Shadowing Practice: The Watchmaker's Last Night | Learn English Through Sherlock Holmes Mystery - Learn English Speaking with Video
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328 sentences
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1
The great bronze bell of St. Jude's Church tolled three times in the heavy London fog.
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On the wet pavement of High Holborn, a watchmaker lay beneath an iron lamppost.
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His shop door stood wide open behind him.
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Thick white vapor drifted into the dark passage of the shop.
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Inside, a hundred pendulums swung back and forth, ticking together in a slow, frightening rhythm.
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The fallen man was Mr. Tobias Finch.
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He was seventy years old.
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His skin had turned a faint, chalky white.
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In his left hand, he held an empty glass oil bottle.
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In his right hand, he held an open telegram.
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The message contained only three words.
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The bell rings.
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Inspector Stanley of Bow Street stood over the body.
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He blew warm breath into his cold hands.
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He looked toward the street corner with evident relief.
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Two men were walking quickly through the yellow mist.
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Sherlock Holmes wore a long black traveling cloak and a woolen scarf.
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I followed close behind him with my medical bag.
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We had not come from Baker Street.
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We had spent the entire night at the docks examining foreign shipping crates.
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Thank heavens you were near, Mr. Holmes, Stanley said quietly.
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The patrol found him ten minutes ago.
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He was breathing when they arrived.
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He died without speaking a single word.
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Look at his throat.
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There is no mark upon it.
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Look at his pockets.
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His gold pocket watch is still ticking.
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His wallet is filled with 20 -pound notes.
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No thief has touched him.
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Holmes knelt instantly upon the damp flagstones.
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He did not touched the dead man's face or chest.
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Instead, he leaned over the iron lamppost itself.
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He drew his pocket lens from beneath his cloak.
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He examined the metal base of the post, inch by inch.
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A strange place for an old tradesman to die, Holmes murmured.
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He was working late.
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His green apron is still tied around his waist.
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Why did he run out into the freezing street without his hat?
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Why did he carry his small brass oiler into the night air?
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Perhaps he felt faint and needed air, Inspector Stamley suggested.
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Old hearts stop suddenly in this dreadful autumn weather.
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Look at his boots, Inspector, Holmes replied.
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He pointed with his long, thin index finger.
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The right boot has wet lime on the heel.
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The left boot has yellow coal dust on the toe.
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He did not run into the street for air.
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He was running toward the church across the square.
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He was running in sheer terror.
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Holmes took the telegram from the dead man's stiff fingers.
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He held it up to the yellow gaslight of the streetlamp.
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Handed in at the Charing Cross telegraph office at 8 o 'clock yesterday evening, Holmes read.
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No sender name is given.
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The bell rings.
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A curious warning, Watson.
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What do you make of his physical state?
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I knelt down and placed my fingers upon the dead man's neck.
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His flesh was already losing its warmth.
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His pupils were strangely dilated, wide and black.
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There was a faint, pleasant smell lingering in his white beard, like roasted almonds mixed with sweet pear juice.
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He did not die of heart failure, Holmes, I said firmly.
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Look at the dark purple color beneath his fingernails.
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His breathing stopped before his heart gave out.
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Yet there are no burns on his lips.
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If he swallowed poison, he took it without knowing it.
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He did not swallow it, Holmes said.
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He lifted the empty glass oil bottle that had rolled near the gutter.
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The stopper was missing.
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A thin film of amber liquid coated the inner glass.
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Holmes brought the mouth of the file to his nose, inhaled very slightly,
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and pulled it away at once prussic acid in a volatile ester an insidious deadly vapor
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but how did it reach his lungs while he stood beside this iron lamppost let us enter the shop
73
The clockmaker's shop was narrow, dark, and filled with dust.
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Tables stood against every wall, covered in brass gears, steel springs, and glass domes.
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On the back workbench, an enormous grandfather clock stood with its wooden case completely stripped of its dial.
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It was a magnificent piece of 17th century work, carved with strange figures of running beasts and winged cherubs.
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Holmes lit a small wax match.
