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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 the 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.

"Let us reconstruct, Watson," said Holmes after half an hour of silence.

"I am not aware that in all our joint researches we have ever had a case which was more difficult to get at.

Every fresh advance which we make only reveals a fresh ridge beyond.

And yet we have surely made some appreciable progress.

"The effect of our inquiries at Woolwich has in the main been against young Cadogan West; but the indications at the window would lend themselves to a more favourable hypothesis.

Let us suppose, for example, that he had been approached by some foreign agent.

It might have been done under such pledges as would have prevented him from speaking of it, and yet would have affected his thoughts in the direction indicated by his remarks to his fiancee.

Very good.

We will now suppose that as he went to the theatre with the young lady he suddenly, in the fog, caught a glimpse of this same agent going in the direction of the office.

He was an impetuous man, quick in his decisions.

Everything gave way to his duty.

He followed the man, reached the window, saw the abstraction of the documents, and pursued the thief.

In this way we get over the objection that no one would take originals when he could make copies.

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