Briarbrae, Woking.

      MY DEAR WATSON:
        I have no doubt that you can remember "Tadpole" Phelps,
      who was in the fifth form when you were in the third. It is
      possible even that you may have heard that through my
      uncle's influence I obtained a good appointment at the
      Foreign Office, and that I was in a situation of trust and
      honour until a horrible misfortune came suddenly to blast
      my career.
        There is no use writing the details of that dreadful event.
      In the event of your acceding to my request it is probable
      that I shall have to narrate them to you. I have only just
      recovered from nine weeks of brain-fever and am still
      exceedingly weak. Do you think that you could bring your
      friend Mr. Holmes down to see me? I should like to have
      his opinion of the case, though the authorities assure me
      that nothing more can be done. Do try to bring him down,
      and as soon as possible. Every minute seems an hour while
      I live in this state of horrible suspense. Assure him that if I
      have not asked his advice sooner it was not because I did
      not appreciate his talents, but because I have been off my
      head ever since the blow fell. Now I am clear again, though
      I dare not think of it too much for fear of a relapse. I am
      still so weak that I have to write, as you see, by dictating.
      Do try to bring him.
                                            Your old school-fellow,
                                                      PERCY PHELPS.

  There was something that touched me as I read this-letter,
something pitiable in the reiterated appeals to bring Holmes. So
moved was I that even had it been a difficult matter I should
have tried it, but of course I knew well that Holmes loved his
art, so that he was ever as ready to bring his aid as his client
could be to receive it. My wife agreed with me that not a
moment should be lost in laying the matter before him, and so
within an hour of breakfast-time I found myself back once more
in the old rooms in Baker Street.
  Holmes was seated at his side-table clad in his dressing-gown
and working hard over a chemical investigation. A large curved
retort was boiling furiously in the bluish flame of a Bunsen
burner, and the distilled drops were condensing into a two-litre
measure. My friend hardly glanced up as I entered, and I, seeing
that his investigation must be of importance, seated myself in an
armchair and waited. He dipped into this bottle or that, drawing
out a few drops of each with his glass pipette, and finally
brought a test-tube containing a solution over to the table. In his
right hand he held a slip of litmus-paper.
  "You come at a crisis, Watson," said he. "If this paper
remains blue, all is well. If it turns red, it means a man's life."
He dipped it into the test-tube and it flushed at once into a dull,
dirty crimson. "Hum! I thought as much!" he cried. "I will be
at your service in an instant, Watson. You will find tobacco in
the Persian slipper." He turned to his desk and scribbled off
several telegrams, which were handed over to the page-boy.
Then he threw himself down into the chair opposite and drew up
his knees until his fingers clasped round his long, thin shins.
  "A very commonplace little murder," said he. "You've got
something better, I fancy. You are the stormy petrel of crime,
Watson. What is it?"
  I handed him the letter, which he read with the most concen-
trated attention.
  "It does not tell us very much, does it?" he remarked as he
handed it back to me.
  "Hardly anything."
  "And yet the writing is of interest."
  "But the writing is not his own."
  "Precisely. It is a woman's."
  "A man's surely," I cried.
  "No, a woman's, and a woman of rare character. You see, at
the commencement of an investigation it is something to know
that your client is in close contact with someone who, for good
or evil, has an exceptional nature. My interest is already awak-
ened in the case. If you are ready we will start at once for
Woking and see this diplomatist who is in such evil case and the
lady to whom he dictates his letters."
  We were fortunate enough to catch an early train at Waterloo,
and in a little under an hour we found ourselves among the
fir-woods and the heather of Woking. Briarbrae proved to be a
large detached house standing in extensive grounds within a few
minutes' walk of the station. On sending in our cards we were
shown into an elegantly appointed drawing-room, where we
were joined in a few minutes by a rather stout man who received
us with much hospitality.l His age may have been nearer forty
than thirty. but his cheeks were so ruddy and his eyes so merry
that he still conveyed the impression of a plump and mischievous
boy.
  "I am so glad that yau have come," said he, shaking our
hands with effusion. "Percy has been inquiring for you all
morning. Ah, poor old chap, he clings to any straw! His father
and his mother asked me to see you, for the mere mention of the
subject is very painful to them."
  "We have had no details yet," observed Holmes. "I perceive
that you are not yourself a member of the family."
  Our acquaintance looked surprised, and then, glancing down,
he began to laugh.
  "Of course you saw the J H monogram on my locket," said
he. "For a moment I thought you had done something clever.
Joseph Harrison is my name, and as Percy is to marry my sister
Annie I shall at least be a relation by marriage. You will find my
sister in his room, for she has nursed him hand and foot this two
months back. Perhaps we'd better go in at once, for I know how
impatient he is."
  The chamber into which we were shown was on the same
floor as the drawing-room It was furnished partly as a sitting and
partly as a bedroom, with flowers arranged daintily in every
nook and corner. A young man, very pale and worn, was lying
upon a sofa near the open window, through which came the rich
scent of the garden and the balmy summer air. A woman was
sitting beside him, who rase as we entered.
  "Shall I leave, Percy?" she asked.
  He clutched her hand to detain her. "How are you, Watson?"
said he cordially. "I should never have known you under that
moustache, and I daresay you would not be prepared to swear to
me. This I presume is your celebrated friend, Mr. Sherlock
Holmes?"
  I introduced him in a few words, and we both sat down. The
stout young man had left us, but his sister still remained with her
hand in that of the invalid. She was a striking-looking woman, a
little short and thick for symmetry, but with a beautiful olive
complexion, large, dark, Italian eyes, and a wealth of deep black
hair. Her rich tints made the white face of her companion the
more worn and haggard by the contrast.
  "I won't waste your time," said he, raising himself upon the
sofa. "I'll plunge into the matter without further preamble. I was
a happy and successful man, Mr. Holmes, and on the eve of
being married, when a sudden and dreadful misfortune wrecked
all my prospects in life.
  "I was, as Watson may have told you, in the Foreign Office,
and through the influence of my uncle, Lord Holdhurst, I rose
rapidly to a responsible position. When my uncle became foreign
minister in this administration he gave me several missions of
trust, and as I always brought them to a successful conclusion,
he came at last to have the utmost confidence in my ability and
tact.
  "Nearly ten weeks ago -- to be more accurate, on the twenty-
third of May -- he called me into his private room, and, after
complimenting me on the good work which I had done, he
informed me that he had a new commission of trust for me to
execute.
  " 'This,' said he, taking a gray roll of paper from his bureau,
'is the original of that secret treaty between England and Italy of
which, I regret to say, some rumours have already got into the
public press. It is of enormous importance that nothing further
should leak out. The French or the Russian embassy would pay
an immense sum to learn the contents of these papers. They
should not leave my bureau were it not that it is absolutely
necessary to have them copied. You have a desk in your office?'
  " 'Yes, sir.'
  " 'Then take the treaty and lock it up there. I shall give
directions that you may remain behind when the others go, so
that you may copy it at your leisure without fear of being
overlooked. When you have finished, relock both the original
and the draft in the desk, and hand them over to me personally
to-morrow morning.'
