 Part 1 of The Adventure of the Cardboard Box, from His Last Bow. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Sarah Jennings. His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The Adventure of the Cardboard Box, Part 1. In choosing a few typical cases which illustrate the remarkable mental qualities of my friend Sherlock Holmes, I have endeavored as far as possible to select those which presented the minimum of sensationalism, while offering a fair field for his talents. It is, however, unfortunately impossible entirely to separate the sensational from the criminal, and a chronicler has left in the dilemma that he must either sacrifice details which are essential to his statement, and so give a false impression of the problem, or he must use matter which chance, and not choice, has provided him with. With this short preface I shall turn to my notes of what proved to be a strange though peculiarly terrible chain of events. It was a blazing hot day in August, Baker Street was like an oven, and the glare of the sunlight upon the yellow brickwork of the house across the road was painful to the eye. It was hard to believe that these were the same walls which loomed so gloomily through the fogs of winter. Our blinds were half-drawn, and Holmes lay curled upon the sofa, reading and rereading a letter which he had received by the morning post. For myself my term of service in India had trained me to stand heat better than cold, and a thermometer at ninety was no hardship. But the morning paper was uninteresting. Parliament had risen, everybody was out of town, and I yearned for the glades of the new forest or the shingle of Southsea. A depleted bank account had caused me to postpone my holiday, and as to my companion neither the country nor the sea presented the slightest attraction to him. He loved to lie in the very centre of five millions of people, with his filaments stretching out and running through them, responsive to every little rumour or suspicion of unsolved crime. Appreciation of nature found no place among his many gifts, and his only change was when he turned his mind from the evil doer of the town to track down his brother of the country. Finding that Holmes was too absorbed for conversation, I had tossed aside the barren paper, and leaning back in my chair I fell into a brown study. Suddenly my companion's voice broke in upon my thoughts. You are right, Watson, said he. It does seem a most preposterous way of settling a dispute. Most preposterous, I exclaimed, and then suddenly realising how he had echoed the inmost thought of my soul, I sat up in my chair and stared at him in blank amazement. What is this, Holmes, I cried? This is beyond anything which I could have imagined! He laughed heartily at my perplexity. You remember, said he, that some little time ago when I read you the passage in one of Poe's sketches, in which a close reasoner follows the unspoken thoughts of his companion, you were inclined to treat the matter as a mere tour de force of the author. On my remarking that I was constantly in the habit of doing the same thing, you expressed incredulity. Oh, no! Perhaps not with your tongue, my dear Watson, but certainly with your eyebrows. So when I saw you throw down your paper and enter upon a train of thought, I was very happy to have the opportunity of reading it off, and eventually of breaking into it, as a proof that I had been in rapport with you. But I was still far from satisfied. In the example which you read to me, said I, the reasoner drew his conclusions from the actions of the man whom he observed. If I remember right, he stumbled over a heap of stones, looked up at the stars, and so on. But I have been seated quietly in my chair, and what clues can I have given you? You do yourself an injustice. The features are given to a man as the means by which he shall express his emotions, and yours are faithful servants. Do you mean to say that you read my train of thoughts from my features? Your features, and especially your eyes. Perhaps you cannot yourself recall how your reverie commenced? No, I cannot. Then I will tell you. After throwing down your paper, which was the action which drew my attention to you, you sat for half a minute with a vacant expression. Then your eyes fixed themselves upon your newly framed picture of General Gordon, and I saw by the alteration in your face that a train of thought had been started. But it did not lead very far. Your eyes flashed across to the unframed portrait of Henry Ward Beecher, which stands upon the top of your books. Then you glanced up at the wall, and of course your meaning was obvious. You were thinking that if the portrait were framed, it would just cover that bare space, and correspond with Gordon's picture over there. You have followed me wonderfully, I exclaimed. So far I could hardly have gone astray. But now your thoughts went back to Beecher, and you looked hard across as if you were studying the character and his features. Then your eyes ceased to pucker, but you continued to look across, and your face was thoughtful. You were recalling the incidents of Beecher's career. I was well aware that you could not do this without thinking of the mission which he undertook on behalf of the North, at the time of the Civil War. For I remember you were expressing your passionate indignation at the way in which he was received by the more turbulent of our people. You felt so strongly about it that I knew you could not think of Beecher without thinking of that also. When a moment later I saw your eyes wander away from the picture, I suspected that your mind had now turned to the Civil War, and when I observed that your lips set, your eyes sparkled, and your hands clenched, I was positive that you were indeed thinking of the gallantry which was shown by both sides in that desperate struggle. But then again your face grew sadder, you shook your head. You were dwelling upon the sadness and horror, useless waste of life. Your hand stole towards your own old wound, and a smile quivered on your lips, which showed me that the ridiculous side of this method of settling international questions had forced itself upon your mind. At this point I agreed with you that it was preposterous, and was glad to find that all my deductions had been correct. Absolutely said I, and now that you have explained it, I confess that I am as amazed as before. It was very superficial, my dear Watson, I assure you. I should not have intruded it upon your attention, had you not shown some incredulity the other day. But I have in my hands here a little problem which may prove to be more difficult of solution than my small essay and thought reading. Have you observed in the paper a short paragraph referring to the remarkable contents of a packet sent through the post to Miss Cushing of Cross Street, Croydon? No, I saw nothing. Ah, then you must have overlooked it. Just toss it over to me. Here it is under the financial column. Perhaps you would be good enough to read it aloud. I picked up the paper which he had thrown back to me, and read the paragraph indicated. It was headed, a gruesome packet. Miss Susan Cushing, living at Cross Street, Croydon, has been made the victim of what must be regarded as a peculiarly revolting practical joke, unless some more sinister meaning should prove to be attached to the incident. A two o'clock yesterday afternoon a small packet wrapped in brown paper was handed in by the postman. A cardboard box was inside which was filled with coarse salt. On emptying this Miss Cushing was horrified to find two human ears, apparently quite freshly severed. The box had been sent by a parcel post from Belfast upon the morning before. There is no indication as to the sender, and the matter is the more mysterious as Miss Cushing, who is a maiden lady of fifty, has led a most retired life and has so few acquaintances or correspondence that it is a rare event for her to receive anything through the post. Some years ago, however, when she resided at Penge, she led apartments in her house to three young medical students, whom she was obliged to get rid of on account of their noisy and irregular habits. The police are of the opinion that this outrage may have been perpetrated upon Miss Cushing by these youths who owed her a grudge and who hoped to frighten her by sending her these relics of the dissecting rooms. Some probability is lent to the theory by the fact that one of these students came from the north of Ireland and to the best of Miss Cushing's belief from Belfast. In the meantime, the matter is being actively investigated. Mr. Lestrade, one of the very smartest of our detective officers, being in charge of the case. So much for the daily chronicles at home as I finished reading. Now, for our friend Lestrade. I had a note from him this morning in which he says, I think that this case is very much in your line. We have every hope of clearing the matter up, but we find it little difficulty in getting anything to work upon. We have, of course, wired to the Belfast post office, but a large number of parcels were handed in upon that day, and they have no means of identifying this particular one or of remembering the sender. The box is a half-pound box of honeydew tobacco and does not help us in any way. The medical student theory still appears to me to be the most feasible, but if we should have a few hours to spare, I would be very happy to see you out here. I shall be either at the house or in the police station all day. What say you Watson? Can you rise superior to the heat and run down to Croydon with me on the off chance of a case for your annals? I was longing for something to do. You shall have it then. Ring for our boots and tell them to order a cab. I shall be back in a moment when I have changed my dressing gown and filled my cigar case. A shower of rain fell while we were in the train, and the heat was far less oppressive in Croydon than in town. Homes had sent on a wire so that Lestrade, as wiry, as dapper, and as ferret like as ever, was waiting for us at the station. A walk of five minutes took us to Cross Street, where Miss Cushing resided. It was a very long street of two-story brick houses, neat and prim, with whitened stone steps and little groups of aproned women gossiping at the doors. Halfway down, Lestrade stopped and tapped at a door, which was opened by a small servant-girl. Miss Cushing was sitting in the front room, into which we were ushered. She was a placid-faced woman with large, gentle eyes and grizzled hair curving down over her temples on either side. A worked anti-macassar lay upon her lap, and a basket of coloured silks stood upon a stool beside her. They are in the out-house, those dreadful things," said she as Lestrade entered. I wish that you would take them away altogether. So I shall, Miss Cushing. I only kept them here until my friend, Mr. Holmes, should have seen them in your presence. Why in my presence, sir? In case you wish to ask any questions. What is the use of asking me questions when I tell you I know nothing whatever about it? Quite so, madam," said Holmes in his soothing way. I have no doubt that you have been annoyed more than enough already over this business. Indeed I have, sir. I am a quiet woman and live a retired life. It is something new for me to see my name in the papers and find the police in my house. I won't have those things in here, Mr. Lestrade, if you wish to see them you must go to the out-house. It was a small shed in the narrow garden which ran behind the house. Lestrade went in and brought out a yellow cardboard box with a piece of brown paper and some string. There was a bench at the end of the path and we all sat down while Holmes examined one by one the articles which Lestrade had handed to him. The string is exceedingly interesting," he remarked, holding it up to the light and sniffing at it. What do you make of this string, Lestrade? It has been tarred. Precisely. It is a piece of tarred twine. You have also no doubt remarked that Miss Cushing has cut the cord with the scissors, as can be seen by the double fray on each side. This is of importance. I cannot see the importance," said Lestrade. The importance lies in the fact that the knot is left intact and that this knot is of a peculiar character. It is very neatly tied. I had already made a note to that effect," said Lestrade complacently. So much for the string, then," said Holmes, smiling. Now for the box-wrapper. Brown paper with a distinct smell of coffee. What, did you not observe