At first they were of a mind to let him enter the house and to
kill him as a detected burglar; but they argued that if they were
mixed up in an inquiry their own identity would at once be
publicly disclosed and they would be open to further attacks.
With the death of Garcia, the pursuit might cease, since such a
death might frighten others from the task.

"All would now have been well for them had it not been for my
knowledge of what they had done. I have no doubt that there were
times when my life hung in the balance. I was confined to my
room, terrorized by the most horrible threats, cruelly ill-used
to break my spirit--see this stab on my shoulder and the bruises
from end to end of my arms--and a gag was thrust into my mouth on
the one occasion when I tried to call from the window. For five
days this cruel imprisonment continued, with hardly enough food
to hold body and soul together. This afternoon a good lunch was
brought me, but the moment after I took it I knew that I had been
drugged. In a sort of dream I remember being half-led, half-
carried to the carriage; in the same state I was conveyed to the
train. Only then, when the wheels were almost moving, did I
suddenly realize that my liberty lay in my own hands. I sprang
out, they tried to drag me back, and had it not been for the help
of this good man, who led me to the cab, I should never had
broken away. Now, thank God, I am beyond their power forever."

We had all listened intently to this remarkable statement. It
was Holmes who broke the silence.

"Our difficulties are not over," he remarked, shaking his head.
"Our police work ends, but our legal work begins."