Sherlock Holmes Short Stories - The Problem of Thor Bridge: Part One

Episode Date: September 24, 2025

When the wife of a gold magnate is found murdered on his Hampshire estate, the evidence points to the family’s young governess. But Sherlock suspects there’s more to the story than meets the eye. A peculiarly chipped stone, a note clutched in a corpse’s hand, and a set of twin revolvers. All of these clues point to an impossible crime with one resounding motive. Vengeance.     A Noiser podcast production.    Narrated by Hugh Bonneville  Written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle  Produced by Katrina Hughes and Duncan Barrett Script Supervisor: Addison Nugent  Sound Design and Audio Editing by Tony Onuchukwu Sound Supervisor: Tom Pink  Compositions: Dorry Macaulay and Oliver Baines  Mix & Mastering: Josh Latham Series Consultant: Dan Smith    For ad-free listening and early access to new episodes, join Noiser+. Just click the subscription banner at the top of the feed to get started. Or go to noiser.com/subscriptions  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When you're with Amex Platinum, you get access to exclusive dining experiences and an annual travel credit. So the best tapas in town might be in a new town altogether. That's the powerful backing of Amex. Terms and conditions apply. Learn more at Amex.ca. I'm Hugh Bonneville, and welcome to Sherlock Holmes short stories, the series where we delve into the files of fiction's most brilliant detective, following his keen mind and unerring instincts

from the first subtle clue to the final dramatic revelation. This time, we embark on one of the most baffling cases in the Holmesian canon, the problem of Thor Bridge. When the wife of a gold magnet is found murdered on his Hampshire estate, the evidence points to the family's young governess. But Sherlock suspects there's more to the story than meets the eye. A peculiarly chipped stone, a note clutched in a corpse's hand and a set of twin revolvers. All of these clues point to an impossible crime with one resounding motive. From the Noiser podcast network, this is The Problem of Thor Bridge, part one. Somewhere in the vaults of the bank of Cox and company at Charing Cross, there is a travel-worn and battered tin dispatch box with my name, John H. Watson, MD, late Indian army, painted upon the lid.

It is crammed with papers, nearly all of which are records. of cases to illustrate the curious problems which Mr Sherlock Holmes had at various times to examine. Some, and not the least interesting, were complete failures, and as such will hardly bear narrating, since no final explanation is forthcoming. A problem without a solution may interest the student, but can hardly fail to annoy the casual reader. Among these unfinished tales is that of Mr James Fillemore, who, stepping back into his own house to get his umbrella, was never more seen in this world. No less remarkable is that of the Cutter Alicia, which sailed one spring morning into a small patch of mist from where she never again emerged, nor was anything further

ever heard of herself and her crew. A third case worthy of note is that of Isadora Passano, the well-known journalist and dualist who was found stark staring mad with a matchbox in front of him which contained a remarkable worm said to be unknown to science. Apart from these unfathomed cases, there are some which involve the secrets of private families to an extent which would mean consternation in many exalted quarters if it were thought possible that they might find their way into print. I need not say that such a breach of confidence is unthinkable and that these records will be separated and destroyed

now that my friend has time to turn his energies to the matter. There remain a considerable residue of cases of greater or less interest which I might have edited before had I not feared to give the public a surfeit, which might react upon the reputation of the man whom above all others I revere. In some I was myself concerned and can speak as an eyewitness, while in others I was either not present or played so small a part that they could only be told as by a third person. The following narrative is drawn from my own experience.

It was a wild morning in October, and I observed as I was dressing how the last remaining leaves were being whirled from the solitary plane tree which graces the yard beyond our house. I descended to breakfast, prepared to find my companion, depressed spirits, for, like all great artists, he was easily impressed by his surroundings.

On the contrary, I found that he had nearly finished his meal, and that his mood was particularly bright and joyous, with that somewhat sinister cheerfulness which was characteristic of his lighter moments. "'You have a case, Holmes?' I remarked. "'The faculty of deduction is certainly contagious, Watson,' he answered. It has enabled you to probe my secret. Yes, I have a case. After a month of trivialities and stagnation, the wheels move once more.

