No. 11 The Adventure of the Naval Treaty by Arthur Conan Doyle
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down the stairs and into_the hall, where I_found the commissionnaire fast asleep in_his box, with_the kettle boiling furiously upon_the spirit- lamp . i_took off the kettle and blew out the lamp, for_the water was spurting over the floor . then I put out my hand and was about to shake the man, who was still sleeping soundly, when a bell over his head rang loudly, and he woke with a start .

"' Mr Phelps, sir ! ' said he, looking at me in bewilderment .

"' I_came down to_see if_my coffee was ready .'

"' i_was boiling the kettle when I fell asleep, sir .' he looked at me and then up at_the still quivering bell with an ever-growing astonishment upon his face .

"' if_you was here, sir, then who rang the bell ? ' he asked .

"' the bell ! ' I cried .' what bell is_it ? '

"' it's the bell of_the room you were working in .'

"A cold hand seemed to close round my heart . some one, then, was in_that room where my precious treaty lay upon_the table .I ran frantically up the stair and along the passage . there_was no one in_the corridors, Mr Holmes . there_was no one in_the room . all was exactly as I left it, save only that_the papers which had_been committed to my care had_been taken from_the desk on_which they lay . the copy was there, and_the original was gone ."

Holmes sat up in_his chair and rubbed his hands .I could_see that_the problem was entirely to_his heart ." pray, what did you_do then ? " he murmured .

"I recognised in an instant that_the thief must_have come up the stairs from_the side door . of_course I_must_have met him if he had come the other way ."

" you were satisfied that he_could_not have_been concealed in_the room all the time, or in_the corridor which you_have just described as dimly lighted ? "

" it_is absolutely impossible .a rat could_not conceal himself either in_the room or the corridor . there_is no cover at all ."

" thank_you . pray proceed ."

" the commissionnaire, seeing by my pale face that something was to_be feared, had followed me upstairs . now we both rushed along the corridor and down the steep steps which led to Charles street . the door at_the bottom was closed, but unlocked . we flung it open and rushed out . I_can distinctly remember that as we_did so there came three chines from aneighbouring clock . it_was quarter to ten ."

" that_is of enormous importance," said Holmes, making a note upon his shirt- cuff .

" the night was very dark, and a thin, warm rain was falling . there_was no one in Charles street, but a great traffic was going on, as usual, in Whitehall, at_the extremity . we rushed along the pavement, bare- headed as_we were, and at_the far corner we_found a policeman standing .

"'A robbery has_been committed,' I gasped .'A document of immense value has_been stolen from_the foreign office . has any_one passed this_way ? '

"' I_have_been standing here for a quarter of an hour, sir,' said he; ' only_one person has passed during that_time--a woman, tall and elderly, with aPaisley shawl .'

"'Ah, that_is only my wife,' cried the commissionnaire; ' has no one else passed ? '

"' no one .'

"' then it must_be the other way that_the thief took,' cried the fellow, tugging at my sleeve .

"' but i_was not satisfied, and_the attempts which he_made to draw me away increased my suspicions .

"' which_way did the woman go ? ' I cried .

"'I don't know, sir .I noticed her pass, but I had no special reason for watching her . she seemed to_be in a hurry .'

"' how long_ago was_it ? '

"'Oh, not very_many minutes .'

"' within_the last vie ? '

"' well, it could_not_be more than five .'

"' you're only wasting your time, sir, and every_minute now is of importance,' cried the commissionnaire; ' take my word for_it that my old woman has nothing to_do with it, and come down to_the other end of_the street . well, if_you won't, i_will .' and with_that he rushed off in_the other direction .

" but i_was after him in an instant and caught him by_the sleeve .

"' where do_you live ? ' said I .

"'16 Ivy Lane, Brixton,' he answered .' but don't let yourself be drawn away upon a false scent, Mr Phelps . come to_the other end of_the street and let_us_see if_we_can hear of anything .'