it? I think there can be no doubt of it. Address printed in rather straggling characters. Miss S. Cushing. Cross Street. Croydon. Done with a broad-pointed pen, probably a J, and with very inferior ink. The word Croydon has been originally spelled with an I, which has been changed to a Y. The parcel was directed then by a man. The box is a yellow half-pound honeydew box with nothing distinctive save two thumb marks at the left bottom corner. It is filled with rough salt of the quality used for preserving hides and other of the coarser commercial purposes, and embedded in it are these very singular enclosures. He took out the two ears as he spoke and laying a board across his neck. The box is a yellow half-pound honeydew box with the two ears as he spoke, and laying a board across his knee he examined them minutely, while the straw and I, bending forward on each side of him, glanced alternately at these dreadful relics and at the thoughtful eager face of our companion. Finally he returned them to the box once more and sat for a while in deep meditation. You have observed, of course, said he at last, that the ears are not a pair. Yes, I have noticed that, but if this were the practical joke of some students from the dissecting rooms, it would be as easy for them to send two odd ears as a pair. Precisely, but this is not a practical joke. You are sure of it? Their presumption is strongly against it. Bodies in the dissecting rooms are injected with a preservative fluid. These ears bear no signs of this. They are fresh, too. They have been cut off with a blunt instrument, which would hardly happen if a student had done it. The carbolic or rectified spirits would be the preservatives which would suggest themselves to the medical mind. Certainly not rough salt. I repeat that there is no practical joke here, but that we are investigating a serious crime. A vague thrill ran through me as I listened to my companion's words and saw the stern gravity which had hardened his features. This brutal preliminary seemed to shadow forth some strange and inexplicable horror in the background. Lestrade, however, shook his head like a man who is only half convinced. There are objections to the joke theory, no doubt, said he. But there are much stronger reasons against the other. We know that this woman has led a most quiet and respectable life at Penge and here for the last twenty years. She has hardly been away from her home for a day during that time. Why on earth, then, should any criminal send her the proofs of his guilt, especially as, unless she has a most consummate actress, she understands quite as little of the matter as we do. That is the problem which we have to solve, Holmes answered. And for my part I shall set about it by presuming that my reasoning is correct and that a double murder has been committed. One of these ears is a woman's, small, finely formed and pierced for an earring. The other's a man's, sunburned, discoloured, and also pierced for an earring. These two people are presumably dead, where we should have heard their story before now. Today is Friday, the packet was posted on Thursday morning. The tragedy, then, occurred on Wednesday or Tuesday or earlier. If the two people were murdered, who but their murderer would have sent this sign of his work to Miss Cushing? We may take it that the sender of the packet is the man whom we want. But he must have some strong reason for sending Miss Cushing this packet. What reason, then? It must have been to tell her the deed was done, or to pain her, perhaps. But in that case she knows who it is. Does she know? I doubt it. If she knew, why should she call the police in? She might have buried the ears, and no one would have been the wiser. That is what she would have done if she had wished to shield the criminal. But if she does not wish to shield him, she would give his name. There is a tangle here which needs straightening out. He had been talking in a high, quick voice, staring blankly at the over-the-garden fence, but now he sprang briskly to his feet and walked toward the house. I have a few questions to ask Miss Cushing, said he. In that case I may leave you here, said Lestrade, for I have another small business on hand. I think that I have nothing further to learn from Miss Cushing. He will find me at the police station. We shall look in on our way to the train, answered Holmes. A moment later he and I were back in the front room, where the impassive lady was still quietly working away at her anti-Macassar. She put it down on her lap as we entered, and looked at us with her frank, searching blue eyes. I am convinced, sir, she said, that this matter is a mistake, and that the parcel was never meant for me at all. I have said this several times to the gentleman from Scotland Yard, but he simply laughs at me. I have not an enemy in the world as far as I know, so why should anyone play me such a trick? I am coming to be of the same opinion, Miss Cushing, said Holmes, taking a seat beside her. I think it is more than probable. He paused, and I was surprised on glancing round to see that he was staring with singular intentness at the lady's profile. Surprise and satisfaction were both for an instant to be read upon his eager face, though when she glanced round to find out the cause of his silence, he had become as demure as ever. I stared hard myself at her flat, grizzled hair, her trim cap, her little gilt earrings, her placid features. But I could see nothing which would account for my companion's evident excitement. There were one or two questions. Oh, I am weary of questions, cried Miss Cushing impatiently. You have two sisters, I believe. How could you know that? I observed the very instant I entered the room that you have a portrait group of three ladies upon the mantelpiece, one of whom is undoubtedly yourself, while the others are so exceedingly like you that there could be no doubt of the relationship. Yes, you are quite right. Those are my sisters, Sarah and Mary. And here at my elbow is another portrait taken at Liverpool of your younger sister in the company of a man who appears to be a steward by his uniform. I observed that she was unmarried at the time. You are very quick at observing. That is my trade. Well, you are quite right. She was married to Mr. Browner a few days afterwards. He was on the South American line when that was taken, but he was so fond of her that he couldn't abide and leave her for so long, and he got into the Liverpool and London boats. Ah, the Conqueror, perhaps. No, the May Day when last I heard. Jim came down here to see me once. That was before he broke the pledge. But afterwards he would always take drink when he was ashore, and a little drink would send him stark, staring mad. It was a bad day that he ever took a glass in his hand again. First he dropped me, then he quarreled with Sarah, and now that Mary has stopped writing, she's never going with them. It was evident that Miss Cushing had come upon a subject on which she felt very deeply. Like most people who lead a lonely life, she was shy at first, but ended by becoming extremely communicative. She told us many details about her brother-in-law, the steward, and then wandering off on the subject of her former lodgers, the medical students, she gave us a long account of their delinquencies, with their names and those of their hospitals. Holmes listened attentively to everything, throwing in a question from time to time. About your second sister, Sarah, said he. I wonder, since you are both maiden ladies, that you do not keep house together. Ah, you don't know Sarah's temper, you would wonder no more. I tried it when I came to Croydon, and we kept on until about two months ago when we had to part. I don't want to say a word against my own sister, but she was always meddlesome and hard to please with Sarah. You say that she quarreled with your Liverpool relations. Yes, and they were the best of friends at one time. Why, she went up there to live in order to be near them. And now she has no word hard enough for Jim Browner. The last six months that she was here she would speak of nothing but his drinking and his ways. He had caught her meddling, I suspect, and given her a bit of his mind, and that was the start of it. Thank you, Miss Cushing, said Holmes, rising and bowing. Your sister Sarah lives, I think you said, at New Street, Wallington. I'm very sorry that you should have been troubled over a case with which, as you say, you have nothing whatever to do. There was a cab passing as we came out, and Holmes hailed it. How far to Wallington, he asked. Only about a mile, sir. Very good. Jump in Watson. We must strike while the iron is hot. Simple as the case is, there have been one or two very instructive details in connection with it. Just pull up at a telegraph office as you pass, Caby. Holmes sent off a short wire, and for the rest of the drive lay back in the cab with his hat tilted over his nose to keep the sun from his face. Our driver pulled up at a house which was not unlike the one we had just quitted. My companion ordered him to wait, and had his hand upon the knocker, when the door opened in a grave young gentleman in black with a very shiny hat, appeared on the step. This Miss Cushing at home, asked Holmes. Miss Sarah Cushing is extremely ill, said he. She has been suffering since yesterday from brain symptoms of great severity. As her medical adviser, I cannot possibly take the responsibility of allowing anyone to see her. I should recommend you to call again in ten days. He drew on his gloves, closed the door, and marched off down the street. Well, if we can't, we can't, said Holmes cheerfully. Perhaps she could not or would not have told you much. I did not wish her to tell me anything. I only wanted to look at her. However, I think I have got all that I want. Draw of us to some decent hotel cabbie where we may have some lunch, and afterwards we shall drop down upon friend Lestrade at the police station. We had a pleasant little meal together, during which Holmes would talk about nothing but violins, narrating with great exultation how he had purchased his own Strativarius, which was worth at least five hundred guineas, at a Jewbrokers in Tottenham Court Road for fifty-five shillings. This led him to Paganini, who sat for an hour over a bottle of Claret while he told me anecdote after anecdote of that extraordinary man. The afternoon was far advanced, and the hot glare had softened into a mellow glow before we found ourselves at the police station. Lestrade was waiting for us at the door. A telegram for you, Mr. Holmes, said he. Ha! It is the answer! He tore it open, glanced his eyes over it, and crumpled it into his pocket. That's all right, said he. Have you found out anything? I have found out everything. What? Lestrade stared at him in amazement. You were joking. I was never more serious in my life. A shocking crime has been committed, and I think I have now laid bare every detail of it. And the criminal? Holmes scribbled a few words upon the back of one of his visiting cards, and threw it over to Lestrade. That is the name, he said. You cannot effect an arrest until tomorrow night at the earliest. I should prefer that you do not mention my name in the case, as I choose to be only associated with those crimes which present some difficulty in their solution. Come on, Watson. We strode off together to the station, leaving Lestrade still staring with a delighted face at the card which Holmes had thrown him. End of The Adventure of the Cardboard Box, Part 1 Part 2 of The Adventure of the Cardboard Box from his last bow. