(*First published in a serialized fashion by The Strand Magazine August 1901 - April 1902. SPOILERS AHEAD)
'The Man on the Tor.'
In which our Batman will speak! The opening of the third and final act and a promised 'terrible conclusion' awaits. Of chapter seven, I wrote: [The environs continue to play in a Jekyll and Hyde manner.] I feel as though we've been quite wallowing in Hyde for a good bit, lacking in some juxtaposition. Still, this is a creeper, so that's fine. What Watson relates to us here is so burnt into his memory as to not even warrant his looking over his notes. This really does go quite far in explaining other canonical bits of discrepancy.
In any event, it's off to Coombe Tracey we go to interview this LL of the recovered letter, again one Mrs. Laura Lyons. She of the loins of Frankland (I am still shocked). Only W makes this trip, in hopes of a one-on-one meeting being most beneficial in procuring information. Also, Mortimer and Sir Henry are still in their cards. Ecarte must be one helluva game. Perkins the groom drives W out there and I realize that's his job but it seems somehow odd to mention. Another nuance is that LL is found at her Remington typewriter.
Remingtons were still rather new-fangled things, having hit the market in 1874 and selling to the tune of $125 bucks. That's a somewhat hefty tune and perhaps lends to the idea that LL was more than just a tad set-up by the kindness of the locals and the passing of their hats in her cause. Maybe we are privy here to a primordial GoFundMe effort? Of some lateral interest to this is that the typewriter itself spawned from the Remington sewing machine, which potentially explains the prominence of females in later secretarial pools. Dunno, just a thought.
Also, Doyle is thought to be the first to use a typewriter as a plot device and in his deduction of Mary Sutherland in A Case of Identity (CASE, 1892). Although back then, he did not name-drop Remington; I can't help but wonder here in HOUN of some equally primordial bit of product placement advertising**.
I digress.
The lady is a clam until she isn't and that's sort of suspicious, I suppose. I more am struck by the manner in which she is described. "There was something subtly wrong with the face, some coarseness of expression, some hardness, perhaps, of eye, some looseness of lip which marred its perfect beauty." This is the low-key the eeriest this tale has been in some time. The commas break the rhythm of structure in much the same way these blemishes play upon her face. Still, Watson seems to be into her just fine... go figure. A final bit here, I've never heard 'hazel' in describing one's hair.
Stuff is hashed-out between Watson and she, and Watson heads back to the Hall, only to be waylaid by Frankland. He might suspect LL of something but definitely dislikes Frankland all the more after learning all the more of his treatment toward his own daughter. The old whiskered kook is celebrating some legal win and is all about gloating. Watson sends Perkins on his way and hears what Frankland has to say. This is good because he has more to say than perchance thought. In fact, "He certainly seemed to be getting uncomfortably near the truth." He has spied the convict getting his Uber Eats delivered upon the moor.
But wait! It's happening now! Quick, to the telescope! "There he was, sure enough, a small urchin with a little bundle upon his shoulder." Watson then takes his leave and instead of heading home as planned, he begins to track the errand boy. He is on the trail of the Batman. I mean the man on the tor. I mean [spoiler alert] Sherlock Holmes. A note is laid out in the hut. 'Dr Watson has gone to Coombe Tracey.' He is being watched. Interestingly, he compares himself to Stapleton. He is also smoking a cigarette again or still (his poor frayed nerves). He tosses it down and feels for his revolver. Waits for the unknown man's return...
"It is a lovely evening, my dear Watson," said a well-known [yet tantalizingly unnamed] voice.
ADDITIONAL HOUN
Thoughts on Chapter 10
Thoughts on Chapter 12
FURTHER READING
**I wrote about this idea in "Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle, and an ADP Briar-Root Pipe"
On "A Case of Identity" from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
::: very :::