" nothing was to_be lost by following his advice . with_the policeman we both hurried down, but only to_find the street full of traffic, many people coming and going, but all only too eager to_get to a place of safety upon so wet a night . there_was no lounger who_could tell us who had passed .

" then we returned to_the office, and searched the stairs and_the passage without result . the corridor which led to_the room was laid down with a kind of creamy linoleum which shows an impression very easily . we examined it very carefully, but found no outline of any footmark ."

" had it been raining all evening ? "

" since about seven ."

" how is_it, then, that_the woman who came into_the room about nine left no traces with her muddy boots ? "

" I_am_glad you raised the point . it occurred to_me at_the_time . the charwomen are in_the habit of taking off their boots at_the commissionnaire's office, and putting on list slippers ."

" that_is very clear . there were no marks, then, though the night was a wet one ? the chain of events is certainly one of extraordinary interest . what did you_do next ?

" we examined the room also . there_is no possibility of a secret door, and_the windows are quite thirty feet from_the ground . both of_them were fastened on_the inside . the carpet prevents any possibility of a trap- door, and_the ceiling is of_the ordinary whitewashed kind . i_will pledge my life that whoever stole my papers could only have come through_the door ."

" how about_the fireplace ? "

" they use none . there_is a stove . the bell- rope hangs from_the wire just to_the right of_my desk . whoever rang it must_have come right up_to_the desk to_do_it . but why should any criminal wish to ring the bell ? it_is a most insoluble mystery ."

"" certainly the incident was unusual . what were your next steps ? you examined the room, I presume, to_see if_the intruder had left any traces-- any cigar- end or dropped glove or hairpin or other trifle ? "

" there_was nothing of_the sort ."

" no smell ? "

" well, we never thought of_that ."

"Ah, a scent of tobacco would_have_been worth a great deal to_us in_such an investigation ."

"I never smoke myself, so i_think i_should_have observed it if there had_been any smell of tobacco . there_was absolutely no clue of any kind . the only tangible fact was_that the commissionnaire's wife- Mrs Tangey was_the name-- had hurried our of_the place . he_could give no explanation save that_it_was about_the_time when_the woman always went home . the policeman and I agreed that_our best plan would_be to seize the woman before she_could get rid of_the papers, presuming that she had them .

" the alarm had reached Scotland yard by_this_time, and Mr Forbes, the detective, came round at once and took up the case with a great deal of energy . we hire a hansom, and in half an hour we were at_the address which had_been given to_us .a young woman opened the door, who proved to_be Mrs Tangey's eldest daughter . her mother had_not come back yet, and we were shown into_the front room to wait .

" about ten minutes later a knock came at_the door, and here we_made the one serious mistake for_which I blame myself . instead of opening the door ourselves, we allowed the girl to_do_so . we heard her say, ' mother, there_are two men in_the house waiting to_see you,' and an instant afterwards we heard the patter of feet rushing down the passage .Forbes flung open the door, and we both ran into_the back room or kitchen, but the woman had got there before_us . she stared at us with defiant eyes, and then, suddenly recognising me, an expression of absolute astonishment came over her face .

"' why, if_it isn't Mr Phelps, of_the office ! ' she cried .

"' come, come, who did you_think we were when_you ran away from_us ? ' asked my companion .

"' i_thought you were the brokers,' said she, ' we_have_had some trouble with a tradesman .'

"' that's not quite good enough,' answered Forbes .' we_have reason to_believe that you_have taken a paper of importance fro the foreign office, and_that you ran in here to dispose of it . you_must come back with_us to Scotland yard to_be searched .'

" it_was in vain that she protested and resisted .afour-wheeler was brought, and we all three drove back in_it . we had first made an examination of_the kitchen, and especially of_the kitchen fire, to_see whether she might_have made away with_the papers during the instant that she was alone . there were no signs, however, of any ashes or scraps . when we reached Scotland yard she was handed over at once to_the female searcher .I waited in an agony of suspense until she came back with her report . there were no signs of_the papers .

