”’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
documentofimmensevaluehasbeenstolenfromtheForeignOffice。Hasanyonepassedthisway?’”’Ihavebeenstandinghereforaquarterofanhour，sir，’saidhe；’onlyonepersonhaspassedduringthattime——awoman，tallandelderly，withaPaisleyshawl。’”’Ah，thatisonlymywife，’criedthecommissionnaire；’hasnooneelsepassed?’”’Noone。’”’Thenitmustbetheotherwaythatthethieftook，’
criedthefellow，tuggingatmysleeve。”’ButIwasnotsatisfied，andtheattemptswhichhemadetodrawmeawayincreasedmysuspicions。”’Whichwaydidthewomango?’Icried。”’Idon’tknow，sir。Inoticedherpass，butIhadnospecialreasonforwatchingher。Sheseemedtobeinahurry。’”’Howlongagowasit?’”’Oh，notverymanyminutes。’”’Withinthelastvie?’”’Well，itcouldnotbemorethanfive。’”’You’reonlywastingyourtime，sir，andeveryminutenowisofimportance，’criedthecommissionnaire；
’takemywordforitthatmyoldwomanhasnothingtodowithit，andcomedowntotheotherendofthestreet。Well，ifyouwon’t，Iwill。’Andwiththatherushedoffintheotherdirection。”ButIwasafterhiminaninstantandcaughthimbythesleeve。”’Wheredoyoulive?’saidI。”’16IvyLane，Brixton，’heanswered。’Butdon’tletyourselfbedrawnawayuponafalsescent，Mr。Phelps。
Cometotheotherendofthestreetandletusseeifwecanhearofanything。’”Nothingwastobelostbyfollowinghisadvice。Withthepolicemanwebothhurrieddown，butonlytofindthestreetfulloftraffic，manypeoplecomingandgoing，butallonlytooeagertogettoaplaceofsafetyuponsowetanight。Therewasnoloungerwhocouldtelluswhohadpassed。”Thenwereturnedtotheoffice，andsearchedthestairsandthepassagewithoutresult。Thecorridorwhichledtotheroomwaslaiddownwithakindofcreamylinoleumwhichshowsanimpressionveryeasily。
Weexamineditverycarefully，butfoundnooutlineofanyfootmark。””Haditbeenrainingallevening?””Sinceaboutseven。””Howisit，then，thatthewomanwhocameintotheroomaboutnineleftnotraceswithhermuddyboots?””Iamgladyouraisedthepoint。Itoccurredtomeatthetime。Thecharwomenareinthehabitoftakingofftheirbootsatthecommissionnaire’soffice，andputtingonlistslippers。””Thatisveryclear。Therewerenomarks，then，thoughthenightwasawetone?Thechainofeventsiscertainlyoneofextraordinaryinterest。Whatdidyoudonext?”Weexaminedtheroomalso。Thereisnopossibilityofasecretdoor，andthewindowsarequitethirtyfeetfromtheground。Bothofthemwerefastenedontheinside。Thecarpetpreventsanypossibilityofatrap-door，andtheceilingisoftheordinarywhitewashedkind。Iwillpledgemylifethatwhoeverstolemypaperscouldonlyhavecomethroughthedoor。””Howaboutthefireplace?””Theyusenone。Thereisastove。Thebell-ropehangsfromthewirejusttotherightofmydesk。
Whoeverrangitmusthavecomerightuptothedesktodoit。Butwhyshouldanycriminalwishtoringthebell?Itisamostinsolublemystery。”””Certainlytheincidentwasunusual。Whatwereyournextsteps?Youexaminedtheroom，Ipresume，toseeiftheintruderhadleftanytraces——anycigar-endordroppedgloveorhairpinorothertrifle?””Therewasnothingofthesort。””Nosmell?””Well，weneverthoughtofthat。””Ah，ascentoftobaccowouldhavebeenworthagreatdealtousinsuchaninvestigation。””Ineversmokemyself，soIthinkIshouldhaveobserveditiftherehadbeenanysmelloftobacco。
Therewasabsolutelynoclueofanykind。Theonlytangiblefactwasthatthecommissionnaire’swife-Mrs。
Tangeywasthename——hadhurriedouroftheplace。Hecouldgivenoexplanationsavethatitwasaboutthetimewhenthewomanalwayswenthome。ThepolicemanandIagreedthatourbestplanwouldbetoseizethewomanbeforeshecouldgetridofthepapers，presumingthatshehadthem。”ThealarmhadreachedScotlandYardbythistime，andMr。Forbes，thedetective，cameroundatonceandtookupthecasewithagreatdealofenergy。Wehireahansom，andinhalfanhourwewereattheaddresswhichhadbeengiventous。Ayoungwomanopenedthedoor，whoprovedtobeMrs。Tangey’seldestdaughter。
Hermotherhadnotcomebackyet，andwewereshownintothefrontroomtowait。”Abouttenminuteslateraknockcameatthedoor，andherewemadetheoneseriousmistakeforwhichIblamemyself。Insteadofopeningthedoorourselves，weallowedthegirltodoso。Weheardhersay，’Mother，therearetwomeninthehousewaitingtoseeyou，’
andaninstantafterwardsweheardthepatteroffeetrushingdownthepassage。Forbesflungopenthedoor，andwebothranintothebackroomorkitchen，butthewomanhadgottherebeforeus。Shestaredatuswithdefianteyes，andthen，suddenlyrecognizingme，anexpressionofabsoluteastonishmentcameoverherface。”’Why，ifitisn’tMr。Phelps，oftheoffice！’shecried。”’Come，come，whodidyouthinkwewerewhenyouranawayfromus?’askedmycompanion。”’Ithoughtyouwerethebrokers，’saidshe，’wehavehadsometroublewithatradesman。’”’That’snotquitegoodenough，’answeredForbes。’WehavereasontobelievethatyouhavetakenapaperofimportancefrotheForeignOffice，andthatyouraninheretodisposeofit。YoumustcomebackwithustoScotlandYardtobesearched。’