“When I came to examine the treaty I saw at once that it was ofsuch importance that my uncle had been guilty of no exaggerationin what he had said. Without going into details, I may say that itdefined the position of Great Britain towards the Triple Alliance,and foreshadowed the policy which this country would pursuein the event of the French fleet gaining a complete ascendancyover that of Italy in the Mediterranean. The questions treated init were purely naval. At the end were the signatures of the highdignitaries who had signed it. I glanced my eyes over it, and thensettled down to my task of copying.
“It was a long document, written in the French language, andcontaining twenty-six separate articles. I copied as quickly as Icould, but at nine o’clock I had only done nine articles, and itseemed hopeless for me to attempt to catch my train. I was feelingdrowsy and stupid, partly from my dinner and also from theeffects of a long day’s work. A cup of coffee would clear my brain.
A commissionnaire remains all night in a little lodge at the foot ofthe stairs, and is in the habit of making coffee at his spirit-lampfor any of the officials who may be working over time. I rang thebell, therefore, to summon him.
“To my surprise, it was a woman who answered the summons, alarge, coarse-faced, elderly woman, in an apron. She explained thatshe was the commissionnaire’s wife, who did the charing, and Igave her the order for the coffee.
“I wrote two more articles and then, feeling more drowsy thanever, I rose and walked up and down the room to stretch mylegs. My coffee had not yet come, and I wondered what was thecause of the delay could be. Opening the door, I started downthe corridor to find out. There was a straight passage, dimlylighted, which led from the room in which I had been working,and was the only exit from it. It ended in a curving staircase, withthe commissionnaire’s lodge in the passage at the bottom. Halfway down this staircase is a small landing, with another passagerunning into it at right angles. This second one leads by means ofa second small stair to a side door, used by servants, and also as ashort cut by clerks when coming from Charles Street. Here is arough chart of the place.”
“Thank you. I think that I quite
follow you,” said Sherlock Holmes.
“It is of the utmost
importance that you
should notice this
point. I went down
the stairs and into the
hall, where I found
the commissionnaire
fast asleep in his box,
with the kettle boiling
furiously upon the
spirit-lamp. I took off the kettle and blew out the lamp, for thewater was spurting over the floor. Then I put out my hand and wasabout to shake the man, who was still sleeping soundly, when a bellover his head rang loudly, and he woke with a start.
“ ‘Mr. Phelps, sir!’ said he, looking at me in bewilderment.
“ ‘I came down to see if my coffee was ready.’
“ ‘I was boiling the kettle when I fell asleep, sir.’ He looked atme and then up at the still quivering bell with an ever-growingastonishment upon his face.
“ ‘If you was here, sir, then who rang the bell?’ he asked.
“ ‘The bell!’ I cried. ‘What bell is it?’
“ ‘It’s the bell of the room you were working in.’
“A cold hand seemed to close round my heart. Someone, then,was in that room where my precious treaty lay upon the table. Iran frantically up the stair and along the passage. There was noone in the corridors, Mr. Holmes. There was no one in the room.
All was exactly as I left it, save only that the papers which hadbeen committed to my care had been taken from the desk onwhich they lay. The copy was there, and the original was gone.”
Holmes sat up in his chair and rubbed his hands. I could seethat the problem was entirely to his heart. “Pray, what did you dothen?” he murmured.
“I recognized in an instant that the thief must have come up thestairs from the side door. Of course I must have met him if he hadcome the other way.”
“You were satisfied that he could not have been concealed in theroom all the time, or in the corridor which you have just describedas dimly lighted?”
“It is absolutely impossible. A rat could not conceal himselfeither in the room or the corridor. There is no cover at all.”
“Thank you. Pray proceed.”
“The commissionnaire, seeing by my pale face that somethingwas to be feared, had followed me upstairs. Now we both rushedalong the corridor and down the steep steps which led to CharlesStreet. The door at the bottom was closed, but unlocked. Weflung it open and rushed out. I can distinctly remember that as wedid so there came three chimes from a neighboring clock. It wasquarter to ten.”
“That is of enormous importance,” said Holmes, making a noteupon his shirtcuff.
“The night was very dark, and a thin, warm rain was falling.
There was no one in Charles Street, but a great traffic was goingon, as usual, in Whitehall, at the extremity. We rushed along thepavement, bare-headed as we were, and at the far corner we founda policeman standing.
“ ‘A robbery has been committed,’ I gasped. ‘A document ofimmense value has been stolen from the Foreign Office. Has anyone passed this way?’
“ ‘I have been standing here for a quarter of an hour, sir,’ said he;‘only one person has passed during that time—a woman, tall andelderly, with a Paisley shawl.’
“ ‘Ah, that is only my wife,’ cried the commissionnaire; ‘has noone else passed?’
“ ‘No one.’
“ ‘Then it must be the other way that the thief took,’ cried thefellow, tugging at my sleeve.
“But I was not satisfied, and the attempts which he made todraw me away increased my suspicions.
“ ‘Which way did the woman go?’ I cried.
“ ‘I don’t know, sir. I noticed her pass, but I had no specialreason for watching her. She seemed to be in a hurry.’
“ ‘How long ago was it?’
“ ‘Oh, not very many minutes.’
“ ‘Within the last five?’
“ ‘Well, it could not be more than five.’
