“Populus me sibilant, at mihi plaudo Ipse domi
simul ac nummos contemplar in arca.” (The public hisses at me, but I applaud
myself when in my own house, and simultaneously contemplate the coins in the
strong-box). The Latin words of a Roman miser, Quintus Horatius Flaccus,
from his work the First Satire.
“There is nothing new under
the sun. It has all been done before.” (Sherlock Holmes addressed to detective
Gregson on page 21).
This is the Volume I of the
Complete Novels and Stories of Sherlock Holmes by Sir. Arthur Conan Doyle, with
an Introduction by Loren D. Estleman, which is presented in 1059 pages and it is
published by Bantam Book. Sir. Arthur Conan Doyle, a doctor of English Irish descent
who wrote about the Boer War, was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1859. His
first success was A Study in Scarlet,
which appeared in Beeton’s Christmas
Annual for 1887.
A
Study in Scarlet is mystery novella (novel), it is not easy
to comprehend. But, reader would enjoy smart conversations and narrations in this fiction. The
tale is told by Dr. Watson, a veteran doctor, and is about his recently companion, an
amateur consulting detective, Sherlock Holmes. Scotland Yard had asked
Holmes to solve the mysterious murder of a wealthy American, and later another
American, wherein Watson practically involved into the case. When it comes to
the end of hypothesis – who is the murderer -- who are the two victims, then officially
the case is closed. But Dr. Watson has his own conclusion, for him it is still an unsolved mystery and he writes it in his journal.
A Study in Scarlet, Sherlock Holmes (1887), a Classic Story by Arthur Doyle: summary
This is the memoirs of John
H. Watson MD, late of the Army Medical Department, about Mr. Sherlock Holmes.
In the year 1878 Watson took his degree of Doctor of Medicine of University of
London. Having complete his study he was an assistant surgeon in Army. The
regiment was stationed in India, and before he could join it, the second Afghan
war had broken out.
The campaign brought honors
and promotions to many, but for Watson it had nothing but misfortune and
disaster. He was removed from his brigade to and attached to Berkshires, with
whom he served at the fatal battle of Maiwand. There was he struck on the
shoulder by a Jezail bullet, which shattered the bone and grazed the subclavian
artery.
Worn with pain, weak from
the prolonged hardships which he had undergone, he was removed, with a great train
of wounded sufferers, to the base hospital at Peshawar. For months his life
despair of, when at last he came to himself and became convalescent, he was so
weak and emaciated that a medical board determined that not a day should be
lost in sending him back to England.
He had neither kith nor kin
in England, and was therefore as free as air. There he stayed for some time at
a private hotel, leading a comfortless, meaningless existence, and spending
money as he had, considerably more freely than he ought to. So alarming did his
stated of finances become, that he soon realized that he must leave and
rusticate somewhere in the country.
His friend Stamford introduced
him to Sherlock Holmes. Holmes was working at the chemical laboratory up at the
hospital. Holmes was bemoaning because he could not get someone to go halves
with him in some nice rooms which he had found, and which were too much for his
purse. Watson also was looking for a less expensive domicile, wanted someone to
share the rooms and expense. He should prefer having partner to being alone.
For Stamford, Holmes was a
little too scientific for his tastes. But for Watson, Holmes was certainly not
a difficult man to live with. He was quite in his ways, and his habits were
regular. It was rare for him to be after ten at night. Sometimes he spent his days
at the chemical laboratory, sometimes in dissecting-rooms, and occasionally in
long walks. Watson suspected him of being addicted to the use of some narcotic.
As the weeks went by, his
interest in him and curiosity as to his aims in life gradually depend and
increased. In height he was rather over
six feet, and so excessively lean that seemed to be considerably taller. His
eyes were sharp and piercing; and his thin, hawk-like nose gave his whole expression
an air of alertness and decision. His hands were invariably blotted with ink
and stained with chemicals, yet he was possessed of extraordinary delicacy of
touch. He was not studying medicine. He was a consulting detective. In London
there had a lots of government detectives and lots of private ones. But when
they were at fault, they came to Sherlock Holmes.
The
Mysterious Death
Tobias Gregson, the smartest
of the Scotland Yarders, had asked Holmes on Enoch J. Drebber’s case. The American
man had been found death, there had been no robbery, nor was there any evidence
as to how the man met his death. There were marks of blood in the room, but
there was no wound upon the person.
