解説　場面 29「帰りを待つ」

At three o'clock precisely I was at Baker Street, but Holmes had not yet returned. The landlady informed me that he had left the house shortly after eight o'clock in the morning. I sat down beside the fire, however, with the intention of awaiting him, however long he might be. I was already deeply interested in his inquiry, for, though it was surrounded by none of the grim and strange features which were associated with the two crimes which I have already recorded, still, the nature of the case and the exalted station of his client gave it a character of its own. Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my friend had on hand, there was something in his masterly grasp of a situation, and his keen, incisive reasoning, which made it a pleasure to me to study his system of work, and to follow the quick, subtle methods by which he disentangled the most inextricable mysteries. So accustomed was I to his invariable success that the very possibility of his failing had ceased to enter into my head.

三時きっかりに私はベイカー街に着いたが、ホームズはまだ戻っていなかった。下宿のおかみの話では、彼は朝の八時を少し回ったころに家を出たという。それでも私は、どれほど長くかかろうと待つつもりで、暖炉のそばに腰を下ろした。私はすでに彼の調査に深く心を引かれていた。これまでに記録した二つの犯罪のような陰惨で奇怪な特徴は何ひとつなかったが、それでも事件の性質と依頼人の高い身分が、この件に独特の趣を与えていたからである。実際、友人が手がけている調査の中身はさておいても、状況を見事につかむ手腕と、鋭く切れ味のある推理には何かがあって、私は彼の仕事のやり方を研究し、どれほどもつれた謎も解きほぐしてしまう素早く巧妙な手法を追うのが楽しみだったのだ。彼がいつも成功するのにすっかり慣れていたので、失敗するかもしれないなどとは、もはや考えもしなくなっていた。