[00:00.58] Chapter 1.
[00:02.06] A disappearance and a death.
[00:06.68] I am afraid, Watson, that I shall have to go, said Holmes, looking up from his newspaper.
[00:12.61] Go?
[00:13.54] Where to? I asked.
[00:16.73] To Dartmoor, to King's Pyland.
[00:21.99] I was not surprised.
[00:23.76] The disappearance of the horse called Silver Blaze was a big story covered in all the newspapers.
[00:32.66] Silver Blaze was the favorite to win the Wessex Cup, but the horse was now missing, and its trainer had been murdered.
[00:46.30] I would be happy to go with you, I said, as long as I'm not in the way.
[00:52.81] My dear Watson, you would do me a great favor.
[00:57.90] This looks like a unique case.
[01:03.76] And so it happened that an hour or so later, we were on our way to King's Pyland, home of the famous stables.
[01:12.38] On the way, Holmes told me the details of the case.
[01:19.34] Silver Blaze has won many prizes for his owner, Colonel Ross.
[01:26.86] He was also the favorite to win the Wessex Cup.
[01:32.31] The horse is well liked by the public, and a lot of money has been staked on him.
[01:39.27] It is clear then that many people had a strong interest in preventing Silver Blaze from starting.
[01:48.42] What about the trainer?
[01:50.92] John Straker had been the trainer for seven years and had a clean record.
[01:58.72] There were three stable lads.
[02:01.89] One of them sat up each night in the stable, while the others slept up in the loft.
[02:09.83] According to my information, they are all reliable servants.
[02:19.23] Do we know anything more about Straker? I asked.
[02:25.07] He was a married man without children, who lived in a small house near the stables.
[02:33.05] The country around is very lonely, but about half a mile north, there is a group of houses.
[02:41.46] Across the moor, about two miles, are the Mapleton Stables.
[02:48.05] They are owned by Lord Blackwater and managed by Silas Brown.
[02:55.37] In all other directions, the moor is deserted, apart from a few gypsies who roam the area.
[03:04.81] Tell me more, I said.
[03:07.92] On the evening in question, the horses were fed and watered, as usual, and the stables were locked at 9 o'clock.
[03:18.75] Two of the lads went up to the trainer's house where they had supper.
[03:24.98] The other lad, Ned Hunter, was left on guard.
[03:31.55] Shortly after nine, the maid, Edith, took Ned his supper, a dish of curried mutton.
[03:42.15] No drink?
[03:44.64] There was a tap in the stable.
[03:48.38] It was a rule that the lad on duty must drink nothing else.
[03:56.74] Edith was a little way from the stables when she was stopped by a man.
[04:03.42] She said he was a gentleman and wore a grey suit and a cloth cap.
[04:11.77] He carried a heavy stick, and she noticed that his face was very pale and that he seemed nervous.
[04:22.66] Go on, Holmes.
[04:24.97] I have not heard any of this so far.
[04:28.81] As ever, the newspapers only have room for some of the facts, said Holmes.
[04:38.25] The man said to Edith, "Can you tell me where I am?"
[04:45.03] She told him he was close to King's Pyland Stables.
[04:51.33] What a stroke of luck, he said.
[04:56.97] Now, I am sure you would like to earn the price of a new dress.
[05:04.91] And he tried to give her a piece of paper to give to the stable boy.
[05:12.47] But Edith ran to the stable, where Ned was already at the little table by the window.
[05:20.30] He looked up and she passed him his meal as normal.
[05:25.53] As she started to tell him what had happened, the stranger appeared again.
[05:33.52] Good evening, he said to Ned through the open window.
[05:40.31] I wanted to have a word with you.
[05:44.85] What do you want here? asked the lad.
[05:49.53] Just some information, which I will pay you for.
[05:55.22] Tell me, is it true that the horse Bayard could beat the other horses hands down, even if they had five furlongs start, and that the stables have put their money on him?
