Sherlock Holmes - "Tragedia w Boscombe Valley"

"Do you have a couple of days to spare, my dear Watson? I am about to go to Boscombe Valley to solve the case of the son of a murdered man. I would be delighted to have you with me to have somebody to share my observations with." I willingly agreed to Sherlock's offer, and he briefly went over the details of the case. The story involved the two families of Mr John Turner and Mr Charles McCarthy. They met while working in a gold mine in the British Colonies in Australia. They both became incredibly rich and brought their new found wealth back to England where they settled in Boscombe Valley. Of the two, Turner was richer and McCarthy became his tenant. They were both widowers, Turner had an 18-year-old daughter and McCarthy had a son of the same age. On Monday, 3rd of June, McCarthy left his house at Hatherley Farm going in the direction of the Boscombe Pool, but he never came back. There were two witnesses who confessed seeing him walking alone, one of whom added that he saw the son, James McCarthy, walking in the same direction as his father a little later. They were also seen in the woods by a 14-year-old girl, who saw them arguing. Soon after, she saw the young McCarthy running and screaming for help because he had found his father dead in the woods. The dead man looked as if somebody had beaten him on the head with a heavy, blunt weapon. There was nothing around the body but Jame's gun. James was immediately arrested but denied committing such a terrible crime. In his statement he said that he had come back from a three-day trip from Bristol, and, as his father hadn't been at home, he had gone over to the rabbit warren. On his way there he saw his father standing by Boscombe Pool and approached him to have a talk, but Mr McCarthy seemed surprised to see his son, and they had started to argue over a matter which the suspect didn't want to reveal. After the argument James left, but shortly afterwards he came back hearing his father's scream. Not long after we checked into the hotel room, there was a visitor for us. It was the daughter of Mr Turner. "Oh Mr Holmes! I know James didn't do it! I have come to tell you this." "But you have read the evidence." "But these charges are absurd. And the reason why he doesn't want to say anything about their argument is because I'm involved in it." "In what way?" asked Holmes. "James and I have known each other since we were children, and we love each other like brother and sister, but his father wanted us to get married." "Was your father in favour of the marriage?" "No, only James' father wanted this marriage to happen." "Can I talk to your father, then?" "If only the doctor allows it." "A doctor?" "Yes, he's very ill. He only has a few months to live." Sherlock assured Miss Turner that he would do everything to clear James McCarthy's reputation if he is truly innocent. We then both left to go and examine the scene of the crime. The traces left there revealed to Holmes that the old man was murdered with a big stone by a left handed man who has a limp on the right leg. I myself didn't have the slightest idea how he came to these conclusions. Holmes also paid a visit to the prisoner to hear the whole story directly from him in person. James McCarthy retold him what we had already read in his statement, but there was something else: even though he was in love with Alice Turner, about two years earlier he had married a barmaid from Bristol, which is where he had spent the three days before the murder of his father. There was another fact that only reassured Sherlock in his opinion of a third person - the real murderer. Young McCarthy, while running to see what had happened to his father, noticed some kind of a grey material lying on the grass very close to the edge of the woods, but it was gone when he looked around later. Sherlock kept quiet about these but back at the hotel simply said: "We are about to go back to London my dear Watson, on the evening train." "And leave the case unfinished?" I looked at him shocked. "It is finished." "But the mystery?" "It is solved." "So who is the criminal?" I asked surprised. "Mr John Turner for Mr Sherlock Holmes," cried the hotel porter opening the door before the tall impressive figure of man who, slowly limping, approached our table. "You got my note?" Sherlock asked him. "Yes, Holmes. You wanted to see me if I wished to avoid a scandal." And during a short conversation the whole truth was revealed. Mr Turner and Mr McCarthy had met in Australia not as gold miners, but in totally different circumstances. John Turner was known back then as Black Jack of Ballarat, and together with his band of thieves, he used to stop the gold convoys and rob them. Once, during such a robbery, there was a fight, and although three of his band were shot by the convoy, he spared the life of the driver - Charles McCarthy. Years passed, Turner came back to England, bought land and lived an honest life until he met McCarthy again. McCarthy blackmailed Turner, threatening him that he would reveal the whole truth to the police if he didn't get financial support for his son and himself. As such, they lived rent free on Turner's best land and had anything they needed or wished for. It lasted until McCarthy came up with the idea of the marriage of their children. This was something Turner would never agree to and so had planned the murder in the woods. On our way back home I asked Sherlock: "How did you work all this out?" "Elementary, my dear Watson, elementary. You know my method, dear boy, observance of trifles." Turner's statement had been written down and handed to the high court, and James McCarthy was released from prison. Turner himself didn't suffer any imprisonment as he died shortly after the mysterious murder of Charles McCarthy was solved by Sherlock Holmes.