Summary The Engineer Thum

Early one morning, a man named Victor Hatherley came to see Dr Watson. Hatherley had a handkerchief wrapped round one of his hands which was covered with bloodstains. He was in a state of shock so DrWatson poured him some water, added a bit of whiskey and told him to drink up. Dr Watson unwrapped his hand and noticed that the men had four fingers and a red sponge-like surface where his thum hadbeen. Then, Dr Watson asked Hatherley what had happened, Hatherley told him that it had bled a lot and he fainted after the accident and when he came round he wrapped the handkerchief tightly aroundhis wrist. Then Watson asked if it had been an accident and Hatherley said that it had been an attempted murder. After cleaning the wound, the man said that he would go to see a police officer andWatson told him that if he really want his case to be solved he could arrange a meeting with Holmes.
Victor Hatherley was a hydraulic engineer, but he had very few clients and was thinking about closingthe business. But one day, just before closing time a man called Colonel Lysander Stark, with a German accent, went to see him. The colonel wanted Hatherley to travel to his house, out of town, tofix a hydraulic press that as the Colonel said it was used to make earth into bricks. The payment that the Colonel promised was a generous fifty guineas, it was so generous because he had to travel outof town and the matter had to be kept strictly silent.

Hatherley accepted and took the night train, finally he arrived at a dark house, he was welcomed by a frightened woman who said something inGerman to the Colonel. The Colonel asked Hatherley to wait patiently and then he disappeared. The woman said to Hatherley, in broken English that he shouldn’t stay there, that he had to go. But at themoment of two men approaching she quickly left. The men were the Colonel and another man short and fat man, who was intruduced as the Colonel´s secretary, Mr Ferguson.

They went together to the...