  "I took the papers and --"
  "Excuse me an instant," said Holmes. "Were you alone
during this conversation?"
  "Absolutely."
  "In a large room?"
  "Thirty feet each way."
  "In the centre?"
  "Yes, about it."
  "And speaking low?"
  "My uncle's voice is always remarkably low. I hardly spoke
at all."
  "Thank you," said Holmes, shutting his eyes; "pray go on."
  "I did exactly what he indicated and waited until the other
clerks had departed. One of them in my room, Charles Gorot,
had some arrears of work to make up, so I left him there and
went out to dine. When I returned he was gone. I was anxious to
hurry my work, for I knew that Joseph -- the Mr. Harrison whom
you saw just now -- was in town, and that he would travel down
to Woking by the eleven-o'clock train, and I wanted if possible
to catch it.
  "When I came to examine the treaty I saw at once that it was
of such importance that my uncle had been guilty of no exagger-
ation in what he said. Without going into details, I may say that
it defined the position of Great Britain towards the Triple Alli-
ance, and foreshadowed the policy which this country would
pursue in the event of the French fleet gaining a complete
ascendency over that of Italy in the Mediterranean. The ques-
tions treated in it were purely naval. At the end were the
signatures of the high dignitaries who had signed it. I glanced
my eyes over it, and then settled down to my task of copying.
  "It was a long document, written in the French language, and
containing twenty-six separate articles. I copied as quickly as I
could. but at nine o'clock I had only done nine articles, and it
seemed hopeless for me to attempt to catch my train. I was
feeling drowsy and stupid, partly from my dinner and also from
the effects of a long day's work. A cup of coffee would clear my
brain. A commissionaire remains all night in a little lodge at the
foot of the stairs and is in the habit of making coffee at his
spirit-lamp for any of the officials who may be working over-
time. I rang the bell, therefore, to summon him.
  "To my surprise, it was a woman who answered the sum-
mons, a large, coarse-faced, elderly woman, in an apron. She
explained that she was the commissionaire's wife, who did the
charing, and I gave her the order for the coffee.
  "I wrote two more articles. and then, feeling more drowsy
than ever, I rose and walked up and down the room to stretch my
legs. My coffee had not yet come, and I wondered what the
cause of the delay could be. Opening the door, I started down
the corridor to find out. There was a straight passage, dimly
lighted, which led from the room in which I had been working,
and was the only exit from it. It ended in a curving staircase,
with the commissionaire's lodge in the passage at the bottom.
Halfway down this staircase is a small landing, with another
passage running into it at right angles. This second one leads by
means of a second small stair to a side door, used by servants,
and also as a short cut by clerks when coming from Charles
Street. Here is a rough chart of thc place."

  "Thank you. l think that I quite follow you," said Sherlock
Holmes.
  "It is of the utmost importance that you should notice this
point. I went down the stairs and into the hall, where I found the
commissionaire fast asleep in his box, with the kettle boiling
furiously upon the spirit-lamp. I took off the kettle and blew out
the lamp, for the water was spurting over the floor. Then I put
out my hand and was about to shake the man, who was still
sleeping soundly, when a bell over his head rang loudly, and he
woke with a start.
  " 'Mr. Phelps, sir!' said he, looking at me in bewilderment.
  " 'I came down to see if my coffee was ready.'
  " 'I was boiling the kettle when I fell asleep, sir.' He looked
at me and then up at the still quivering bell with an ever-growing
astonishment upon his face.
  " 'If you was here, sir, then who rang the bell?' he asked.
  " 'The bell!' I cried. 'What bell is it?'
  " 'It's the bell of the room you were working in.'
  "A cold hand seemed to close round my heart. Someone, then,
was in that room where my precious treaty lay upon the table. I
ran frantically up the stair and along the passage. There was no
one in the corridors, Mr. Holmes. There was no one in the room.
All was exactly as I left it, save only that the papers which had
been committed to my care had been taken from the desk on
which they lay. The copy was there, and the original was gone."
  Holmes sat up in his chair and rubbed his hands. I could see
that the problem was entirely to his heart. "Pray what did you do
then?" he murmured.
  "I recognized in an instant that the thief must have come up
the stairs from the side door. Of course I must have met him if
he had come the other way."
  "You were satisfied that he could not have been concealed in
the room all the time, or in the corridor which you have just
described as dimly lighted?"
  It is absolutely impossible. A rat could not conceal himself
either in the room or the corridor. There is no cover at all."
  "Thank you. Pray proceed."
  "The commissionaire, seeing by my pale face that something
was to be feared, had followed me upstairs. Now we both rushed
along the corridor and down the steep steps which led to Charles
Street. The door at the bottom was closed but unlocked. We
flung it open and rushed out. I can distinctly remember that as
we did so there came three chimes from a neighbouring clock. It
was a quarter to ten."
  "That is of enormous importance," said Holmes, making a
note upon his shirtcuff.
  "The night was very dark, and a thin, warm rain was falling.
There was no one in Charles Street, but a great traffic was going
on, as usual, in Whitehall, at the extremity. We rushed along the
pavement, bare-headed as we were, and at the far corner we
found a policeman standing.
  " 'A robbery has been committed,' I gasped. 'A document of
immense value has been stolen from the Foreign Office. Has
anyone passed this way?'
  " 'I have been standing here for a quarter of an hour, sir,' said
he, 'only one person has passed during that time a woman, tall
and elderly, with a Paisley shawl.'
  " 'Ah, that is only my wife,' cried the commissionaire; 'has
no one else passed?'
  " 'No one.'
  " 'Then it must be the other way that the thief took,' cried the
fellow, tugging at my sleeve.
  "But I was not satisfied, and the attempts which he made to
draw me away increased my suspicions.
  " 'Which way did the woman go?' I cried.
  " 'I don't know, sir. I noticed her pass. but I had no special
reason for watching her. She seemed to be in a hurry.'
  " 'How long ago was it?'
  " 'Oh, not very many minutes.'
  " 'Within the last five?'
  " 'Well, it could not be more than five.'
  " 'You're only wasting your time, sir, and every minute now
is of importance,' cried the commissionaire; 'take my word for it
that my old woman has nothing to do with it and come down to
the other end of the street. Well, if you won't, I will.' And with
that he rushed off in the other direction.
  "But I was after him in an instant and caught him by the
sleeve.
  " 'Where do you live?' said I.
  " '16 Ivy Lane, Brixton,' he answered. 'But don't let yourself
be drawn away upon a false scent, Mr. Phelps. Come to the
other end of the street and let us see if we can hear of anything.'
  "Nothing was to be lost by following his advice. With the
policeman we both hurried down, but only to find the street full
of traffic, many people coming and going, but all only too eager
to get to a place of safety upon so wet a night. There was no
lounger who could tell us who had passed.
  "Then we returned to the office and searched the stairs and
the passage without result. The corridor which led to the room
was laid down with a kind of creamy linoleum which shows an
impression very easily. We examined it very carefully, but found
no outline of any footmark."
  "Had it been raining all evening?"
  "Since about seven."
  "How is it, then, that the woman who came into the room
about nine left no traces with her muddy boots?"
