I saw nothing remarkable save the bell-rope, and what purpose that
could answer I confess is more than I can imagine.
You saw the ventilator, too?
Yes, but I do not think that it is such a very unusual thing to have a
small opening between two rooms. It was so small that a rat could
hardly pass through.
I knew that we should find a ventilator before ever we came to Stoke
Moran.
My dear Holmes!
Oh, yes, I did. You remember in her statement she said that her sister
could smell Dr. Roylott s cigar. Now, of course that suggested at once
that there must be a communication between the two rooms. It could only
be a small one, or it would have been remarked upon at the coroner s
inquiry. I deduced a ventilator.
But what harm can there be in that?
Well, there is at least a curious coincidence of dates. A ventilator
is made, a cord is hung, and a lady who sleeps in the bed dies. Does
not that strike you?
I cannot as yet see any connection.
Did you observe anything very peculiar about that bed?
No.
It was clamped to the floor. Did you ever see a bed fastened like that
before?
I cannot say that I have.
The lady could not move her bed. It must always be in the same
relative position to the ventilator and to the rope or so we may call
it, since it was clearly never meant for a bell-pull.
192