Before evening, we had a visit from Inspector Stanley Hopkins. Things
were not going very well with him.

'I believe that you are a wizard, Mr. Holmes. I really do sometimes
think that you have powers that are not human. Now, how on earth could
you know that the stolen silver was at the bottom of that pond?'

'I didn't know it.'

'But you told me to examine it.'

'You got it, then?'

'Yes, I got it.'

'I am very glad if I have helped you.'

'But you haven't helped me. You have made the affair far more difficult.
What sort of burglars are they who steal silver and then throw it into
the nearest pond?'

'It was certainly rather eccentric behaviour. I was merely going on
the idea that if the silver had been taken by persons who did not want
it--who merely took it for a blind, as it were--then they would
naturally be anxious to get rid of it.'

'But why should such an idea cross your mind?'

'Well, I thought it was possible. When they came out through the French