Gregson and his associate,
Lestrade, were both quick and energetic, but conventional. Watson and Holmes
arrived at the crime scene. It was that of a man about forty-three or
forty-four years of age, middle-sized, broad-shouldered, with crisp curling
black hair, and a short, stubby beard. He was dressed in a heavy broadcloth
frock coat and waistcoat, with light-colored trousers, and immaculate collar
and cuffs. On his rigid face there stood an expression of horror, and, as it
seemed to me, of hatred, such as I have never seen upon human features. There
was no much clues, but they found cards of Enoch J. Drebber, and pocket edition
of Boccaccio’s ‘Decameron,’ (Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375), an Italian
writer, poet, and important Renaisance humanist, who wrote the famous drama the
Decameron) with name of Joseph Stangerson upon the flyleaf. Two
letters—one addressed to E.J. Drebber and one to Joseph Stangerson.
At the particular corner of
the room a large piece had peeled off, leaving a yellow square of course
plastering. Across the bare space was scrawled in blood letters a single word
-- Rache. The murderer had written it with his/her own blood. Gregson had had
advertisements sent to all the newspapers, and one of his men had gone to the
American Exchange. Rache is the German word for revenge. But the detectives
suspected Rache as John Rache, their friend and that man was duty off.
Gregson and Lestrade had
watched the manoeuvres of their amateur companion with considerable curiosity
and some contempt. Rance gave a violent jump while Watson and Holmes arrived at
his house. John Rance appeared to be somewhat irritated. He saw the man, he was
an uncommon drunk man. But the mysterious man came back to the house after
leaving it. He came back for his ring. Holmes used a ring as a bait, he would
not missed the finest study he ever came cross. He called it in art jargon
study in a scarlet. There were the scarlet thread of murder running through the
colorless of skein of life, and their duty was to unravel it and isolated it,
and exposed it every inch of it.
A very old and wrinkled woman
hobbled into Watson and Holmes’s apartment. She showed up with the piece of
paper and claimed a gold wedding ring which advertised on paper was belonged to
his granddaughter Sally. They gave the ring to her, then Holmes followed her
home. But he lost the track of the old woman.
The Daily News speculation
of the Drebber’s death named his secretary, Stangerson. The hat laid beside the
body addressed a name of store. The shop had sent a hat to Drebber residing at
Charpentier’s Boarding Establishment. Mrs. Charpentier admitted Drebber had
been with the Charpentiers nearly three weeks. He and his secretary,
Stangerson, had been traveling on the Continent. She noticed it from their
luggage. Stangerson was a quiet and reserved man, but hi employer, Drebber, was
coarse in his habits. The very night of his arrival he because very much the
worse for drink.
Lestrade was on an opinion
that Stangerson, the secretary, was concerned on Drebber’s death. Holmes and
the team tracked him at a hotel. They found Stangerson was stabbed to death, the
window of the room was open.
John
Ferrier and The Mormon’s Pilgrimage
There is no inhabitants of
this land of despair. As far as the eye can reach stretches the great
plain-land, all dusted over with patches of alkali, and intersected by clumps
of the dwarfish chaparral bushes. Here and there scattered white objects which
glistened in the sun, and stand out against the dull deposit of alkali. There
are bones. The formers had belonged to oxen and the latter of men. Looking down
on the very scene, there stood upon eighteen hundred and forty seven, a
traveler. His face was lean and haggard. The man was dying from hunger and
thirsty.
He had toiled painfully down
the ravine, in the vain hope of seeing signs of water. He found a pretty little
girl of about five years of age, the child was pale and wan. A great caravan
upon its journey for the West reached the base of the mountain. At the sight
here was a general reining up horses an unslinging of guns, while fresh
horsemen came galloping up to reinforce the vanguard. One of them seized the
little girl, while two others supported her gaunt companion, and assisted him
towards the wagons.
John Ferrier, the wanderer,
explained the little girl was not his child. Saving the girl, he acclaimed she
was his daughter, and named her Lucy Ferrier. One of the rescuers claimed they
were the persecuted children of God, the chosen of the Angel Moroni. Eight to
thousand Mormons were on their pilgrim. The two castaways, John Ferrier and the
little girl, who had shared his fortunes had been adopted as his daughter,
accompanied the Mormons to the end of their great pilgrimage.
