the premises. I do not recall any other question which I desired
to ask."

He examined the lock of the safe, the door of the room, and
finally the iron shutters of the window. It was only when we
were on the lawn outside that his interest was strongly excited.
There was a laurel bush outside the window, and several of the
branches bore signs of having been twisted or snapped. He
examined them carefully with his lens, and then some dim and
vague marks upon the earth beneath. Finally he asked the chief
clerk to close the iron shutters, and he pointed out to me that
they hardly met in the centre, and that it would be possible for
anyone outside to see what was going on within the room.

"The indications are ruined by three days' delay. They may mean
something or nothing. Well, Watson, I do not think that Woolwich
can help us further. It is a small crop which we have gathered.
Let us see if we can do better in London."

Yet we added one more sheaf to our harvest before we left
Woolwich Station. The clerk in the ticket office was able to say
with confidence that he saw Cadogan West--whom he knew well by
sight--upon the Monday night, and that he went to London by the
8:15 to London Bridge. He was alone and took a single third-
class ticket. The clerk was struck at the time by his excited
and nervous manner. So shaky was he that he could hardly pick up
his change, and the clerk had helped him with it. A reference to
the timetable showed that the 8:15 was the first train which it
was possible for West to take after he had left the lady about
7:30.