The two women told their story clearly enough. They had been aroused from their sleep by the sound of an explosion, which had been followed a minute later by a second one. They slept in adjoining rooms, and Mrs. King had rushed in to Saunders. Together they had descended the stairs. The door of the study was open, and a candle was burning upon the table. Their master lay upon his face in the centre of the room. He was quite dead. Near the window his wife was crouching, her head leaning against the wall. She was horribly wounded, and the side of her face was red with blood. She breathed heavily, but was incapable of saying anything. The passage, as well as the room, was full of smoke and the smell of powder. The window was certainly shut and fastened upon the inside. Both women were positive upon the point. They had at once sent for the doctor and for the constable. Then, with the aid of the groom and the stable-boy, they had conveyed their injured mistress to her room. Both she and her husband had occupied the bed. She was clad in her dress – he in his dressing-gown, over his night-clothes. Nothing had been moved in the study. So far as they knew, there had never been any quarrel between husband and wife. They had always looked upon them as a very united couple.

二人の女性は明確に供述した◆彼らは爆発音で目が覚めた / それから一分後に二つ目の音がした◆彼らは隣り合った部屋で寝ていて / キング夫人がサンダースの部屋に駆け込んだ◆彼女達は一緒に階段を降りた◆書斎の扉が開いていて / テーブルの上でロウソクが燃えていた◆彼女達の主人は部屋の中央でうつ伏せに横たわっていた◆彼は既に死亡していた◆窓の近くに / 妻がうずくまっていた / 壁に頭をもたれかけて◆彼女は恐ろしい傷を負っていて / 顔の半分が血で真っ赤だった◆彼女は苦しそうに息をしていた / しかし何も話すことはできなかった◆廊下は / 部屋の中と同じように / 煙と火薬のにおいで充満していた◆窓は間違いなく締まっていて内側から鍵がかけられていた◆二人ともこの点に関しては自信があった◆彼女達はすぐに医者と巡査を呼びに行った◆その後 / 馬手と厩舎付きの少年の手を借りて / 彼女達は怪我をした女主人を彼女の部屋に運んだ◆彼女と夫は同じベッドで寝ていた◆彼女はきちんと服を着ており / / 夫は夜着の上からガウンを羽織っていた◆書斎で動かしたものはない◆彼女達が知る限り / 夫婦の間でいさかいがあったことはない◆彼女達は二人をいつも非常に仲の良い夫婦と見ていた

These were the main points of the servants’ evidence. In answer to Inspector Martin, they were clear that every door was fastened upon the inside, and that no one could have escaped from the house. In answer to Holmes, they both remembered that they were conscious of the smell of powder from the moment that they ran out of their rooms upon the top floor. “I commend that fact very carefully to your attention,” said Holmes to his professional colleague. “And now I think that we are in a position to undertake a thorough examination of the room.”

これらが使用人の証言の主要な点だった◆マーティン警部の質問に答えて / 彼女達は明言した / 全部の扉が内側から鍵を掛けられており / 誰も家から逃げられなかったはずだと◆ホームズの質問に答えて / 彼女達は二人とも記憶していた / 火薬のにおいに気付いたと / 一番上の階にある彼女達の部屋から飛び出した瞬間に◆「この事実によく注目する事をお勧めする」 / ホームズはマーティン警部に言った◆「さてここで僕の考えでは / 我々は部屋を徹底的に調べ始めるところまで来た」

The study proved to be a small chamber, lined on three sides with books, and with a writing-table facing an ordinary window, which looked out upon the garden. Our first attention was given to the body of the unfortunate squire, whose huge frame lay stretched across the room. His disordered dress showed that he had been hastily aroused from sleep. The bullet had been fired at him from the front, and had remained in his body, after penetrating the heart. His death had certainly been instantaneous and painless. There was no powder-marking either upon his dressing-gown or on his hands. According to the country surgeon, the lady had stains upon her face, but none upon her hand.