Little Lucy Ferrier was
borne along pleasantly enough in Elder Stangerson’s wagon, a retreat which she
shared with the Mormon’s three wives with his son. When they reached the end of
their wanderings, it was unanimously agreed that he should be provide with a
large and as fertile a tract of land as any of the settlers, with the exception
of Young himself, and of Stangerson, Kemball, Johnston, and Drebber, who were
the four principal Elders.
John Ferrier was a man of
practical turn of mind, keen in his dealings and skillful w was with his hands.
In three years he was better of his neighbors, in six he was well-to-do, in
nine e was rich, and in twelve there were no half a dozen men in whole of Salt
Lake City who could compare to him. There were some who accused him of
lukewarmness in his adopted religion, and others who put it down to greed of
wealth and reluctant to incur expense.
The
Wealth Ferriers in Salt Lake City
Lucy Ferrier grew up within
the log-hose, and assisted her adopted father in all his undertakings. It was
not her father, however, who first discovered that the child had developed into
a woman. Young Jefferson Hope realized a crisis came to his life after he met
Lucy Ferrier. The love which had sprung up in his heart was not the sudden, changeable
a fancy boy. He called on John Ferrier
that night, and many times again until his face was familiar one at the
farmhouse. He had been a scout too, a trapper, a silver explorer, and a
ranchman. Jefferson soon became a favorite with the old farmer, and Lucy was
the happiest girl in Utah. The Mormon’s leaders found Lucy was approached by a
Christian, so they wanted to unseal the girl from Jefferson. They arranged Lucy
to one of the Elder’s son. Then she married to Joseph Drebber.
There were some words
between young Drebber and Stangerson as to which was to have her. The
prediction of the Mormon was only too well fulfilled. Whether it was the
terrible death of her father or the effects of hateful marriage into which she
had been forced, poor Lucy never held up her head again, but pined away, and
died within a month. Her sottish husband who had married her principally for
the sake of John Ferrier property.
For some months Jefferson
Hope lingered among the mountains, leading a strange, wild life, and nursing in
his heart the fierce desire for vengeance which possessed him. Some of younger
members of Church having rebelled against authority of the Elders and the
result had been the secession of a certain numbers who left Utah and became
Gentiles. Among these had been Drebber and Stangerson. Rumor reported that
Drebber had managed to convert a large part of hos large property, and had
departed a wealthy man, while his companion, Stangerson, was comparatively
poor.
The
Prisoner in London
He spoke in calm and
methodical manner, as though the events which he narrated were commonplace
enough. Jefferson Hope told the detectives and Holmes that the two dead men
deserved death. He explained the two men had killed a father and daughter, a
girl was to have married him twenty years ago. She was force in marrying
Drebber. He took the marriage ring from her dead finger, and vowed to punish
her killer. Among the many billets which he had filled in America during his
wandering life, he was once janitor and sweeper-out of the laboratory at York
College. One day the professor was lecturing on poisons, and he showed his
students some alkaloids. They were rich and Hope was poor, so it was no easy
matter for him to follow them. When he got in London, he had no money in his pocket.
He applied at a cab-owner’s office and soon got employment. He had grown his
beard, and there was no chance of their recognizing him.
He remembered a German being
found in New York with RACHE written up above him, and it was argued at the
time in the newspapers that the secret societies must have done it. He guessed
what puzzled that the New Yorkers would puzzle the Londoners, so he dipped his
finger in his own blood and printed it on a convenient place on the wall. He
did not find Lucy’s ring in his pocket, then he drove back for the ring.
A higher Judge had taken the
matter in hand, and Jefferson Hope had been summoned before the tribunal where
strict justice would be meted out to him. On the very night after his capture
the aneurism burst, and he was found in the morning stretched upon the floor of
the cell, with placid smile upon his face, as though he had been able in his
dying moments to look back upon a useful life, and on work well done.
Watson telegraphed to the
head of police of Cleveland about Enoch Drebber. The answer was conclusive. The
police said Drebber had applied for the protection of the law against old rival
in love, named Jefferson Hope, and that the same Hope was at present in Europe.