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He moved directly to the large clock.
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Finch was a master of antique clocks, he said.
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Look at the tools on the velvet cloth.
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Fine files, bone oilers, and special steel tweezers.
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He was repairing the striking mechanism of this ancient machine.
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A low sound came from the shadows near the staircase.
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A young man stepped forward into the dim light.
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He had red eyes, disheveled brown hair, and trembling hands.
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He was dressed in a dark wool suit, but his cuffs were torn and ink -stained.
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Who are you?
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Inspector Stanley demanded, reaching for his whistle.
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Why are you hiding in this house?
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I am Martin Vance, the young man stammered.
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His voice shook with grief.
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I am Mr. Finch's nephew and his chief apprentice.
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I lived upstairs in the attic room.
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I came down when I heard the patrol shouting in the street outside.
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Holmes turned his piercing gray eyes upon the young apprentice.
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You were awake at three in the morning, Mr. Vance?
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You are fully dressed, yet your collar is unbuttoned.
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You have fresh oil on your right sleeve." I could not sleep, sir," Vance said, looking down at his sleeve in dismay.
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My uncle was in great danger.
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He knew it.
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For three weeks he received strange letters.
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They came every Tuesday.
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They said the past was returning to claim its own.
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Yesterday, this clock arrived from an estate in Sussex.
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When my uncle saw it, he turned pale as linen.
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He told me to lock all the outer doors.
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He said that if the bronze bell of St. Jude's struck three times in the night, his life would be over.
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Did he mention any names?
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Holmes inquired.
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He spoke often of a man named Nicholas Drake, Vance answered.
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They were partners forty years ago in South Africa.
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They traded in diamonds and ancient artifacts.
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There was a terrible dispute over a discovered horde.
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Drake went to prison in Cape Town, while my uncle returned to London with a fortune in gold.
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Drake swore he would have his revenge before his seventy -first year ended.
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Drake's seventy -first birthday was two days ago.
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A common tale of colonial greed, Inspector Stanley said with a nod.
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Drake has followed him to England.
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He found his shop.
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He sent the telegram and struck him down in the street.
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A neat explanation, Inspector, Holmes said dryly.
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It has only one serious defect.
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It completely fails to account for the physical facts.
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Holmes walked around the back of the Great Grandfather clock.
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He ran his fingers along the dark oak panels.
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Suddenly he stopped.
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He knelt upon the wooden floorboards and looked beneath the bottom pedestal.
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Watson, bring the candle closer, Holmes called out.
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I brought the candle to the floor.
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Holmes pointed to a tiny hole drilled through the oak base.
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Beside the hole lay three tiny granules of gray wax.
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Someone drilled this hole within the last twenty -four hours, Holmes observed.
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The wood shavings are fresh and light -colored.
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They have not gathered dust.
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And look at this wire.
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A very fine steel piano wire runs through the floorboards down into the cellar beneath our feet.
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Holmes rose to his feet.
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He did not wait for Inspector Stanley.
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He took the brass candle holder and opened the low door leading to the cellar steps.
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We followed him down into the damp, cold cellar.
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The cellar was stacked with old packing crates, wine bottles, and iron clock weights.
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The thin piano wire hung straight down from the ceiling joists.
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It was attached to a heavy lead counterweight resting on a wooden shelf.
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Beneath the weight was a shattered glass bulb.
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A strong, bitter smell of crushed almonds hung heavily in the subterranean air.
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Do not breathe deeply, Watson, Holmes warned.
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Step back toward the cellar door.
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The air here was recently filled with poison.
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A lethal device was set here.
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But why did it fail to kill the old man in his workshop above?
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Holmes examined the shelf with extreme care.
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He did not touch the shattered glass with his bare skin.
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He used a pair of brass tweezers from his pocket to lift a small piece of torn paper
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that lay near the fragments.
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It was a fragment of a railway label from the London and Northwestern line.
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On it were written the letters, Eitan Station, Derbyshire.
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Fascinating, Holmes said, his eyes glittering in the candle flames.
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The killer planned an automatic execution.