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Sarah Jennings. His Last Bow by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The Adventure of the Cardboard Box, Part 2 The case, said Sherlock Holmes, as we chatted over our cigars that night in our rooms at Baker Street, is one where, as in the investigations which you have chronicled under the names of a study in Scarlett and the sign of four, we have been compelled to reason backwards from effects to causes. I have written to Lestrade asking him to supply us with the details which are now wanting, and which he will only get after he has secured his man. That he may be safely trusted to do, for although he is absolutely devoid of reason, he is as tenacious as a bulldog when once he understands what he has to do, and indeed it is just this tenacity which has brought him to the top at Scotland Yard. Your case is not complete, then, I asked. It is fairly complete in essentials. We know who the author of the revolting business is, although one of his victims still escapes us. Of course, you have formed your own conclusions. I presume that this Jim Browner, the steward of a Liverpool boat, is the man whom you suspect. Oh, it is more than a suspicion. And yet I cannot see anything save very vague indications. On the contrary, to my mind nothing could be more clear. Let me run over the principle steps. We approached the case, you remember, with an absolutely blank mind, which is always an advantage. We had formed no theories. We were simply there to observe and to draw inferences from our observations. What did we see first? A very placid and respectable lady who seemed quite innocent of any secret, and a portrait which showed me that she had two younger sisters. It instantly flashed across my mind that the box might have been meant for one of these. I set the idea aside as one which could be disproved or confirmed at our leisure. Then we went to the garden, as you remember, and we saw the very singular contents of the little yellow box. The string was of the quality which is used by sailmakers aboard ship, and at once a whiff of the sea was perceptible in our investigation. When I observed that the knot was one which is popular with sailors, that the parcel had been posted at a port, and that the male ear was pierced or an earring, which is so much more common among sailors than landsmen, I was quite certain that all the actors in the tragedy were to be found among our seafaring classes. When I came to examine the address of the packet, I observed that it was to Miss S. Cushing. Now the oldest sister would of course be Miss Cushing, and although her initial was S, it might belong to one of the others as well. In that case we should have to commence our investigation from a fresh basis altogether. I therefore went into the house at this point. I was about to assure Miss Cushing that I was convinced that a mistake had been made when you may remember that I came suddenly to a stop. The fact was I had just seen something which filled me with surprise and at the same time narrowed the field of our inquiry immensely. As a medical man you are aware Watson that there is no part of the body which varies so much as the human ear. Each ear is as a rule quite distinctive and differs from all other ones. In the last year's anthropological journal you will find two short monographs from my pen upon the subject. I had therefore examined the ears in the box with the eyes of an expert and had carefully noted their anatomical peculiarities. Imagine my surprise then when on looking at Miss Cushing I perceived that her ear corresponded exactly with the female ear which I had just inspected. The matter was entirely beyond coincidence. There was the same shortening of convolution of the inner cartilage. In all essentials it was the same ear. Of course I had once saw the enormous importance of the observation. It was evident that the victim was a blood relation and probably a very close one. I began to talk to her about her family and you remember that she had once gave us some exceedingly valuable details. In the first place her sister's name was Sarah and her address had until recently been the same so that it was quite obvious how the mistake had occurred and for whom the packet was meant. Then we heard of this steward and learned that he had at one time been so intimate with Miss Sarah that she had actually gone up to Liverpool to be near the Browners but a quarrel had afterwards divided them. This quarrel had put a stop to all communications for some months so that if Browner had occasioned to address a packet to Miss Sarah he would undoubtedly have done so to her old address. And now the matter began to straighten itself out wonderfully. We had learned of the existence of this steward an impulsive man of strong passions. You remember that he threw up what must have been a very superior birth in order to be near his wife, subject to occasional fits of hard drinking. We had reason to believe that his wife had been murdered and that a man presumably a seafaring man had been murdered at the same time. Jealousy, of course, at once suggests itself as the motive for the crime and why should these proofs of the deed be sent to Miss Sarah Cushing? Probably because during her residence in Liverpool she had some hand in bringing about the events which led to the tragedy. You will observe that this line of boats calls at Belfast, Dublin, and Waterford. So that presuming that Browner had committed the deed and had embarked at once upon his steamer, the May Day Belfast would be the first place at which he could post his terrible packet. A second solution was at this stage obviously possible and although I thought it exceedingly unlikely I was determined to elucidate it before going any further. An unsuccessful lover might have killed Browner and the male ear might have belonged to the husband. There were many grave objections to this theory but it was conceivable. I therefore sent off a telegram to my friend Algar of the Liverpool force and asked him to find out if Mrs Browner were at home and if Browner had departed in the May Day. Then we went on to Wellington to visit Miss Sarah. I was curious in the first place to see how far the family ear had been reproduced in her. Then, of course, she might give us some very important information, but I was not sangline that she would. She must have heard of the business the day before, since all Croydon was ringing with it, and she alone could have understood for whom the packet was meant. If she had been willing to help justice she would probably have communicated with the police already. However, it was our clear duty to see her so we went. We found that the news of the arrival of the packet, for her illness dated from that time, had such an effect upon her as to bring on brain fever. It was clear ever that she understood its full significance, but equally clear that we should have to wait some time for any assistance from her. However, we were really independent of her help. Our answers were waiting for us at the police station, where I had directed Algar to send them. Nothing could be more conclusive. Mrs Browner's house had been closed for more than three days and the neighbours were of opinion that she had gone south to see her relatives. It had been ascertained at the shipping offices that Browner had left a board to calculate that she is due in the Thames tomorrow night. When he arrives he will be met by the obtuse but resolute Lestrade and I have no doubt that we shall have all our details filled in. Sherlock Holmes was not disappointed in his expectations. Two days later he received a bulky envelope, which contained a short note from the detective and a typewritten document which contained several pages of full scab. Lestrade has got to him all right, said Holmes, glancing up at me. Perhaps it would interest you to hear what he said. My dear Mr. Holmes, in accordance with the scheme which we had formed in order to test our theories, though we is rather fine Watson, is it not? I went down to the Albert dock yesterday at six p.m. and boarded the SS Mayday, belonging to the Liverpool, Dumplin and Linden steam packet company. On inquiry I found that there was a steward on board of the name James Browner and that he had acted during the voyage in such an extraordinary manner that Watson had been compelled to relieve him of his duties. On descending to the berth I found him seated upon a chest with his head sunk upon his hands, rocking himself to and fro. He is a big, powerful chap, clean-shaven and very sporthy, something like Aldridge who helped us in the bogus laundry affair. He jumped up when he heard my business and I had to whistle to my lips to call a couple of river-police who were round the corner. But he seemed to have no heart in him We brought him along to the cells and his box as well, for we thought there might be something incriminating. But, barring a big sharp knife such as most sailors have, we got nothing for our trouble. However, we find that we shall want no more evidence for un-being brought before the inspector at the station he asked leave to make a statement which was, of course, taken down just as he made it by our shorthand man. We had three copies typewritten, one of which I enclose. The affair proves, as I always thought would, to be an extremely simple one but I am obliged to you for assisting me in my investigation. With kind regards yours very truly, G. Lestrade. The investigation really was a very simple one, remarked Holmes, but I don't think it struck him in that light when he first called us in. However, let us see what Jim Browner has to say for himself. This is the statement as made before Inspector Montgomery at the Shadwell police station and it has the advantage of being verbatim. Have I anything to say? Yes, I have a deal to say. I have to make a clean breast of it all. You can hang me or you can leave me alone. I don't care a plug which you do. I tell you I have not shut an eye in sleep since I did it. I don't believe I ever will again until I get past all waking. Sometimes it's his face. Most generally it's hers. Never without one or the other before me. He looks frowning and black like, but she has a kind of surprise upon her face. Ah, the white lamb. She might well be surprised when she read death on a face that had seldom looked anything but love upon her before. But it was Sarah's fault and may the curse of a broken man put a blight on her and set the blood rotting in her veins. It's not that I want to clear myself. I know that I went back to drink like the beast that I was. But she would have forgiven me. She would have stuck as close to me as a rope to a block if that woman had opened our door. Sarah Cushing loved me. That's the root of the business. She loved me until all her love turned to poisonous hate when she knew that I thought more of my wife's foot mark in the mud than I did of her whole body and soul. There were three sisters altogether. The old one was just a good woman. The second was a devil. And the third was an angel. Sarah was thirty-three and married was twenty-nine when I married. When we set up house together in all Liverpool there was no better woman than my Mary. Then we asked Sarah up for a week and the week grew into a month. One thing led to another until she was just one of ourselves. I was a blue ribbon at that time. We were putting a little money by and all was bright as a new dollar. My God, whoever would have thought that it could have come to this. Whoever would have dreamed it. I used to be home for the weekends because if the ship were held back for cargo I would have a whole week at a time and in this way I saw a deal with my sister-in-law, Sarah. She was a fine tall woman black and quick and fierce with a proud way of carrying her head glint from her eye like a spark of a flint. But when little Mary was there I never had a thought of her and that I swear as I hope for God's mercy. It seemed to me sometimes that she liked to be alone with me or to coax me out for a walk with her. But I had never thought anything of that. But one evening my eyes were opened. I had come up from the ship and found my wife out but Sarah at home. Where's Mary, I asked. Oh, she has gone to pay some accounts. I was impatient and paced up and down the room. Can't you be happy for five minutes without Mary, Jim? says she. It's a bad compliment to me that you can't be contented with my society for so short a time. I looked into her eyes and I read it all there. There was no need for her to speak nor for me either. I frowned and drew my hand away. Then she stood by my side in silence for a bit. Then put up her hand and patted me on the shoulder. Steady old Jim said she and with a kind of mocking laugh she went out of the room. Well, from my side I looked into her eyes and looked into her room. Well, from that time Sarah hated me with her whole heart and soul and she is a woman who can hate too. I was a fool to let her go on biding with us, a besotted fool but I never said a word to Mary for I knew it would grieve her. Things went on much as before but after a time I began to find that there was a bit of a change in Mary herself. She'd always been so trusting that Sarah had been and what I'd been doing and whom my letters were from and what I had in my pockets thousands such follies. Day by day she grew queer and more irritable and we had ceaseless rouse