  "I am glad you raised the point. It occurred to me at the time.
The charwomen are in the habit of taking off their boots at the
commissionaire's office, and putting on list slippers."
  "That is very clear. There were no marks, then, though the
night was a wet one? The chain of events is certainly one of
extraordinary interest. What did you do next?"
  "We examined the room also. There is no possibility of a
secret door, and the windows are quite thirty feet from the
ground. Both of them were fastened on the inside. The carpet
prevents any possibility of a trapdoor, and the ceiling is of the
ordinary whitewashed kind. I will pledge my life that whoever
stole my papers could only have come through the door."
  "How about the fireplace?"
  "They use none. There is a stove. The bell-rope hangs from
the wire just to the right of my desk. Whoever rang it must have
come right up to the desk to do it. But why should any criminal
wish to ring the bell? It is a most insoluble mystery."
  "Certainly the incident was unusual. What were your next
steps? You examined the room, I presume, to see if the intruder
had left any traces -- any cigar-end or dropped glove or hairpin or
other trifle?"
  "There was nothing of the sort."
  "No smell?"
  "Well, we never thought of that."
  "Ah, a scent of tobacco would have been worth a great deal to
us in such an investigation."
  "I never smoke myself, so I think I should have observed it if
there had been any smell of tobacco. There was absolutely no
clue of any kind. The only tangible fact was that the commis-
sionaire's wife -- Mrs. Tangey was the name -- had hurried out of
the place. He could give no explanation save that it was about the
time when the woman always went home. The policeman and I
agreed that our best plan would be to seize the woman before she
could get rid of the papers, presuming that she had them.
  "The alarm had reached Scotland Yard by this time, and Mr.
Forbes, the detective, came round at once and took up the case
with a great deal of energy. We hired a hansom, and in half an
hour we were at the address which had been given to us. A
young woman opened the door, who proved to be Mrs. Tangey's
eldest daughter. Her mother had not come back yet, and we were
shown into the front room to wait.
  "About ten minutes later a knock came at the door, and here
we made the one serious mistake for which I blame myself.
Instead of opening the door ourselves, we allowed the girl to do
so. We heard her say, 'Mother, there are two men in the house
waiting to see you,' and an instant afterwards we heard the patter
of feet rushing down the passage. Forbes flung open the door,
and we both ran into the back room or kitchen, but the woman
had got there before us. She stared at us with defiant eyes. and
then, suddenly recognizing me, an expression of absolute astonish-
ment came over her face.
  " 'Why, if it isn't Mr. Phelps, of the office!' she cried.
  " 'Come, come, who did you think we were when you ran
away from us?' asked my companion.
  " 'I thought you were the brokers,' said she, 'we have had
some trouble with a tradesman.'
  " 'That's not quite good enough.' answered Forbes. 'We have
reason to believe that you have taken a paper of importance from
the Foreign Office, and that you ran in here to dispose of it. You
must come back with us to Scotland Yard to be searched.'
  "It was in vain that she protested and resisted. A four-wheeler
was brought, and we all three drove back in it. We had first
made an examination of the kitchen, and especially of the kitchen
fire, to see whether she might have made away with the papers
during the instant that she was alone. There were no signs,
however, of any ashes or scraps. When we reached Scotland
Yard she was handed over at once to the female searcher. I
waited in an agony of suspense until she came back with her
report. There were no signs of the papers.
  "Then for the first time the horror of my situation came in its
full force. Hitherto I had been acting, and action had numbed
thought. I had been so confident of regaining the treaty at once
that I had not dared to think of what would be the consequence if
I failed to do so. But now there was nothing more to be done,
and I had leisure to realize my position. It was horrible. Watson
there would tell you that I was a nervous, sensitive boy at
school. It is my nature. I thought of my uncle and of his
colleagues in the Cabinet, of the shame which I had brought
upon him, upon myself, upon everyone connected with me.
What though I was the victim of an extraordinary accident? No
allowance is made for accidents where diplomatic interests are at
stake. I was ruined, shamefully, hopelessly ruined. I don't know
what I did. I fancy I must have made a scene. I have a dim
recollection of a group of officials who crowded round me,
endeavouring to soothe me. One of them drove down with me to
Waterloo, and saw me into the Woking train. I believe that he
would have come all the way had it not been that Dr. Ferrier,
who lives near me, was going down by that very train. The
doctor most kindly took charge of me, and it was well he did so,
for I had a fit in the station, and before we reached home I was
practically a raving maniac.
  "You can imagine the state of things here when they were
roused from their beds by the doctor's ringing and found me in
this condition. Poor Annie here and my mother were broken-
hearted. Dr. Ferrier had just heard enough from the detective at
the station to be able to give an idea of what had happened, and
his story did not mend matters. It was evident to all that I was in
for a long illness, so Joseph was bundled out of this cheery
bedroom, and it was turned into a sickroom for me. Here I have
lain. Mr. Holmes. for over nine weeks, unconscious. and raving
with brain-fever. If it had not been for Miss Harrison here and
for the doctor's care. I should not be speaking to you now. She
has nursed me by day and a hired nurse has looked after me by
night, for in my mad fits I was capable of anything. Slowly my
reason has cleared, but it is only during the last three days that
my memory has quite returned. Sometimes I wish that it never
had. The first thing that I did was to wire to Mr. Forbes, who
had the case in hand. He came out, and assures me that, though
everything has been done, no trace of a clue has been discov-
ered. The commissionaire and his wife have been examined in
every way without any light being thrown upon the matter. The
suspicions of the police then rested upon young Gorot, who, as
you may remember, stayed over-time in the office that night. His
remaining behind and his French name were really the only two
points which could suggest suspicion; but, as a matter of fact, I
did not begin work until he had gone, and his people are of
Huguenot extraction, but as English in sympathy and tradition as
you and I are. Nothing was found to implicate him in any way,
and there the matter dropped. I turn to you, Mr. Holmes, as
absolutely my last hope. If you fail me, then my honour as well
as my position are forever forfeited."
  The invalid sank back upon his cushions, tired out by this long
recital, while his nurse poured him out a glass of some stimulat-
ing medicine. Holmes sat silently, with his head thrown back
and his eyes closed, in an attitude which might seem listless to a
stranger, but which I knew betokened the most intense self-
absorption.
  "Your statement has been so explicit," said he at last, "that
you have really left me very few questions to ask. There is one
of the very utmost importance, however. Did you tell anyone
that you had this special task to perform?"
  "No one."
  "Not Miss Harrison here, for example?"
  "No. I had not been back to Woking between getting the
order and executing the commission."
  "And none of your people had by chance been to see you?"
  "None."
  "Did any of them know their way about in the office?"
  "Oh, yes, all of them had been shown over it."
  "Still, of course, if you said nothing to anyone about the
treaty these inquiries are irrelevant."
  "I said nothing."
  "Do you know anything of the commissionaire?"
  "Nothing cxcept that he is an old soldier."
  "What regiment?"
  "Oh, I have heard -- Goldstream Guards."
  "Thank you. I have no doubt I can get details from Forbes.
