“I’ll tell you what I did first, and how I came to do itafterwards,” said he. “After leaving you at the station I went fora charming walk through some admirable Surrey scenery to apretty little village called Ripley, where I had my tea at an inn, andtook the precaution of filling my flask and of putting a paper ofsandwiches in my pocket. There I remained until evening, when Iset off for Woking again, and found myself in the highroad outsideBriarbrae just after sunset.
“Well, I waited until the road was clear—it is never a veryfrequented one at any time, I fancy—and then I clambered overthe fence into the grounds.”
“Surely the gate was open!” ejaculated Phelps.
“Yes, but I have a peculiar taste in these matters. I chose theplace where the three fir-trees stand, and behind their screen Igot over without the least chance of any one in the house beingable to see me. I crouched down among the bushes on the otherside, and crawled from one to the other—witness the disreputablestate of my trouser knees—until I had reached the clump ofrhododendrons just opposite to your bedroom window. There Isquatted down and awaited developments.
“The blind was not down in your room, and I could see MissHarrison sitting there reading by the table. It was quarter-past tenwhen she closed her book, fastened the shutters, and retired.
“I heard her shut the door and felt quite sure that she hadturned the key in the lock.”
“The key!” ejaculated Phelps.
“Yes, I had given Miss Harrison instructions to lock the door onthe outside and take the key with her when she went to bed. Shecarried out every one of my injunctions to the letter, and certainlywithout her cooperation you would not have that paper in youcoat-pocket. She departed then and the lights went out, and I wasleft squatting in the rhododendron-bush.
“The night was fine, but still it was a very weary vigil. Of courseit has the sort of excitement about it that the sportsman feelswhen he lies beside the water-course and waits for the big game.
It was very long, though—almost as long, Watson, as when youand I waited in that deadly room when we looked into the littleproblem of the Speckled Band. There was a church-clock down atWoking which struck the quarters, and I thought more than oncethat it had stopped. At last, however, about two in the morning,I suddenly heard the gentle sound of a bolt being pushed backand the creaking of a key. A moment later the servants’ door wasopened, and Mr. Joseph Harrison stepped out into the moonlight.”
“Joseph!” ejaculated Phelps.
“He was bare-headed, but he had a black cloak thrown over hisshoulder, so that he could conceal his face in an instant if therewere any alarm. He walked on tiptoe under the shadow of thewall, and when he reached the window he worked a long-bladedknife through the sash and pushed back the catch. Then he flungopen the window, and putting his knife through the crack in theshutters, he thrust the bar up and swung them open.
“From where I lay I had a perfect view of the inside of the roomand of every one of his movements. He lit the two candles whichstood upon the mantelpiece, and then he proceeded to turn backthe corner of the carpet in the neighborhood of the door. Presentlyhe stopped and picked out a square piece of board, such as is usuallyleft to enable plumbers to get at the joints of the gas-pipes. Thisone covered, as a matter of fact, the T joint which gives off thepipe which supplies the kitchen underneath. Out of this hidingplacehe drew that little cylinder of paper, pushed down the board,rearranged the carpet, blew out the candles, and walked straightinto my arms as I stood waiting for him outside the window.
“Well, he has rather more viciousness than I gave him creditfor, has Master Joseph. He flew at me with his knife, and I had tograsp him twice, and got a cut over the knuckles, before I had theupper hand of him. He looked murder out of the only eye he couldsee with when we had finished, but he listened to reason and gaveup the papers. Having got them I let my man go, but I wired fullparticulars to Forbes this morning. If he is quick enough to catchhis bird, well and good. But if, as I shrewdly suspect, he findsthe nest empty before he gets there, why, all the better for thegovernment. I fancy that Lord Holdhurst for one, and Mr. PercyPhelps for another, would very much rather that the affair nevergot as far as a police-court.
“My God!” gasped our client. “Do you tell me that during theselong ten weeks of agony the stolen papers were within the veryroom with me all the time?”
“So it was.”
“And Joseph! Joseph a villain and a thief!”
“Hum! I am afraid Joseph’s character is a rather deeper andmore dangerous one than one might judge from his appearance.
From what I have heard from him this morning, I gather that hehas lost heavily in dabbling with stocks, and that he is ready todo anything on earth to better his fortunes. Being an absolutelyselfish man, when a chance presented itself he did not allow eitherhis sister’s happiness or your reputation to hold his hand.”
Percy Phelps sank back in his chair. “My head whirls,” said he.
“Your words have dazed me.”
“The principal difficulty in your case,” remarked Holmes in hisdidactic fashion, “lay in the fact of there being too much evidence.