The Sign of the Four

mes Gives a

good use of it. My case is, as I have told you, almost complete; but we must not err on the sid

!" I ej

ast night. How of the window?" He carried the lamp across to it, muttering his observations aloud the while, but addressing them to himself rather than to me. "Window is snibbed on the inner side. Framework is solid. No hinges at the side. Let us open it. No water-pipe near. Roof quite ou

-defined muddy discs. "This

ooden stump. You see here on the sill is the boot-mark, a heavy boot w

wooden-le

e else,-a very able and efficient all

e of the house. We were a good sixty feet from the ground, and, look where

ely impossible

t, of course, in the same fashion, and your ally would draw up the rope, untie it from the hook, shut the window, snib it on the inside, and get away in the way that he originally came. As a minor point it may be noted," he continued, fingering the rope, "that our wooden-legg

becomes more unintelligible than ever. How about

e from the regions of the commonplace. I fancy that this ally breaks fresh ground in the annals of crime in th

he door is locked, the window is inac

" he answered. "I had already

n?" I pe

ble whatever remains, HOWEVER IMPROBABLE, must be the truth? We know that he did not come through the door, the window, or the chim

the hole in the

ness to hold the lamp for me, we shall now extend our researches t

he swung himself up into the garret. Then, lying on his face,

lath-and-plaster between, so that in walking one had to step from beam to beam. The roof ran up to an apex, and was evidently the inn

hich leads out on to the roof. I can press it back, and here is the roof itself, sloping at a gentle angle. This

e over his face. For myself, as I followed his gaze my skin was cold under my clothes. The floor was covered thickly wit

whisper, "a child has

," he said, "but the thing is quite natural. My memory failed me, or I should have

e footmarks?" I asked, eagerly, when w

e, with a touch of impatience. "You know my methods. App

thing which will cover

ining, with his long thin nose only a few inches from the planks, and his beady eyes gleaming and deep-set like those of a bird. So swift, silent, and furtive were his movements, like those of a trained blood-hound picking out a scent, that I could not

misfortune to tread in the creosote. You can see the outline of the edge of his small foot here at th

hen?" I

ack a trailed herring across a shire, how far can a specially-trained hound follow so pungent a smell as this? It sounds lik

oices were audible from below, and t

t your hand here on this poor fellow's ar

as hard as a bo

ortis. Coupled with this distortion of the face, this Hippocratic smile, or 'risus sar

loid," I answered,-"some strychnine-like

which the poison had entered the system. As you saw, I discovered a thorn which had been driven or shot with no great force into the scalp. You ob

rp, and black, with a glazed look near the point as though some gummy substance

English thor

certainl

w some just inference. But here are the regula

e heavily into the room. He was red-faced, burly and plethoric, with a pair of very small twinkling eyes which looked keenly out fro

ce. "Here's a pretty business! But who are all these?

ect me, Mr. Athelney Jon

rget how you lectured us all on causes and inferences and effects in the Bishopgate jewel case. It's tr

e of very simp

ess! Stern facts here,-no room for theories. How lucky that I happened to be out at Norwood ove

se for me to theorize ov

he head sometimes. Dear me! Door locked, I understand. J

there are ste

ssing. Ha! I have a theory. These flashes come upon me at times.-Just step outside, sergeant, and you, Mr. Sholto. Your friend can remain.-What do you think of t

considerately got up and loc

is dead and the jewels are gone. So much also we know. No one saw the brother from the time Thaddeus left him. His bed had not been slept in. Thaddeus is eviden

believe to be poisoned, was in the man's scalp where you still see the mark; this card, inscribed as you see it, was

ade murderous use of it as any other man. The card is some hocus-pocus,-a blind, as like as not. The only question is, how did he depart? Ah, of course, here is a hole in the roof." With great

oulders. "He has occasional glimmerings of reason. Il n'y

re better than mere theories, after all. My view of the case is confirmed.

I who op

tle crestfallen at the discovery. "Well, whoever notic

," from t

ou that anything which you may say will be used against you. I arrest y

e poor little man, throwing out his hands

Sholto," said Holmes. "I think that I

promise too much!" snapped the detective. "Yo

He is a poorly-educated man, small, active, with his right leg off, and wearing a wooden stump which is worn away upon the inner side. His left boot has a coarse, square-toed sole, with an iron band round the heel. He is

ering voice, but impressed none the less, as I could

g upon his heel. "I hope before very long to be able to in

ected occurrence," he said, "has caused us rather t

red. "It is not right that Miss Morstan

r, in Lower Camberwell: so it is not very far. I will wait for yo

the rough side of life, but I give you my word that this quick succession of strange surprises to-night has shak

. When you have dropped Miss Morstan I wish you to go on to No. 3 Pinchin Lane, down near the water's edge at Lambeth. The third house on the right-hand side is a bird-stuffer's: Sherman is the

, I su

r of scent. I would rather have Toby's help tha

t is one now. I ought to be back befo

deus tell me, sleeps in the next garret. Then I shall study the great Jones's methods and listen to his not too d