about nothing. I was fairly puzzled by it all. Sarah avoided me now but she and Mary were just inseparable. I can see now how she was plotting and scheming and poisoning my wife's mind against me but I was such a blind beetle then I broke my blue ribbon and began to drink again but I think I should not have done it if Mary had been the same as ever. She had some reason to be disgusted with me now and the gap between us began to be wider and wider and then this Alec Fairbairn chipped in and things became a thousand times blacker. It was to see Sarah that he came to my house first but soon it was to see us for he was a man with winning ways and he made friends wherever he went. He was a dashing, swaggering chap smart and curled who had seen half the world and could talk of what he had seen. It was good company I won't deny it and he had wonderful polite ways with him for a sailor so that I think there must have been a time when he knew more of the poop than of the forecastle. For a month he was in and out of my house and never once did it cross my mind that harm had kind of his soft tricky ways. Then at last something made me suspect and from that day my peace was gone forever. It was only a little thing too. I had come into the parlor unexpected and as I walked in at the door I saw a light of welcome on my wife's face but as she saw who it was it faded again and she turned away with a look of disappointment. That was enough for me. There was no one but Alec Fairbairn whose step she could have mistaken for mine. If I could have seen him then I should have killed him for I've always been like a madman when my temper gets loose. Mary saw the devil's light in my eyes and she ran forward with her hands on my sleeve. Don't Jam Don't says she where's Sarah I asked in the kitchen says she Sarah says eyes I went in this man Fairbairn is never to darken my door again. Why not says she because I order it. Oh says she if my friends are not good enough for this house then I am not good enough for it either. You can do what you like says I but if Fairbairn shows his face here again I'll send you one of his ears for a keepsake. She was frightened by my face I think for she never answered a word and the same evening she left my house. Well I don't know now whether it was pure devilry on the part of this woman or whether she thought that she could turn me against my wife by encouraging her to misbehave. Anyway she took a house just two streets off and let lodgings to sailors Fairbairn used to stay there and Mary would go round to have tea with her sister and him. How often she went I don't know but I followed her one day and as I broke in at the door Fairbairn got away over the back garden wall like the cowardly skunk that he was. I swore to my wife that I would kill her if I found her in his company again and I led her back with me sobbing and trembling as white as a piece of paper. There was no trace of love between us any longer. She hated me and feared me and when the thought of it drove me to drink then she despised me as well. Well Sarah found that she could not make a living in Liverpool so she went back as I understand to live with her sister and Croydon and things jogged on much the same as ever at home and then came last week and all the misery and ruin. It was in this way we had gone on the May Day for a round voyage seven days but a hog's head got loose so that we had to put back into port for 12 hours. I left the ship and came home thinking what a surprise it would be for my wife hoping that maybe she would be glad to see me so soon. The thought was in my head as I turned into my own street and at that moment a cab passed me and there she was sitting by the side of Fairbairn the two chatting and laughing never thought for me as I stood watching them from the footpath. I tell you and I give you my word for it that from that moment I was not my own master and it is all like a dim dream when I look back on it I had been drinking hard of late and the two things together fairly turned my brain there's something throbbing in my head now like a docker's hammer but that morning I seemed to have all Niagara whizzing and buzzing in my ears. Well I took to my heels and I ran after the cab I had a heavy oak stick in my hand and I tell you I saw red from the first but as I ran I got cunning too and hung back a little to see them without being seen they pulled up soon at the railway station there was a good crowd around the booking office so I got quite close to them without being seen they took tickets for New Brighton so did I but I got in three carriages behind them when we reached it they walked along the parade and I was never more than a hundred yards from them at last I saw them hire a boat and start for a row for it was a very hot day and they thought no doubt that it would be cooler on the water it was just as if they had been given into my hands there was a bit of a haze you could not see more than a few hundred yards I hired a boat for myself and pulled after them I could see the blur of their craft but they were going nearly as fast as I and it must have been a long mile from the shore before I caught them up the haze was like a curtain all round us and there were we three in the middle of it my god shall I ever forget their faces when they saw who was in the boat that was closing in upon them she screamed out he swore like a madman and jabbed at me with an aura for he must have seen death in my eyes I got past it and got one in with my stick that crushed his head like an egg I would have spared her perhaps for all my madness but she threw her arms round him crying out to him calling him Alec I struck again beside him I was like a wild beast then that had tasted blood if Sarah had been there by the Lord she should have joined them I pulled out my knife and well there I've said enough gave me a kind of savage joy when I thought how Sarah would feel when she had such signs as these of what her meddling had brought about and I tied the bodies into the boat stowed a plank and stood by until they had sunk I knew very well that the owner would think they had lost their bearings in the haze and had drifted out to sea I cleaned myself up got back to land joined my ship without a soul having a suspicion of what had passed that night I made up the packet for Sarah Cushing and the next day I sent it from Belfast there you have the whole truth of it you can hang me or do what you like with me but you cannot punish me as I have been punished already I cannot shut my eyes but I see those two faces staring at me staring at me as they stared when my boat broke through the haze I killed them quick but they are killing me slow and if I have another night of it I shall be either mad or dead before morning you won't put me alone into a cell, sir for pity's sake don't and may you be treated in your day of agony as you treat me now what is the meaning of it Watson said home solemnly as he laid down the paper what object is served by this circle of misery and violence and fear must tend to some end or else our universe is ruled by chance which is unthinkable but what end there is the great standing perennial problem to which human reason is as far from an answer as ever end of the adventure of the cardboard box part two part one of the adventure of the Bruce Partington plans this is the LibriVox recording all the LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Lizzie Driver his last bow by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle the adventure of the Bruce Partington plans part one in the third week of November in the year 1895 a dense yellow fog settled down upon London from the Monday to the Thursday I doubt whether it was ever possible from our windows in Baker Street to see the loom of the opposite houses the first day homes had spent in cross-indexing his huge book of references the second and third had been patiently occupied upon a subject which he had recently made his hobby the music of the Middle Ages but when for the fourth time after pushing back our chairs from breakfast we saw the greasy, heavy brown swell still drifting past us and condensing in oily drops upon the window panes my comrades in patience and active nature could endure this drab existence no longer he paced restlessly about our sitting-room in a fever of suppressed energy biting his nails tapping the furniture and chafing against inaction nothing of interest in the paper, Watson he said I was aware that, by anything of interest homes meant anything of criminal interest there was the news of a revolution of a possible war and of an impending change of government but these did not come within the horizon of my companion I could see nothing recorded in the shape of crime which is not commonplace and futile homes groaned and resumed his restless meanderings the London criminal is certainly a dull fellow said he in the quarrelous voice of the sportsman whose game has failed him look out the window, Watson see how the figures loom up are dimly seen and then blend once more into the cloud bank the thief or the murderer could roam London on such a day as the tiger does the jungle unseen until he pounces and then evident only to his victim there have, said I been numerous petty thefts homes snorted in contempt this great and somber stage is set for something more worthy than that said he it is fortunate for this community that I am not a criminal it is indeed said I heartily suppose that I were Brooks or Woodhouse or any of the fifty men who have good reason for taking my life how long could I survive against my own pursuit a summons, a bogus appointment and all would be over it is well they don't have days of fog in the latin countries the countries of assassination by Jove here comes something at last to break her dead monotony it was the maid of the telegram homes tore it open and burst out laughing well well what next said he brother Mycroft is coming round why not I asked why not it is as if you met a tram car coming down a country lane Mycroft has his rails and he runs on them his Palma lodgings the Diogenes club, Whitehall that is his cycle once and only once he has been here what upheaval can possibly have derailed him does he not explain homes handed me his brother's telegram must see you over Cadogan West coming at once Mycroft Cadogan West I have heard that name it recalls nothing to my mind but that Mycroft should break out in this erratic fashion a planet might as well leave its orbit by the way do you know what Mycroft is I have some vague recollection of an explanation at the time of the adventure of the Greek interpreter you told me that he had some small office under the British government homes chuckled I did not know you quite so well in those days one has to be discreet when one talks of high matters of state you are right in thinking that he is under the British government you would also be right in a sense if you said that occasionally he is the British government my dear homes I thought I might surprise you Mycroft draws 450 pounds a year remains a subordinate has no ambitions of any kind will receive neither honour nor title but remains the most indispensable man in the country but how well his position is unique he has made it for himself there has never been anything like it before nor will be again he is the tidiest and most orderly brain with the greatest capacity for storing facts of any man living the same great powers which I have turned to the detection of crime he is used for this particular business the conclusions of every department are past to him and he is the central exchange the clearing house which makes out the balance all other men are specialists but his specialism is omniscience we will suppose as to minister needs information as to a point which involves the navy India, Canada and the be metallic question he could get separate advice from various departments upon each but only mycroft can focus them all and say offhand how each factor would affect the other they begin by using him as a shortcut a convenience now he has made himself an essential in that great brain of his everything is pigeon-holed and can be handed out in an instant again and again his word has decided the national policy he lives in it he thinks of nothing else safe when as an intellectual exercise he unbends if I call upon him and asks him to advise me on one of my little problems but Jupiter is descending today what on earth can it mean who is Kadogan West and what is he to mycroft I have it I cried