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When the grandfather clock struck midnight, the interior hammer was intended to pull this wire.
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The wire was meant to drop the lead weight.
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The weight would crush the glass bulb of liquid gas.
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The fumes would rise through the floorboards and kill Tobias Finch as he worked at his table.
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Then why did he die outside in the street three hours later, I asked.
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Because the mechanism failed, Holmes replied.
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Or rather, it was interrupted.
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Look at this wire.
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It was cut with pliers near the top choice.
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Finch found the wire himself.
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He realized what had been prepared for him.
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He cut the wire, ran to the cellar, found the broken bulb, and realized someone was operating against him from the street.
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But why did he run out to the lamppost?
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Holmes climbed the wooden stairs back into the shop.
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His movements were swift and energetic.
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He walked over to Martin Vance, who stood pale and silent between two constables.
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Mr. Vance, Holmes said, show me your hands.
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The apprentice held out his hands.
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His palms were rough and stained with dark lubricating oil.
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Across his right palm ran a thin red diagonal cut.
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How did you get that cut, Mr. Vance?
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Holmes asked quietly.
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I cut myself on a sharp steel mainspring yesterday afternoon, the young man answered quickly.
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I was winding an antique French carriage clock.
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Indeed, Holmes said, a mainspring creates a jagged, uneven wound.
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This is a clean, sharp incision, exactly like the mark left by a taut piano wire slipping through desperate fingers.
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Are you accusing me?
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Vance cried out.
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He was my uncle.
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He gave me shelter.
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He taught me my trade.
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He left me this entire business in his will.
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Precisely, Holmes said.
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He left you the business, and you had accumulated 300 pounds of gambling debts at the Holborn Gaming Dens.
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Do not look so astonished.
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The red gaming tokens of the Golden Crown Club are visible in your open waistcoat pocket.
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You were desperate for money.
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Your uncle refused to pay your debts.
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He threatened to alter his will this very morning.
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That is a lie!
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Vance shouted.
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It is the truth, Holmes replied coldly.
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You invented Nicholas Drake.
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You sent the warning letters from different post offices in London to terrify your uncle.
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You bought the old grandfather clock from a broker in Sussex.
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You rigged the poison bulb in the cellar.
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But you made one critical mistake.
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You did not understand your uncle's knowledge of antique machinery.
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Tobias Finch opened the clock case last evening to clean the escapement.
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He saw the extra wire.
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He traced it to the cellar.
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He cut it before midnight.
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Your elaborate mechanical trap had completely failed.
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If the trap failed, Mr. Holmes,
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Inspector Stanley interrupted, how did Tobias Finch die at three in the morning beneath the street lamp?
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That was the second trap, Holmes said, a far cruder but more effective device.
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When Vance realized his uncle had discovered the wire, he knew he was in imminent danger of prison.
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He had to act at once.
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He ran up to the church tower of St. Jude's across the square.
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He knew the church was open for midnight cleaning.
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He struck the great bronze bell three times with a wooden mallet.
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It was the signal that
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Finch feared above all things.
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Holmes turned toward the front doorway.
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He stepped out onto the wet pavement and walked back to the iron lamppost.
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He pointed to the hollow iron base of the column.
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A small inspection door was fastened with a square brass screw.
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Look here, Watson, Holmes said.
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He took a heavy iron key from his pocket and loosened the brass screw.
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He pulled open the small iron panel.
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Inside the hollow lamppost was a small copper cylinder.
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From the cylinder ran a fine rubber tube.
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The tube went up the inside of the post to the gas lantern above.
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A secondary supply, Holmes explained.
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Vance knew that when the bell rang, his terrified uncle would run to the street to summon the night watchman.
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The watchman always stands beneath this lamppost at three in the morning to mark his hourly route.
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Vance had placed this cylinder of liquid poison inside the column two days ago.
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He had connected it to a small spring lever on the inspection cover.
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But the lever required a specific action to release the vapor.
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What action?
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I asked, looking in horror at the iron post.
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The lamppost was unlit when the old man ran out, Holmes said.