Might I share it? There is little to share, but we may discuss it when you have consumed the two hard-boiled eggs with which our new cook has favoured us. Their condition may not be unconnected with the copy of the Family Herald, which I observed yesterday upon the hall table. Even so trivial a matter as cooking an egg demands an attention which is constantly. of the passage of time and incompatible with the love romance in that excellent periodical. A quarter of an hour later the table had been cleared, and we were face to face. He had drawn a letter from his pocket. You have heard of Neil Gibson, the gold king, he said.

You mean the American senator? Well, he was once senator for some Western state, but is better known as the greatest gold mining magnate in the world. "'Yes, I know of him. He has surely lived in England for some time. His name is very familiar. "'Yes, he bought a considerable estate in Hampshire some five years ago. Possibly you have already heard of the tragic end of his wife.' "'Of course, I remember it now. That is why the name is familiar, but I really know nothing of the details.' Holmes waved his hand towards some papers on a chair. "'I had no idea that the case was coming my way, or I should have had my extracts ready,' said he.

The fact is that the problem, though exceedingly sensational, appeared to present no difficulty. The interesting personality of the accused does not obscure the clearness of the evidence. That was the view taken by the coroner's jury, and also in the police court proceedings. It is now referred to the Assizes at Winchester. I fear it is a thankless business. I can discover facts, Watson, but I cannot change them. unless some entirely new and unexpected ones come to light, I do not see what my client can hope for. Your client?

Ah, I forgot I had not told you. I am getting into your involved habit, Watson, of telling a story backwards. You had best read this first. The letter which he handed to me, written in a bold, masterful hand, ran as follows. Clarege's Hotel, October 3rd. Dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I can't see the best woman God ever made go to her death without doing all that is possible to save her. I can't explain things.

I can't even try to explain them, but I know beyond all doubt that Miss Dunbar is innocent. You know the facts. Who doesn't? It has been the gossip of the country, and never a voice raised for her. It's the damned injustice of it all that makes me crazy. That woman has a heart that wouldn't let her kill a fly. Well, I'll come at 11 tomorrow and see if you can get some ray of light in the dark. Maybe I have a clue and don't know it.

Anyhow, all I know and all I have and all I am are for your use, if only you can save her. If ever in your life you showed your powers, put them now into this case. You're as faithfully J. Neil Gibson. "'There you have it,' said Sherlock Holmes, knocking out the ashes of his after-breakfast pipe and slowly refilling it. That is the gentleman I await. As to the story, you have hardly time to master all these papers, so I must give it to you in a nutshell if you are to take an intelligent interest in the proceedings. This man is the greatest financial power in the world, and a man, as I understand, of most violent and formidable character. He married a wife,

the victim of this tragedy, of whom I know nothing, say that she was past her prime, which was the more unfortunate, as a very attractive governess superintended the education of two young children. These are the three people concerned, and the scene is a grand old manor house, the centre of an historical English estate. Then as to the tragedy, the wife was found in the grounds nearly half a mile from the house late at night,

clad in her dinner dress with a shawl over her shoulder and a revolver bullet through her brain no weapon was found near her and there was no local clue as to the murder no weapon near her Watson mark that the crime seems to have been committed late in the evening and the body was found by a gamekeeper

about 11 o'clock when it was examined by the police and by a doctor before being carried up to the house is this too condensed or can you follow it clearly No, it's all very clear, but why suspect the governess? Well, in the first place there is some very direct evidence. A revolver with one discharged chamber and a calibre which corresponded with the bullet was found on the floor of her wardrobe. His eyes fixed, and he repeated in broken words,

on the floor of her wardrobe. Then he sank into silence, and I saw that some train of thought had been said, set moving, which I should be foolish to interrupt. Suddenly, with a start, he emerged into brisk life once more. Yes, Watson, it was found. Pretty damning, eh? So the two juries thought. Then the dead woman had a note upon her, making an appointment at that very place, and signed by the governess. How's that? Finally, there is the motive. Senator Gibson is an attractive person. If his wife dies, who more likely to succeed her than the young,

