Sir
Arthur Conan Doyle
The Adventure of
The Sussex Vampire
Holmes had read carefully a note which the last post had brought him. Then,
with the dry chuckle which was his nearest approach to a laugh, he tossed it
over to me.
"For a mixture of the modern and the
mediaeval, of the practical and of the wildly fanciful, I think this is surely
the limit," said he. "What do you make of it, Watson?"
I read as follows:
46, OLD JEWRY,
Nov. 19th.
Re Vampires
SIR:
Our client, Mr. Robert Ferguson, of Ferguson and
Muirhead, tea brokers, of Mincing Lane, has made some inquiry from us in a
communication of even date concerning vampires. As our firm specializes
entirely upon the assessment of machinery the matter hardly comes within our purview,
and we have therefore recommended Mr. Ferguson to call upon you and lay the
matter before you. We have not forgotten your successful action in the case of Matilda
Briggs.
We are, sir,
Faithfully yours,
MORRISON, MORRISON, AND DODD.
per E. J. C.
"Matilda Briggs was not the name of a young
woman, Watson," said Holmes in a reminiscent voice. "It was a ship
which is associated with the giant rat of Sumatra, a story for which the world
is not yet prepared. But what do we know about vampires? Does it come within
our purview either? Anything is better than stagnation, but really we seem to
have been switched on to a Grimm's fairy tale. Make a long arm, Watson, and see
what V has to say."
I leaned back and took down the great index
volume to which he referred. Holmes balanced it on his knee, and his eyes moved
slowly and lovingly over the record of old cases, mixed with the accumulated
information of a lifetime.
"Voyage of the Gloria Scott," he read.
"That was a bad business. I have some recollection that you made a record
of it, Watson, though I was unable to congratulate you upon the result. Victor
Lynch, the forger. Venomous lizard or gila. Remarkable case, that! Vittoria,
the circus belle. Vanderbilt and the Yeggman. Vipers. Vigor, the Hammersmith
wonder. Hullo! Hullo! Good old index. You can't beat it. Listen to this,
Watson. Vampirism in Hungary. And again, Vampires in Transylvania." He
turned over the pages with eagerness, but after a short intent perusal he threw
down the great book with a snarl of disappointment.
"Rubbish, Watson, rubbish! What have we to
do with walking corpses who can only be held in their grave by stakes driven
through their hearts? It's pure lunacy."
"But surely," said I, "the
vampire was not necessarily a dead man? A living person might have the habit. I
have read, for example, of the old sucking the blood of the young in order to
retain their youth."
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