Univerisidad Andrés Bello

Pedagogía en Inglés
INGL 201 R&W

A CASE OF IDENTITY
By Arthur Conan Doyle

During Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson the conversation, Mary Sutherland comes.
She says her story. Her father died, and now she lives with her mother and
stepfather, not much older than she is. Mary inherited the small capital from his
uncle, that she receives by small parts every year. This money she gives to family
and earning for living herself by typing. Since Mary’s father was a plumber, every
year they receive the invitation to the plumbers’ ball. Step-father does not allow
Mary to go to the ball. But one year he is gone to France, she goes to the ball,
where she met with Mr. Hosmer Angel and fell in love with him.

Part one

'My dear fellow,' said Sherlock Holmes as we sat by the fire in his house
at Baker Street, 'real life is infinitely stranger than anything we could invent.
We would not dare invent things, which are commonplace things of life. If we
could go out of that window, fly over this great city, gently remove the roofs of
houses and look at the peculiar things that are happening, the strange
coincidences, the plans, and the wonderful chains of events, we would discover
things much more interesting than in books.'

'But I do not believe it,' I answered. 'The stories in the newspapers are
never very interesting. In fact, they are always very boring.'

'That is because,' said Holmes, 'newspapers always repeat the official

reports of magistrates and police reports. Yon can be certain that there is
nothing as unnatural and strange as the commonplace.'

'I know,' I replied, 'that your cases are always very interesting, but let
us look at today's newspaper,'
 I picked up the newspaper and began to read an article. It was about a
husband who was cruel to his wife.

'I don't have to read the article,' I said, 'but I am sure that the man had
a girlfriend, that he drank and that he began to hit his wife. I am also sure that
there was a sympathetic sister or landlady.'

'You have chosen a bad example, Watson,' said Holmes, 'because I have
worked on this case. The man, Mr Dundas, did not have a girlfriend and he did
not drink and he did not hit her. Instead, at the end of every meal he took out
his false teeth and threw them at his wife. You must admit that nobody could
invent such a story!'

'Do you have any interesting cases now?' I asked.

'Well, I am working on ten or twelve cases, but none of them are

interesting. They are important, you understand, without being interesting. I
have found that unimportant matters are usually more interesting. If there is a
big crime, the motive is generally obvious. So, they are generally not very
interesting. But I think I will have an interesting case in a few minutes.'

Holmes was standing at the window and looking down at the dull, grey
London streets. There was a woman standing in the street. She was moving
her hands nervously. It was obvious that she could not make up her mind.

Then suddenly she ran across the road and rang Holmes' doorbell.

'I know those symptoms,' said Holmes. 'When a woman hesitates like
that on the pavement, it means that she has a love problem. She wants help,
but she thinks that her problem is too delicate to communicate. But when a
woman does not hesitate and rings the doorbell hard, it means she was
seriously wronged. In this case, this woman is confused and perplexed, and
wants an explanation.' As Holmes was speaking, the servant announced Miss
Mary Sutherland, she was a large woman. She wore a hat with a red feather, a
black jacket, a dark brown dress and grey glove.
 She also wore round gold earrings.

When Holmes saw her he said, 'Isn't it difficult for you to type with such
bad eyesight.'

'I thought so at first,' Miss Sutherland replied, 'but now I can type
without looking at the keys.' Then she looked surprised and frightened when
she understood that Holmes already knew so much about her.

'How do you know that?' asked Miss Sutherland.

'It is my business to know things,' said Holmes laughing. 'If I could not
see these things, why would people come to me? In any case, I can see the
marks of the glasses on your nose.'

'I have come here,' she said, 'because I want to know where Mr Hosmer
Angel has gone.'

'Why did you come here in such a hurry?' asked Holmes.

Once again Miss Sutherland looked very surprised. Holmes then

explained that her boots were not the same and that they were not completely
buttoned.

'Yes, I did hurry out of the house because I was angry at Mr Windibank,
that is, my father. He did not want to ask the police about Mr Angel. He said
that nothing bad had happened. This made me angry so I came here to see
you.'

'Your father?' said Holmes. 'He must be your stepfather because his
surname is different from yours.'

'Yes, my stepfather. I call him father, even though that seems strange to
me. You see, he is only five years older than me.'
 'And is your mother alive?' asked Holmes.

