"Light-houses, my boy! Beacons of the future! Capsules with hundreds ofbright little seeds in each, out of which will spring the wise, betterEngland 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'sa question whether we shall ever be able to get him ashore. What did youthink of Miss Harrison?"
"A girl of strong character."
"Yes, but she is a good sort, or I am mistaken. She and her brother arethe only children of an iron-master somewhere up Northumberland way. Hegot engaged to her when traveling last winter, and she came down tobe introduced to his people, with her brother as escort. Then camethe smash, and she stayed on to nurse her lover, while brother Joseph,finding himself pretty snug, stayed on too. I've been making a fewindependent 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--" saidHolmes, with some asperity.
"I was going to say that my practice could get along very well for a dayor two, since it is the slackest time in the year."
"Excellent," said he, recovering his good-humor. "Then we'll look intothis 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 whatside the case is to be approached."
"You said you had a clue?"
"Well, we have several, but we can only test their value by furtherinquiry. The most difficult crime to track is the one which ispurposeless. Now this is not purposeless. Who is it who profits by it?There is the French ambassador, there is the Russian, there is whoevermight sell it to either of these, and there is Lord Holdhurst."
"Lord Holdhurst!"
"Well, it is just conceivable that a statesman might find himself ina position where he was not sorry to have such a document accidentallydestroyed."
"Not a statesman with the honorable record of Lord Holdhurst?"
"It is a possibility and we cannot afford to disregard it. We shall seethe noble lord to-day and find out if he can tell us anything. MeanwhileI 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 note-book. On it was scribbled inpencil: "L10 reward. The number of the cab which dropped a fare at orabout the door of the Foreign Office in Charles Street at quarter to tenin the evening of May 23d. Apply 221 B, 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 statingthat there is no hiding-place either in the room or the corridors, thenthe person must have co
me from outside. If he came from outside on sowet a night, and yet left no trace of damp upon the linoleum, whichwas examined within a few minutes of his passing, then it is exceedingprobable that he came in a cab. Yes, I think that we may safely deduce acab."
"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 distinctivefeature of the case. Why should the bell ring? Was it the thief who didit out of bravado? Or was it some one who was with the thief who did itin order to prevent the crime? Or was it an accident? Or was it--?" Hesank back into the state of intense and silent thought from which hehad 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 hastyluncheon at the buffet we pushed on at once to Scotland Yard. Holmeshad already wired to Forbes, and we found him waiting to receive us--asmall, foxy man with a sharp but by no means amiable expression. Hewas decidedly frigid in his manner to us, especially when he heard theerrand 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 layat your disposal, and then you try to finish the case yourself and bringdiscredit on them."
"On the contrary," said Holmes, "out of my last fifty-three cases myname has only appeared in four, and the police have had all the creditin forty-nine. I don't blame you for not knowing this, for you are youngand inexperienced, but if you wish to get on in your new duties you willwork with me and not against me."
"I'd be very glad of a hint or two," said the detective, changing hismanner. "I've certainly had no credit from the case so far."
"What steps have you taken?"
"Tangey, the commissionnaire, has been shadowed. He left the Guards witha good character and we can find nothing against him. His wife is a badlot, though. I fancy she knows more about this than appears."
"Have you shadowed her?"