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Look at the burner above.
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The glass dome is broken.
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Finch was a clockmaker.
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He understood gas fittings.
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He saw that the streetlight was out.
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He knew the watchman would not stop at a dark corner.
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Finch took his small brass oiler and a box of matches.
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He opened the inspection door to turn the main gas tap.
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As he opened this panel, the spring depressed the valve of the cylinder.
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A concentrated cloud of prussic vapor shot directly into his face.
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He inhaled it in one single gasp.
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He dropped his oiler, staggered back three paces, fell upon the stones, and perished in seconds.
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Martin Vance gave a terrible cry.
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He dropped to his knees on the shop floor.
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He covered his face with his oil -stained hands.
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I did not want to do it, he wept.
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The moneylenders were coming tomorrow.
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They swore they would break my bones and throw me in the river.
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I had to have the inheritance.
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Take him away, Stanley, Holmes said sternly.
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A man who uses subtle chemistry and clever mechanics to murder an aging benefactor deserves no pity from the law.
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The constable seized Vance by the arms and dragged him out into the fog.
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Inspector Stanley stayed behind to seal the shop doors.
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He shook Holmes' hand with great warmth.
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You have unraveled an impossible riddle, Mr. Holmes, the inspector said.
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Without you, we would have chased the ghost of Nicholas Drake all the way to South Africa.
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Observation, my dear Stanley, Holmes remarked quietly.
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Observation and a little knowledge of human terror.
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A man who constructs an elaborate trap always leaves his own signature upon the work.
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Good morning, Inspector.
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An hour later, the fog began to lift over London.
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The pale morning sun broke through the gray clouds turning the roofs of the city into shining sheets of gold
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holmes and i sat inside an all -night coffee tavern near covent garden two large plates of buttered toast
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and hot coffee stood before us on the scrubbed wooden table holmes leaned back in his wooden chair.
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He tapped the tabletop with his long, slender fingers.
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The dark shadow of fatigue had left his sharp features.
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His mind was resting after the intense exertion of the night.
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It was a very instructive case, Watson, he said between sips of black coffee.
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It illustrates how an amateur criminal always overburdens his plan with unnecessary artifice.
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Vance was not content to use a simple blow or a common knife.
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He was a mechanic.
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He thought in terms of springs, levers, wires, and timers.
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He wanted the murder to look like an impossible act of fate.
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He wanted Nicholas Drake's curse to appear real.
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The use of the church bell was particularly cruel, I remarked, buttering a slice of toast.
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He used the old man's superstitious dread to draw him directly to the fatal spot.
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Cruelty and cowardice invariably walk hand in hand, Holmes said.
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Did you observe the telegram?
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That was Vance's final touch of psychological preparation.
290
He sent it from Charing Cross while his uncle was eating his solitary dinner.
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It ensured that the old man's nerves would be strained to the breaking point
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when the bell finally told in the early hours.
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When a man is terrified, his logical faculties are suspended.
294
He acts on instinct alone.
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Tobias Finch ran to the one place where he expected to find human protection, the Watchman's Post.
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And the lime on his right boot, I asked.
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You mentioned it before we entered the shop.
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A simple deduction, Watson, Holmes answered with a faint smile.
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The churchyard of St. Jude's is currently undergoing repairs.
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The masons have left heaps of unslaked lime near the eastern gate.
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When Finch heard the bell, he first ran toward the church to confront the ringer.
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But the church door was bolted from the inside.
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He turned back in despair.
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He stepped into the wet lime by the gate.
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Then he saw the unlit lamppost across the square.
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He knew the watchman was due.
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He ran to light the burner so the officer would see him.
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Every step he took was dictated by his nephew's cunning design.
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And what will become of the shop?
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I asked.
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The crown will seize it, Holmes replied.
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The antique clocks will be sold at public auction.
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It is a sad end for a craft that requires such patience and precision.
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Tobias Finch spent fifty years measuring time with beautiful instruments.
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In the end, his own apprentice used time as an instrument of destruction.
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Holmes finished his coffee and rose from the bench.
