“What！where？“shoutedMr。Windibank，turningwhitetohislips，andglancingabouthimlikearatinatrap。
“Oh，itwon’tdo——reallyitwon’t，“saidHolmes，suavely。“Thereisnopossiblegettingoutofit，Mr。Windibank。Itisquitetootransparent，anditwasaverybadcomplimentwhenyousaidthatitwasimpossibleformetosolvesosimpleaquestion。That’sright！
Sitdown，andletustalkitover。“
Ourvisitorcollapsedintoachair，withaghastlyface，andaglitterofmoistureonhisbrow。“It——it’snotactionable，“hestammered。
“Iamverymuchafraidthatitisnot；butbetweenourselves，Windibank，itwasascruel，andselfish，andheartlessatrickinapettywayasevercamebeforeme。Now，letmejustrunoverthecourseofevents，andyouwillcontradictmeifIgowrong。“