'Oh, yes, mother is alive and well,' answered Miss Sutherland, 'but I was
not happy when she married Mr Windibank so soon after father died. Also, Mr
Windibank is fifteen years younger than mother. Father was a plumber and had
a good business, and when he died mother continued the business. But when
she married Mr Windibank, he made her sell it.'

'Do you live on the money from the business?' asked Holmes.

'Oh no,' replied Miss Sutherland, 'I inherited some money from my
uncle. I cannot touch it, but with the interest I receive one hundred pounds a
year.'

'That should be enough for you to live quite comfortably,' said Holmes.

'I give that money to mother, and I live on the money I make typing,'
she replied.

'Now, can you tell us about Mr Hosmer Angel?' asked Holmes.

Miss Sutherland blushed deeply and said, 'I met him at the plumbers'
ball. They used to send tickets to my father when he was alive, and after he
died they sent them to my mother. But Mr Windibank didn't want us to go. He
said that my father's friends were not good enough for us. But the day of the
ball, Mr Windibank went to France on business, so mother and I went to the
hall, and it was there I met Mr Angel.'

'I suppose,' said Holmes, 'that Mr Windibank was very angry with you
when he discovered that you had gone to the ball.'

'No, not very,' replied Miss Sutherland, 'he said that it was impossible to
stop a woman when she really wanted something.'
 'And did you see Mr Hosmer after the ball?' asked Holmes.

'Yes, but he couldn't come to the house when father was there. Father
didn't want anybody to come to the house. So Mr Hosmer said, "We should
wait until your father goes to France before we see each other. In the
meantime, we can write to each other every day.'"

'Were you engaged to the gentleman at this time?' asked Holmes.

'Oh yes, Mr Holmes. We were engaged after the first walk that we took.
Mr Angel worked in an office in Leadenhall Street.'

'Which office?'

'That's the worst part. I don't know.'

'Then where did you send your letters?'

'To the Leadenhall Street Post Office where he got them. He said to me,
"The other workers in my office will make fun of me, if they see my letters.'"

'I told him that I could type my letters, like he did his. But he said, "A
typed letter comes from an impersonal machine and not from you." This shows
how fond he was of me, Mr Holmes, and the nice little things he thought of.'

'It was most suggestive,' said Holmes. 'I have always said that the little
things are infinitely the most important. Can you remember any other little
things about Mr Hosmer Angel?'

'He was a very shy man, Mr Holmes. He always wanted to walk with me
in the evening instead of during the day. He was very gentlemanly. Even his
voice was gentle. He told me that he had had a bad infection of the tonsils
when he was a child, so he had to whisper. He always wore elegant clothes.
His eyes were weak, just like mine, and he wore dark glasses against the sun.'

'Well, what happened when Mr Windibank returned to France?' asked

Holmes.

'Mr Angel came to my house and said that we should get married before
father returned. He was very serious and said, "Put your hand on the Bible and
promise me that you will always love me." Mother agreed with him. Mother
liked him from the beginning, and liked him even more than I did. When they
started talking about our getting married within the week, I asked them if I
should ask father first. They said no. I, however, did not want to do anything
in secret, so I wrote to father at his office in France. But the letter came back
to me on the very day of the wedding.'

'It missed him then?'

'Yes, sir, he had started back to England just before the letter arrived in
France.'

'Ha! That was unfortunate. Your wedding was planned then for the
Friday of that week. Was it to be in church?'

'Yes, sir, but very quietly. On the day of the wedding Hosmer came in a
hansom to take mother and me to the church. But since there were two of us,
mother and I went in the hansom, and Hosmer took a cab. We got to the
church first, and when the cab arrived, we waited for him to come out, but he
never did. The cabman said that he could not understand what had happened
to him.'

'I think that you have been very badly treated,' said Holmes.

'Oh no, sir! Hosmer was too good and kind to leave so. Why, all morning
before the wedding he said to me, "If anything happens to me, you must
always love me. You must wait for me. I will return to you." I thought this very
strange to say on the day of our wedding, but his disappearance explains
everything.'

'It certainly does,' said Holmes. 'In your opinion, did he know that he
was in danger?'

'Yes, I think so.'

'But do you know what the danger was?'

'No, I don't.'

