”Idoubtifyouwouldhavebeengiventheopportunity。Inoticedthatwewereslightlydetroptowardsthelast。””Iwouldn’thavemindedthat；notonmyownaccount，thatis。Itmightnothavebeenpleasantforyou。However，theofficeiswaiting。Come，letmeputyouonthecar。”ThatnightIbidedhiscomingwithanimpatienceIcouldnotcontrol。
Hewaslate，ofcourse，butwhenhedidappear，Ialmostforgotourusualgreetinginmyhurrytoaskhimifhehadseentheeveningpapers。”No，”hegrumbled，ashehunguphisovercoat。”Beenpushedaboutallday。Notimeforanything。””Thenletmetellyou-”
Buthewouldhavedinnerfirst。
However，alittlelaterwehadacomfortablechat。Mr。Grycehadmadeadiscovery，andthepaperswerefullofit。ItwasonewhichgavemeasmalltriumphoverGeorge。Thesuggestionhehadlaughedatwasnotsoentirelyfoolishashehadbeenpleasedtoconsiderit。Butletmetellthestoryofthatday，withoutanyfurtherreferencetomyself。
Theopinionhadbecomequitegeneralwiththosebestacquaintedwiththedetailsofthisaffair，thatthemysterywasoneofthoseabnormalonesforwhichnosolutionwouldeverbefound，whentheageddetectiveshowedhimselfinthebuildingandwastakentotheroom，whereanInspectorofPoliceawaitedhim。Theirgreetingwascordial，andthelinesonthelatter’sfacerelaxedalittleashemetthestillbrighteyeofthemanuponwhoseinstinctandjudgmentsomuchreliancehadalwaysbeenplaced。”Thisisverygoodofyou，”hebegan，glancingdownattheageddetective’sbundleduplegs，andgentlypushingachairtowardshim。”Iknowthatitwasagreatdealtoask，butwe’reatourwits’end，andsoItelephoned。It’sthemostinexplicable-There！