Part 2 (1/2)
”Well, it is certainly singular that he should run the risk of taking originals if he could safely have taken copies, which would have equally served his turn”
”Singular, no doubt--and yet he did so”
”Every inquiry in this case reveals so They are, as I understand, the vital ones”
”Yes, that is so”
”Do youthese three papers, and without the seven others, could construct a Bruce-Partington submarine?”
”I reported to that effect to the Adain, and I am not so sure of it The double valves with the auto slots are drawn in one of the papers which have been returned Until the foreigners had invented that for theht soon get over the difficulty”
”But the three s are the most important?”
”Undoubtedly”
”I think, with your permission, I will now take a stroll round the premises I do not recall any other question which I desired to ask”
He examined the lock of the safe, the door of the room, and finally the iron shutters of theIt was only ere on the lawn outside that his interest was strongly excited There was a laurel bush outside the , and several of the branches bore signs of having been twisted or snapped He exaue marks upon the earth beneath Finally he asked the chief clerk to close the iron shutters, and he pointed out to me that they hardly met in the centre, and that it would be possible for anyone outside to see as going on within the room
”The indications are ruined by three days' delay TheyWell, Watson, I do not think that Woolwich can help us further It is a sathered Let us see if we can do better in London”
Yet we added one more sheaf to our harvest before we left Woolwich Station The clerk in the ticket office was able to say with confidence that he saw Cadogan West--whoht, and that he went to London by the 8:15 to London Bridge He was alone and took a single third- class ticket The clerk was struck at the time by his excited and nervous e, and the clerk had helped him with it A reference to the timetable showed that the 8:15 was the first train which it was possible for West to take after he had left the lady about 7:30
”Let us reconstruct, Watson,” said Holmes after half an hour of silence ”I am not aware that in all our joint researches we have ever had a case which was et at Every fresh advance which we e beyond And yet we have surely ress
”The effect of our inquiries at Woolwich has in the an West; but the indications at the ould lend themselves to a more favourable hypothesis Let us suppose, for exaent It es as would have prevented hihts in the direction indicated by his reood We will now suppose that as he went to the theatre with the young lady he suddenly, in the fog, caught a gli in the direction of the office He was an iave way to his duty He followed the man, reached thethe abstraction of the docuet over the objection that no one would take originals when he could inals So far it holds together”
”What is the next step?”
”Then we coine that under such circuan West would be to seize the villain and raise the alarm Why did he not do so? Could it have been an official superior who took the papers? That would explain West's conduct Or could the chief have given West the slip in the fog, and West started at once to London to head hi that he knehere the roo, since he left his girl standing in the fog and made no effort to communicate with her Our scent runs cold here, and there is a vast gap between either hypothesis and the laying of West's body, with seven papers in his pocket, on the roof of a Metropolitan train My instinct now is to work foriven us the list of addresses we may be able to pick our h, a note awaited us at Baker Street A governlanced at it and threw it over to me
There are nu an affair The only e Street, West Hill; and Hugo Oberstein, 13 Caulfield Gardens, Kensington The latter was known to be in town on Monday and is now reported as having left Glad to hear you have seen soht The Cabinet awaits your final report with the utent representations have arrived frohest quarter The whole force of the State is at your back if you should need it
Mycroft
”I', ”that all the queen's horses and all the queen'serly over it ”Well, well,” said he presently with an excla a little in our direction at last Why, Watson, I do honestly believe that we are going to pull it off, after all” He slapped oing out now It is only a reconnaissance I will do nothing serious without rapher at my elbow Do you stay here, and the odds are that you will see et foolscap and a pen, and begin your narrative of hoe saved the State”
I felt some reflection of his elation in my own mind, for I kneell that he would not depart so far froood cause for exultation All the long Nove I waited, filled with impatience for his return At last, shortly after nine o'clock, there arrived aat Goldini's Restaurant, Gloucester Road, Kensington Please co with you a jemmy, a dark lantern, a chisel, and a revolver
SH
It was a nice equip-draped streets I stowed theht to the address given There sat arish Italian restaurant
”Have you had so to eat? Then join ars They are less poisonous than one would expect Have you the tools?”
”They are here, in ive you a short sketch of what I have done, with some indication of e are about to do Now itman's body was PLACED on the roof of the train That was clear from the instant that I determined the fact that it was froe, that he had fallen”
”Could it not have been dropped froe?”
”I should say it was impossible If you exahtly rounded, and there is no railing round thean West was placed on it”
”How could he be placed there?”
”That was the question which we had to answer There is only one possible way You are aware that the Underground runs clear of tunnels at soue memory that as I have travelled by it I have occasionally seen s just above my head Now, suppose that a train halted under such a ould there be any difficulty in laying a body upon the roof?”
”It seems most improbable”
”We encies fail, whatever remains, however iencies HAVE failed When I found that the leading international agent, who had just left London, lived in a row of houses which abutted upon the Underground, I was so pleased that you were a little astonished at my sudden frivolity”
”Oh, that was it, was it?”
”Yes, that was it Mr Hugo Oberstein, of 13 Caulfield Gardens, had becoan my operations at Gloucester Road Station, where a very helpful official walked withthe track and allowed me to satisfy myself not only that the back-stair s of Caulfield Gardens open on the line but the evento the intersection of one of the larger railways, the Underground trains are frequently held motionless for some minutes at that very spot”
”Splendid, Holot it!”
”So far--so far, Watson We advance, but the goal is afar Well, having seen the back of Caulfield Gardens, I visited the front and satisfied myself that the bird was indeed flown It is a considerable house, unfurnished, so far as I could judge, in the upper roole valet, as probably a confederate entirely in his confidence We one to the Continent to dispose of his booty, but not with any idea of flight; for he had no reason to fear a warrant, and the idea of an amateur domiciliary visit would certainly never occur to him Yet that is precisely e are about to alize it?”
”Hardly on the evidence”
”What can we hope to do?”
”We cannot tell what correspondence may be there”
”I don't like it, Holmes”
”My dear fellow, you shall keep watch in the street I'll do the criminal part It's not a time to stick at trifles Think of Mycroft's note, of the Admiralty, the Cabinet, the exalted person aits for news We are bound to go”
My ansas to rise froo”
He sprang up and shook me by the hand
”I knew you would not shrink at the last,” said he, and for ain his eyes which was nearer to tenderness than I had ever seen The next instant he was his masterful, practical self once more
”It is nearly half a mile, but there is no hurry Let us walk,” said he ”Don't drop the instru Your arrest as a suspicious character would be a most unfortunate complication”
Caulfield Gardens was one of those lines of flat-faced pillared, and porticoed houses which are so prominent a product of the middle Victorian epoch in the West End of London Next door there appeared to be a children's party, for thevoices and the clatter of a piano resounded through the night The fog still hung about and screened us with its friendly shade Holmes had lit his lantern and flashed it upon the massive door
”This is a serious proposition,” said he ”It is certainly bolted as well as locked We would do better in the area There is an excellent archway down yonder in case a too zealous policeman should intrude Give me a hand, Watson, and I'll do the same for you”
A minute later ere both in the area Hardly had we reached the dark shadows before the step of the police above As its soft rhythm died away, Holmes set to work upon the lower door I saw him stoop and strain until with a sharp crash it flew open We sprang through into the dark passage, closing the area door behind us Hol, uncarpeted stair His little fan of yellow light shone upon a lo