lady who had already, by all accounts, received pressing attentions from her employer. Love, fortune, power, all depending upon one middle-aged life. Ugly, Watson. Very ugly. Yes, indeed, Holmes. Nor could she prove an alibi. On the contrary, she had to admit that she was down near Thorbridge, that was the scene of the tragedy, about that hour. She couldn't deny it, for some passing villager had seen her there. That really seems final. And yet, Watson, and yet. This bridge, a single broad span of stone with balustrated sides, carries the drive over the narrowest part of a long, deep

reedgirt sheet of water, Thor Mere, it is called. In the mouth of the bridge lay the dead woman. Such are the main facts. But here, if I mistake not, is our client considerably before his time. Billy had opened the door, but the name which he announced was an unexpected one. Mr. Marlow Bates was a stranger to both of us. He was a thin, nervous whisper of a man with frightened eyes and a twitching, hesitating manner, a man whom my own professional eye would judge to be on the brink of an absolute nervous breakdown. You see, agitated, Mr. Bates, said Holmes. Pray sit down.

I fear I can only give you a short time, for I have an appointment at eleven. "'I know you have,' our visitor gasped, shooting out short sentences like a man who is out of breath. Mr. Gibson is coming. Mr. Gibson is my employer. I am manager of his estate. Mr. Holmes, he is a villain, an infernal villain. Strong language, Mr. Bates. I have to be emphatic, Mr. Holmes, for the time is so limited. I would not have him find me here for the world. He is almost due now, but I was so situated that I could not come earlier. His secretary, Mr. Ferguson, only told me this morning of his appointment with you. And you are his manager. I have given him notice. In a couple of weeks I shall have shaken off his accursed slavery.

A hard man, Mr. Holmes, hard to all about him. Those public charities are a screen to cover his private iniquities. But his wife was chief victim. He was brutal to her. Yes, sir, brutal. How she came by her death, I do not know. But I am sure that he had made her life a misery to her. She was a creature of the tropics, a Brazilian by birth, as no doubt you know.

No, it had escaped me, tropical by birth and tropical by nature, a child of the sun and of passion. She had loved him as such women can love, but when her own physical charms had faded, I am told that they were once great, there was nothing to hold him. We all liked her and felt for her, and hated him for the way that he treated her. but he is plausible and cunning. That is all I have to say to you. Don't take him at his face value. There is more behind.

Now, I'll go. No, no, don't detain me. He is almost due. With a frightened look at the clock, our strange visitor literally ran to the door and disappeared. Hello, I'm Greg Jenner. Dead to Me, the comedy podcast from the BBC that takes history seriously. Each week, I'm joined by a comedian and an expert historian to learn and laugh about the past.

In our all-new season, we cover unique areas of history that your school lessons may have missed, from getting ready in the Renaissance era, to the Kellogg Brothers. Listen to You're Dead to Me now, wherever you get your podcasts. Well, well, said Holmes after an interval of silence, "'Mr. Gibson seems to have a nice, loyal household. "'But the warning is a useful one, "'and now we can only wait till the man himself appears. "'Sharp at the hour, we heard a heavy step upon the stairs,

"'and the famous millionaire was shown into the room. "'As I looked upon him, I understood not only the fears and dislike of his manager, "'but also the execrations which so many business rivals had heaped upon his head. "'If I were a sculptor, and desired to idealise the successful man of affairs, iron of nerve, and leathery of conscience, I should choose Mr. Neil Gibson as my model. His tall, gaunt, craggy figure had a suggestion of hunger and rapacity. An Abraham Lincoln keyed to base uses instead of high ones would give some idea of the man.

His face might have been chiselled in granite, hard-set, craggy, remorseless, with deep lines upon it, the scars of many a crisis. Cold grey eyes, looking shrewdly out from under bristling brows, surveyed us each in turn. He bowed in perfunctory fashion, as Holmes mentioned my name, and then with a masterful air of possession, he drew a chair up to my companion and seated himself with his bony knees, almost touching him.

