2 The Search

Chapter 2 The Search Percy Phelps shifted uncomfortably on his sofa as he recalled the terror he felt at that moment. "In a panic, I ran back up the stairs. I didn't pass anyone on the way and there was no one in the room. All was exactly as I'd left it, except the treaty had been taken from my desk. The copy was there, but the original was gone. "I knew immediately that the thief must have come in through the side door on the floor below. If he'd come from the ground floor, I'd have met him coming the other way."

"You're sure he wasn't hidden in the room the whole time, or in the corridor outside?" asked Holmes. "Impossible," said Phelps. "A rat couldn't conceal itself in either place—there's nowhere to hide." "Thank you. Please continue." "Tanner saw from my face that something was wrong, and followed me as I rushed down to the side door. It was closed but unlocked. I remember, as we threw it open and dashed out,

hearing three chimes from a nearby clock. It was quarter to ten." "That's very helpful," said Holmes, making a note on his shirt cuff. "The night was dark," continued Phelps, "and a thin rain was falling. There was no one in Charles Street. At the junction with Whitehall, we found a policeman. 'A robbery has been committed,' I gasped. 'A document of immense importance has been stolen from the Foreign Office. Has anyone passed this way?' "'The only person who's come by in the fifteen minutes I've been here was a large, elderly lady,' said the policeman.

"'That was my wife,' said Tanner. 'The thief must have gone the other way. Come on, sir.' The caretaker tugged at my sleeve, but I wasn't satisfied. In fact, I was growing quite suspicious of the Tanners. I questioned the policeman further about the woman. He couldn't say where she'd gone, but said she'd passed by in the last five minutes. "'You're wasting time, sir,' said Tanner. 'The thief is getting away.' "'Where do you live, Mr. Tanner?' I asked him. "'16 Ivy Lane, Brixton,' he answered, 'but that's not important. Let's go and search at the other end of the street.' "We did so and found it full of rushing traffic and pedestrians eager to get home on such a wet night. There were no loiterers to tell us who had passed.

"We returned to the office and searched the stairs and corridors, but found no footmarks or any other trace of the thief. We examined the room—the walls, ceiling, and floor—and saw no sign of a secret entrance. The windows were some thirty feet from the ground and both were fastened on the inside. I would swear on my life that whoever stole the treaty could only have come through the door." "What about the fireplace?" asked Holmes. "There is none—the room is heated by a stove." Holmes's quick eyes were moving about almost as if he was in the room himself,

examining it for clues. "You say the thief left no trace. What about smell?" "We never thought of that—but I don't remember any." "How was the bell rung?" "The bell rope hangs from a wire just to the right of my desk. Whoever rang it must have come right up to the desk to do it. But why would a thief wish to ring the bell? It doesn't make any sense." "I agree; it's very strange," said Holmes. "What did you do next?" "By that time, the alarm had been raised and Mr. Forbes of the Metropolitan Police had arrived on the scene. He shared my suspicion of Mrs. Tanner. Why had she hurried out of the building? Mr. Tanner couldn't explain it, except