and plunged among the litter of papers upon the sofa yes yes here he is sure enough Kadogan West was the young man who was found dead on the underground on Tuesday morning home sat up at attention his pipe halfway to his lips this must be serious Watson a death which has caused my brother to alter his habits can be no ordinary one what in the world can he have to do with it the case was featureless as I remember it the young man had apparently fallen out of the train and killed himself he had not been robbed and there was no particular reason to suspect violence is that not so there has been an inquest said I and a good many fresh facts have come out looked at more closely I should certainly say that it was a curious case judging by its effect upon my brother I should think that it must be a most extraordinary one he snuggled down in his armchair now Watson let us have the facts the man's name was Arthur Kadogan West he was 27 years of age unmarried and a clerk at Woolwich Arsenal government employee behold the link with brother Maycroft he left Woolwich suddenly on Monday night was last seen by his fiance Miss Violet Westbury whom he left abruptly in the fog about 7.30 that evening there was no quarrel between them and she can give no motive for his action the next thing that was heard of him was when his dead body was discovered by a plate layer named Mason just outside Oldgate Station on the underground system in London when the body was found at 6 on a Tuesday morning it was lying wide of the metals upon the left hand of the tracks as one goes eastward at a point close to the station where the line emerges from the tunnel in which it runs the head was badly crushed an injury which might well have been caused by a fall from the train the body could only have come on the line in that way had it been carried down from any neighbouring street it must have passed the station barriers where a collector is always standing this point seems absolutely certain very good the case is definite enough the man, dead or alive either fell or was precipitated from a train so much is clear to me continue the trains which traverse the lines of rail beside which the body was found are those which run from west to east some being purely metropolitan and some from Wilston and outlying junctions it can be stated for certain that this young man when he met his death was travelling in this direction at some late hour of the night but at what point he entered the train it is impossible to state his ticket of course would show that there was no ticket in his pockets no ticket dear me, Watson this is really very singular according to my experience it is not possible to reach the platform of a metropolitan train without exhibiting one's ticket presumably then the young man had one was it taken from him in order to conceal the station from which it came it is possible or did he drop it in the carriage that also is possible but the point is of a curious interest I understand that there was no sign of robbery apparently not there is a list here of his possessions his purse contained £2.15 he had also a checkbook on the Woolwich branch of the capital and counties bank through this his identity was established there were also two dress circle tickets for the Woolwich theatre dated for that very evening also a small pocket of technical papers Holmes gave an exclamation of satisfaction there we have it at last Watson British government Woolwich Arsenal technical papers brother Mycroft the chain is complete but here he comes if I am not mistaken to speak for himself a moment later the tall and portly form of Mycroft Holmes heavily built and massive there was a suggestion of uncouth physical inertia in the figure but above this unwieldy frame there was perched a head so masterful in its brow so alert in its steel grey deep set eyes so firm in its lips and so subtle in its play of expression there at after the first glance one forgot the gross body and remembered only the dominant mind at his heels came our old friend Lestrade of Scotland Yard thin and a stew the gravity of both their faces foretold some weighty quest the detective shook hands without a word Mycroft Holmes struggled out of his overcoat and subsided into an armchair the most annoying business Sherlock said he extremely disliked altering my habits the powers that be would take no denial in the present state of Siam it is most awkward that I should be away from the office but it is a real crisis I have never seen the Prime Minister so upset as to the Admiralty it is busing like an overturned beehive have you read up the case we have just done so what were the technical papers ah there's the point fortunately it has not come out the press would be furious if it did the papers which this wretched youth had in his pocket were the plans of the Bruce Partington submarine Mycroft Holmes spoke with the solemnity which showed his sense of the importance of the subject his brother and I sat expectant surely you have heard of it I thought everyone had heard of it only as a name its importance can hardly be exaggerated it has been the most jealously guarded of all government secrets you may take from me that naval warfare becomes impossible within the radius of a Bruce Partington's operation two years ago a very large sum was smuggled through the estimates and was expended in acquiring a monopoly of the invention every effort has been made to keep the secret the plans which are exceedingly intricate comprising some 30 separate patents each essential to the working of the whole are kept in an elaborate safe in a confidential office adjoining the arsenal with burglar-proof doors and windows under no conceivable circumstances were the plans to be taken from the office if the chief constructor of the navy desired to consult them even he was forced to go to the Woolwich office for the purpose and yet here we find them in the pocket of a dead junior clerk from London from an official point of view it's simply awful but you have recovered them no Sherlock no that's the pinch we have not ten papers were taken from Woolwich there were seven in the pocket of Cadogan West the three most essential are gone stolen vanished you must up everything Sherlock never mind your usual petty puzzles of the police court it is a vital international problem that you have to solve why did Cadogan West take the papers where are the missing ones how did he die how came his body where it was found how can the evil be set right find an answer to all these questions and you will have done good service for your country why do you not solve it yourself mycroft you can see as far as I possibly Sherlock but it is a question of getting details give me your details and from an armchair I will return you an excellent expert opinion but to run here and run there to cross question railway guards and lie on my face with a lens to my eye it is not my metia no you are the one man who can clear the matter up if you have a fancy to see your name in the next honours list my friend smiled and shook his head I play the game for the game's own sake said he but the problem certainly presents some points of interest and I shall be very pleased to look into it some more facts please I have jotted down the most essential ones upon their sheet of paper together with a few addresses which you will find of service the actual official guardian of the papers is the famous government expert Sir James Walter whose decorations and subtitles fill two lines of a book of reference he has grown grey in the service is a gentleman a favoured guest in the most exalted houses and above all a man whose patriotism is beyond suspicion he is one of two who have a key of the safe I may add that the papers were undoubtedly in the office during working hours on Monday and that Sir James left for London about three o'clock taking his key with him he was at the house of Admiral Sinclair at Barkley Square during the whole of the evening when this incident occurred has this fact been verified yes, his brother Colonel Valentine Walter has testified to his departure from Woolwich and Admiral Sinclair to his arrival in London so Sir James is no longer a direct factor in the problem who was the other man with the key the senior clerk and draftsman Mr Sydney Johnson was a man of forty, married with five children he is a silent morose man but he has on the whole an excellent record in the public service he is unpopular with his colleagues but a hard worker according to his own account corroborated only by the word of his wife he was at home the whole of Monday evening after office hours and his key has never left the watch chain upon which it hangs tell us about Cadogan West he has been ten years in the service and has done good work he is the reputation of being hot headed and impetuous but a straight and honest man we have nothing against him he was next to Sydney James in the office his duties brought him into daily personal contact with the plans no one else had the handling of them who locked the plans up that night Mr Sydney James the senior clerk well it is surely perfectly clear who took them away they are actually found upon the person of this junior clerk Cadogan West that seems final, does it not it does Sherlock and yet it leaves so much unexplained in the first place why did he take them I presume they were of value he could have got several thousands for them very easily can you suggest any possible motive for taking the papers to London except to sell them no I cannot then we must take that as our working hypothesis Young West took the papers now this could only have been done by having a false key several false keys he had to open the building and the room he had then several false keys he took the papers to London to sell in secret intending no doubt to have the plans themselves back in the safe next morning before they were missed while in London on this reasonable mission he met his end how we will suppose that he was travelling back to Woolwich when he was killed and thrown out of the compartment Oldgate where the body was found is considerably past the station for London Bridge which would be his route to Woolwich many circumstances could be imagined under which he would pass London Bridge there was someone in the carriage for example with whom he was having an absorbing interview this interview led to a violent scene in which he lost his life possibly he tried to leave the carriage fell out on the line and so met his end the other closed the door there was a thick fog and nothing could be seen no better explanation can be given without our present knowledge and yet consider Sherlock how much you leave untouched we will suppose for argument's sake that young Cadogan West had determined to convey these papers to London he would naturally have made an appointment with the foreign agent and kept his evening clear instead of that he took two tickets for the theatre escorted his fiance halfway there and then suddenly disappeared a blind distraught who had sat listening with some impatience to the conversation a very singular one that is objection number one objection number two we will suppose that he reaches London and sees the foreign agent he must bring back the papers before morning or the loss will be discovered he took away ten only seven were in his pocket what has become of the other three he certainly would not leave them of his own free will then again where is the price of his treason one would have expected to find a large sum of money in his pocket it seems perfectly clear to me said Lestrade I have no doubt at all as to what occurred he took the papers to sell them he saw the agent they could not agree as to a price he started home again but the agent went with him in the train the agent murdered him took the more essential papers and threw his body from the carriage that would account for everything would it not? why had he no ticket the ticket would have shown which station was nearest the agent's house therefore he took it from the murdered man's pocket good Lestrade very good said Holmes your theory holds together but if this is true then the case is at an end on the one hand the traitor is dead on the other the plans of the Bruce Partington submarine are presumably already on the continent what is there for us to do? to act Sherlock to act quite my craft spring into his feet all my instincts are against this explanation use your powers go to the scene of the crime see the people concerned leave no stone