The authorities are excellent at amassing facts, though they do
not always use them to advantage. What a lovely thing a rose
is!"
  He walked past the couch to the open window and held up the
drooping stalk of a moss-rose, looking down at the dainty blend
of crimson and green. It was a new phase of his character to me,
for I had never before seen him show any keen interest in natural
objects.
  "There is nothing in which deduction is so necessary as in
religion," said he, leaning with his back against the shutters. "It
can be built up as an exact science by the reasoner. Our highest
assurance of the goodness of Providence seems to me to rest in
the flowers. All other things, our powers, our desires, our food,
are all really necessary for our existence in the first instance. But
this rose is an extra. Its smell and its colour are an embellish-
ment of life, not a condition of it. It is only goodness which
gives extras, and so I say again that we have much to hope from
the flowers."
  Percy Phelps and his nurse looked at Holmes during this
demonstration with surprise and a good deal of disappointment
written upon their faces. He had fallen into a reverie, with the
moss-rose between his fingers. It had lasted some minutes before
the young lady broke in upon it.
  "Do you see any prospect of solving this mystery, Mr.
Holmes?" she asked with a touch of asperity in her voice.
  "Oh, the mystery!" he answered, coming back with a start to
the realities of life. "Well, it would be absurd to deny that the
case is a very abstruse and complicated one, but I can promise
you that I will look into the matter and let you know any points
which may strike me."
  "Do you see any clue?"
  "You have furnished me with seven, but of course I must test
them before I can pronounce upon their value."
  "You suspect someone?"
  "I suspect myself."
  "What!"
  "Of coming to conclusions too rapidly."
  "Then go to London and test your conclusions."
  "Your advice is very excellent. Miss Harrison." said Holmcs
rising. "I think, Watson, we cannot do better. Do not allow
yourself to indulge in false hopes, Mr. Phelps. The affair is a
very tangled one."
  "I shall be in a fever until I see you again," cried the
diplomatist .
  "Well, I'll come out by the same train to-morrow, though it's
more than likely that my report will be a negative one."
  "God bless you for promising to come," cried our client. "It
gives me fresh life to know that something is being done. By the
way, I have had a letter from Lord Holdhurst."
  "Ha! what did he say?"
  "He was cold, but not harsh, I dare say my severe illness
prevented him from being that. He repeated that the matter was
of the utmost importance, and added that no steps would be
taken about my future -- by which he means, of course, my
dismissal -- until my health was restored and I had an opportunity
of repairing my misfortune."
  "Well, that was reasonable and considerate," said Holmes.
"Come, Watson, for we have a good day's work before us in
town."
  Mr. Joseph Harrison drove us down to the station, and we
were soon whirling up in a Portsmouth train. Holmes was sunk
in profound thought and hardly opened his mouth until we had
passed Clapham Junction.
  "It's a very cheery thing to come into London by any of these
lines which run high and allow you to look down upon the
houses like this."
  I thought he was joking, for the view was sordid enough, but
he soon explained himself.
  "Look at those big, isolated clumps of buildings rising up
above the slates, like brick islands in a lead-coloured sea."
  "The board-schools."
  "Light-houses, my boy! Beacons of the future! Capsules with
hundreds of bright little seeds in each. out of which will spring
the wiser, better England of the future. I suppose that man
Phelps does not drink?"
  "I should not think so."
  "Nor should I, but we are bound to take every possibility into
account. The poor devil has certainly got himself into very deep
water, and it's a question whether we shall ever be able to get
him ashore. What do you think of Miss Harrison?"
  "A girl of strong character."
  "Yes. but she is a good sort, or I am mistaken. She and her
brother are the only children of an iron-master somewhere up
Northumberland way. He got engaged to her when travelling last
winter, and she came down to be introduced to his people, with
her brother as escort. Then came the smash, and she stayed on to
nurse her lover, while brother Joseph, finding himself pretty
snug, stayed on, too. I've been making a few independent
inquiries, you see. But to-day must be a day of inquiries."
  "My practice --" I began.
  "Oh, if you find your own cases more interesting than
mine --" said Holmes with some asperity.
  "I was going to say that my practice could get along very well
for a day or two, since it is the slackest time in the year."
  "Excellent," said he, recovering his good-humour. "Then
we'll look into this matter together. I think that we should begin
by seeing Forbes. He can probably tell us all the details we want
until we know from what side the case is to be approached."
  "You said you had a clue?"
  "Well, we have several, but we can only test their value by
further inquiry. The most difficult crime to track is the one
which is purposeless. Now this is not purposeless. Who is it who
profits by it? There is the French ambassador, there is the
Russian, there is whoever might sell it to either of these, and
there is Lord Holdhurst."
  "Lord Holdhurst!"
  "Well, it is just conceivable that a statesman might find
himself in a position where he was not sorry to have such a
document accidentally destroyed."
  "Not a statesman with the honourable record of Lord Hold-
hurst?"
  "It is a possibility and we cannot afford to disregard it. We
shall see the noble lord to-day and find out if he can tell us
anything. Meanwhile I have already set inquiries on foot."
  "Already?"
  "Yes, I sent wires from Woking station to every evening
paper in London. This advertisement will appear in each of
them."
  He handed over a sheet torn from a notebook. On it was
scribbled in pencil:

     10 pounds reward. The number of the cab which dropped a fare
   at or about the door of the Foreign Office in Charles Street
   at quarter to ten in the evening of May 23d. Apply 22lB,
   Baker Street.

  "You are confident that the thief came in a cab?"
  "If not, there is no harm done. But if Mr. Phelps is correct in
stating that there is no hiding-place either in the room or the
corridors, then the person must have come from outside. If he
came from outside on so wet a night, and yet left no trace of
damp upon the linoleum, which was examined within a few
minutes of his passing, then it is exceedingly probable that he
came in a cab. Yes, I think that we may safely deduce a cab."
  "It sounds plausible."
  "That is one of the clues of which I spoke. It may lead us to
something. And then, of course, there is the bell -- which is the
most distinctive feature of the case. Why should the bell ring?
Was it the thief who did it out of bravado? Or was it someone
who was with the thief who did it in order to prevent the crime?
Or was it an accident? Or was it --?" He sank back into the state
of intense and silent thought from which he had emerged; but it
seemed to me, accustomed as I was to his every mood, that some
new possibility had dawned suddenly upon him.
  It was twenty past three when we reached our terminus, and after
a hasty luncheon at the buffet we pushed on at once to Scotland
Yard. Holmes had already wired to Forbes, and we found him
waiting to receive us -- a small, foxy man with a sharp but by no
means amiable expression. He was decidedly frigid in his man-
ner to us, especially when he heard the errand upon which we
had come.
  "I've heard of your methods before now, Mr. Holmes," said
he tartly. "You are ready enough to use all the information that
the police can lay at your disposal, and then you try to finish the
case yourself and bring discredit on them."
  "On the contrary," said Holmes, "out of my last fifty-three
cases my name has only appeared in four, and the police have
had all the credit in forty-nine. I don't blame you for not
knowing this, for you are young and inexperienced, but if you
wish to get on in your new duties you will work with me and not
against me."
