"I recognized in an instant that the thief must have come up the stairsfrom the side door. Of course I must have met him if he had come theother way."
"You were satisfied that he could not have been concealed in the roomall the time, or in the corridor which you have just described as dimlylighted?"
"It is absolutely impossible. A rat could not conceal himself either inthe room or the corridor. There is no cover at all."
"Thank you. Pray proceed."
"The commissionnaire, seeing by my pale face that something was to befeared, had followed me upstairs. Now we both rushed along the corridorand down the steep steps which led to Charles Street. The door at thebottom was closed, but unlocked. We flung it open and rushed out. I candistinctly remember that as we did so there came three chimes from aneighboring clock. It was quarter to ten."
"That is of enormous importance," said Holmes, making a note upon hisshirt-cuff.
"The night was very dark, and a thin, warm rain was falling. There wasno one in Charles Street, but a great traffic was going on, as usual, inWhitehall, at the extremity. We rushed along the pavement, bare-headedas we were, and at the far corner we found a policeman standing.
"'A robbery has been committed,' I gasped. 'A document of immense valuehas been stolen from the Foreign Office. Has any one 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 commissionnaire; 'has no one elsepassed?'
"'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 meaway 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 forwatching 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 ofimportance,' cried the commissionnaire; 'take my word for it that my oldwoman has nothing to do with it, and come down to the other end of thestreet. Well, if you won't, I will.' And with that he rushed off in theother 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 drawnaway upon a false scent, Mr. Phelps. Come to the other end of the streetand let us see if we can hear of anything.'
"Nothing was to be lost by following his advice. With the policeman weboth hurried down, but only to find the street full of traffic, manypeople coming and going, but all only too eager to get to a place ofsafety upon so wet a night. There was no lounger who could tell us whohad passed.
"Then we returned to the office, and searched the stairs and the passagewithout result. The corridor which led to the room was laid down witha kind of creamy linoleum which shows an impression very easily. Weexamined 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 leftno 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 thecommissionnaire's office, and putting on list slippers."