書斎は小さな部屋だった / 三方は本がずらりと並べられ / ごくありふれた窓に向かって書き物をする机があった / 窓は庭に面していた◆我々の最初の注意は / 不幸な郷士の死体に向けられた / 彼の大きな体は手足を伸ばして部屋に横たわっていた◆彼の乱れた服は / 彼が眠りから慌てて目覚めた事を示していた◆銃弾は正面から彼に向けて発射されていた / そして体の中でとどまっていた / 心臓を突き抜けた後◆彼の死は間違いなく即死で無痛だった◆彼のガウンにも両手にも硝煙の跡はなかった◆地方外科医によれば / 女性の顔には汚れがあったが / 手にはなかった

“The absence of the latter means nothing, though its presence may mean everything,” said Holmes. “Unless the powder from a badly fitting cartridge happens to spurt backward, one may fire many shots without leaving a sign. I would suggest that Mr. Cubitt’s body may now be removed. I suppose, Doctor, you have not recovered the bullet which wounded the lady?”

「彼女の手に硝煙反応がないことは何も意味しない / あったのなら色々な解釈が可能だが」 / ホームズは言った◆「たまたま、調整の悪い薬きょうが、後ろに硝煙を噴出しない限り / 何の痕跡も残さないまま、何発も撃つ事ができる◆キュービット氏の遺体はもう運び出してもいいでしょう◆思うのですが / 先生 / 女性を傷つけた弾丸はまだ取り出していませんね？」

“A serious operation will be necessary before that can be done. But there are still four cartridges in the revolver. Two have been fired and two wounds inflicted, so that each bullet can be accounted for.”

「それをするには本格的な手術が必要です◆しかし拳銃にはまだ４つの薬きょうが残っています◆二発が発射されて傷が二つ / したがってそれぞれの銃弾の説明はつくでしょう」

“So it would seem,” said Holmes. “Perhaps you can account also for the bullet which has so obviously struck the edge of the window?”

「そのように思えますね」 / ホームズは言った◆「もしかするとこの弾丸の説明もつけられるでしょうか / こんなにはっきりと窓枠に撃ち込まれた」

He had turned suddenly, and his long, thin finger was pointing to a hole which had been drilled right through the lower window-sash, about an inch above the bottom.

彼は突然振り返った / 細長い指で一つの穴を指し示しながら / 窓枠のちょうど下側に撃ち込まれていた / 下端から約一インチ上にある

“By George!” cried the inspector. “How ever did you see that?”

「なんと！」 / 警部は叫んだ◆「どうやって見つけたのですか？」

“Because I looked for it.”

「探していたからです」

“Wonderful!” said the country doctor. “You are certainly right, sir. Then a third shot has been fired, and therefore a third person must have been present. But who could that have been, and how could he have got away?”

「素晴らしい！」 / 地方医師は叫んだ◆「あなたのおっしゃる事は間違いなく正しい◆では、三番目の発砲があった / それゆえ三番目の人物がいたに違いない◆しかし誰がそこにいたのでしょう / そしてどうやって逃げたのでしょう？」

“That is the problem which we are now about to solve,” said Sherlock Holmes. “You remember, Inspector Martin, when the servants said that on leaving their room they were at once conscious of a smell of powder, I remarked that the point was an extremely important one?”

「それはこれからまさに我々が解決しようとしている問題です」 / シャーロックホームズは言った◆「覚えているでしょう / マーティン警部 / 使用人たちが言った時 / 彼らが部屋を出たら / すぐに火薬のにおいに気付いたと / 僕はこの点が非常に重要だと言った事を？」

“Yes, sir; but I confess I did not quite follow you.”

「ええ / しかし実はあなたのおっしゃる事がよく分かりませんでした」

“It suggested that at the time of the firing, the window as well as the door of the room had been open. Otherwise the fumes of powder could not have been blown so rapidly through the house. A draught in the room was necessary for that. Both door and window were only open for a very short time, however.”

