解説　場面 62「家の中の跡」

"On entering the house, however, I examined, as you remember, the sill and framework of the hall window with my lens, and I could at once see that someone had passed out. I could distinguish the outline of an instep where the wet foot had been placed in coming in. I was then beginning to be able to form an opinion as to what had occurred. A man had waited outside the window; someone had brought the gems; the deed had been overseen by your son; he had pursued the thief; had struggled with him; they had each tugged at the coronet, their united strength causing injuries which neither alone could have effected. He had returned with the prize, but had left a fragment in the grasp of his opponent. So far I was clear. The question now was, who was the man, and who was it brought him the coronet?

しかし屋敷へ入ると、ご記憶のとおり、玄関広間の窓台と枠を拡大鏡で調べ、誰かが外へ出たことをすぐ見抜きました。戻って来る時に濡れた足を置いた、足の甲の輪郭を見分けることができました。その頃には、起きたことについて見解を組み立てられるようになっていました。一人の男が窓の外で待ち、誰かが宝石を運んで来た。その行為を息子さんが見て、泥棒を追い、争った。二人はそれぞれ宝冠を引き、力が合わさったため、一人では生じさせられない損傷が起きた。彼は宝冠を取り戻しましたが、相手の手に破片を残した。そこまでは明らかでした。次の問題は、男が誰で、誰が宝冠を運んだのか、ということです。

"It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. Now, I knew that it was not you who had brought it down, so there only remained your niece and the maids. But if it were the maids, why should your son allow himself to be accused in their place? There could be no possible reason. As he loved his cousin, however, there was an excellent explanation why he should retain her secret—the more so as the secret was a disgraceful one. When I remembered that you had seen her at that window, and how she had fainted on seeing the coronet again, my conjecture became a certainty.

私には、昔から一つの原則があります。不可能なものを除外した時、残ったものが、どれほどありそうになくても真実である。さて、宝冠を下へ運んだのがあなたでないことは分かっていました。残るのは姪御さんと女中たちだけです。しかし女中なら、なぜ息子さんが身代わりに罪を着せられるままにしたのでしょう。考え得る理由はありません。しかし彼は従妹を愛していました。だから彼女の秘密を守ることには、十分な説明がつきます。しかもその秘密は恥ずべきものでした。あなたが彼女をあの窓で見たこと、そして宝冠を再び見て気絶したことを思い出すと、私の推測は確信に変わりました。