The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes Part 16 (2/2)
”I wrote twomore drowsy than ever, I rose and walked up and down the roos My coffee had not yet come, and I wondered as the cause of the delay could be Opening the door, I started down the corridor to find out There was a straight passage, dihted, which led fro, and was the only exit fro staircase, with the coe at the botto, 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 coh chart of the place”
”Thank you I 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 co furiously upon the spirit-lamp I took off the kettle and blew out the la over the floor Then I put outsoundly, when a bell over his head rang loudly, and he ith a start
”'Mr Phelps, sir!' said he, looking at me in bewilderment
”'I ca the kettle when I fell asleep, sir' He looked at rowing 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 roo in'
”A cold hand seemed to close round my heart Some one, 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 froinal 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 nized 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 dihted?”
”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 co was to be feared, had followedthe corridor and down the steep steps which led to Charles Street The door at the botto it open and rushed out I can distinctly rehboring clock It was quarter to ten”
”That is of enor a note upon his shi+rt-cuff
”The night was very dark, and a thin, war There was no one in Charles Street, but a great traffic was going on, as usual, in Whitehall, at the extre the pavement, bare-headed as ere, and at the far corner we found a policeasped 'A docun 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 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 o?' I cried
”'I don't know, sir I noticed her pass, but I had no special reason for watching her She seeo was it?'
”'Oh, not very many minutes'
”'Within the last five?'
”'Well, it could not beyour time, sir, and every minute now is of importance,' cried the commissionnaire; 'taketo 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 hiht him by the sleeve
”'Where do you live?' said I
”'16 Ivy Lane, Brixton,' he answered 'But don't let yourself be draay 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, et 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 doith a kind of creamy linoleum which shows an impression very easily We examined it very carefully, but found no outline of any foot?”
”Since about seven”
”How is it, then, that the woman who came into the room about nine left no traces with her lad you raised the point It occurred tooff their boots at the co on list slippers”
”That is very clear There were no ht 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 s are quite thirty feet froround Both of them were fastened on the inside The carpet prevents any possibility of a trap-door, and the ceiling is of the ordinary ashed kind I will pledge my life that whoever stole h the door”
”How about the fireplace?”
”They use none There is a stove The bell-rope hangs fro it ht up to the desk to do it But why should any cri the bell? It is a most insoluble mystery”
”Certainly the incident was unusual What were your next steps? You examined the room, I presuar-end or dropped glove or hairpin or other trifle?”
”There was nothing of the sort”
”No sht of that”
”Ah, a scent of tobacco would have been worth a great deal to us in such an investigation”