「僕は示唆したのだ / 発砲された時 / 部屋の扉と同時に窓も開けられていたと◆そうでなければ火薬の煙は / そこまで速く家の中に立ち込めることはできなかった◆そのためにはその部屋を通る風が必要だった◆しかし、扉と窓が両方とも開いていたのは、ごく短い時間だった」

“How do you prove that?”

「どうやってそれが分かるんですか？」

“Because the candle was not guttered.”

「ロウソクのロウが流れ落ちていないからです」

“Capital!” cried the inspector. “Capital!”

「見事だ！」 / 警部は叫んだ◆「見事だ！」

“Feeling sure that the window had been open at the time of the tragedy, I conceived that there might have been a third person in the affair, who stood outside this opening and fired through it. Any shot directed at this person might hit the sash. I looked, and there, sure enough, was the bullet mark!”

「惨劇のあった時刻に窓が開いていたに違いないと確信して / 私は第三の人物がこの件に関わっていると思いつきました / 窓の外に立って、窓越しに発砲した◆この人物に向けて発砲されたのなら窓枠に当たった可能性がある◆僕は見てみた / そしてそこに / 思ったとおり / 銃痕があったのだ！」

“But how came the window to be shut and fastened?”

「しかしどのようにして窓が閉じられて鍵がかけられたんでしょう？」

“The woman’s first instinct would be to shut and fasten the window. But, halloa! what is this?”

「女性の最初の本能は窓を閉じて鍵を閉めるものだったんだろう◆しかし / おやおや！ / これはなんだ？」

It was a lady’s hand-bag which stood upon the study table – a trim little hand-bag of crocodile-skin and silver. Holmes opened it and turned the contents out. There were twenty fifty-pound notes of the Bank of England, held together by an india-rubber band – nothing else.

それは書斎のテーブルに置かれていた女性用のハンドバッグだった / / しゃれた小さなワニ革と銀のハンドバッグだった◆ホームズはそれを開いて逆さにして中味を出した◆５０ポンド英国銀行券が２０枚 / 輪ゴムで束ねられていた / / 他には何もなかった

“This must be preserved, for it will figure in the trial,” said Holmes, as he handed the bag with its contents to the inspector. “It is now necessary that we should try to throw some light upon this third bullet, which has clearly, from the splintering of the wood, been fired from inside the room. I should like to see Mrs. King, the cook, again. You said, Mrs. King, that you were awakened by a loud explosion. When you said that, did you mean that it seemed to you to be louder than the second one?”

「これは保管しておかねば / 法廷の証拠に加えることになるだろうから」 / ホームズは言った / 彼がそのバッグを中味と一緒に警部に手渡す時◆「今こそ必要だ / この三番目の銃弾に関して何か光を投げかけようとする事が / これは明らかに / 木材の砕け具合からして / 部屋の内側から発射されている◆コックのキング夫人ともう一度会いたいな◆キング夫人、あなたはおっしゃいましたね / 大きな爆発音で目が覚めたと◆あなたがそう言うのは / それが二番目の音より大きかったように思えるという意味ですか？」

“Well, sir, it wakened me from my sleep, so it is hard to judge. But it did seem very loud.”

「そうですね / 私はそれで目を覚ましたので / 判定は難しいです◆しかし、非常に大きかったように思います」

“You don’t think that it might have been two shots fired almost at the same instant?”

「あなたはこう思いませんか / 二発の銃弾がほぼ同時に発射されたのかもしれないと？」

“I am sure I couldn’t say, sir.”

「何もはっきりとは言えません」

“I believe that it was undoubtedly so. I rather think, Inspector Martin, that we have now exhausted all that this room can teach us. If you will kindly step round with me, we shall see what fresh evidence the garden has to offer.”

「僕はきっとそうだったと思う◆僕はちょっと思う / マーティン警部 / この部屋から分かる事はこれで全て知り尽くしたと◆もし僕と一緒に一回りしてもらえれば / 庭でどんな新しい証拠が見つかるか確認してみよう」