Етюд у багряних тонах
Light in the Darkness.
Ofthetwopillsinthatboxonewasofthemostdeadlypoison,andtheotherwasentirelyharmless. IoughttohaveknownthatbeforeeverIsawtheboxatall.”
Thislaststatementappearedtometobesostartling,thatIcouldhardlybelievethathewasinhissobersenses. Therewasthedeaddog,however,toprovethathisconjecturehadbeencorrect. Itseemedtomethatthemistsinmyownmindweregraduallyclearingaway,andIbegantohaveadim,vagueperceptionofthetruth.
“Allthisseemsstrangetoyou,”continuedHolmes,“becauseyoufailedatthebeginningoftheinquirytograsptheimportanceofthesinglerealcluewhichwaspresentedtoyou. Ihadthegoodfortunetoseizeuponthat,andeverythingwhichhasoccurredsincethenhasservedtoconfirmmyoriginalsupposition,and,indeed,wasthelogicalsequenceofit. Hencethingswhichhaveperplexedyouandmadethecasemoreobscure,haveservedtoenlightenmeandtostrengthenmyconclusions. Itisamistaketoconfoundstrangenesswithmystery. Themostcommonplacecrimeisoftenthemostmysteriousbecauseitpresentsnoneworspecialfeaturesfromwhichdeductionsmaybedrawn. Thismurderwouldhavebeeninfinitelymoredifficulttounravelhadthebodyofthevictimbeensimplyfoundlyingintheroadwaywithoutanyofthoseoutréandsensationalaccompanimentswhichhaverendereditremarkable. Thesestrangedetails,farfrommakingthecasemoredifficult,havereallyhadtheeffectofmakingitlessso.”
