"What does he say about the cravat?"
"He acknowledges that it is his, and declares that he had lost it. But anew element has been introduced into the case which may account for hisleading the horse from the stable."
Holmes pricked up his ears.
"We have found traces which show that a party of gypsies encamped onMonday night within a mile of the spot where the murder took place. OnTuesday they were gone. Now, presuming that there was some understandingbetween Simpson and these gypsies, might he not have been leading thehorse to them when he was overtaken, and may they not have him now?"
"It is certainly possible."
"The moor is being scoured for these gypsies. I have also examined everystable and out-house in Tavistock, and for a radius of ten miles."
"There is another training-stable quite close, I understand?"
"Yes, and that is a factor which we must certainly not neglect. AsDesborough, their horse, was second in the betting, they had an interestin the disappearance of the favorite. Silas Brown, the trainer, is knownto have had large bets upon the event, and he was no friend to poorStraker. We have, however, examined the stables, and there is nothing toconnect him with the affair."
"And nothing to connect this man Simpson with the interests of theMapleton stables?"
"Nothing at all."
Holmes leaned back in the carriage, and the conversation ceased. A fewminutes later our driver pulled up at a neat little red-brick villa withoverhanging eaves which stood by the road. Some distance off, across apaddock, lay a long gray-tiled out-building. In every other directionthe low curves of the moor, bronze-colored from the fading ferns,stretched away to the sky-line, broken only by the steeples ofTavistock, and by a cluster of houses away to the westward which markedthe Mapleton stables. We all sprang out with the exception of Holmes,who continued to lean back with his eyes fixed upon the sky in front ofhim, entirely absorbed in his own thoughts. It was only when I touchedhis arm that he roused himself with a violent start and stepped out ofthe carriage.
"Excuse me," said he, turning to Colonel Ross, who had looked at him insome surprise. "I was day-dreaming." There was a gleam in his eyes and asuppressed excitement in his manner which convinced me, used as I wasto his ways, that his hand was upon a clue, though I could not imaginewhere he had found it.
"Perhaps you would prefer at once to go on to the scene of the crime,Mr. Holmes?" said Gregory.
"I think that I should prefer to stay here a little and go into one ortwo questions of detail. Straker was brought back here, I presume?"
"Yes; he lies upstairs. The inquest is to-morrow."
"He has been in your service some years, Colonel Ross?"
"I have always found him an excellent servant."
"I presume that you made an inventory of what he had in his pockets atthe time of his death, Inspector?"
"I have the things themselves in the sitting-room, if you would care tosee them."
"I should be very glad." We all filed into the front room and sat roundthe central table while the Inspector unlocked a square tin box and laida small heap of things before us. There was a box of vestas, two inchesof tallow candle, an A D P brier-root pipe, a pouch of seal-skin withhalf an ounce of long-cut Cavendish, a silver watch with a gold chain,five sovereigns in gold, an aluminum pencil-case, a few papers, and anivory-handled knife with a very delicate, inflexible blade marked Weiss& Co., London.
"This is a very singular knife," said Holmes, lifting it up andexamining it minutely. "I presume, as I see blood-stains upon it, thatit is the one which was found in the dead man's grasp. Watson, thisknife is surely in your line?"
"It is what we call a cataract knife," said I.
"I thought so. A very delicate blade devised for very delicate work.A strange thing for a man to carry with him upon a rough expedition,especially as it would not shut in his pocket."
"The tip was guarded by a disk of cork which we found beside his body,"said the Inspector. "His wife tells us that the knife had lain upon thedressing-table, and that he had picked it up as he left the room. It wasa poor weapon, but perhaps the best that he could lay his hands on atthe moment."
"Very possible. How about these papers?"
"Three of them are receipted hay-dealers' accounts. One of them is aletter of instruct
ions from Colonel Ross. This other is a milliner'saccount for thirty-seven pounds fifteen made out by Madame Lesurier,of Bond Street, to William Derbyshire. Mrs. Straker tells us thatDerbyshire was a friend of her husband's and that occasionally hisletters were addressed here."
"Madam Derbyshire had somewhat expensive tastes," remarked Holmes,glancing down the account. "Twenty-two guineas is rather heavy for asingle costume. However there appears to be nothing more to learn, andwe may now go down to the scene of the crime."
As we emerged from the sitting-room a woman, who had been waiting inthe passage, took a step forward and laid her hand upon the Inspector'ssleeve. Her face was haggard and thin and eager, stamped with the printof a recent horror.
"Have you got them? Have you found them?" she panted.