The key, having served its purpose, would be hurled away.
The horse may be at the bottom of one of the pits or old mines upon the moor."
"What does he say about the cravat?"
"He acknowledges that it is his, and declares that he had lost it. But a new element has been introduced into the case which may account for his leading the horse from the stable."
Holmes pricked up his ears.
"We have found traces which show that a party of gypsies encamped on Monday night within a mile of the spot where the murder took place.
On Tuesday they were gone.
Now, presuming that there was some understanding between Simpson and these gypsies, might he not have been leading the horse to them when he was overtaken, and may they not have him now?"
"It is certainly possible."
"The moor is being scoured for these gypsies. I have also examined every stable and out-house in Tavistock, and for a radius of ten miles."