards near the window where he had entered. He had apparently rushed across the lawn, for his toe-marks were much deeper than his heels. But it was not the man who surprised me. It was his companion.”

「これらの事実を集めて / ワトソン / 僕は何服かパイプを吸いながら考えてみた / 決定的な点を分離しようと試みながら / 単に偶然の出来事から◆疑いは全く無い / この事件で最も特徴的で暗示的なのは / 奇妙にもドアの鍵が無くなったことだ◆入念に部屋を調査したにも関らず発見できなかった◆したがって、鍵は持ち出されたはずだ◆しかし大佐も大佐の妻も持ち出せなかった◆これは完全に明白だ◆したがって、第三の人物が部屋に入っていたはずだ◆その第三の人物は窓からしか入って来れなかった◆僕には思えた / 部屋と芝生を入念に調べれば / この不思議な人物の手がかりが発見できるかもしれないと◆君は僕のやり方を知っているだろう / ワトソン◆僕がこの調査でもそれを適用しないはずがなかった。◆そして痕跡を発見するという成果に繋がった / しかし僕が予想していたものとは全く違ったものだったが◆一人の男が部屋の中にいた / そして彼は道から芝生を横切っていた◆僕は５つの明らかな足跡を見つけることができた / 一つは道の上に / 彼が低い塀を乗り越えた場所に / 二つは芝生に / 非常にかすかな跡が二つ / 彼が入った窓の近くの羽目板に◆彼はどうやら芝生を走って横切ったらしい / 彼の爪先の跡は踵よりも遥かに深かった◆しかし僕が驚いたのはその男の足跡ではない◆彼の仲間だ」

“His companion!”

「仲間！」

Holmes pulled a large sheet of tissue-paper out of his pocket and carefully unfolded it upon his knee.

ホームズはポケットから大きな薄紙を取り出し / 慎重に膝の上で広げた

“What do you make of that?” he asked.

「これをどう思う？」 / 彼は尋ねた