Sherlock Holmes Investigates

 

Sherlock Holmes and I had no difficulty in takiing a bedroom and sitting-room at the Crown Inn. They were on the upper floor, and from our window we had a view of the avenue gate, and of the inhabited wing of Stoke Moran Manor House. At dusk we saw Dr. Grimesby Roylott drive past, his huge form looming up beside the little figure of the lad who drove him. The boy had some slight difficulty in undoing the heavy iron gates, and we heard the hoarse roar of the doctor's voice and saw the fury with which he shook his clenched fists at him. The carriage drove on, and a few minutes later we saw a sudden light among the trees as the lamp was lit in one of the sitting-rooms.

"Do you know, Watson," said Holmes as we sat together in the gathering darkness, "I have really some scruples as to taking you to-night. There is a distinct element of danger. Yet your presence might be invaluable."

"You speak of danger. You have evidently seen more in these rooms than was visible to me."

Vocabulary
Wing: Here a side part of a building.
Dusk: When the sun has gone down but it is not yet night.
Loom: Appear as a large and threatening form.
Lad: Young man.
Hoarse: The sound when your throat muscles are tight.
Fury: Great anger.
Clenched: Made tight.
Scruples: Worries that you are doing something bad.
Evidently: Obviously.