unturned in all your career you've never had so great a chance of serving your country well well said Holmes shrug in his shoulders come Watson and you Lestrade could you favour us with your company for an hour or two we will begin our investigation by a visit to Aldergate station good by my craft I shall let you have a report before evening but I warn you in advance that you have little to expect an hour later Holmes Lestrade and I stood upon the underground railroad at the point where it emerges from the tunnel immediately before Aldergate station a courteous red-faced old gentleman represented the railway company this is where the young man's body lay said he indicating a spot about three feet from the metals it could not have fallen from above for these as you see are all blank walls therefore it could only have come from a train and that train so far as we can trace it must have passed about midnight or Monday have the carriage been examined for any signs of violence there are no such signs and no ticket has been found no record of a door being found open none we have had some fresh evidence this morning said Lestrade a passenger who passed Aldergate in an ordinary metropolitan line train about eleven forty on Monday night declares that he heard a heavy thud as of a body strike in the line just before the train reached the station there was dense fog however and nothing could be seen he made no report of it at the time why, whatever is the matter with Mr. Holmes my friend was standing with an expression of strained intensity upon his face staring at the railway metals where they curved out of the tunnel Aldergate is a junction and there was a network of points on these his eager questioning eyes were fixed and I saw in his keen alert face that tightening of the lips that quiver of the nostrils and the concentration of the heavy tufted brows which I knew so well points, he muttered the points what of it, what do you mean I suppose there are no great number of points on a system such as this no, there are very few and a curve too points on a curve by Jove if it were only so what is it Mr. Holmes, have you a clue an idea an indication no more but the case certainly grows in interest unique perfectly unique and yet why not I do not see any indications of bleeding on the line there were hardly any but I understand that there was a considerable wound the bone was crushed but there were no great external injuries and yet one would have expected some bleeding would it be possible for me to inspect the train which contained the passenger who heard the thud of a fall in the fog I fear not Mr. Holmes the train has been broken up before now and the carriage is redistributed I can assure you Mr. Holmes said Lestrade the deri carriage has been carefully examined I sought it myself it was one of my friend's most obvious weaknesses that he was impatient with less alert intelligences than his own very likely said he turning away as it happens it was not the carriages which I desired to examine Watson we have done all we can here we need not trouble you any further Mr. Lestrade I think our investigation must now carry us to Woolwich at London Bridge Holmes wrote a telegram to his brother which he handed to me before dispatching it it ran thus see some light in the darkness but it may possibly flicker out meanwhile please send by messenger to await return at Baker Street a complete list of all foreign spies or international agents known to be in England with full address Sherlock that should be helpful Watson he remarked as we took our seats on the Woolwich train we certainly owe brother Mycroft a debt for having introduced us to what promises to be a really very remarkable case his eager face still wore that expression of intense and high-strung energy which showed me that some novel and suggestive circumstance had opened up a stimulating line of thought see the foxhound with hanging ears and drooping tail as it lulls about the kennels and compare it with the same hound as with gleaming eyes and straining muscles it runs upon a breast high scent such was the change in home since this morning he was a different man from the limp and lounging figure in the mouse-coloured dressing-gown who had prowled so restlessly only a few hours before round to the fog-grit room there is material here there is scope said he I am dull indeed not to have understood its possibilities even now they are dark to me the end is dark to me also but I have hold of one idea which may lead as far the man met his death elsewhere and his body was on the roof of a carriage on the roof? remarkable is it not but consider the facts is it a coincidence that it is found at the very point where the train pitches and sways as it comes round on the points is it not that the place where an object upon the roof might be expected to fall off? the points would affect no object inside the train either the body fell from the roof or a very curious coincidence has occurred but now consider the question of the blood of course there was no bleeding on the line if the body had bled elsewhere each fact is suggestive in itself together they have a cumulative force and the ticket too I cried exactly we could not explain the absence of a ticket this would explain it everything fits together but suppose it were so we are still as far as ever from unraveling the mystery of his death indeed it becomes not simpler but stranger perhaps perhaps said Holmes thoughtfully perhaps he relapsed into a silent revere which lasted until the slow train drew up at last in Woolwich station there he called a cab and drew my cross paper from his pocket we have quite a little round of afternoon calls to make I think that Sir James Walter claims our first attention end of the adventure of the Bruce Partington Plans part 1 part 2 of the adventure of the Bruce Partington Plans from his last bow this is the LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org according by Lizzie Driver his last bow by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle the adventure of the Bruce Partington Plans part 2 the house of the famous official was a fine villa with green lawns stretching down to the Thames as we reached it the fog was lifting and a thin watery sunshine was breaking through a butler answered our ring Sir James Sir said he with the solemn face Sir James died this morning good heavens cried Holmes in amazement perhaps he would care to step in Sir and see his brother Colonel Valentine yes we had best do so we were ushered into a dim lit drawing room where an instant later we were joined by a very tall, handsome light-bearded man of fifty the younger brother of the dead scientist his wild eyes stained cheeks and unkept hair all spoke of the sudden blow which had fallen upon the household he was hardly articulate as he spoke of it it was this horrible scandal said he my brother Sir James was a man of very sensitive honour and he could not survive such an affair it broke his heart he was always so proud of the efficiency of his department and this was a crushing blow we had hoped that he might have given us some indications which would have helped us to clear up the matter I assure you that it was all a mystery to him as it is to you and to all of us he had already put all his knowledge at the disposal of the police naturally he had no doubt that Cadogan West was guilty but all the rest was inconceivable you cannot throw any new light upon the affair I know nothing myself save what I have read or heard I have no desire to be discordious but you can understand Mr. Holmes that we are much disturbed at present and I must ask you to hasten this interview to an end this is indeed an unexpected development said my friend when we had regained the cab we wonder if the death was natural or whether the poor old fellow killed himself if the latter may it be taken as some sign of self-reproach for duty neglected we must leave that question to the future now we shall turn to the Cadogan Wests a small but well-kept house in the outskirts of the town sheltered the bereaved mother the old lady was two days with grief to be of any use to us but at her side was a white-faced young man but at her side was a white-faced young lady who introduced herself as Miss Violet Westbury the fiance of the dead man and the last to see him upon the fatal night I cannot explain it, Mr. Holmes she said I have not shut an eye since the tragedy thinking, thinking, thinking, night and day what the true meaning of it can be Arthur was the most single-minded, chivalrous, patriotic man upon earth he would have cut his right hand off he would have cut his right hand off he would have cut his right hand off he would have cut his right hand off before he would sell a state secret confined to his keeping it is absurd impossible preposterous to anyone who knew him but the facts, Miss Westbury yes yes, I admit I cannot explain them was he in any want of money no his knees were very simple and his salary ample he had saved a few hundreds and we were to marry at the new year no signs of any mental excitement come, Miss Westbury be absolutely frank with us the quick eye of my companion had noted some change in her manner she culled and hesitated yes she said at last I had a feeling that there was something on his mind for long only for the last week or so he was thoughtful and worried once I pressed him about it he admitted that there was something and that he was concerned with his official life it is too serious for me to speak about even to you, said he I could get nothing more Holmes looked grave go on Miss Westbury even if it seems to tell against him go on we cannot say what it may lead to indeed I have nothing more to tell once or twice it seemed to me that he was on the point of telling me something he spoke one evening of the importance of the secret and I have some recollection that he said that no doubt foreign spies would pay a great deal to have it my friend's face grew graver still anything else he said that we were slack about such matters that it would be easy for a traitor to get the plans was it only recently that he made such remarks yes, quite recently now tell us at that last evening the fog was so thick that a cab was useless we walked and our way took us close to the office suddenly he darted away into the fog without a word he gave an exclamation that was all I waited but he never returned then I walked home next morning after the office opened they came to inquire about twelve o'clock we heard the terrible news oh, Mr. Holmes if you could only, only save his honour it was so much to him Holmes shook his head sadly come Watson said he our ways lie elsewhere our next station must be the office from which the papers were taken it was black enough before against this young man but our inquiries make it blacker he remarked as the cab lumbered off his coming marriage gives a motive for the crime he naturally wanted money the idea was in his head since he spoke about it he nearly made the girl an accomplice in the treason by telling her his plans it is all very bad but surely Holmes character goes for something then again why should he leave the girl in the street and dart away to commit a felony exactly there are certain objections but it is a formidable case which they have to meet Mr. Sydney Johnson the senior clerk met us at the office and received us with that respect which my companion's card always commanded he was a thin, graph, bespectacled man of middle age his cheeks haggard and his hands twitching from the nervous strain to which he had been subjected it is bad, Holmes, very bad have you heard of the death of the chief we have just come from his house the place is disorganised the chief dead, cadogan west dead are paper stolen and yet when we closed our door on Monday evening we were inefficient as officers any in the government service good god, it is dreadful to think of the twist of all men should have done such a thing you are sure of his guilt then I can see no other way out of it and yet I would have trusted him as I trust myself at what hour was the office closed on Monday at five at five did you close it I am always the last man out where were the plans in that safe I put them there myself is there no watchman to the building there is but he has other departments to look after as well he is an old soldier and a most trustworthy man he saw nothing that evening of course the fog was very thick suppose that cadogan west wished to make his way into the building after hours he