It is only a reconnaissance. I will do nothing serious without mytrusted 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. Iftime hangs heavy get foolscap and a pen, and begin your narrativeof how we saved the State.”
I felt some reflection of his elation in my own mind, for I knewwell that he would not depart so far from his usual austerity ofdemeanour unless there was good cause for exultation. All the longNovember evening I waited, filled with impatience for his return. Atlast, shortly after nine o’clock, there arrived a messenger with a note:
Am dining at Goldini’s Restaurant, Gloucester Road, Kensington.
Please come at once and join me there. Bring with you a jemmy, adark lantern, a chisel, and a revolver.
S.H.
It was a nice equipment for a respectable citizen to carrythrough the dim, fog-draped streets. I stowed them all discreetlyaway in my overcoat and drove straight to the address given. Theresat my friend at a little round table near the door of the garishItalian restaurant.
“Have you had something to eat? Then join me in a coffee andcuracao. Try one of the proprietor’s cigars. They are less poisonousthan 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 we are about to do. Now it must beevident to you, Watson, that this young man’s body was PLACEDon the roof of the train. That was clear from the instant that Idetermined the fact that it was from the roof, and not from acarriage, that he had fallen.”
“Could it not have been dropped from a bridge?”
The Complete Sherlock Holmes
“I should say it was impossible. If you examine the roofs you willfind that they are slightly rounded, and there is no railing roundthem. Therefore, we can say for certain that young Cadogan Westwas placed on it.”
“How could he be placed there?”
“That was the question which we had to answer. There is onlyone possible way. You are aware that the Underground runs clearof tunnels at some points in the West End. I had a vague memorythat as I have travelled by it I have occasionally seen windowsjust above my head. Now, suppose that a train halted under suchwindow, would there be any difficulty in laying a body upon theroof?”
“It seems most improbable.”
“We must fall back upon the old axiom that when all othercontingencies fail, whatever remains, however improbable,must be the truth. Here all other contingencies HAVE failed.
When I found that the leading international agent, who had justleft London, lived in a row of houses which abutted upon theUnderground, I was so pleased that you were a little astonished atmy sudden frivolity.”
“Oh, that was it, was it?”
“Yes, that was it. Mr. Hugo Oberstein, of 13 Caulfield Gardens,had become my objective. I began my operations at GloucesterRoad Station, where a very helpful official walked with me alongthe track and allowed me to satisfy myself not only that the backstairwindows of Caulfield Gardens open on the line but theeven more essential fact that, owing to the intersection of one ofthe larger railways, the Underground trains are frequently heldmotionless for some minutes at that very spot.”
“Splendid, Holmes! You have got it!”
“So far—so far, Watson. We advance, but the goal is afar. Well,having seen the back of Caulfield Gardens, I visited the front andsatisfied myself that the bird was indeed flown. It is a considerablehouse, unfurnished, so far as I could judge, in the upper rooms.
Oberstein lived there with a single valet, who was probably aconfederate entirely in his confidence. We must bear in mind thatOberstein has gone to the Continent to dispose of his booty, butnot with any idea of flight; for he had no reason to fear a warrant,and the idea of an amateur domiciliary visit would certainly neveroccur to him. Yet that is precisely what we are 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.”
The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge
“My dear fellow, you shall keep watch in the street. I’ll do thecriminal part. It’s not a time to stick at trifles. Think of Mycroft’snote, of the Admiralty, the Cabinet, the exalted person who waitsfor news. We are bound to go.”
My answer was to rise from the table.
“You are right, Holmes. We are bound to go.”
He sprang up and shook me by the hand.
“I knew you would not shrink at the last,” said he, and for amoment I saw something in his eyes which was nearer to tendernessthan 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,” saidhe. “Don’t drop the instruments, I beg. Your arrest as a suspiciouscharacter would be a most unfortunate complication.”
Caulfield Gardens was one of those lines of flat-faced pillared,and porticoed houses which are so prominent a product of themiddle Victorian epoch in the West End of London. Next doorthere appeared to be a children’s party, for the merry buzz ofyoung voices and the clatter of a piano resounded through thenight. The fog still hung about and screened us with its friendlyshade. Holmes had lit his lantern and flashed it upon the massivedoor.
“This is a serious proposition,” said he. “It is certainly bolted aswell as locked. We would do better in the area. There is an excellentarchway down yonder in case a too zealous policeman shouldintrude. Give me a hand, Watson, and I’ll do the same for you.”
