Unit 2. “The Three Students” after A. Conan Doyle

There is a very unpleasant incident at one of the University Colleges in England. Mr. Hilton Soames, tutor and lecturer, is at a loss. He needs help, so he goes to the great detective, Sherlock Holmes …

Reading

1. Read the story and represent its content through a list of events described there. The list should contain not less than 30 events from the story and be organized chronologically. Decıde whıch events are maın and whıch ones are subordınate. The beginning is given to you:

1. Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson were spending their holiday in one of the University towns in England.

2. The examination for a special scholarship was coming.

3. The day before the examination Mr. Soames took the examination papers out of his desks to read the text through once again.

4. …

3

Reading for details

Speed: unlimited

0. …

What reading strategy will you use?

The Three Students

after A. Conan Doyle

Part I

In the year 1895 Sherlock Holmes and I were spending our holiday in one of the University towns of England. All day my friend worked at the town library, as he was interested in early English History.

One evening we had a visit from Mr. Hilton Soames, tutor and lecturer at one of the University Colleges. When we entered the room I saw that he was very much excited and I understood at once that something unusual had happened.

“I hope, Mr. Holmes, that you will find time to listen to me,” he began. “We have had a very unpleasant incident at our college and I am simply at a loss what to do.”

“I am very busy now with my work; perhaps you had better go to the police”.

“Think of the credit of the college! We cannot have a public scandal,” the tutor said. “You are the only man in the world who can help us.”

Holmes, who did not like visits of that sort when he was away from Baker Street, just shrugged his shoulder and the tutor started with his story.

“Tomorrow is the first day of the examination for a special scholarship,” he said. “I am one of the examiners. My subject is Greek and the first of the papers consist of a translation of a passage which the students have not seen. The examination papers are locked in my desk. I have not shown them to anybody. Today at about three o’clock I took the papers out of my desk, for I wanted to read the text through once again and see that there were no mistakes in it. At four-thirty my work was not yet finished. As I was a little tired, I decided to have a cup of tea and went out, leaving the text upon the desk. I was absent for about an hour. When I came back I saw with some surprise that there was a key in my door. It was not my key because I had it in my pocket. The only duplicate of my key belongs to my servant, Bannister. He has looked after my rooms for ten years and he is an honest man. He told me that it was his key, that he had entered my room during my absence, because he had wanted to make tea for me, and that he had left the key in the door when he came out.”

“At first I paid no attention to this, but when I came up to my table I saw that someone besides Barrister had been in my room, for all my examination papers were in disorder. The passage for the Greek translation had been written on three long sheets of paper. I had left them all on my desk. Now, I found one of them on the floor, one on the side table near the window and one on my desk.”

Holmes looked up for the first time:

“The first page on the floor, the second near the window, and the third where you left it”, said he.

“Exactly, Mr. Holmes. How could you know that?”

Holmes did not answer the question.

“Please go on with your story,” he said, and I saw that he was interested. “At first I thought that Barrister had dusted my desk and dropped the sheets on the floor,” the tutor went on. “But he denied it and I am sure that he was speaking the truth. I thought that someone who was passing by had seen the key in the door and had come in. The scholarship, you see, means a very large sum of money; if a man wants to continue his studies, the scholarship can be of great help to him. So possibly one of the students was ready to take this risk in order to find out what passage I had chosen for the Greek translation. Old Barrister was very much upset by the incident. He almost fell into my arm­chair, looking so pale that I gave him a little brandy and told him to stay quietly where he was while I examined the room. I found several cuttings from a pencil which somebody had sharpened and a broken pencil-tip on the table at the window. It was clear that someone had copied the paper, had broken his pencil and then sharpened it.”

“Excellent!” said Holmes, rubbing his hands.

“But this was not all,” Hilton Soames continued. “I have a new writing-table, the top of which is very smooth and clear. Now I found a cut in it about three inches long. Not a scratch, but a cut. Besides that, I found on the table a small black ball of clay with something like sawdust in it. I am sure that those marks were left by the man who copied the examination paper. Mr. Homes, you must help me. If I do not find the man, the examination will be postponed until a fresh paper is ready. And as this cannot be done without explanation there will be a scandal not only at the college but at the University, too.”

“I shall be happy to do what I can,” said Holmes, rising from his chair. “The case is rather interesting. But I have a few questions. Did anyone see the papers in your room when you brought them there?”

“Yes, just after that young Daulat Ras, an Indian student, who lives on the floor above, came in to ask something about the examination.”

“And the papers were on the table?”

“Yes.”

“Did the servant, Bannister, know about the papers?”

“No, no, certainly not. No one knew anything about them.”

“This means that unless it was the Indian student, the man who visited your room came upon the papers accidentally,” said Holmes. “But where is Bannister now?”

“The poor man felt so bad that I left him in my armchair and came here. But I locked up the papers first.”

Holmes smiled.

“Well,” he said, “let us go to the college at once. I want to have a look at your rooms. Are you coming with us, Watson?”