The Red-Headed League - Part Two 2
質屋を訪れ、周りを見て回ったホームズとワトソンは、夜の１０時に銀行で待ち合わせる。
I wasn’t sure what was happening, but I went to the bank that night.
The director of the bank took us to the basement.
*director; 銀行の頭取
*basement; 地階、地下室
I could see lots of boxes.
The director told us the boxes were full of gold coins.
Then, Holmes said,
” Watson, this bank is located behind Wilson’s shop.
I think some people are coming to steal the coins.
Let’s wait here and catch them.”
＊located; 〜に位置している
＊原作では夜の１０時までの間に、ホームズは銀行と警察を訪れている。
銀行の地下室に金貨があることを確かめ、警察にも応援も頼んでいたのだ。
After a few hours, I saw a flash of light.
*flash of light; キラッと輝く光、閃光
Then, two men entered the basement.
One was Spaulding, and the other had red hair.
When Homes saw them, he quickly moved forward and caught them.
He said,
” I know what you did, Spaulding.
When Mr. Wilson was working at the Red-Headed League, you were in the basement of his shop digging a tunnel.
You wanted to connect the tunnel to the bank’s basement so you could steal the gold coins.”
*dig ~ ;〜を掘る
The next morning, I asked Holmes how he solved the mystery.
He said,
“When we saw Spaulding that afternoon, I saw that his knees were dirty.
So I knew that he was digging a tunnel.”
“And how did you know they would come to the bank last night?”
“The Red-Headed League closed their office because they had finished digging the tunnel.
I knew Spaulding and Ross would want to use the tunnel as soon as possible, and Saturday night seemed like the perfect time.”
“Wow. You are a smart detective, Holmes. You amaze me.”
“Well, we solved another mystery. Things will be boring for a while.”
*smart; 頭の良い、賢明な
detectiv; 探偵、刑事
amaze ~ ; 〜をびっくり仰天させる
boring; つまらない、退屈な
＊「赤毛組合」は日本ではとても有名な作品。
架空の団体や組織を作って、人をある場所からとおざけて、そのスキにその人の家で作業をしたり、物を持ち出したりする犯罪トリックは「赤毛トリック」として有名になったそうだ。
しかし現代の視点から見るとちょっと不自然なところもある。
たとえば質屋の地下室から銀行までのトンネルを掘るわけだが、約２ヶ月間主人は地下室に下りることはなかったのか？トンネルを掘るには相当な物音や振動がすると思うが、、、
道路を横切ってのトンネルだから大量の土砂が出ると思うがその処理は？
重箱の隅をつつくようになるからこのへんでやめておこう。
しかし後世の推理作家が参考になるトリックを考えだしたコナン・ドイルは素晴らしいのだろう。