[06:12.96] We don't talk about that sort of thing to people like you, said the lad, and we don't want your sort round here.
[06:22.05] He got up to set the dog free.
[06:25.50] The girl ran off, but she saw the stranger still leaning through the window.
[06:32.24] Yet when Ned came out of the stable with the dog, the man had gone.
[06:41.03] Did the stable boy leave the door unlocked behind him?
[06:46.38] Excellent, Watson, murmured Holmes.
[06:51.56] I asked the same question.
[06:55.38] I was told that Ned locked the door.
[07:00.38] And the window?
[07:03.23] Not big enough for a man to get through.
[07:08.25] Ned waited till the other lads came back, and then he sent a message to the trainer.
[07:16.85] Straker was uneasy when he heard what had happened.
[07:21.43] At 1 o'clock, his wife woke up to find him dressing.
[07:26.59] He said he was going to see that all was well.
[07:32.94] That was the last she saw of him.
[07:37.73] The last she saw of him alive.
[07:42.98] At 7:00 she woke and went down to the stables.
[07:49.11] She saw Ned Hunter fast asleep, or drunk.
[07:55.76] The horse was missing, and there was no sign of the trainer.
[08:02.44] She woke the lads in the loft, but they had heard nothing.
[08:07.74] Ned, however, could not be roused, and so they left him to sleep.
[08:14.25] The lads and the woman ran off to search.
[08:19.32] A short way off, they found the body of the trainer.
[08:25.48] He had a dreadful head wound and a long cut in the thigh.
[08:31.69] He seemed to have put up a fight.
[08:36.41] His hand still held a small knife, which had blood on it up to the handle.
[08:44.15] In his left hand, he held a red and black silk cravat, which the maid said she had seen the stranger wearing.
[08:55.56] When Ned recovered from his drugged sleep, he also recognized the cravat.
[09:04.98] And what of the horse?
[09:08.80] There were signs that the horse had been at the scene of the murder.
[09:15.52] However, it has since been impossible to find it.
[09:24.80] How was the lad drugged?
[09:28.83] Traces of powdered opium were found in the remains of his supper.
[09:36.71] I whistled.
[09:38.87] And what of the stranger? Has he been found?
[09:44.13] He has been found and arrested by Inspector Gregory, who was in charge of the case.
[09:53.11] His name is Fitzroy Simpson, and he lived in one of the nearby houses.
[09:59.68] He has lost a fortune betting on horses, and he now lives by placing bets for others and giving racing tips.
[10:09.97] Bets of 5,000 pounds had been laid by him against the favorite, Silver Blaze.
[10:19.95] Damning evidence, wouldn't you say?
[10:23.32] What was his story?
[10:26.19] He admitted coming to get information about the horses at King's Pyland.
[10:33.11] He also wanted to find out about the horses at the other stables, at Mapleton.
[10:40.98] That is where the second favorite, Desborough, is to be found.
[10:47.32] He did not deny being at the stables, but said he had no other plans.
[10:57.65] But what about the cravat?
[11:01.80] Indeed, he could not explain how it came to be in the hand of the dead man.
[11:09.29] He also still had his stick, which could have been the weapon that killed Straker.
[11:18.13] Then there is no mystery.
[11:21.81] There were no wounds on his person, and Straker's knife shows that someone must have been injured.
[11:30.55] Perhaps the blood on the knife is Straker's own.
[11:35.92] That is quite possible.
[11:40.04] The police believe that Simpson drugged the lad and kidnapped the horse.
[11:47.56] Perhaps Simpson had a copy of the key from somewhere.
[11:53.06] Silver Blaze's bridle is missing, so he must have put it on.
[11:59.85] Somewhere, the police think, he met the trainer and a fight took place.
[12:08.01] And the horse bolted, I suggested.
[12:14.88] Or was taken to a hiding place.
[12:20.43] Though how Simpson expected to get away with such a crime is, indeed, a mystery.
[12:29.82] At this point, Holmes sank back into thought and remained so for the rest of the journey.