'One more question. How did your mother react?'

'She was angry and told me that I should never speak about him again.'

'And your father? Did you tell him?'

'Yes, he said, "Something terrible has happened to Hosmer, but he will

return." I agree with my father. Why would Hosmer leave me? After all, there
was no money involved. 1 Hosmer did not borrow money from me, and I never
put the money which I had inherited in his name. So he did not take my
money and leave.'

Then she pulled out a handkerchief, and began to cry.

'I will try to solve your problem,' said Holmes, 'but don't think about it
anymore. Forget about Mr Angel.'

'Do you think that I will ever see him again?'

 'No, I'm afraid not.'

'Then what has happened to him?'

'You will leave the question with me. Now, I need some of Mr Angel's
letters, a good description of him, and also your father's address.'

'I never had Mr Angel's address,' said Miss Sutherland, 'but here is Mr
Windibank's address. He works for a wine importer. Here is the advertisement
with a description of Hosmer that I put in the newspaper the Chronicle.'

Miss Sutherland then left, but before leaving she said, 'I will always wait
for Hosmer Angel to return.'

Part two
When she had left, I asked Holmes about the case.

'The young woman is quite interesting, but her little problem is not very
difficult or unusual. Would you mind reading me the description of Hosmer
Angel?' I then read it to Holmes:

Missing, a gentleman called Hosmer Angel. About 5ft. 7in. tall. He's
strongly built with black hair, black sideboards and moustache; he's a little
bald in the centre; he wears dark glasses; and he's got a speech defect. He
has got a sallow complexion. He was wearing a black coat, black waistcoat,
grey trousers and brown boots. Please contact Miss Sutherland etc. etc.

'That is enough,' said Holmes. 'Now look at these letters which Hosmer
wrote to her. What do you see?'

'They are typed,' I said.

 'Not only that, but the signature is typed too. The point about the
signature is very suggestive - in fact, we can call it conclusive.'

'Of what?'

'My dear fellow, can't you see how important this fact is to the case?'

'No, I can't,' I replied, 'unless Hosmer didn't sign his letters because he
didn't want to be legally responsible for what he promised.'

'No, that was not the point,' said Holmes, 'but now I will write two
letters which will solve this mystery. One of the letters is to Mr Windibank's
firm in the City, and the other one will be to Mr Windibank himself to ask him
to come here to meet us tomorrow evening at six o'clock.'

A few minutes before six the next day I returned to Baker Street. When
I walked in, Holmes was doing chemistry experiments.

'Well, have you solved it?' I said as I walked into the room.

'Yes, it was the bisulphate of baryta.'

'No, Miss Sutherland's mystery!' I cried.

'Oh, that! I thought you were asking me about the chemistry

experiment.

There was never any mystery in the matter. The only problem is that the
scoundrel did not do anything illegal, so he can't be punished.'

'Who was Hosmer Angel, and why did he abandon Miss Sutherland?'
 But Holmes did not have time to answer me, because just then we heard
someone knock at the door, and then someone walking towards Holmes' room.

'This is the girl's stepfather. He wrote to me to say that he was coming,'

said Holmes.

The man who entered the room was a strongly built fellow without
sideboards or moustache, with a sallow complexion and he looked at us with a
pair of penetrating grey eyes. He was wearing a black top-hat.

'Good evening, Mr James Windibank,' said Holmes. 'I believe this is the
typed letter that you wrote to me to say that you were coming here!'

'Yes, sir. I am sorry that Miss Sutherland has troubled you about this
little problem. Also I don't like other people knowing about our family
misfortune. Anyway, I don't think that you will ever find this Hosmer Angel.'

'On the contrary,' said Holmes quietly, 'I am almost certain that I will
find him.'

Mr Windibank started violently, and dropped his gloves. 'I am happy to

hear that,' he said.

'It is a curious thing,' remarked Holmes, 'that a typewriter is just as

distinctive as a man's handwriting. For example, in this letter of yours, I can
see that this part of the 'r' has a slight defect. There are also fourteen other
characteristics of your typewriter.'

'We write all the letters in the office with this typewriter,' said Mr
Windibank.

