of the case?'
'Well, since you ask me, I spent, as I told you that I would, some hours last night at the Manor House.'
'Well, what happened?'
'Ah, I can only give you a very general answer to that for the moment. By the way, I have been reading a short but clear and interesting account of the old building, purchasable at the modest sum of one penny from the local tobacconist.'
Here Holmes drew a small tract, embellished with a rude engraving of the ancient Manor House, from his waistcoat pocket.
'It immensely adds to the zest of an investigation, my dear Mr. Mac, when one is in conscious sympathy with the historical atmosphere of one's surroundings. Don't look so impatient; for I assure you that even so bald an account as this raises some sort of picture of the past in one's mind. Permit me to give you a sample. 'Erected in the fifth year of the reign of James I, and standing upon the site of a much older building, the Manor House of Birlstone presents one of the finest surviving examples of the moated Jacobean residence —' '
'You are making fools of us, Mr. Holmes!'
'Tut, tut, Mr. Mac! — the first sign of temper I have detected in you. Well, I won't read it verbatim, since you feel so strongly upon the subject. But when I tell you that there is some account of the taking of the place by a parliamentary colonel in 1644, of the concealment of Charles for several days in the course of the Civil War, and finally of a visit there by the second George, you will admit that there are various associations of interest connected with this ancient house.'
'I don't doubt it, Mr. Holmes; but that is no business of ours.'
'Is it not? Is it not? Breadth of view, my dear Mr. Mac, is one of the essentials of our profession. The interplay of ideas and the oblique uses of knowledge are often of extraordinary interest. You will excuse these remarks from one who, though a mere connoisseur of crime, is still rather older and perhaps more experienced than yourself.'
'I'm the first to admit that,' said the detective heartily. 'You get to your point, I admit; but you have such a deuced round-thecorner way of doing it.'
'Well, well, I'll drop past history and get down to presentday facts. I called last night, as I have already said, at the Manor House. I did not see either Barker or Mrs. Douglas. I saw no necessity to disturb them; but I was pleased to hear that the lady was not visibly pining and that she had partaken of an excellent dinner. My visit was specially made to the good Mr. Ames, with whom I exchanged some amiabilities, which culminated in his allowing me, without reference to anyone else, to sit alone for a time in the study.'
'What! With that?' I ejaculated.
'No, no, everything is now in order. You gave permission for that, Mr. Mac, as I am informed. The room was in its normal state, and in it I passed an instructive quarter of an hour.'
'What were you doing?'
'Well, not to make a mystery of so simple a matter, I was looking for the missing dumb-bell. It has always bulked rather large in my estimate of the case. I ended by finding it.'
'Where?'
'Ah, there we come to the edge of the unexplored. Let me go a little further, a very little further, and I will promise that you shall share everything that I know.'
'Well, we're bound to take you on your own terms,' said the inspector; 'but when it comes to telling us to abandon the case — why in the name of goodness should we abandon the case?'
'For the simple reason, my dear Mr. Mac, that you have not got the first idea what it is that you are investigating.'
'We are investigating the murder of Mr. John Douglas of Birlstone Manor.'
'Yes, yes, so you are. But don't trouble to trace the mysterious gentleman upon the bicycle. I assure you that it won't help you.'
'Then what do you suggest that we do?'
'I will tell you exactly what to do, if you will do it.'
'Well, I'm bound to say I've always found you had reason behind all your queer ways. I'll do what you advise.'
'And you, Mr. White Mason?'
The country detective looked helplessly from one to the other. Holmes and his methods were new to him. 'Well, if it is good enough for the inspector, it is good enough for me,' he said at last.
'Capital!' said Holmes. 'Well, then, I should recommend a nice, cheery country walk for both of you. They tell me that the views from Birlstone Ridge over the Weald are very remarkable. No doubt lunch could be got at some suitable hostelry; though my ignorance of the country prevents me from recommending one. In the evening, tired but happy —'
'Man, this is getting past a joke!' cried MacDonald, rising angrily from his chair.
'Well, well, spend the day as you like,' said Holmes, patting him cheerfully upon the shoulder. 'Do what you like and go where you will, but meet me here before dusk without fail — without fail, Mr. Mac.'
'That sounds more like sanity.'
'All of it was excellent advice; but I don't insist, so long as you are here when I need you. But now, before we part, I want you to write a note to Mr. Barker.'
'Well?'
'I'll dictate it, if you like. Ready?
'Dear Sir:
'It has struck me that it is our duty to drain the moat, in the hope that we may find some —'
'It's impossible,' said the inspector. 'I've made inquiry.'
'Tut, tut! My dear sir, please do what I ask you.'
'Well, go on.'
'— in the hope that we may find something which may bear upon our investigation. I have made arrangements, and the workmen will be at work early to-morrow morning diverting the stream —'
'Impossible!'
'— diverting the stream; so I thought it best to explain matters beforehand.
'Now sign that, and send it by hand about four o'clock. At that hour we shall meet again in this room. Until then we may each do what we like; for I can assure you that this inquiry has come to a definite pause.'
Evening was drawing in when we reassembled. Holmes was very serious in his manner, myself curious, and the detectives obviously critical and annoyed.
'Well, gentlemen,' said my friend gravely, 'I am asking you now to put everything to the test with me, and you will judge for yourselves whether the observations I have made justify the conclusions to which I have come. It is a chill evening, and I do not know how long our expedition may last; so I beg that you will wear your warmest coats. It is of the first importance that we should be in our places before it grows dark; so with your permission we shall get started at once.'
We passed along the outer bounds of the Manor House park until we came to a place where there was a gap in the rails which fenced it. Through this we slipped, and then in the gathering gloom we followed Holmes until we had reached a shrubbery which lies nearly opposite to the main door and the drawbridge. The latter had not been raised. Holmes crouched down behind the screen of laurels, and we all three followed his example.
'Well, what are we to do now?' asked MacDonald with some gruffness.
'Possess our souls in patience and make as little noise as possible,' Holmes answered.
'What are we here for at all? I really think that you might treat us with more frankness.'
Holmes laughed. 'Watson insists that I am the dramatist in real life,' said he. 'Some touch of the artist wells up within me, and calls insistently for a well-staged performance. Surely our profession, Mr. Mac, would be a drab and sordid one if we did not sometimes set the scene so as to glorify our results. The blunt accusation, the brutal tap upon the shoulder — what can one make of such a denouement? But the quick inference, the subtle trap, the clever forecast of coming events, the triumphant vindication of bold theories — are these not the pride and the justification of our life's work? At the present moment you thrill with the glamour of the situation and the anticipation of the hunt. Where would be that thrill if I had been as definite as a timetable? I only ask a little
