Welcome to Sherlock Holmes short stories. I'm Hugh Bonneville, and from the Noiser podcast network,

this is The Adventure of the Crooked Man, Part 2. Last time, Holmes and Watson were called to

Aldershot, where Colonel James Barclay of the Royal Munsters was found dead, following a furious quarrel with his wife.

Nancy Barclay now lies in shock, accused of her husband's murder. At some point in the hour

and a half before his death, her mood seems to have shifted dramatically. Did she discover a long-buried

secret about the Colonel's military past?

At the Berkeley residence, Holmes found evidence that a male visitor had been present at the

scene of the crime, but he wasn't there alone. Alongside the large footprints was the mark of some

kind of animal, a strange and exotic

pawprint that even the great detective cannot identify.

The paper was covered with the tracings of the footmarks of some small animal.

It had five well-marked footpads,

an indication of long nails, and a whole print might be nearly as large as a dessert spoon.

"'It's a dog,' said I. "'Did you ever hear of a dog running up a curtain? I found distinct traces that this creature had done so.

"'A monkey, then?'

"'But it is not the print of a monkey.'

"'What can it be, then?

Neither dog nor cat, nor monkey, nor any creature that we are familiar with.

I have tried to reconstruct it from the measurements.

Here are four prints where the beast has been standing motionless.

You see that it is no less than 15 inches from forefoot to hind.

Add to that the length of neck and head,

...