"Now, sir, you must
see that after Bannister's words your position is hopeless, and
that your only chance lies in a frank confession."
For a moment Gilchrist, with upraised hand, tried to control
his writhing features. The next he had thrown himself on his
knees beside the table, and burying his face in his hands, he had
burst into a storm of passionate sobbing.
"Come, come," said Holmes, kindly, "it is human to err,
and at least no one can accuse you of being a callous criminal.
Perhaps it would be easier for you if I were to tell Mr. Soames
what occurred, and you can check me where I am wrong. Shall I
do so? Well, well, don't trouble to answer. Listen, and see that I
do you no injustice.
"From the moment, Mr. Soames, that you said to me that no
one, not even Bannister, could have told that the papers were in
your room, the case began to take a definite shape in my mind.
The printer one could, of course, dismiss. He could examine the
papers in his own office. The Indian I also thought nothing of. If
the proofs were in a roll, he could not possibly know what they
were.
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