Let me say right here, Mr. Holmes, he began, that money is not. nothing to me in this case. You can burn it if it's any use in lighting you to the truth. This woman is innocent, and this woman has to be cleared, and it's up to you to do it. Name your figure. My professional charges are upon a fixed scale, said Holmes coldly. I do not vary them, save when I remit them altogether. Well, if dollars make no difference to you, think of the reputation. If you pull this off, every paper in England and America will be booming you. You'll be the talk of

two continents. Thank you, Mr. Gibson. I do not think that I am in need of booming. It may surprise you to know that I prefer to work anonymously, and that it is the problem itself which attracts me. But we are wasting time. Let us get down to the facts. I think that you will find all the main ones in the press reports. I don't know that I can add anything which will help you, but if there is anything you would wish more light upon, well, I am here to give it. Well, there is just one point. What is it? What were the exact relations between you and Miss Dunbar? The gold king gave a violent start and half rose from his chair. Then his massive calm came back to him. I suppose you are within your rights and maybe doing your duty in asking such a question, Mr. Holmes.

We will agree to suppose so, said Holmes. Then I can assure you that our relations were entirely and always those of an employer towards a young lady whom he never conversed with or ever saw, save when she was in the company of his children. Holmes rose from his chair. I am a rather busy man, Mr. Gibson, said he. and I have no time or taste for aimless conversations. I wish you good morning. Our visitor had risen also,

and his great loose figure towered above Holmes. There was an angry gleam from under those bristling brows and a tinge of colour in the sallowed cheeks. What the devil do you mean by this, Mr. Holmes? Do you dismiss my case? Well, Mr. Gibson, at least I dismiss you. I should have thought my words were plain. Plain enough.

But what's at the back of it? Raising the price on me, or afraid to tackle it, or what? I have a right to a plain answer. Well, perhaps you have, said Holmes. I'll give you one. This case is quite sufficiently complicated to start with, without the further difficulty of false information. Meaning that I lie?

Well, I was trying to express it as delicately as I could, but if you insist upon the word, I will not contradict you. I sprang to my feet, for the expression upon the millionaire's face was fiendish in its intensity, and he had raised his great knotted fist. Holmes smiled languidly and reached his hand out for his pipe. Don't be noisy, Mr. Gibson. I find that after breakfast, even the smallest argument is unsettling. I suggest that a stroll in the morning air, and a little, quiet thought will be greatly to your advantage. With an effort, the gold king mastered his fury. I could not but admire him, for by a supreme self-command, he had turned in a minute from a hot flame of anger to a frigid and contemptuous indifference.

Well, it's your choice. I guess you know how to run your own business. I can't make you touch the case against your will. You've done yourself no good this morning, Mr. Holmes, for I have broken stronger men than you. No man ever crossed me and was the better for it. So many have said so, and yet, here I am, said Holmes, smiling. Well, good morning, Mr. Gibson. You have a good deal yet to learn. Our visitor made a noisy exit, but Holmes smoked in imperturbable silence, with dreamy eyes fixed upon the ceiling.

Any views, Watson, he asked at last. Well, Holmes, I must confess that when I consider that this is a man who would certainly brush any obstacle from his path, and when I remember that his wife may have been an obstacle and an object of dislike, as that man Bates plainly told us, it seems to me exactly and to me also. But what were his relations with the governess, and how did you discover them? Bluff, Watson Bluff! When I considered the passionate, unconventional, unbusiness-like tone of his letter, and contrasted it with his self-contained manner and appearance,

it was pretty clear that there was some deep emotion which centred upon the accused woman rather than upon the victim. We've got to understand the exact relations of those three people if we are to reach the truth. You saw the frontal attack which I made upon him and how imperturbably he received it. Then I bluffed him by giving him the importance. that I was absolutely certain, when in reality I was only extremely suspicious. Perhaps he will come back. He is sure to come back. He must come back. He can't leave it

where it is. Ah, isn't that a ring? Yes, there is his footstep. Well, Mr. Gibson, I was just saying to Dr. Watson that you were somewhat overdue. The gold king had re-entered the room in a more chastened mood than he had left it. His wounded pride still showed in his resentful eyes, but his common sense had shown him that he must yield if he would attain his end. I've been thinking it over, Mr. Holmes, and I feel that I have been hasty in taking your remarks amiss. You are justified in getting down to the facts whatever they may be, and I think the more of you for it. I can assure you, however, that the relations between Miss Domble Barr and me don't really touch this case. That is for me to decide, is it not?