  "I'd be very glad of a hint or two," said the detective,
changing his manner. "I've certainly had no credit from the case
so far."
  "What steps have you taken?"
  "Tangey, the commissionaire, has been shadowed. He left the
Guards with a good character, and we can find nothing against
him. His wife is a bad lot, though. I fancy she knows more about
this than appears."
  "Have you shadowed her?"
  "We have set one of our women on to her. Mrs. Tangey
drinks. and our woman has been with her twice when she was
well on, but she could get nothing out of her."
  "I understand that they have had brokers in the house?"
  "Yes, but they were paid off."
  "Where did the money come from?"
  "That was all right. His pension was due. They have not
shown any sign of being in funds."
  "What explanation did she give of having answered the bell
when Mr. Phelps rang for the coffee?"
  "She said that her husband was very tired and she wished to
relieve him."
  "Well, certainly that would agree with his being found a little
later asleep in his chair. There is nothing against them then but
the woman's character. Did you ask her why she hurried away
that night? Her haste attracted the attention of the police constable."
  "She was later than usual and wanted to get home."
  "Did you point out to her that you and Mr. Phelps, who
started at least twenty minutes after her, got home before her?"
  "She explains that by the difference between a bus and a
hansom."
  "Did she make it clear why, on reaching her house, she ran
into the back kitchen?"
  "Because she had the money there with which to pay off the
brokers."
  "She has at least an answer for everything. Did you ask her
whether in leaving she met anyone or saw anyone loitering about
Charles Street?"
  "She saw no one but the constable."
  "Well, you seem to have cross-examined her pretty thor-
oughly. What else have you done?"
  "The clerk Gorot has been shadowed all these nine weeks, but
without result. We can show nothing against him."
  "Anything else?"
  "Well, we have nothing else to go upon -- no evidence of any
kind."
  "Have you formed any theory about how that bell rang?"
  "Well, I must confess that it beats me. It was a cool hand
whoever it was, to go and give the alarm like that."
  "Yes, it was a queer thing to do. Many thanks to you for what
you have told me. If I can put the man into your hands you shall
hear from me. Come along. Watson."
  "Where are we going to now?" I asked as we left the office.
  "We are now going to interview Lord Holdhurst, the cabinet
minister and future premier of England."
  We were fortunate in finding that Lord Holdhurst was still in
his chambers in Downing Street, and on Holmes sending in his
card we were instantly shown up. The statesman received us
with that old-fashioned courtesy for which he is remarkable and
seated us on the two luxuriant lounges on either side of the
fireplace. Standing on the rug between us, with his slight, tall
figure, his sharp features, thoughtful face, and curling hair
prematurely tinged with gray, he seemed to represent that not
too common type, a nobleman who is in truth noble
  "Your name is very familiar to me, Mr. Holmes," said he,
smiling. "And of course I cannot pretend to be ignorant of the
object of your visit. There has only been one occurrence in these
offices which could call for your attention. In whose interest are
you acting, may I ask?"
  "In that of Mr. Percy Phelps," answered Holmes
  "Ah, my unfortunate nephew! You can understand that our
kinship makes it the more impossible for me to screen him in any
way. I fear that the incident must have a very prejudicial effect
upon his career."
  "But if the document is found?"
  "Ah, that, of course, would be different."
  "I had one or two questions which I wished to ask you, Lord
Holdhurst."
  "I shall be happy to give you any information in my power."
  "Was it in this room that you gave your instructions as to the
copying of the document?"
  "It was."
  "Then you could hardly have been overheard?"
  "It is out of the question."
  "Did you ever mention to anyone that it was your intention to
give anyone the treaty to be copied?"
   "Never."
  "You are certain of that?"
  "Absolutely."
  "Well, since you never said so, and Mr. Phelps never said so,
and nobody else knew anything of the matter, then the thief's
presence in the room was purely accidental. He saw his chance
and he took it."
  The statesman smiled. "You take me out of my province
there," said he.
  Holmes considered for a moment. "There is another very
important point which I wish to discuss with you," said he.
"You feared, as I understand, that very grave results might
follow from the details of this treaty becoming known."
  A shadow passed over the expressive face of the statesman.
"Very grave results indeed."
  "And have they occurred?"
  "Not yet."
  "If the treaty had reached, let us say, the French or Russian
Foreign Office, you would expect to hear of it?"
  "I should," said Lord Holdhurst with a wry face.
  "Since nearly ten weeks have elapsed, then, and nothing has
been heard, it is not unfair to suppose that for some reason the
treaty has not reached them."
  Lord Holdhurst shrugged his shoulders.
  "We can hardly suppose, Mr. Holmes, that the thief took the
treaty in order to frame it and hang it up."
  "Perhaps he is waiting for a better price."
  "If he waits a little longer he will get no price at all. The
treaty will cease to be secret in a few months."
  "That is most important," said Holmes. "Of course, it is a
possible supposition that the thief has had a sudden illness --"
  "An attack of brain-fever, for example?" asked the states-
man, flashing a swift glance at him.
  "I did not say so," said Holmes imperturbably. "And now
Lord Holdhurst, we have already taken up too much of your
valuable time, and we shall wish you good-day."
  "Every success to your investigation, be the criminal who it
may," answered the nobleman as he bowed us out at the door.
  "He's a fine fellow," said Holmes as we came out into
Whitehall. "But he has a struggle to keep up his position. He is
far from rich and has many calls. You noticed, of course, that
his boots had been resoled. Now, Watson, I won't detain you
from your legitimate work any longer. I shall do nothing more
to-day unless I have an answer to my cab advertisement. But I
should be extremely obliged to you if you would come down
with me to Woking to-morrow by the same train which we took
yesterday."

                           *  *  *

  I met him accordingly next morning and we travelled down to
Woking together. He had had no answer to his advertisement, he
said, and no fresh light had been thrown upon the case. He had,
when he so willed it, the utter immobility of countenance of a
red Indian, and I could not gather from his appearance whether
he was satisfied or not with the position of the case. His conver-
sation, I remember, was about the Bertillon system of measure-
ments, and he expressed his enthusiastic admiration of the French
savant.
  We found our client still under the charge of his devoted
nurse, but looking considerably better than before. He rose from
the sofa and greeted us without difficulty when we entered.
  "Any news?" he asked eagerly.
  "My report, as I expected, is a negative one," said Holmes.
"I have seen Forbes, and I have seen your uncle, and I have set
one or two trains of inquiry upon foot which may lead to
something."
  "You have not lost heart, then?"
  "By no means."
  "God bless you for saying that!" cried Miss Harrison. "If we
keep our courage and our patience the truth must come out."
  "We have more to tell you than you have for us," said
Phelps, reseating himself upon the couch.
  "I hoped you might have something."
  "Yes, we have had an adventure during the night, and one
which might have proved to be a serious one." His expression
grew very grave as he spoke, and a look of something akin to
fear sprang up in his eyes. "Do you know," said he, "that I
begin to believe that I am the unconscious centre of some
monstrous conspiracy, and that my life is aimed at as well as my
honour?"
  "Ah!" cried Holmes.
