"Having left the house, I proceeded to do what Gregson had neglected (выйдя из дома, я приступил к тому, что упустил сделать Грегсон). I telegraphed to the head of the police at Cleveland (я телеграфировал главе полиции Кливленда), limiting my enquiry to the circumstances connected with the marriage of Enoch Drebber (ограничивая свой запрос обстоятельствами, связанными с браком Инока Дреббера). The answer was conclusive (ответ был исчерпывающим). It told me that Drebber had already applied for the protection of the law (в нем говорилось, что Дреббер уже прибегал к защите полиции: «закона») against an old rival in love, named Jefferson Hope (от старого соперника в любви по имени Джефферсон Хоуп), and that this same Hope was at present in Europe (и что этот самый Хоуп в настоящее время находился в Европе). I knew now that I held the clue to the mystery in my hand (я теперь знал, что ключ к разгадке был у меня в руках), and all that remained was to secure the murderer (и все, что мне оставалось сделать — поймать убийцу; to secure — охранять; защищать; оберегать; гарантировать, обеспечивать; заключать в тюрьму, брать под стражу).

hazard ['haezd], robust [ru'bst], conclusive [kn'klu:sv], secure [s'kju]

"I then proceeded to make a careful examination of the room, which confirmed me in my opinion as to the murderer's height, and furnished me with the additional details as to the Trichinopoly cigar and the length of his nails. I had already come to the conclusion, since there were no signs of a struggle, that the blood which covered the floor had burst from the murderer's nose in his excitement. I could perceive that the track of blood coincided with the track of his feet. It is seldom that any man, unless he is very full-blooded, breaks out in this way through emotion, so I hazarded the opinion that the criminal was probably a robust and ruddy-faced man. Events proved that I had judged correctly.

"Having left the house, I proceeded to do what Gregson had neglected. I telegraphed to the head of the police at Cleveland, limiting my enquiry to the circumstances connected with the marriage of Enoch Drebber. The answer was conclusive. It told me that Drebber had already applied for the protection of the law against an old rival in love, named Jefferson Hope, and that this same Hope was at present in Europe. I knew now that I held the clue to the mystery in my hand, and all that remained was to secure the murderer.