'And now,' continued Holmes, 'I will show you what is really very
interesting. In fact, I am thinking about writing a book on the typewriter and
its relation to crime.'
 Mr Windibank jumped out of his chair and picked up his hat. 'I cannot
waste time over this ridiculous talk. If you can catch the man, catch him, and
let me know when you have caught him.'

'Certainly,' said Holmes, walking over to the door and locking it. 'I let
you know that I have caught him.'

'What! Where?' shouted Mr Windibank becoming white, and looking

around like a rat in a trap.

'You can't get away, Mr Windibank,' said Holmes. 'This case was really
very easy. Now sit down and we can talk about it.'

Mr Windibank fell back into the chair. 'I did not do anything illegal,' he
stammered.

'I am afraid that you are right. But, Mr Windibank, it was a cruel, selfish
and heartless trick. Now, let us look at what happened,' said Holmes.

Then Holmes sat down and began to talk.

'The man marries a woman older than himself for her money. He can
also use the money of the daughter as long as the daughter lives with him and
the mother. The daughter has a lot of money so it is important not to lose it.

But the daughter is friendly and affectionate, so it is clear that she will
soon find a husband. At first this man tells the daughter that she cannot go
out, but this will not solve the problem forever. Then one day the daughter
says that she wants to go to a ball. What does the clever i stepfather do then?
With the help of the wife, he disguises himself. He wears dark glasses, and
puts on a fake moustache. Then he changes his voice and speaks very softly.
He is even more certain that his plan will work because the girl is short-
sighted. Then at the ball this man keeps away other lovers by becoming the
girl's lover himself.'
 'It was just a joke at first,' groaned Mr Windibank. 'We didn't think that
the girl would fall in love.'

'Yes, that is probably true,' continued Holmes. 'But the girl really fell in
love, and you decided to take the situation to the extreme. You began to see
her often, and the mother said that she liked him very much. Then you decided
to ask Miss Sutherland to marry you so that she would never again think about
other men. But it was difficult for you to pretend to go to France every time
Miss Sutherland had to see Mr Angel. You had to end the situation
dramatically. In some way, you had to keep Miss Sutherland from thinking
about other men in the future. Therefore, you made her promise on the Bible,
and you told her that something could happen on the very morning of the
wedding. You took her to the church, but obviously you could not marry her.
You disappeared by using the old trick of entering one door of a cab and
walking out the other. I think this is the chain of events, Mr Windibank!'

'Yes, maybe that is true,' replied Mr Windibank, 'but I did not do

anything illegal, and now you are breaking the law because you will not let me
leave this room.'

'You are right. You did not do anything illegal,' said Holmes as he
unlocked and opened the door, 'but you really deserve to be punished, and I
would do it.'

Then Holmes picked up a riding-crop, but Mr Windibank ran out the door
and out of the house.

'Now, he certainly is a cold-blooded scoundrel!' said Holmes laughing.

'That fellow will continue doing worse and worse crimes until he does
something really bad and finishes on the gallows. In any case, this case had
some interesting points.'

'I cannot completely follow your reasoning in this case,' I said.

 'Well, it was clear from the first, that Mr Hosmer Angel had a very good
reason for his actions, and that the only man who could really profit from the
situation was the stepfather: he wanted to keep the hundred pounds a year.
Then it was very suggestive that Mr Windibank and Mr Hosmer Angel were
never together, and so were the dark glasses, the soft voice and the
moustache; they all suggested a disguise. The final point was the typed
signature. This made me think that the handwriting of the man must be very
familiar to Miss Sutherland, and that if she saw even a small portion of it, she
would recognise it.'

'And how did you verify these ideas?' I asked.

'First I wrote to Mr Windibank's firm. 'In the letter I described Mr Angel

after I had eliminated everything that could be a disguise, like the glasses, the
moustache and the voice, and I asked them if they had an employee like that.
They wrote back to me and said that I had described Mr James Windibank.
Then I wrote to Mr Windibank to invite him here, and as I expected he typed
his reply to me. Then I compared his letter with the letters of Mr Angel. Voila
tout!'

'And Miss Sutherland?' I asked.

'If I tell her, she will not believe me,' replied Holmes. 'Maybe you
remember this Persian saying, "It is dangerous to take a tiger cub from its
mother, and it is dangerous to take a delusion from a woman.'"

- THE END -

Come back to http://english-e-books.net/ to find more fascinating and

exciting stories!