“Well， it is surely perfectly clear who took them away. They areactually found upon the person of this junior clerk， Cadogan West.
That seems final， does it not？”
“It does， Sherlock， and yet it leaves so much unexplained. In thefirst place， why did he take them？”
“I presume they were of value？”
“He could have got several thousands for them very easily.”
“Can you suggest any possible motive for taking the papers toLondon except to sell them？”
“No， I cannot.”
“Then we must take that as our working hypothesis. YoungWest took the papers. Now this could only be done by having afalse key—”
“Several false keys. He had to open the building and the room.”
“He had， then， several false keys. He took the papers toLondon to sell the secret， intending， no doubt， to have the plansthemselves back in the safe next morning before they were missed.
While in London on this treasonable mission he met his end.”
“How？”
The Complete Sherlock Holmes
“We will suppose that he was travelling back to Woolwich whenhe was killed and thrown out of the compartment.”
“Aldgate， where the body was found， is considerably past thestation for London Bridge， which would be his route to Woolwich.”
“Many circumstances could be imagined under which he wouldpass London Bridge. There was someone in the carriage， forexample， with whom he was having an absorbing interview. Thisinterview led to a violent scene in which he lost his life. Possiblyhe tried to leave the carriage， fell out on the line， and so met hisend. The other closed the door. There was a thick fog， and nothingcould be seen.”
“No better explanation can be given with our present knowledge；and yet consider， Sherlock， how much you leave untouched.
We will suppose， for argument’s sake， that young Cadogan WestHAD determined to convey these papers to London. He wouldnaturally have made an appointment with the foreign agent andkept his evening clear. Instead of that he took two tickets for thetheatre， escorted his fiancée halfway there， and then suddenlydisappeared.”
“A blind，” said Lestrade， who had sat listening with someimpatience to the conversation.
“A very singular one. That is objection No. 1. Objection No.
We will suppose that he reaches London and sees the foreignagent. He must bring back the papers before morning or theloss will be discovered. He took away ten. Only seven were in hispocket. What had become of the other three？ He certainly wouldnot leave them of his own free will. Then， again， where is the priceof his treason？ Once would have expected to find a large sum ofmoney in his pocket.”
“It seems to me perfectly clear，” said Lestrade. “I have nodoubt at all as to what occurred. He took the papers to sell them.
He saw the agent. They could not agree as to price. He startedhome again， but the agent went with him. In the train the agentmurdered him， took the more essential papers， and threw his bodyfrom the carriage. That would account for everything， would itnot？”
“Why had he no ticket？”
“The ticket would have shown which station was nearest theagent’s house. Therefore he took it from the murdered man’spocket.”
“Good， Lestrade， very good，” said Holmes. “Your theory holdstogether. But if this is true， then the case is at an end. On the onehand， the traitor is dead. On the other， the plans of the Bruce-Partington submarine are presumably already on the Continent.
What is there for us to do？”
The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge
“To act， Sherlock—to act！” cried Mycroft， springing to his feet.
“All my instincts are against this explanation. Use your powers！
Go to the scene of the crime！ See the people concerned！ Leave nostone unturned！ In all your career you have never had so great achance of serving your country.”
“Well， well！” said Holmes， shrugging his shoulders. “Come，Watson！ And you， Lestrade， could you favour us with yourcompany for an hour or two？ We will begin our investigation by avisit to Aldgate Station. Good-bye， Mycroft. I shall let you havea report before evening， but I warn you in advance that you havelittle to expect.”
An hour later Holmes， Lestrade and I stood upon the Undergroundrailroad at the point where it emerges from the tunnel immediatelybefore Aldgate Station. A courteous red-faced old gentlemanrepresented the railway company.
“This is where the young man’s body lay，” said he， indicating aspot about three feet from the metals. “It could not have fallenfrom above， for these， as you see， are all blank walls. Therefore， itcould only have come from a train， and that train， so far as we cantrace it， must have passed about midnight on Monday.”
“Have the carriages been examined for any sign of violence？”
“There are no such signs， and no ticket has been found.”
“No record of a door being found open？”
“None.”
“We have had some fresh evidence this morning，” said Lestrade.
“A passenger who passed Aldgate in an ordinary Metropolitan trainabout 11：40 on Monday night declares that he heard a heavy thud，as of a body striking the line， just before the train reached thestation. There was dense fog， however， and nothing could be seen.
He made no report of it at the time. Why， whatever is the matterwith Mr. Holmes？”
My friend was standing with an expression of strained intensityupon his face， staring at the railway metals where they curved out ofthe tunnel. Aldgate is a junction， and there was a network of points.
On these his eager， questioning eyes were fixed， and I saw on hiskeen， alert face that tightening of the lips， that quiver of the nostrils，and concentration of the heavy， tufted brows which I knew so well.
“Points，” he muttered； “the points.”
“What of it？ What do you mean？”
“I suppose there are no great number of points on a system suchas this？”
“No； they are very few.”
“And a curve， too. Points， and a curve. By Jove！ if it were onlyso.”
“What is it， Mr. Holmes？ Have you a clue？”
1154 The Complete Sherlock Holmes