" then for_the first time the horror of_my situation came in its full force . hitherto I had_been acting, and action had numbed thought .I had_been so confident of regaining the treaty at once that I had_not dared to_think of what would_be the consequence if I failed to_do_so . but now there_was nothing more to_be_done, and I had leisure to realise my position . it_was horrible .Watson there would tell you that i_was a nervous, sensitive boy at school . it_is my nature . i_thought of_my uncle and of_his colleagues in_the cabinet, of_the shame which I had brought upon him, upon myself, upon every_one connected with me . what though I was_the victim of an extraordinary accident ? no allowance is made for accidents where diplomatic interests are at stake . i_was ruined, shamefully, hopelessly ruined .I don't know what I_did .I fancy I_must_have made ascene . I_have a dim recollection of a group of officials who crowded round me, endeavouring to soothe me . one_of_them drove down with me to Waterloo, and saw me into_the Woking train .I believe that he_would_have come all the way had it not been that Dr .Ferrier, who lives near me, was going down by_that very train . the doctor most kindly took charge of me, and it_was well he_did so, for I had a fit in_the station, and before we reached home i_was practically araving maniac .

" you_can imagine the state of things here when_they were roused from their beds by_the doctor's ringing and found me in_this condition . poor Annie here and my mother were broken-hearted .Dr .Ferrier had just heard enough from_the detective at_the station to_be_able to_give an idea of what had happened, and_his story did_not mend matters . it_was evident to all that i_was in for a long illness, so Joseph was bundled out of_this cheery bedroom, and it_was turned into a sick- room for_me . here I_have lain, Mr Holmes, for over nine weeks, unconscious, and raving with brain- fever . if_it had_not_been for miss Harrison here and for_the doctor's care I should_not_be speaking to_you now . she has nursed me by day and a hired nurse has looked after me by night, for in my mad fits i_was capable of anything . slowly my reason has cleared, but it_is only during_the_last three days that my memory has quite returned .Sometimes i_wish that_it never had . the first thing that I_did was to wire to Mr Forbes, who had the case in hand . he_came out, and assures me that, though everything has_been_done, no trace of aclue has_been discovered . the commissionnaire and_his wife have_been examined in every way without any light being thrown upon_the matter . the suspicions of_the police then rested upon young Gorot, who, as_you_may remember, stayed over time in_the office that night . his remaining behind and_is French name were really the only two points which could suggest suspicion; but, as a matter of fact, I_did_not begin work until he had gone, and_his people are of Huguenot extraction, but as English in sympathy and tradition as_you and I are . nothing was found to implicate him in any_way, and there the matter dropped .I turn to_you, Mr Holmes, as absolutely my last hope . if_you fail me, then my honour as_well as my position are forever forfeited ."

the invalid sank back upon his cushions, tired out by_this long recital, while his nurse poured him out a glass of some stimulating medicine .Holmes sat silently, with_his head thrown back and_his eyes closed, in an attitude which might seem listless to a stranger, but which I_knew betokened the most intense self- absorption .

" you statement has_been so explicit," said he at last, " that you_have really left me very few questions to ask . there_is one_of_the very utmost importance, however . did you tell any_one that you had this special task to perform ? "

" no one ."

" not miss Harrison here, for example ? "

" no .I had_not_been back to Woking between getting the order and executing the commission ."

" and none of your people had by chance been to_see you ? "

" none ."

" did any of_them know their way about in_the office ? "

"Oh, yes, all of_them had_been shown over it ."

" still, of_course, if_you said nothing to any_one about_the treaty these inquiries are irrelevant ."

" I_said nothing ."

" do_you_know anything of_the commissionnaire ? "

" nothing except that he_is an old soldier ."

" what regiment ? "

"Oh, I_have heard--Coldstream Guards ."

" thank_you . I_have no_doubt I_can get details from Forbes . the authorities are excellent at amassing facts, though they_do_not always use them to advantage . what a lovely thing a rose is ! "

he walked past the couch to_the open window, and held up the drooping stalk of a moss- rose, looking down at_the dainty blend of crimson and green . it_was a new phase of_his

Section [1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5]