Приключения Шерлока Холмса
The Boscombe Valley Mystery
"Well,obviouslyitcouldnothavebeenmeantfortheson. Theson,asfarasheknew,wasinBristol. Itwasmerechancethathewaswithinearshot. The‘Cooee!’wasmeanttoattracttheattentionofwhoeveritwasthathehadtheappointmentwith. But‘Cooee’isadistinctlyAustraliancry,andonewhichisusedbetweenAustralians. ThereisastrongpresumptionthatthepersonwhomMcCarthyexpectedtomeethimatBoscombePoolwassomeonewhohadbeeninAustralia."
"Whatoftherat,then?"
SherlockHolmestookafoldedpaperfromhispocketandflatteneditoutonthetable. "ThisisamapoftheColonyofVictoria,"hesaid. "IwiredtoBristolforitlastnight." Heputhishandoverpartofthemap. "Whatdoyouread?"
"ARAT,"Iread.
"Andnow?"Heraisedhishand.
"BALLARAT."
"Quiteso. Thatwasthewordthemanuttered,andofwhichhissononlycaughtthelasttwosyllables. Hewastryingtoutterthenameofhismurderer. Soandso,ofBallarat."
"Itiswonderful!"Iexclaimed.
"Itisobvious. Andnow,yousee,Ihadnarrowedthefielddownconsiderably. Thepossessionofagraygarmentwasathirdpointwhich,grantingtheson’sstatementtobecorrect,wasacertainty. WehavecomenowoutofmerevaguenesstothedefiniteconceptionofanAustralianfromBallaratwithagraycloak."