Dr. Watson was in doubt to believe
that the deceased man in the jail was Jefferson Hope. The perpetrator had left
his tracks all over the room, showing that he had been there all the time. The
man who had walked into the house with Drebber at the bloody night was none
other than the man who had driven the cab. The marks in the road showed him
that the horse had on in a way wandered which would have been impossible had
there been anyone in charge of it. It was absurd that any sane man would carry
out a deliberate crime under the very eyes, as it were, of a third person who
was sure to betray him. All those consideration had led him to the conclusion that
Jefferson Hope was to be found among the jarveys of the Metropolis.
There was no reason to
suppose that was going to change his name. No one knew his original one, Watson
therefore organized his street detective corps, and sent them systematically to
every cab proprietor in London until they ferreted out the man. The murder of
Stangerson was an incident which was entirely unexpected.
******
October 20, 2017
Sepatah
Kata
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
dilahirkan di Edinburgh, Skotlandia pada tahun 1859. Setelah menyelesaikan
studi kedokteran di Edinburg, kemudian ia menetap di London. Namun ia
memutuskan menjadi seorang penulis dengan karya pertamanya kisah Sherlock
Holmes. A Study in Scarlet mengawali
suksesnya dimuat pada Beeton’s Christmas Annual pada tahun 1887, disusul karya
keduanya Sign in Four pada tahun
1890. Ketika ia menuliskan karya-karya lainnya bertemakan sejarah, petualangan,
dan romansa mengenalkan tokohnya detektif Sherlock Holmes yang membuatnya
tenar.
Pada akhirnya, ia berada pada titik lelah dan jenuh akan tokoh Sherlock
Holmes, dan membunuhnya dalam karya His
Last Bow pada tahun 1893, namun penggemarnya mendesak untuk membangkitkan
kembali tokoh kesayangan. Dalam kehidupan nyatanya, Arthur Doyle gemar
berpetualang, sekaligus atlet, sejarawan, dan ia menghembuskan nafas terakhir
pada tahun 1930.
Buku ini terdiri dari
sejumlah novel dan kisah tergabung dalam volume pertama karya Arthur Conan Doyle
dan diberi kata pengantar oleh Loren D. Estleman pada tahun 1986. Dari karya
awal yakni A Study Scarlet, Sign Four,
hingga karya terakhir the Returned of
Sherlock Holmes, disampaikan dalam 1059 halaman dan diterbitkan Bantam
Classic New York, 2003. Sebelumnya sudah pernah menonton karya Sherlock Holmes
dalam bentuk film dibintangi Downey Jr, tapi sayang sekali saya kurang bisa
menikmatinya. Buku cerdas dan indah ini cukup sulit untuk dipahami, sehingga kurang
tepat bagi pembaca pemula, namun tentu saja, penggemar dan pemburu kesusastraan
bertema detektif mengejar karya berkelas milik Arthur Conan Doyle.
A Study in Scarlet adalah tuturan kisah dari Dr. Watson yang
tertuang dalam jurnalnya tentang simpul perkenalan dan keterlibatan dengan
detektif swasta amatiran, seorang pekerja laboratorium bernama Sherlock Holmes.
Karya ini lebih didominasi Dr. Watson, dapat disimpulkan bahwa karya ini tidak
ada tanpa Watson. Berlatar-belakang akhir abad 19, membawa kisah pengikut Mormon
dari Utah di gurun pasir Salt Lake City hingga ke kota London. Kisah
terbunuhnya Amerika kaya di kota London, seseorang mengaku atas nama
Jefferson Hope, berkebangsaan Amerika juga, mengaku telah membunuh dua warga
Amerika berkeyakinan Mormon tersebut di tanah Inggris, dengan motif persaingan cinta di masa lalu. Berita sudah santer di sejumlah surat kabar London, dan menurut Dr.
Watson bisa saja semua hanya karangan Hope, lelaki pada akhirnya ditemukan tewas juga di
penjara.