would need three keys would he not before he could reach the papers yes he would the key of the after door the key of the office and the key of the safe only sir james walter and you had those keys I had no keys of the doors only of the safe was sir james a man who was orderly in his habits yes I think he was I know that so far as those three keys are concerned he kept them on the same ring I have often seen them there and that ring went with him to London he said so and your keys never left your possession never then west if he is the culprit must have had a duplicate and yet none was found upon his body one other point if a clerk in this office desired to sell the plans would it not be simpler to copy the plans for himself than to take the originals as was actually done it would take considerable technical knowledge to copy the plans in an effective way but I suppose either sir james or you or west had that technical knowledge no doubt we had it but I beg you won't try to drag me into this matter Mr. Holmes what is the use of us speculating in this way when the original plans were actually found on west well it is certainly singular that he should run the risk of taking originals if he could safely have taken copies it would have equally served his turn singular no doubt and yet he did so every inquiry in this case reveals something inexplicable now there are three papers still missing they are as I understand the vital ones yes that is so do you mean to say that anyone holding these three papers and without the seven others could construct a bruised partington submarine I reported to that effect to the Admiralty but today I've been going over the drawings again and I'm not so sure of it the double vowels with the automatic self-adjusting slots are drawn in one of the papers which have been returned until the foreigners had invented that for themselves they could not make the boat of course they might soon get over the difficulty but the three missing drawings are the most important undoubtedly I thank you 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 the window it is only when we're on the lawn outside that his interest was strongly excited there was a laurel bush outside the window and several of the branches bore signs of having been twisted or snapped he examined them carefully with his lens and then some dim and vague 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 what was going on within the room the indications are ruined by the three days delay they may mean something or nothing well Watson I do not think that Woolwich can help us further it is a small crop which we have gathered let us see if we can do better in London I do not think that Woolwich can help us further it is a small crop which we have gathered 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 whom he knew well by sight upon the Monday night and that he went to London by the 815 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 manner so shaky was he that he could hardly pick up his change and the clerk had helped him with it a reference to the timetable showed that the 815 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 more difficult to get at every fresh advice which we make only reveals a fresh ridge beyond and yet we have surely made some appreciable progress the effect of our enquiries at Woolwich has in the main been against young Cadogan West but the indications at the window would lend themselves to a more favourable hypothesis let us suppose for example that he had been approached by some foreign agent it might have been done under such pledges as would have prevented him from speaking of it and yet would have affected his thoughts in the direction indicated by his remarks to his fiance very good we will now suppose that as he went to the theatre with the young lady he suddenly, in the fog caught a glimpse of the same agent going in the direction of the office he was an impetuous man quick in his decisions everything gave way to his duty he followed the man, reached the window saw the abstraction of the documents and pursued the thief in this way we get over the objection that you know one would take originals when he could make copies this outsider had to take originals so far it holds together what is the next step then we come into difficulties one would imagine that under such circumstances the first act of young Cadogan 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 him off from his own rooms presuming that he knew where the rooms were the call must have been very pressing 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 from the other end if mycroft has given us a list of addresses we may be able to pick up our man and follow two tracks instead of one surely enough a note awaited us at Baker Street a government messenger had brought it post haste Holmes glanced at it and threw it over to me there are numerous small fry but a few who would handle so big an affair the only men worth considering are the young men and the young men and the young men and the young men the only men worth considering are Adolph Mayer of 13th Great George Street, Westminster Louis Le Rothair of Camden Mansions Notting Hill and Hugh O'Bestine 13th Coalfield Gardens, Kensington the latter was known to be in town on Monday and is now reported as having left glad to hear you've seen some light the cabinet awaits your final report with the utmost anxiety urgent representations have arrived from the highest quarter the whole force of the state is at your back if you should need it Mycroft I'm afraid," said Holmes smiling that all the Queen's horses and all the Queen's men cannot avail in this matter he'd spread out his big map of London and leaned eagerly over it well well said he presently with an exclamation of satisfaction things are turning a little in our direction at last why Watson? I do honestly believe that we're going to pull it off after all he slapped me on the shoulder with a sudden burst of hilarity I'm going out now it is only a reconnaissance I will do nothing serious without my trusted comrade and biographer at my elbow do you stay here and the odds are that you will see me again in an hour or two if time hangs heavy get false cap and a pen and begin your narrative of how we saved the state I felt some reflection of isolation in my own mind for I knew well that he would not depart so far from his usual austerity of demeanour unless there was good chords for exaltation all the long November evening I waited filled with impatience for his return at last shortly after nine o'clock there arrived a messenger with a note I'm dining at Galdini's restaurant Gloucester Road, Kensington please come at once and join me there bring with you a gemmy a dark lantern a dark lantern bring with you a gemmy, a dark lantern a chisel and a revolver SH it was a nice equipment for a respectable citizen to carry through the dim, fog draped streets I stowed them all discreetly away in my overcoat and drove straight to the address given there sat my friend at a little round table near the door of the garish Italian restaurant have you had something to eat then join me in a coffee and caracayo try one of the proprietor's cigars they are less poisonous than one would expect have you the tools? they are here in my overcoat excellent let me give you a short sketch of what I have done with some indication of what you are about to do now it must be evident to you, Watson that this young man's body was placed on the roof of the train that was clear from the instant that I determined the fact that it was from the roof and not from the carriage that he had fallen could he not have been dropped from the train that was clear from the instant that I determined the fact that it was from the roof could he not have been dropped from a bridge? I should say it was impossible if you examine the roofs you will find that they are slightly rounded and there is no railing round them therefore we can say for certainty that Younger Dogue and 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 some points in the West End I had a vague memory that I had a vague memory that I had a vague memory that as I had travelled by it I have occasionally seen windows just above my head now suppose that a train halted under such a window would there be any difficulty in laying a body upon the roof? it seems most improbable we must fall back upon the old axiom that when all other contingencies fail whatever remains, however improbable must be the truth here all other contingencies have failed when I found that the leading internet had been lost when I found that the leading international agent who had just left London lived in a row of houses which had butted 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 it was Mr Hugo Oberstein of Thirteen Carlefield Gardens had become my objective I began my operations at Gloucester Road Station where a very helpful official walked with me along the track and allowed me to satisfy myself not only that the black stair windows of Colfield Gardens open on the line but the even more essential fact that owing to the intersection of one of the largest railways the underground trains are frequently held motionless for some minutes at that very spot splendid homes, you've got it so far, so far, Watson we advance, but the goal is afar well having seen the back of Colfield 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 rooms Oberstein lived there with a single valet who was probably a confederate entirely in his confidence we must bear in mind that Oberstein has gone to the continent to dispose of his beauty 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 what we're about to make could we not get a warrant and legalize 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 watching the street I'll do the criminal part it's not a time to stick at rifles think of my cross-note of the Admiralty, the cabinet the exalted person who waits for news we are bound to go my answer was to rise from the table you're right Holmes, we are bound to go he sprung up and shook me by the hand I knew you would not shrink at the last city and for a moment I saw something in 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 instruments I beg your arrest as a suspicious character would be a most unfortunate complication Coalfield Gardens was one of those lines of flat-faced, pillared and porticoed houses which are so prominent a product and the middle Victorian epoch in the west end of London next door there appeared to be a children's party for the merry buzz of young voices 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 upon the massive door this is a serious proposition said he it is certainly bolted as well as locked they would do better in the area there is an excellent archway down yonder in case a two zealous policeman should intrude give me a hand Watson and I'll do the same for you a moment later we were both in the area hardly had we reached the dark shadows before the step of the policeman was heard in the fog 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 Holmes led the way up the curving uncarpeted stair his little fan of yellow light shone upon a low window here we are Watson this must be the one he threw it open and as he did so there was a low harsh murmur growing steadily into a loud roar as a train dashed past us in the darkness Holmes swept his light along the window sill it was sickly coated with soot from the passing engines but the blacked surface was blurred and rubbed in places you can see where they rested the body hello Watson what is this there could be no doubt that this is a blood mark he was pointing to a faint discolourations along the woodwork of the window here it is on the stone of the stair also the demonstration is complete let us stay here until a train stops we had not long to wait the very next train roared from the tunnel as before but slowed in the open and then with a creak in a breaks pulled up immediately beneath us it was not four feet from the window ledge to the roof of the carriage Holmes softly closed the window so far we are justified said he what do you think of it Watson a masterpiece you have never risen to a greater height I can't agree with you there it was the moment that I conceived the idea of the body being upon the roof which surely was not a very obtuse one all the rest was inevitable if it were not for the grave interest involved the affair up to this point would be insignificant our difficulties are still before us but