Yes, I guess that is so. You're like a surgeon who wants every symptom before he can give his diagnosis. Exactly, that expresses it, and it is only a patient who has an object in deceiving his surgeon who would conceal the facts of his case. That may be so, but you will admit, Mr. Holmes, most men would shy off a bit when they are asked point-blank what their relations with a woman may be, if there is really some serious feeling in the case. I guess most men have a little private reserve of their own in some corner of their souls where they don't welcome intruders, and you burst suddenly into it. But the object excuses you since it was to try and save her. Well, the stakes are down and the reserve open, and you can explore where you will.

What is it you want? The truth. The gold king paused for a moment as one who marshals his thoughts. His grim, deep-lined face had become even sadder and more grave. I can give it to you in a very few words, Mr. Holmes, said he at last. There are some things. that are painful as well as difficult to say, so I won't go deeper than is needful. I met my wife when I was gold-hunting in Brazil. Maria Pinto was the daughter of a government official at Manawas, and she was very beautiful.

I was young and ardent in those days, but even now, as I look back with colder blood and a more critical eye, I can see that she was rare and wonderful in her beauty. It was a deep, rich nature, too, passionate, wholehearted, tropical, ill-balanced, very different from the American women whom I had known. Well, to make a long story short, I loved her, and I married her. It was only when the romance had passed, and it lingered for years, that I realized that we had nothing, absolutely nothing in common. My love faded. If hers had faded also, it might have been easier, but you know the wonderful way of women.

Do what I might. Nothing could turn her from me. If I have been harsh to her, even brutal, as some have said. It has been because I knew that if I could kill her love, or if it turned to hate, it would be easier for both of us. But nothing changed her. She adored me in those English words. woods as she had adored me 20 years ago on the banks of the Amazon. Do what I might, she was as devoted as ever. Then came Miss Grace Dunbar. She answered our advertisement and became governors to our two children. Perhaps you have seen her portrait in the papers. The whole world has proclaimed that she also is a very beautiful woman. Now I make no pretense to be more moral than my neighbors, and I will admit to you that I could not live under the same roof with such a

woman and in daily contact with her without feeling a passionate regard for her. Do you blame me, Mr. Holmes? I do not blame you for feeling it. I should blame you if you expressed it, since this young lady was, in a sense, under your protection. Well, maybe so, said the millionaire, though for a moment the reproof had brought the old angry gleam into his eyes. I'm not pretending to be any better than I am. I guess all my life I've been a man that reached out his hand for what he wanted, and I never wanted anything more than the love and possession of that woman.

I told her so. Oh, you did, did you? Holmes could look very formidable when he was moved. I said to her that if I could marry her, I would. but that it was out of my power. I said that money was no object and that all I could do to make her happy and comfortable

would be done. Very generous, I am sure, said Holmes with a sneer. See here, Mr. Holmes, I came to you on a question of evidence, not on a question of morals. I'm not asking for your criticism. It is only for the young lady's sake

that I touch your case at all, said Holmes sternly. I don't know that anything she is accused of is really worse than what. you have yourself admitted, that you have tried to ruin a defenceless girl who was under your roof. Some of you rich men have to be taught that all the world cannot be bribed into condoning your offences. To my surprise, the gold king took the reproof with equanimity. That's how I feel myself about it now. I thank God that my plans did not work out as I intended. She would have none of it,

and she wanted to leave the house instantly. Why did she not? Well, in the first place, Others were dependent upon her, and it was no light matter for her to let them all down by sacrificing her living. When I had sworn, as I did, that she should never be molested again, she consented to remain. But there was another reason. She knew the influence she had over me, and that it was stronger than any other influence in the world. She wanted to use it for good. How? Well, she knew something of my affairs. They are large, Mr. Holmes, large beyond the belief of an ordinary man. I can make or break, and it is usually break. It wasn't individuals only. It was communities, cities, even nations. Business is a hard game, and the weak go to the wall. I played the game