  "It sounds incredible, for I have not, as far as I know, an
enemy in the world. Yet from last night's experience I can come
to no other conclusion."
  "Pray let me hear it."
  "You must know that last night was the very first night that I
have ever slept without a nurse in the room. I was so much better
that I thought I could dispense with one. I had a night-light
burning, however. Well, about two in the morning I had sunk
into a light sleep when I was suddenly aroused by a slight noise.
It was like the sound which a mouse makes when it is gnawing a
plank, and I lay listening to it for some time under the impres-
sion that it must come from that cause. Then it grew louder, and
suddenly there came from the window a sharp metallic snick. I
sat up in amazement. There could be no doubt what the sounds
were now. The first ones had been caused by someone forcing an
instrument through the slit between the sashes and the second by
the catch being pressed back. 
  "There was a pause then for about ten minutes, as if the
person were waiting to see whether the noise had awakened me.
Then I heard a gentle creaking as the window was very slowly
opened. I could stand it no longer, for my nerves are not what
they used to be. I sprang out of bed and flung open the shutters.
A man was crouching at the window. I could see llttle of him,
for he was gone like a flash. He was wrapped in some sort of
cloak which came across the lower part of his face. One thing
only I am sure of, and that is that he had some weapon in his
hand. It looked to me like a long knife. I distinctly saw the
gleam of it as he turned to run."
  "This is most interesting," said Holmes. "Pray what did you
do then?"
  "I should have followed him through the open window if I
had been stronger. As it was, I rang the bell and roused the
house. It took some little time, for the bell rings in the kitchen
and the servants all sleep upstairs. I shouted, however, and that
brought Joseph down, and he roused the others. Joseph and the
groom found marks on the bed outside the window, but the
weather has been so dry lately that they found it hopeless to
follow the trail across the grass. There's a place, however, on
the wooden fence which skirts the road which shows signs, they
tell me, as if someone had got over, and had snapped the top of
the rail in doing so. I have said nothing to the local police yet,
for I thought I had best have your opinion first."
  This tale of our client's appeared to have an extraordinary
effect upon Sherlock Holmes. He rose from his chair and paced
about the room in uncontrollable excitement.
  "Misfortunes never come single," said Phelps, smiling, though
it was evident that his adventure had somewhat shaken him.
  "You have certainly had your share," said Holmes. "Do you
think you could walk round the house with me?"
  "Oh, yes, I should like a little sunshine. Joseph will come,
too."
  "And I also," said Miss Harrison.
  "I am afraid not," said Holmes, shaking his head. "I think I
must ask you to remain sitting exactly where you are."
  The young lady resumed her seat with an air of displeasure.
Her brother, however, had joined us and we set off all four
together. We passed round the lawn to the outside of the young
diplomatist's window. Thcre were, as he had said, marks upon
the bed, but they were hopelessly blurred and vague. Holmes
stooped over them for an instant, and then rose shrugging his
shoulders.
  "I don't think anyone could make much of this," said he.
"Let us go round the house and see why this particular room was
chosen by the burglar. I should have thought those larger win-
dows of the drawing-room and dining-room would have had
more attractions for him."
  "They are more visible from the road," suggested Mr. Joseph
Harrison.
  "Ah, yes, of course. There is a door here which he might
have attempted. What is it for?"
  "It is the side entrance for trades-people. Of course it is
locked at night."
  "Have you ever had an alarm like this before?"
  "Never," said our client.
  "Do you keep plate in the house, or anything to attract
burglars?"
  "Nothing of value."
  Holmes strolled round the house with his hands in his pockets
and a negligent air which was unusual with him.
  "By the way," said he to Joseph Harrison, "you found some
place, I understand, where the fellow scaled the fence. Let us
have a look at that!"
  The plump young man led us to a spot where the top of one of
the wooden rails had been cracked. A small fragment of the
wood was hanging down. Holmes pulled it off and examined it
critically.
  "Do you think that was done last night? It looks rather old,
does it not?"
  "Well, possibly so."
  "There are no marks of anyone jumping down upon the other
side. No, I fancy we shall get no help here. Let us go back to the
bedroom and talk the matter over."
  Percy Phelps was walking very slowly, leaning upon the arm
of his future brother-in-law. Holmes walked swiftly across the
lawn, and we were at the open window of the bedroom long
before the others came up.
  "Miss Harrison," said Holmes, speaking with the utmost
intensity of manner, you must stay where you are all day. Let
nothing prevent you from staying where you are all day. It is of
the utmost importance."
  "Certainly, if you wish it, Mr. Holmes," said the girl in
astonishment .
  "When you go to bed lock the door of this room on the
outside and keep the key. Promise to do this."
  "But Percy?"
  "He will come to London with us."
  "And am I to remain here?"
  "It is for his sake. You can serve him. Quick! Promise!"
  She gave a quick nod of assent just as the other two came up.
  "Why do you sit moping there, Annie?" cried her brother.
"Come out into the sunshine!"
  "No, thank you, Joseph. I have a slight headache and this
room is deliciously cool and soothing."
  "What do you propose now, Mr. Holmes?" asked our client.
  "Well, in investigating this minor affair we must not lose
sight of our main inquiry. It would be a very great help to me if
you would come up to London with us."
  "At once?"
  "Well, as soon as you conveniently can. Say in an hour."
  "I feel quite strong enough, if I can really be of any help."
  "The greatest possible."
  "Perhaps you would like me to stay there to-night?"
  "I was just going to propose it."
  "Then, if my friend of the night comes to revisit me, he will
find the bird flown. We are all in your hands, Mr. Holmes, and
you must tell us exactly what you would like done. Perhaps you
would prefer that Joseph came with us so as to look after me?"
  "Oh, no, my friend Watson is a medical man, you know, and
he'll look after you. We'll have our lunch here, if you will
permit us, and then we shall all three set off for town together."
  It was arranged as he suggested. though Miss Harrison ex-
cused herself from leaving the bedroom, in accordance with
Holmes's suggestion. What the object of my friend's manoeu-
vres was I could not conceive, unless it were to keep the lady
away from Phelps, who, rejoiced by his returning health and by
the prospect of action, lunched with us in the dining-room.
Holmes had a still more startling surprise for us, however, for,
after accompanying us down to the station and seeing us into our
carriage, he calmly announced that he had no intention of leav-
ing Woking.
  "There are one or two small points which I should desire to
clear up before I go," said he. "Your absence, Mr. Phelps, will
in some ways rather assist me. Watson, when you reach London
you would oblige me by driving at once to Baker Street with our
friend here, and remaining with him until I see you again. It is
fortunate that you are old school-fellows, as you must have much
to talk over. Mr. Phelps can have the spare bedroom to-night,
and I will be with you in time for breakfast, for there is a train
which will take me into Waterloo at eight."
  "But how about our investigation in London?" asked Phelps
ruefully.
  "We can do that to-morrow. I think that just at present I can
be of more immediate use here."
  "You might tell them at Briarbrae that I hope to be back
to-morrow night," cried Phelps, as we began to move from the
platform.
  "I hardly expect to go back to Briarbrae," answered Holmes,
and waved his hand to us cheerily as we shot out from the
station.
