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Page 74
"Keep that," said Holmes, quietly putting his foot
upon it; "you will find it useful at the trial. But
this is what we really wanted." He held up a little
crumpled piece of paper.
"The remainder of the sheet!" cried the Inspector.
"Precisely."
"And where was it?"
"Where I was sure it must be. I'll make the whole
matter clear to you presently. I think, Colonel, that
you and Watson might return now, and I will be with
you again in an hour at the furthest. The Inspector
and I must have a word with the prisoners, but you
will certainly see me back at luncheon time."
Sherlock Holmes was as good as his word, for about one
o'clock he rejoined us in the Colonel's smoking-room.
He was accompanied by a little elderly gentleman, who
was introduced to me as the Mr. Acton whose house had
been the scene of the original burglary.
"I wished Mr. Acton to be present while I demonstrated
this small matter to you," said Holmes, "for it is
natural that he should take a keen interest in the
details. I am afraid, my dear Colonel, that you must
regret the hour that you took in such a stormy petrel
as I am."
"On the contrary," answered the Colonel, warmly, "I
consider it the greatest privilege to have been
permitted to study your methods of working. I confess
that they quite surpass my expectations, and that I am
utterly unable to account for your result. I have not
yet seen the vestige of a clue."
"I am afraid that my explanation may disillusion you
but it has always been my habit to hide none of my
methods, either from my friend Watson or from any one
who might take an intelligent interest in them. But,
first, as I am rather shaken by the knocking about
which I had in the dressing-room, I think that I shall
help myself to a dash of your brandy, Colonel. My
strength had been rather tried of late."
"I trust that you had no more of those nervous
attacks."
Sherlock Holmes laughed heartily. "We will come to
that in its turn," said he. "I will lay an account of
the case before you in its due order, showing you the
various points which guided me in my decision. Pray
interrupt me if there is any inference which is not
perfectly clear to you.
"It is of the highest importance in the art of
detection to be able to recognize, out of a number of
facts, which are incidental and which vital.
Otherwise your energy and attention must be dissipated
instead of being concentrated. Now, in this case
there was not the slightest doubt in my mind from the
first that the key of the whole matter must be looked
for in the scrap of paper in the dead man's hand.
"Before going into this, I would draw your attention
to the fact that, if Alec Cunningham's narrative was
correct, and if the assailant, after shooting William
Kirwan, had instantly fled, then it obviously could
not be he who tore the paper from the dead man's hand.
But if it was not he, it must have been Alec
Cunningham himself, for by the time that the old man
had descended several servants were upon the scene.
The point is a simple one, but the Inspector had
overlooked it because he had started with the
supposition that these county magnates had had nothing
to do with the matter. Now, I make a point of never
having any prejudices, and of following docilely
wherever fact may lead me, and so, in the very first
stage of the investigation, I found myself looking a
little askance at the part which had been played by
Mr. Alec Cunningham.
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