"Exactly," said I. "A plausible lawyer could make it out as an
act of self-defence. There may be a hundred crimes in the
background, but it is only on this one that they can be tried."

"Come, come," said Baynes cheerily, "I think better of the law
than that. Self-defence is one thing. To entice a man in cold
blood with the object of murdering him is another, whatever
danger you may fear from him. No, no, we shall all be justified
when we see the tenants of High Gable at the next Guildford
Assizes."


It is a matter of history, however, that a little time was still
to elapse before the Tiger of San Pedro should meet with his
deserts. Wily and bold, he and his companion threw their pursuer
off their track by entering a lodging-house in Edmonton Street
and leaving by the back-gate into Curzon Square. From that day
they were seen no more in England. Some six months afterwards
the Marquess of Montalva and Signor Rulli, his secretary, were
both murdered in their rooms at the Hotel Escurial at Madrid.
The crime was ascribed to Nihilism, and the murderers were never
arrested. Inspector Baynes visited us at Baker Street with a
printed description of the dark face of the secretary, and of the
masterful features, the magnetic black eyes, and the tufted brows
of his master. We could not doubt that justice, if belated, had
come at last.

"A chaotic case, my dear Watson," said Holmes over an evening
pipe. "It will not be possible for you to present in that compact