perhaps we may find something here which may help us we had ascended the kitchen stair and entered the suite of rooms upon the first floor one was a dining room severely furnished of interest a second was a bedroom which also drew blank the remaining room appeared more promising my companion settled down to a systematic examination it was littered with books and papers and was evidently used as a study swiftly and methodically Holmes turned over the contents of draw after draw and cupboard after cupboard but no gleam of success came to brighten his austere face at the end of an hour he was no further than when he had started the cunning dog has covered his tracks said he he has left nothing to incriminate him his dangerous correspondence has been destroyed or removed this is our last chance it was a small tin cash box which stood upon the writing desk Holmes pried it open with his chisel several rolls of paper were within covered with figures and calculations without any note to show to what they referred the recurring words, water pressure and pressure to the square inch suggested some possible relation to a submarine Holmes tossed them all impatiently aside there only remained an envelope with some small newspaper slips inside it he shook them out onto the table and at once I saw by his eager face at his hopes had been raised what's this what's an A what's this record of a series of messages and the advertisements of a paper daily telegraph agony column by the print and paper right hand top corner of page no date but messages arranged themselves this must be the first hope to hear sooner terms agreed to write fully to address given on card Piero next comes two complex for description masterful report stuff awaits you when goods delivered Piero then comes matter presses master withdraw offer and as contract completed make appointment by letter will confirm by advertisement Piero finally Monday after nine two taps only ourselves do not be suspicious payment in hard cash when goods delivered Piero a fairly complete record Watson if we could only get at the man at the other end he said lost in thought tumbling his fingers on the table finally sprang to his feet well perhaps it won't be so difficult after all there is nothing more to be done here Watson I think we might drive round to the offices of the daily telegraph and so bring a good day's work to conclusion my craft homes and the start has come round by appointment after breakfast next day and Sherlock Holmes had recounted to them our proceedings of the day before the professional should get head over our confessed burglary we can't do these things in the force Mr. Holmes said he no wonder you get results that beyond us but some of these days you'll go too far and you'll find yourself and your friend in trouble for England home and beauty a Watson martyrs on the altar of our country but what do you think of it my craft excellent Sherlock admirable but what use will you make of it Holmes picked up the day telegraph which lay on the table have you seen Piero's advertisement today what another one yes here it is tonight same hour same place two taps most vitally important your own safety at stake Piero by George quite a strad if he answers that we've got him that was my idea when I put it in I think if you could both make it convenient to come with us about eight o'clock to Colfield Gardens we might possibly get a little nearer to a solution one of the most remarkable characteristics of Sherlock Holmes was his power of throwing his brain out of action and switching all his thoughts onto lighter things whenever he had convinced himself that he could no longer work to advantage I remember that day the whole of that memorable day he lost himself in a monograph which he'd undertaken upon the polyphonic motes of Lassus for my own part I had none of this power of detachment and the day in consequence appeared intamurable the great national importance of the issue the sense in high quarters the direct nature of the experiment which we were trying all combined to work upon my nerve it was a relief to me when it's last after a light dinner we set out upon our expedition this strad of mycroft met us by appointment at the outside of Gloucester Road Station the area door of Oberstein's house had been left open the night before and it was necessary for me as mycroft Holmes absolutely and indignantly declined to climb the railings to pass in and open the hall door by nine o'clock we were all seated in the study waiting patiently for our man an hour passed and yet another when eleven struck the measured beat of the great church clock seemed to sound the dirge of our hopes this strad of maycroft were fidgeting in their seats and looking twice a minute at their watches Holmes sat silent and composed his eyelids half shut but every sense on alert he raised his head with a sudden jerk he is coming, said he there had been a furtive step past the door now it returned we heard a shuffling sound outside and then two sharp taps with the knocker Holmes rose motioning us to remain seated the gas in the hall was a mere point of light he opened the outer door and then as a dark figure slipped past him he closed it and fastened it this way we heard him say and a moment later our man stood before us Holmes had followed him closely and as the man turned with a cry of surprise and alarm he caught him by the collar and threw him back into the room before our prisoner had recovered his balance the door was shut and Holmes standing with his back against it the man glared round him staggered and fell senseless upon the floor with the shock his broad-brimmed hat flew from his head his cravat slipped down from his lips and there were the long-light beard and the soft, handsome, delicate features of Colonel Valentine Walter Holmes gave a whistle of surprise you can write me down and ask this time Watson, said he this was not the bird that I was looking for who is he? asked Mycroft eagerly the younger brother of the late Sir James Walter the head of the submarine department yes, yes, I see the fall of the cards he is coming too I think that you'd best leave his examination to me we had carried the prostrate body to the sofa now our prisoner sat up looked round him with a horror-struck and face and passed his hand over his forehead like one who cannot believe his own senses what is this? he asked I came here to visit Mr. Oberstein everything is known Colonel Walter, said Holmes how an English gentleman could behave in such a manner is beyond my comprehension but your whole correspondence and relations with Oberstein are within our knowledge so also are the circumstances connected with the death of young Godogon West let me advise you to gain at least the small credit for repentance and a confession since there are still some details which we can only learn from your lips the man groaned and sank his face in his hands we waited, but he was silent I can assure you, said Holmes, that every essential is already known we know that you were pressed for money that you took an impress of the keys which your brother held and that you entered into a correspondence with Oberstein who answered your letters through the advertisement columns of the Daily Telegraph we are aware that you went down to the office in the fog on Monday night but that you were seen and followed by young Godogon West who had probably some previous reason to suspect you he saw your theft but could not give the alarm as it was just possible that you were taken the papers to your brother in London leaving all his private concerns, like the good citizen that he was he followed you closely in the fog and kept at your heels until you reached this very house there he intervened and then it was Colonel that to truce and you added the more terrible crime of murder I did not, I did not, before God I swear that I did not cried our wretched prisoner tell us then how Godogon West met his end before you laid up upon the roof of a railway carriage I will, I swear to you that I will I did the rest, I confess it, it was just as you say a stock exchange debt had to be paid I needed the money badly Oberstein offered me five thousand it was to save myself from ruin but as to murder I'm as innocent as you what happened then he had his suspicions before and he followed me as you describe I never knew it until I was at this very door it was thick fog and one could not see three yards I had given two taps and Oberstein came to the door the young man rushed up and demanded to know what we were about to do with the papers Oberstein had a short life preserver he always carried it with him as West forced his way after us into the house Oberstein struck him on the head the blow was a fatal one he was dead within five minutes there he lay in the hall and we were at her wit's end what to do then Oberstein had this idea about the trains which halted under his back window but first he examined the papers which I had brought he said that three of them were essential and that he must keep them you cannot keep them said I there will be a dreadful route will it if they're not returned I must keep them said he for they are so technical that it is impossible in time to make copies then they must all go back together tonight said I he thought for a little and then he cried out that he had it three I will keep said he the others we will stuff into the pocket of this young man when he has found the whole business will assuredly be put to his account I could see no other way of it so he did as he suggested we waited half an hour at the window before a train stopped it was so thick that nothing could be seen and we had no difficulty luring West's body onto the train that was the end of the matter so far as I was concerned and your brother he said nothing but he had caught me once with his keys and I think that he suspected I read in his eyes that he suspected as you know he never held up his head again there was silence in the room it was broken by my craft homes can you not make reparation it could ease your conscience and possibly your punishment what reparation can I make where is Oberstein with the papers I do not know did he give you no address he said that letters to the hotel deluge Paris would eventually reach him then reputation is still within your power said Sherlock Holmes I will do anything I can I owe this fellow no particular good will he's been my ruin and my downfall here are pen and paper sit at this desk and write to my dictation direct the envelope to the address given that is right now the letter dear sir with regard to our transaction you will no doubt have observed by now that one essential detail is missing I have a tracing which will make it complete this has involved me in extra trouble however and I must ask you for a further advance of five hundred pounds I will not trust it to the post nor will I take anything but gold or notes I would come to you abroad but it would excite remark if I left the country at present therefore I shall expect to meet you in the smoking-room of the Charing Cross Hotel at noon on Saturday remember that only English notes or gold will be taken that will do very well I shall be very much surprised if it does not fetch our man and it did it is a matter of history that secret history of a nation which is often so much more intimate and interesting than its public chronicles that Oberstein, eager to complete the coup of his lifetime came to the lure and was safely engulfed for fifteen years in a British prison in his trunk were found the invaluable Bruce Partington plans which he had put up for auction in all the naval centres of Europe Colonel Walter died in prison towards the end of the second year of his sentence as to Holmes he returned refreshed to his monograph upon the polyphonic motes of Lassus which has since been printed for private circulation and it is said by experts to be the last word upon the subject some weeks afterwards I learned incidentally that my friend spent a day at Windsor whence he returned with a remarkably fine emerald type in when I asked him if he had brought it he answered that it was a present from a certain gracious lady in whose interests he had once been fortunate enough to carry out a small commission he said no more but I fancy that I could guess at the lady's august name and I have little doubt that the emerald pin will forever recall to my friend's memory the adventure of the Bruce Partington plans and of the adventure of the Bruce Partington plans part two