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He wrapped his long -traveling cloak around his shoulders.
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Come, Watson.
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The morning post will have arrived at Baker Street by now.
320
Mrs. Hudson will have prepared a fresh fire.
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We have spent twelve hours in the fog and the damp.
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A warm room and a quiet pipe are the only remedies for such a night.
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We walked out into the awakening streets of London.
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The market carts were already rattling toward Covent Garden, laden with fresh cabbages, apples, and flowers from the countryside.
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The heavy mist had dissolved into a bright autumn day.
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As we turned into the Strand to hail a four -wheeled cab, the bells of London were striking eight o 'clock in sweet,
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clear harmony across the roofs.
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The dark puzzle of High Holborn was ended, and another villain was safely lodged behind the stone walls of Bow Street.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “The Watchmaker's Last Night”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: holmes, Vance, clock. This video has 328 sentences and 3138 words to shadow. The speech runs for 24:05. The speaker talks at a steady 130 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. Only 70% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| clock noun | /klɑk/ | A chronometer, an instrument that measures time, particularly the time of day. |
| wire noun | /ˈwaɪɚ/ | Metal formed into a thin, even thread, now usually by being drawn through a hole in a steel die. |
| inspector noun | /ɪnˈspɛk.tɚ/ | A person employed to inspect something. |
| uncle noun | /ˈʌŋ.kl̩/ | The brother or brother-in-law of one’s parent. |
| beneath | /bɪˈniːθ/ | Below. |
| cellar noun | /ˈsɛləɹ/ | An enclosed underground space, often under a building, used for storage or shelter. |
| wooden adjective | /ˈwʊdn̩/ | Made of wood. |
| brass noun | /bɹæs/ | A memorial or sepulchral tablet usually made of brass or latten: a monumental brass. |
| pocket noun | /ˈpɑ.kɪt/ | A bag stitched to an item of clothing, used for carrying small items. |
| thin adjective | /ˈθɪn/ | Having little thickness or extent from one surface to its opposite. |
| trap noun | /tɹæp/ | A machine or other device designed to catch (and sometimes kill) animals, either by holding them in a container, or by catching hold of part of the body. |
| grandfather noun | /ˈɡɹæn(d)ˌfɑðɚ/ | A father of someone's parent. |
| boot noun | /but/ | A heavy shoe that covers part of the leg. |
| poison noun | /ˈpɔɪ.zən/ | A substance that is harmful or lethal to a living organism when ingested. |
| cylinder noun | /ˈsɪləndɚ/ | A surface created by projecting a closed two-dimensional curve along an axis intersecting the plane of the curve. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| break through verb | To gain popularity. |
| call out verb | To specify, especially in detail. |
| come down verb | To descend, fall down, collapse. |
| give out verb | To utter, publish; to announce, proclaim, report. |
| go up verb | To move upwards. |
| hold out verb | To hold (something) out; to extend (something) forward. |
| run out verb | To use up or consume all |
| run through verb | To summarise briefly. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- What do you make of his physical state?
- Why are you hiding in this house?
- Are you accusing me?
- Did you observe the telegram?
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | is filled · is given · was dressed |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | has touched · has followed · have not gathered |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | man who uses · man who constructs |
Pronunciation to watch
- The “th” sounds: beneath /bɪˈniːθ/, thin /ˈθɪn/, grandfather /ˈɡɹæn(d)ˌfɑðɚ/, breathe /bɹiːð/, warmth /wɔɹmθ/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: sharp /ʃɑɹp/, inspection /ɪnˈspɛkʃən/, shake /ˈʃeɪk/, observation /ˌɑbzɚˈveɪʃn̩/, shelf /ʃɛlf/
- Long words — get the stress right: mechanism /ˈmɛk.ə.nɪ.zəm/, elaborate /ɪˈlæb.ə.ɹeɪt/, explanation /ˌɛkspləˈneɪʃən/, automatic /ˌɔː.təˈmæt.ɪk/, mechanical /məˈkænəkəl/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like clock, wire, inspector.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.