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Page 10
"'Humph!' he said. 'You couldn't prove a case against me.'
"'I can prove any case against anybody,' I retorted. 'If you don't believe
it, read my book,' I added, and I handed him a copy of my memoirs.
"'I've read it,' he answered, 'and I ought to have known better than to
come here. I thought you were only a literary success.' And with a
deep-drawn sigh he took the watch and went out. Ten days later I was
retained by the Duchess, and after a pretended search of ten days more I
found the tiara, restored it to the noble lady, and received the �5000
reward. The Duke kept perfectly quiet about our little encounter, and
afterwards we became stanch friends; for he was a good fellow, and was
driven to his desperate deed only by the demands of his creditors, and the
following Christmas he sent me the watch I had given him, with the best
wishes of the season.
"So, you see, gentlemen, in a moment, by quick wit and a mental
concentration of no mean order, combined with strict observance of the
pettiest details, I ferreted out what bade fair to become a great diamond
mystery; and when I say that this cigar end proves certain things to my
mind, it does not become you to doubt the value of my conclusions."
"Hear! hear!" cried Raleigh, growing tumultuous with enthusiasm.
"Your name? your name?" came from all parts of the wharf.
The stranger, putting his hand into the folds of his coat, drew forth a
bundle of business cards, which he tossed, as the prestidigitator tosses
playing-cards, out among the audience, and on each of them was found
printed the words:
---------------------------
| SHERLOCK HOLMES, |
| DETECTIVE. |
| |
| FERRETING DONE HERE. |
| |
| _Plots for Sale._ |
---------------------------
"I think he made a mistake in not taking the �200 for the watch. Such
carelessness destroys my confidence in him," said Shylock, who was the
first to recover from the surprise of the revelation.
[Illustration: "THE STRANGER DREW FORTH A BUNDLE OF BUSINESS CARDS"]
III
THE SEARCH-PARTY IS ORGANIZED
"Well, Mr. Holmes," said Sir Walter Raleigh, after three rousing cheers,
led by Hamlet, had been given with a will by the assembled spirits, "after
this demonstration in your honor I think it is hardly necessary for me to
assure you of our hearty co-operation in anything you may venture to
suggest. There is still manifest, however, some desire on the part of the
ever-wise King Solomon and my friend Confucius to know how you deduce that
Kidd has sailed for London, from the cigar end which you hold in your
hand."
[Illustration: "THREE ROUSING CHEERS, LED BY HAMLET, WERE GIVEN"]
"I can easily satisfy their curiosity," said Sherlock Holmes, genially. "I
believe I have already proven that it is the end of Kidd's cigar. The
marks of the teeth have shown that. Now observe how closely it is
smoked--there is barely enough of it left for one to insert between his
teeth. Now Captain Kidd would hardly have risked the edges of his mustache
and the comfort of his lips by smoking a cigar down to the very light if
he had had another; nor would he under any circumstances have smoked it
that far unless he were passionately addicted to this particular brand of
the weed. Therefore I say to you, first, this was his cigar; second, it
was the last one he had; third, he is a confirmed smoker. The result, he
has gone to the one place in the world where these Connecticut hand-rolled
Havana cigars--for I recognize this as one of them--have a real
popularity, and are therefore more certainly obtainable, and that is at
London. You cannot get so vile a cigar as that outside of a London hotel.
If I could have seen a quarter-inch more of it, I should have been able
definitely to locate the hotel itself. The wrappers unroll to a degree
that varies perceptibly as between the different hotels. The Metropole
cigar can be smoked a quarter through before its wrapper gives way; the
Grand wrapper goes as soon as you light the cigar; whereas the Savoy,
fronting on the Thames, is surrounded by a moister atmosphere than the
others, and, as a consequence, the wrapper will hold really until most
people are willing to throw the whole thing away."
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