Terjemahan
dalam Bahasa Indonesia, A Study in Scarlet, Sherlock Holmes (1887), karya Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: ringkasan
Karya pertama dari Sir
Arthur Conan Doyle dipublikasi tahun 1887. Kisah memoar dari almarhum Dr. John
Watson, seorang dokter tentara tentang Tn. Sherlock Holmes. Watson lulus
sekolah kedokteran tahun 1887, dan bergabung dengan dokter bedah tentara. Saat perang
Afganistan berkecambuk, ia dikirim ke sana dan mengalami kecelakaan perang
mengkibatkan bahunya terluka parah, tidak memungkin lagi bertugas. Ia pun pensiun
dini dan dikirim balik ke kota London. Namun tiada satu pun keluarganya di sana,
karena ia memang berasal dari Edinburg. Berbulan-bulan ia tinggal di hotel
murah, gaji pensiunanya sangat kecil, ia pun mencari teman berbagi tempat
tinggal. Seorang teman mantan tentara bernama Stamford memperkenalkannya dengan
Sherlock Holmes, seseorang yang bekerja pada laboratorium kimia di sebuah rumah
sakit. Belakangan ia juga menjadi detektif amatir yang terkadang dilibatkan
Scotland Yard pada kasus tertentu.
Menurut Stamford Holme agak
aneh, tapi ia sedang mencari teman berbagi kamar bagus karena gaji dia juga
pas-pasan. Awalnya satu atap dengan Holmes bukan hal yang mudah bagi Dr.
Watson. Waktu pun berlalu keduanya akhirnya menjadi satu tim dalam bisnis konsultasi
detektif yang baru didirikan Holmes.
Biro Intelijn Scotland Yard
menyurati Holmes, dan memintanya menyelidiki terbunuhnya seorang asing yang
memiliki identitas berasal dari Cleveland Amerika Serikat. Ia ditemukan
terbunuh di kamar sewaannya, tanpa ditemukan luka di tubuhnya, dan tanpa ada
tanda kekerasan perampokan harta benda, namun ada tulisan darah RACHE torehan
jari seseorang di lantai dan dinding. Sebagai orang yang bekerja pada
laboratorium kimia di sebuah rumah sakit, Holmes mandapati korban tewas
diracun.
Begitu seringnya Dr. Watson
melihat mayat, namun baru kali ini ia melihat wajah jasad begitu jahat dan
bengis. Lelaki itu dalam pakaian mewah, didapati idak ada indikasi perampokan.
Kematian misterius ini pun menjadi tajuk berita di beberapa surat kabar ternama
di kota London. Detektif Gregson sudah mengirimkan telegram ke Cleveland, namun
belum ada kabar.
Ketika sudah mendapat
petunjuk dari barang-barang yang dimilikinya oleh korban Drebber, penyidikan
mengarah ke sebuah rumah kos-kosan yang dimiliki Ny. Charpentier. Topi mewah
yang dimiliki oleh Drebber bertuliskan nama sebuah toko topi ternama di kota London.
Pembukuan penjualan dan pengiriman barang mencatat kiriman topi atas nama
Drebber berikut alamatnya. Pemilik rumah sewa sangat ketakutan saat Holmes dan
Watson mendatanginya. Ia memang sudah mengetahui berita kematian penyewa
kamarnya di surat kabar, tapi ia ketakutan, Drebber orang yang kasar dan
peminum berat, dan kerap mabuk. Wanita itu juga mempelajari Drebber adalah
orang kaya yang sudah berkeliling benua dan Eropah. Dari label pada barang
bawaannya tertulis Copenhagen. Drebber orang kasar bertolak belakang dengan
sekretarisnya Stangerson yang tidak banyak bicara.
Stangerson kebetulan tidak
tinggal bersamaan dengan bosnya. Drebber sendiri telah baru beberapa minggu
tinggal di rumah Charpentier. Detektif dan Holmes mendatangi hotel tempat
tinggal Stangerson, namun lelaki itu telah ditemukan tewas dengan luka tikaman.
Dengan penyidikan saksi yang melihat pembunuh sempat kembli ke tempat kejdia
pelku Jefferson Hope ditangkap.
Salt
Lake City
Sejauh mata memandang, hamparan
gurun luas tidak menjanjikan kehidupan apapun. Bongkahan tulang belulang
burung-burung dan manusia berserakan di atas pasir. Delapan hingga sepuluh
ribuan orang tengah melakukan perjalanan ziarah, salah seorang dari mereka
adalah seorang pengembara. Beberapa hari sbelumnya, ia terkapar, kehausan di
gurun sepi itu. Panas terik membakar membuatnya sesekali beristirhat dalam
harapan perjuangannya mencari sumber air. Ia tahu itu sia-sia, namun ia masih
tetap menaruh harapan. Suara teriakan anak kecil muncul dari bawah pasir.