  Phelps and I talked it over on our journey, but neither of us
could devise a satisfactory reason for this new development.
  "I suppose he wants to find out some clues as to the burglary
last night, if a burglar it was. For myself, I don't believe it was
an ordinary thief."
  "What is your own idea, then?"
  "Upon my word, you may put it down to my weak nerves or
not, but I believe there is some deep political intrigue going on
around me, and that for some reason that passes my understand-
ing my life is aimed at by the conspirators. It sounds high-flown
and absurd, but consider the facts! Why should a thief try to
break in at a bedroom window where there could be no hope of
any plunder, and why should he come with a long knife in his
hand?"
  "You are sure it was not a house-breaker's jimmy?"
  "Oh, no, it was a knife. I saw the flash of the blade quite
distinctly."
  "But why on earth should you be pursued with such animosity?"
  "Ah, that is the question."
  "Well, if Holmes takes the same view, that would account for
his action, would it not? Presuming that your theory is correct, if
he can lay his hands upon the man who threatened you last night
he will have gone a long way towards finding who took the naval
treaty. It is absurd to suppose that you have two enemies, one of
whom robs you, while the other threatens your life."
  "But Holmes said that he was not going to Briarbrae."
  "I have known him for some time," said I, "but I never knew
him do anything yet without a very good reason," and with that
our conversation drifted off on to other topics.
  But it was a weary day for me. Phelps was still weak after his
long illness, and his misfortunes made him querulous and ner-
vous. In vain I endeavoured to interest him in Afghanistan, in
India, in social questions, in anything which might take his mind
out of the groove. He would always come back to his lost treaty,
wondering, guessing, speculating as to what Holmes was doing,
what steps Lord Holdhurst was taking, what news we should
have in the morning. As the evening wore on his excitement
became quite painful.
  "You have implicit faith in Holmes?" he asked.
  "I have seen him do some remarkable things."
  "But he never brought light into anything quite so dark as
this?"
  "Oh, yes, I have known him solve questions which presented
fewer clues than yours."
  "But not where such large interests are at stake?"
  "I don't know that. To my certain knowledge he has acted on
behalf of three of the reigning houses of Europe in very vital
matters."
  "But you know him well, Watson. He is such an inscrutable
fellow that I never quite know what to make of him. Do you
think he is hopeful? Do you think he expects to make a success
of it?"
  "He has said nothing."
  "That is a bad sign."
  "On the contrary. I have noticed that when he is off the trail
he generally says so. It is when he is on a scent and is not quite
absolutely sure yet that it is the right one that he is most taciturn.
Now, my dear fellow, we can't help matters by making our-
selves nervous about them, so let me implore you to go to bed
and so be fresh for whatever may await us to-morrow."
  I was able at last to persuade my companion to take my
advice, though I knew from his excited manner that there was
not much hope of sleep for him. Indeed, his mood was infectious
for I lay tossing half the night myself, brooding over this strange
problem and inventing a hundred theories, each of which was
more impossible than the last. Why had Holmes remained at
Woking? Why had he asked Miss Harrison to remain in the
sick-room all day? Why had he been so careful not to inform the
people at Briarbrae that he intended to remain near them? I
cudgelled my brains until I fell asleep in the endeavour to find
some explanation which would cover all these facts.
  It was seven o'clock when I awoke, and I set off at once for
Phelps's room to find him haggard and spent after a sleepless
night. His first question was whether Holmes had arrived yet.
  "He'll be here when he promised," said I, "and not an
instant sooner or later."
  And my words were true, for shortly after eight a hansom
dashed up to the door and our friend got out of it. Standing in the
window we saw that his left hand was swathed in a bandage and
that his face was very grim and pale. He entered the house, but it
was some little time before he came upstairs.
  "He looks like a beaten man," cried Phelps.
  I was forced to confess that he was right. "After all," said I,
"the clue of the matter lies probably here in town."
  Phelps gave a groan.
  "I don't know how it is," said he, "but I had hoped for so
much from his return. But surely his hand was not tied up like
that yesterday. What can be the matter?"
  "You are not wounded, Holmes?" I asked as my friend
entered the room.
  "Tut, it is only a scratch through my own clumsiness," he
answered, nodding his good-morning to us. "This case of yours,
Mr. Phelps, is certainly one of the darkest which I have ever
investigated."
  "I feared that you would find it beyond you."
  "It has been a most remarkable experience."
  "That bandage tells of adventures," said I. "Won't you tell
us what has happened?"
  "After breakfast, my dear Watson. Remember that I have
breathed thirty miles of Surrey air this morning. I suppose that
there has been no answer from my cabman advertisement? Well,
well, we cannot expect to score every time."
  The table was all laid, and just as I was about to ring Mrs.
Hudson entered with the tea and coffee. A few minutes later she
brought in three covers, and we all drew up to the table, Holmes
ravenous, I curious, and Phelps in the gloomiest state of depression.
  "Mrs. Hudson has risen to the occasion," said Holmes, un-
covering a dish of curried chicken. "Her cuisine is a little
limited, but she has as good an idea of breakfast as a Scotchwoman.
What have you there, Watson?"
  "Ham and eggs," I answered.
  "Good! What are you going to take, Mr. Phelps -- curried
fowl or eggs, or will you help yourself?"
  "Thank you. I can eat nothing," said Phelps.
  "Oh, come! Try the dish before you."
  "Thank you, I would really rather not."
  "Well, then," said Holmes with a mischievous twinkle, "I
suppose that you have no objection to helping me?"
  Phelps raised the cover, and as he did so he uttered a scream
and sat there staring with a face as white as the plate upon which
he looked. Across the centre of it was lying a little cylinder of
blue-gray paper. He caught it up, devoured it with his eyes, and
then danced madly about the room, pressing it to his bosom and
shrieking out in his delight. Then he fell back into an armchair,
so limp and exhausted with his own emotions that we had to
pour brandy down his throat to keep him from fainting.
  "There! there!" said Holmes soothingly, patting him upon the
shoulder. "It was too bad to spring it on you like this, but
Watson here will tell you that I never can resist a touch of the
dramatic."
  Phelps seized his hand and kissed it. "God bless you!" he
cried. "You have saved my honour."
  "Well, my own was at stake, you know," said Holmes. "I
assure you it is just as hateful to me to fail in a case as it can be
to you to blunder over a commission."
  Phelps thrust away the precious document into the innermost
pocket of his coat.
  "I have not the heart to interrupt your breakfast any further,
and yet I am dying to know how you got it and where it was."
  Sherlock Holmes swallowed a cup of coffee and turned his
attention to the ham and eggs. Then he rose, lit his pipe, and
settled himself down into his chair.
  "I'll tell you what I did first, and how I came to do it
afterwards," said he. "After leaving you at the station I went for
a charming walk through some admirable Surrey scenery to a
pretty little village called Ripley, where I had my tea at an inn
and took the precaution of filling my flask and of putting a paper
of sandwiches in my pocket. There I remained until evening,
when I set off for Woking again and found myself in the
highroad outside Briarbrae just after sunset.
