”’It’sthebelloftheroomyouwereworkingin。’”Acoldhandseemedtocloseroundmyheart。Someone，then，wasinthatroomwheremyprecioustreatylayuponthetable。Iranfranticallyupthestairandalongthepassage。Therewasnooneinthecorridors，Mr。Holmes。Therewasnooneintheroom。AllwasexactlyasIleftit，saveonlythatthepaperswhichhadbeencommittedtomycarehadbeentakenfromthedeskonwhichtheylay。Thecopywasthere，andtheoriginalwasgone。”
Holmessatupinhischairandrubbedhishands。I
couldseethattheproblemwasentirelytohisheart。”Pray，whatdidyoudothen?”hemurmured。”Irecognizedinaninstantthatthethiefmusthavecomeupthestairsfromthesidedoor。OfcourseI
musthavemethimifhehadcometheotherway。””Youweresatisfiedthathecouldnothavebeenconcealedintheroomallthetime，orinthecorridorwhichyouhavejustdescribedasdimlylighted?””Itisabsolutelyimpossible。Aratcouldnotconcealhimselfeitherintheroomorthecorridor。Thereisnocoveratall。””Thankyou。Prayproceed。””Thecommissionnaire，seeingbymypalefacethatsomethingwastobefeared，hadfollowedmeupstairs。
NowwebothrushedalongthecorridoranddownthesteepstepswhichledtoCharlesStreet。Thedooratthebottomwasclosed，butunlocked。Weflungitopenandrushedout。Icandistinctlyrememberthataswedidsotherecamethreechinesfromaneighboringclock。Itwasquartertoten。””Thatisofenormousimportance，”saidHolmes，makinganoteuponhisshirt-cuff。”Thenightwasverydark，andathin，warmrainwasfalling。TherewasnooneinCharlesStreet，butagreattrafficwasgoingon，asusual，inWhitehall，attheextremity。Werushedalongthepavement，bare-headedaswewere，andatthefarcornerwefoundapolicemanstanding。”’Arobberyhasbeencommitted，’Igasped。’A