“Singular， no doubt—and yet he did so.”
“Every inquiry in this case reveals something inexplicable. Nowthere are three papers still missing. They are， as I understand， thevital ones.”
“Yes， that is so.”
“Do you mean to say that anyone holding these three papers，and without the seven others， could construct a Bruce-Partingtonsubmarine？”
“I reported to that effect to the Admiralty. But to-day I havebeen over the drawings again， and I am not so sure of it. Thedouble valves with the automatic self-adjusting slots are drawn inone of the papers which have been returned. Until the foreignershad 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 think， with your permission， I will now take a stroll round thepremises. I do not recall any other question which I desired to ask.”
He examined the lock of the safe， the door of the room， andfinally the iron shutters of the window. It was only when we wereon the lawn outside that his interest was strongly excited. Therewas a laurel bush outside the window， and several of the branchesbore signs of having been twisted or snapped. He examined themcarefully with his lens， and then some dim and vague marks uponthe earth beneath. Finally he asked the chief clerk to close theiron shutters， and he pointed out to me that they hardly met inthe centre， and that it would be possible for anyone outside to seewhat was going on within the room.
“The indications are ruined by three days’ delay. They maymean something or nothing. Well， Watson， I do not think thatWoolwich can help us further. It is a small crop which we havegathered. Let us see if we can do better in London.”
Yet we added one more sheaf to our harvest before we leftWoolwich Station. The clerk in the ticket office was able to saywith confidence that he saw Cadogan West—whom he knew wellby sight—upon the Monday night， and that he went to London bythe 8：15 to London Bridge. He was alone and took a single thirdclassticket. The clerk was struck at the time by his excited andnervous manner. So shaky was he that he could hardly pick uphis change， and the clerk had helped him with it. A reference tothe timetable showed that the 8：15 was the first train which it waspossible for West to take after he had left the lady about 7：30.
The Complete Sherlock Holmes
“Let us reconstruct， Watson，” said Holmes after half an hour ofsilence. “I am not aware that in all our joint researches we haveever had a case which was more difficult to get at. Every freshadvance which we make only reveals a fresh ridge beyond. And yetwe have surely made some appreciable progress.
“The effect of our inquiries at Woolwich has in the main beenagainst young Cadogan West； but the indications at the windowwould lend themselves to a more favourable hypothesis. Let ussuppose， for example， that he had been approached by someforeign agent. It might have been done under such pledges aswould have prevented him from speaking of it， and yet would haveaffected his thoughts in the direction indicated by his remarks tohis fiancée. Very good. We will now suppose that as he went tothe theatre with the young lady he suddenly， in the fog， caught aglimpse of this same agent going in the direction of the office. Hewas an impetuous man， quick in his decisions. Everything gaveway to his duty. He followed the man， reached the window， saw theabstraction of the documents， and pursued the thief. In this waywe get over the objection that no one would take originals whenhe could make copies. This outsider had to take originals. So far itholds together.”
“What is the next step？”
“Then we come into difficulties. One would imagine that undersuch circumstances the first act of young Cadogan West wouldbe 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？ Thatwould explain West’s conduct. Or could the chief have given Westthe slip in the fog， and West started at once to London to headhim off from his own rooms， presuming that he knew where therooms were？ The call must have been very pressing， since he lefthis girl standing in the fog and made no effort to communicatewith her. Our scent runs cold here， and there is a vast gap betweeneither hypothesis and the laying of West’s body， with seven papersin his pocket， on the roof of a Metropolitan train. My instinctnow is to work from the other end. If Mycroft has given us the listof addresses we may be able to pick our man and follow two tracksinstead of one.”
Surely enough， a note awaited us at Baker Street. A governmentmessenger had brought it post-haste. Holmes glanced at it andthrew it over to me.
There are numerous small fry， but few who would handle so bigan affair. The only men worth considering are Adolph Mayer， of 13Great George Street， Westminster； Louis La Rothiere， of CampdenMansions， Notting Hill； and Hugo Oberstein， 13 Caulfield Gardens，The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge 1161Kensington. The latter was known to be in town on Monday andis now reported as having left. Glad to hear you have seen somelight. The Cabinet awaits your final report with the utmost anxiety.
Urgent representations have arrived from the very 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 horsesand all the queen’s men cannot avail in this matter.” He had spreadout his big map of London and leaned eagerly over it. “Well， well，”
said he presently with an exclamation of satisfaction， “things areturning a little in our direction at last. Why， Watson， I do honestlybelieve that we are going to pull it off， after all.” He slapped me onthe shoulder with a sudden burst of hilarity. “I am going out now.