"I am afraid there are no signs here," said he. "One could
hardly hope for any upon so dry a day. Your servant seems to
have quite recovered. You left him in a chair, you say. Which
chair?"
"By the window there."
"I see. Near this little table. You can come in now. I have
finished with the carpet. Let us take the little table first. Of
course, what has happened is very clear. The man entered and
took the papers, sheet by sheet, from the central table. He
carried them over to the window table, because from there he
could see if you came across the courtyard, and so could effect
an escape."
"As a matter of fact, he could not," said Soames, "for I
entered by the side door."
"Ah, that's good! Well, anyhow, that was in his mind. Let
me see the three strips. No finger impressions -- no! Well he
carried over this one first, and he copied it. How long wouid it
take him to do that, using every possible contraction? A quarter
of an hour, not less. Then he tossed it down and seized the next.
He was in the midst of that when your return caused him to make
a very hurried retreat -- very hurried, since he had not time to
replace the papers which would tell you that he had been there.
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