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
trap-door, 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 commissionaire'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 astonishment 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 every one
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,
endeavoring 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 sick-room 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
discovered. 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 honor 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 stimulating
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.
"You 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 any one 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 any one about the treaty
these inquiries are irrelevant."
"I said nothing."
"Do you know anything of the commissionaire?"
"Nothing except that he is an old soldier."
"What regiment?"
"Oh, I have heard--Coldstream 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 color are an embellishment 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 some one?"
"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 Holmes, 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 be the same train to-morrow, though it's more