for all it was worth. I never squealed myself, and I never cared if the other fellow squealed. But she saw it different. I guess she was right. She believed and said that a fortune for one man that was more than he needed should not be built on 10,000 ruined men who were left without the means of life. That was how she saw it, and I guess she could see pass the dollars to something that was more lasting. She found that I listened to what she said, and she believed she was serving the world by influencing my actions. So she stayed, and then this came along. Can you throw any light upon that? The gold king paused for a minute or more, his head sunk in his hands, lost in deep thought.

It's very black against her. I can't deny that. And women lead an inward life and may do things beyond the judgment of a man. At first, I was so rattled and taken aback that I was ready to think that she had been led away in some extraordinary fashion that was clean against her usual nature. One explanation came into my head. I give it to you, Mr. Holmes, for what it is worth. There is no doubt that my wife was bitterly jealous. There is a soul jealousy that can be as frantic as any body jealousy, and though my wife had no cause, and I think she understood this for the latter, she was aware that this English girl exerted an influence upon my mind and my acts that she herself never had. It was an influence for good, but that did not mend the matter. She was

crazy with hatred, and the heat of the Amazon was always in her blood. She might have planned to murder, Miss Dumbar, thought we will say to threaten her with a gun and so frighten her into leaving us. Then there might have been a scuffle and the gun gone off and shot the woman who held it. That possibility had already occurred to me, said Holmes. Indeed, it is the only obvious alternative to deliberate murder. But she utterly denies it. Well, that is not final, is it? One can understand that a woman placed in so awful a position might hurry home, still in her bewilderment holding the revolver. She might even throw it down among her clothes, hardly knowing what she was doing, and when it was found, she might try to lie her way out by a total denial,

since all explanation was impossible. What is against such a supposition? Miss Dunbar herself. Well, perhaps. Holmes looked at his watch. I have no doubt we can get the necessary permits this morning and reach Winchester by the evening train. When I have seen this young lady, it is very possible that I may be of more use to you in the matter, though I cannot promise that my conclusions will necessarily be such as you desire. There was some delay in the official pass, and instead of reaching Winchester that day, we went down to Thor Place, the Hampshire estate of Mr. Neil Gibson. He did not accompany us himself, but we had the address of Sergeant Coventry of the local police,

who had first examined into the affair. He was a tall, thin, cadaverous man with a secretive and mysterious manner which conveyed the idea that he knew or suspected a very great deal more than he dared say. He had a trick, too, of suddenly sinking his voice to a whisper, as if he had come upon something of vital importance, though the information was usually commonplace enough. Behind these tricks of manner He soon showed himself to be a decent honest fellow

Who was not too proud to admit that he was out of his depth And would welcome any help Anyhow, I'd rather have you than Scotland Yard Mr Holmes, said he If the Yard gets called into a case Then the local loses all credit for success And may be blamed for failure Now you play straight

So I've heard I need not appear in the matter at all said Holmes, to the evident relief of our melancholy acquaintance. If I can clear it up, I don't ask to have my name mentioned. Well, it's very handsome of you, I am sure. And your friend, Dr. Watson, can be trusted, I know. Now, Mr. Holmes, as we walk down to the place, there is one question I should like to ask you.

I'd breathe it to no soul but you. He looked round as though he hardly dare utter the words. Don't you think there might be a case against Miss. Mr. Neil Gibson himself. I have been considering that. Next time on Sherlock Holmes short stories, a chipped stone on Thor Bridge tells a dark tale of vengeance. Watson's revolver and a ball of twine lead to a revelation.

And Sherlock learns that hell hath no fuel. like a woman scorned. That's next time. Can't wait a week until the next episode? Well, listen to it right away by subscribing to Noyser Plus. Head to www.org.com slash subscriptions for more information. Or click the link in the episode description. The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox.

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