Gadis kecil berusia lima tahun,
keluar. Berikutnya pengembara mengetahui bahwa anak itu telah kehilangan ibunya
dan rombongan yang membawanya. Mereka semua telah tewas diambil gurun,
tinggallah gadis itu. Gadis cantik dengan lengan sehat. Rombongan ribuan orang
dalam karavan atau kereta besar, dan sekumpulan orang berkuda mendengung dan menyemburkan pasir. Dua dari
penunggang kuda menghampiri lelaki itu. Gadis kecil itu dibopong ke karavan,
dan John Ferrier lemah dituntun. Ia lemas kehausan, delapan hingga puluhan ribu
orang Mormon yang sedang mengadakan ziarah kerohanian ke gunung para orang
suci, telah menyelamatkan hidup keduanya.
Para tetua pun menyambut
John Ferrier. Pengelana menceritakan jati
dirinya dan gadis itu. Setelah menyelamatkan gadis sebatang kara itu, ia
menamai putri adopsinya Lucy. Ziarah pun berakhir dan kembali ke pemukiman di Utah.
Para tetua Mormon sepakat menyewakan sebidang tanah pada lelaki asing itu. Ia giat
bekerja dan berpegang teguh pada janji. Dalam sepuluh tahun, ia sudah tersohor
sebagai salah satu orang kaya di Salt Lake City, hampir semua orang kenal
namanya. Putri adopsinya Lucy pun tumbuh menjadi gadis cantik, ia membantu
pertanian ayahnya.
Banyak pula tidak menyenangi
John Ferrier, ada yang menuduh ia tidak taat dengan kepercayaan barunya, lebih
mencintai harta. Kecantikan Lucy memikat hati para pria, apalagi harta kekayaan
ayahnya. Rumor menyebut John Ferrier gemar memainkan wanita, tapi kenyataannya
ia tidak pernah menikah.
Hingga suatu masa seorang
pengelana muda jatuh cinta pada Lucy. Ia seorang petualang sejati dan pencari
harta karun. John Ferrie tidak begitu mudah menerima lelaki asing yang
mendekati putri satu-satunya. Tidak menunggu waktu lama Hope dan ayah Lucy akrab,
dan Lucy menjadi wanita paling bahagia di Utah ketika itu. Tetua Mormon tidak
menyenangi kehadiran pria Kristen seperti Hope, apalagi niat untuk menikahi si cantik Lucy.
Mereka mengatur Lucy dijodohkan pada salah seorang anak tetua. Tetua Stangerson
dan Drebber memiliki istri banyak dan anak banyak. John tidak setuju dengan
perjodohan paksa tetua, namun ia berhutang nyawa pada mereka. Akhirnya Lucy
dinikahi anak dari tetua Drebber. Hanya beberapa bulan pernikahan ayah Lucy meninggal
seperti nubuatan mereka, dan Lucy sendiri pun meninggal. Jefferson Hope sangat
terpukul dengan berita kematian Lucy dan ayahnya, ia menyadari kematian keduanya
tidak wajar, apalagi setelah kematian Lucy, semua properti Ferrier dijual menjadikan Drebber muda kaya raya, berfoya-foya, dan meninggalkan Utah.
Beberapa bulan sebelumnya,
ada pertikaian dalam tubuh gereja Mormon, antara tetua dan anak muda. Drebber
dan Stangerson muda turut memberontak dan keduanya melarikan diri ke Cleveland.
Di samping itu, ada ancaman pada Drebber, rumahnya dilempari. Balas dendam dari
Jefferson Hope. Rumor menyebut Drebber hidup kaya dan berkeliling benua dan berpesiar
ke Eropah.
Kesaksian
Tahanan
Seseorang telah ditahan dan
ia mengaku bernama Jefferson Hope, ia menceritakan sema kejadian di Utah.
Drebber dan Stangerson sangat ayak mati baginya. Ia meracun Drebber. Ia seorang
pengembara yang seharunya menikahi Lucy, dan masa muda pengembaraan ia miskin
sehingga ia menjadi ukang sapu di sebuah uniersitas di New York. Seorang Profesor
kimia telah mengajari muridnya tentang reaksi racun. Ia pun mencuri zat itu dan
membawanya dalam botol, dan berniat membalas dendam pada pembunuh Lucy.
