Turner. Both these witnesses depose that Mr. McCarthy waswalking alone. The game-keeper adds that within a few minutesof his seeing Mr. McCarthy pass he had seen his son， Mr. JamesMcCarthy， going the same way with a gun under his arm. To thebest of his belief， the father was actually in sight at the time， andthe son was following him. He thought no more of the matteruntil he heard in the evening of the tragedy that had occurred.
“The two McCarthys were seen after the time when WilliamCrowder， the game-keeper， lost sight of them. The BoscombePool is thickly wooded round， with just a fringe of grass and ofreeds round the edge. A girl of fourteen， Patience Moran， who isthe daughter of the lodge-keeper of the Boscombe Valley estate，was in one of the woods picking flowers. She states that while shewas there she saw， at the border of the wood and close by the lake，Mr. McCarthy and his son， and that they appeared to be havinga violent quarrel. She heard Mr. McCarthy the elder using verystrong language to his son， and she saw the latter raise up his handas if to strike his father. She was so frightened by their violencethat she ran away and told her mother when she reached homethat she had left the two McCarthys quarrelling near BoscombePool， and that she was afraid that they were going to fight. She hadhardly said the words when young Mr. McCarthy came runningup to the lodge to say that he had found his father dead in thewood， and to ask for the help of the lodge-keeper. He was muchexcited， without either his gun or his hat， and his right hand andsleeve were observed to be stained with fresh blood. On followinghim they found the dead body stretched out upon the grass besidethe pool. The head had been beaten in by repeated blows of someheavy and blunt weapon. The injuries were such as might very wellhave been inflicted by the butt-end of his son’s gun， which wasfound lying on the grass within a few paces of the body. Underthese circumstances the young man was instantly arrested， and averdict of ‘wilful murder’ having been returned at the inquest onTuesday， he was on Wednesday brought before the magistrates atRoss， who have referred the case to the next Assizes. Those arethe main facts of the case as they came out before the coroner andthe police-court.”
“I could hardly imagine a more damning case，” I remarked. “Ifever circumstantial evidence pointed to a criminal it does so here.”
“Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing，” answeredHolmes thoughtfully. “It may seem to point very straight to onething， but if you shift your own point of view a little， you may findit pointing in an equally uncompromising manner to somethingentirely different. It must be confessed， however， that the caselooks exceedingly grave against the young man， and it is verypossible that he is indeed the culprit. There are several peoplein the neighbourhood， however， and among them Miss Turner，the daughter of the neighbouring landowner， who believe inhis innocence， and who have retained Lestrade， whom you mayrecollect in connection with ‘A Study in Scarlet，’ to work out thecase in his interest. Lestrade， being rather puzzled， has referredthe case to me， and hence it is that two middle-aged gentlemen areflying westward at fifty miles an hour instead of quietly digestingtheir breakfasts at home.”
“I am afraid，” said I， “that the facts are so obvious that you willfind little credit to be gained out of this case.”
“There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact，” heanswered， laughing. “Besides， we may chance to hit upon someother obvious facts which may have been by no means obvious toMr. Lestrade. You know me too well to think that I am boastingwhen I say that I shall either confirm or destroy his theory bymeans which he is quite incapable of employing， or even ofunderstanding. To take the first example to hand， I very clearlyperceive that in your bedroom the window is upon the right-handside， and yet I question whether Mr. Lestrade would have notedeven so self-evident a thing as that.”
“How on earth——”
“My dear fellow， I know you well. I know the military neatnesswhich characterises you. You shave every morning， and in thisseason you shave by the sunlight； but since your shaving is lessand less complete as we get farther back on the left side， until itbecomes positively slovenly as we get round the angle of the jaw， itis surely very clear that that side is less illuminated than the other.
I could not imagine a man of your habits looking at himself in anequal light and being satisfied with such a result. I only quote thisas a trivial example of observation and inference. Therein lies mymétier， and it is just possible that it may be of some service in theinvestigation which lies before us. There are one or two minorpoints which were brought out in the inquest， and which areworth considering.”
“What are they？”
“It appears that his arrest did not take place at once， but afterthe return to Hatherley Farm. On the inspector of constabularyinforming him that he was a prisoner， he remarked that he was notsurprised to hear it， and that it was no more than his deserts. Thisobservation of his had the natural effect of removing any traces ofdoubt which might have remained in the minds of the coroner’s jury.”
“It was a confession，” I ejaculated.
“No， for it was followed by a protestation of innocence.”
“Coming on the top of such a damning series of events， it was atleast a most suspicious remark.”