  "Well, I waited until thc road was clear -- it is never a very
frequented one at any time, I fancy -- and then I clambered over
the fence into the grounds."
  "Surely the gate was open!" ejaculated Phelps.
  "Yes, but I have a peculiar taste in these matters. I chose the
place where the three fir-trees stand, and behind their screen I
got over without the least chance of anyone in the house being
able to see me. I crouched down among the bushes on the other
side and crawled from one to the other -- witness the disreputable
state of my trouser knees -- until I had reached the clump of
rhododendrons just opposite to your bedroom window. There I
squatted down and awaited developments.
  "The blind was not down in your room, and I could see Miss
Harrison sitting there reading by the table. It was quarter-past ten
when she closed her book, fastened the shutters, and retired.
  "I heard her shut the door and felt quite sure that she had
turned the key in the lock."
  "The key!" ejaculated Phelps.
  "Yes, I had given Miss Harrison instructions to lock the door
on the outside and take the key with her when she went to bed.
She carried out every one of my injunctions to the letter, and
certainly without her cooperation you would not have that paper
in your coat-pocket. She departed then and the lights went out
and I was left squatting in the rhododendron-bush.
  "The night was fine, but still it was a very weary vigil. Of
course it has the sort of excitement about it that the sportsman
feels when he lies beside the watercourse and waits for the big
game. It was very long, though -- almost as long, Watson, as
when you and I waited in that deadly room when we looked
into the little problem of the Speckled Band. There was a
church-clock down at Woking which struck the quarters, and I
thought more than once that it had stopped. At last, however,
about two in the morning, I suddenly heard the gentle sound of a
bolt being pushed back and the creaking of a key. A moment
later the servants door was opened, and Mr. Joseph Harrison
stepped out into the moonlight."
  "Joseph!" ejaculated Phelps.
  "He was bare-headed, but he had a black cloak thrown over
his shoulder, so that he could conceal his face in an instant if
there were any alarm. He walked on tiptoe under the shadow of
the wall, and when he reached the window he worked a long-
bladed knife through the sash and pushed back the catch. Then
he flung open the window, and putting his knife through the
crack in the shutters, he thrust the bar up and swung them open.
  "From where I lay I had a perfect view of the inside of the
room and of every one of his movements. He lit the two candles
which stood upon the mantelpiece, and then he proceeded to turn
back the corner of the carpet in the neighbourhood of the door.
Presently he stooped and picked out a square piece of board,
such as is usually left to enable plumbers to get at the joints of
the gas-pipes. This one covered, as a matter of fact, the T joint
which gives off the pipe which supplies the kitchen underneath.
Out of this hiding-place he drew that little cylinder of paper,
pushed down the board, rearranged the carpet, blew out the
candles, and walked straight into my arms as I stood waiting for
him outside the window.
  "Well, he has rather more viciousness than I gave him credit
for, has Master Joseph. He flew at me with his knife, and I had
to grasp him twice, and got a cut over the knuckles, before I had
the upper hand of him. He looked murder out of the only eye he
could see with when we had finished, but he listened to reason
and gave up the papers. Having got them I let my man go, but I
wired full particulars to Forbes this morning. If he is quick
enough to catch his bird, well and good. But if, as I shrewdly
suspect, he finds the nest empty before he gets there, why, all
the better for the government. I fancy that Lord Holdhurst, for
one, and Mr. Percy Phelps for another, would very much rather
that the affair never got as far as a police-court."
  "My God!" gasped our client. "Do you tell me that during
these long ten weeks of agony the stolen papers were within the
very room with me all the time?"
  "So it was."
  "And Joseph! Joseph a villain and a thief!"
  "Hum! I am afraid Joseph's character is a rather deeper and
more dangerous one than one might judge from his appearance.
From what I have heard from him this morning, I gather that he
has lost heavily in dabbling with stocks, and that he is ready to
do anything on earth to better his fortunes. Being an absolutely
selfish man, when a chance presents itself he did not allow either
his sister's happiness or your reputation to hold his hand."
  Percy Phelps sank back in his chair. "My head whirls," said
he. "Your words have dazed me."
  "The principal difficulty in your case," remarked Holmes in
his didactic fashion, "lay in the fact of there being too much
evidence. What was vital was overlaid and hidden by what was
irrelevant. Of all the facts which were presented to us we had to
pick just those which we deemed to be essential, and then piece
them together in their order, so as to reconstruct this very
remarkable chain of events. I had already begun to suspect
Joseph from the fact that you had intended to travel home with
him that night, and that therefore it was a likely enough thing
that he should call for you, knowing the Foreign Office well,
upon his way. When I heard that someone had been so anxious
to get into the bedroom, in which no one but Joseph could have
concealed anything -- you told us in your narrative how you had
turned Joseph out when you arrived with the doctor -- my suspi-
cions all changed to certainties, especially as the attempt was
made on the first night upon which the nurse was absent, show-
ing that the intruder was well acquainted with the ways of the
house."
  "How blind I have been!"
  "The facts of the case, as far as I have worked them out, are
these: This Joseph Harrison entered the office through the Charles
Street door, and knowing his way he walked straight into your
room the instant after you left it. Finding no one there he
promptly rang the bell, and at the instant that he did so his eyes
caught the paper upon the table. A glance showed him that
chance had put in his way a State document of immense value,
and in an instant he had thrust it into his pocket and was gone. A
few minutes elapsed, as you remember, before the sleepy com-
missionaire drew your attention to the bell, and those were just
enough to give the thief time to make his escape.
  "He made his way to Woking by the first train, and, having
examined his booty and assured himself that it really was of
immense value, he had concealed it in what he thought was a
very safe place, with the intention of taking it out again in a day
or two, and carrying it to the French embassy, or wherever he
thought that a long price was to be had. Then came your sudden
return. He, without a moment's warning, was bundled out of his
room, and from that time onward there were always at least two
of you there to prevent him from regaining his treasure. The
situation to him must have been a maddening one. But at last he
thought he saw his chance. He tried to steal in, but was baffled
by your wakefulness. You may remember that you did not take
your usual draught that night."
  "I remember."
  "I fancy that he had taken steps to make that draught effica-
cious, and that he quite relied upon your being unconscious. Of
course, I understood that he would repeat the attempt whenever
it could be done with safety. Your leaving the room gave him the
chance he wanted. I kept Miss Harrison in it all day so that he
might not anticipate us. Then, having given him the idea that the
coast was clear, I kept guard as I have described. I already knew
that the papers were probably in the room, but I had no desire to
rip up all the planking and skirting in search of them. I let him
take them, therefore, from the hiding-place, and so saved myself
an infinity of trouble. Is there any other point which I can make
clear?"
  "Why did he try the window on the first occasion," I asked,
"when he might have entered by the door?"
  "In reaching the door he would have to pass seven bedrooms.
On the other hand, he could get out on to the lawn, with ease,
Anything else?"
  "You do not think," asked Phelps, "that he had any murder-
ous intention? The knife was only meant as a tool."
  "It may be so," answered Holmes, shrugging his shoulders.  "I can only say for certain that Mr. Joseph Harrison is a gentleman to whose mercy I should be extremely unwilling to trust."