Setibanya di London, Hope tidak memiliki uang, akhirnya ia melamar menjadi supir taksi. Setelah mengintai
berbulan-bulan dan akhirnya ketemu dengan Drebber dan Stangerson. Hope menumbuhkan kumis
sehingga Drebber dan Stangerson tidak mengenalinya. Ia menghabisi Drebber dengan racun dan membawa cincin Lucy untuk mengingatkan perbuatan pelaku. Hope mengambil
cincin mas nikah dari jari dingin Lucy, dijadikan sebagai alat pengingat untuk
balas dendam. Pada malam pembunuhan, ia baru sadar cincin yang sering dibawanya
tertinggal dan ia kembali ke kamar Debber, cincin tidak berhasil didapat. Tulisan
darah RACHE didapatnya dari New York. Menurutnya apa yang menjadi tren di New
York pastilah tren di London. Kasus terbunuhnya seorang Jerman dengan
meninggalkan tulisan RACHE, berarti balas dendam dalam bahasa Jerman,
menjadi heboh diberitakan di surat kabar New York, menginspirasi Jefferson
Hope.
Resmi menjadi tahanan,
keesokan paginya Hope ditemukan tewas dalam penjara. Kasus
pembunuhan pun dianggap selesai. Dua warga Utah Amerika, pengikut Mormon
melarikan diri dan hidup berfoya-foya di tanah Eropah, rival asmaranya Jefferson
Hope mengejarnya dan membunuh kedua pria itu yang telah membunuh gadisnya yang
seharusnya menjadi istrinya dua puluh tahun silam, dan ayah, demi harta. Hope
juga ditemukan tewas di penjara. Ia
menderita aorta aneurism, istilah medis untuk pelebaran pembuluh darah tidak wajar berlaku pada sebuah
area, disebabkan oleh melemahnya pembuluh darah. Anerism dapat saja terjadi pada
arteri mana pun, namun bila pecahnya pada aorta (arteri terbesar pada manusia) dapat berakibat fatal. Hope bertahun-tahun, diterpa terik dan kelaparan di gurun
Gunung Salt Lake, penyakitnya sudah menahun dan memburuk, minggu lalu dokter sudah
memberitahu jika umurnya tinggal hitungan hari. Pengakuanya tersebut diiyakan oleh
Dr. Wtason, Hope sedang sekarat oleh penyakit itu.
Seorang Amerika membunuh dua Mormon dari Utah dan
si pembunuh pun tewas, dua pembunuhan dan tiga kematian di tanah Inggris menjadi perbincangan surat kabar. Menurut Holmes kasus ini menjadi pelajaran bagi Inggris, agar
lebih berhati-hati menerima orang asing. Bagi Holmes dan Scotland Yard kasus
sudah usai, namun tidak bagi Watson. Ia mengirim telegram menanyakan tentang Drebber.
Pusat kepolisian Cleveland memberi keterangan dalam telegram, menjelaskan jikalau Drebber
pernah meminta perlindungan atas ancaman dari rival asmara Jefferson Hope.
Banyak kejanggalan yang
ditemukan Watson, termasuk pembunuh meniggalkan petunjuk secara terang-terangan: cincin dan
tulisan RACHE, terlalu sempurna. Watson meragukan
lelaki yang mengaku dan tewas di penjara, ia bukanlah Hope yang sesungguhnya. Watson
meminta detektif jalanan mencari supir taksi bernama Jefferson Hope. Tewasnya Stangerson adalah sebuah kematian kebetulan semata. Watson menorehkan kasus ini dalam jurnalnya, kasus yang masih meninggalkan banyak pertanyaan, sang dokter memiliki hipotesa sendiri. Ia mengingatkan rekannya Holmes yang tengah puas menikmati
kesuksesannya dengan kata-kata Latin yang diungkapkan oleh Quintus Horatius Flaccus
dalam karyanya the First Satire.
“Populus me sibilant, at
mihi plaudo Ipse domi simul ac nummos contemplar in arca.” (The
public hisses at me, but I applaud myself when in my own house, and
simultaneously contemplate the coins in the strong-box). Artinya, khalayak
sibuk mencibirku, tetapi saya sedang bergembira
saat berada di dalam rumah sendiri, dan sibuk menghitung uang dalam peti harta.
******
20 Oktober 2017
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