6 Holmes Tells His Story

Chapter 6 Holmes Tells His Story Percy Phelps stared at the naval treaty for a moment. Then he began dancing wildly about the room, pressing it to his chest and shrieking with delight. Finally, he fell, exhausted, into an armchair. "Sorry to spring that on you like that," smiled Holmes, patting Phelps's shoulder. "Watson will tell you, I can never resist a touch of the dramatic."

Phelps seized his hand and kissed it. "God bless you, sir!" he cried. "You've saved my reputation." "And mine," Holmes declared. "It would have been dreadful to have failed in a case such as this." "I don't wish to interrupt your breakfast," said Phelps, "but I'm dying to know how you found it." So, after eating his fill of curried chicken, Holmes sat in an armchair and told us his story. "After leaving you at the station, I spent the day

at the inn of a little village near Woking. In the evening, I set off for Briar House. Not wishing to be noticed, I climbed over the fence into the grounds, then found a place to hide behind a rhododendron bush, just opposite your bedroom window. "From where I sat, I had a clear view of Miss Harrison sitting in the room reading her book. At quarter-past ten, she rose, fastened the shutters, and departed. I heard her close the door and lock it." "Why did she lock the door?" asked Phelps. "Because I told her to. She carried out my instructions to the letter. Without her help, you would not now have that treaty in your pocket.

"I continued to wait and watch behind my rhododendron bush as the hours went by. It was a long vigil, but at last, around two in the morning, I saw a figure emerge from the servant's door and Joseph Harrison stepped out into the moonlight." "Joseph?" cried Phelps. Holmes nodded. "He tiptoed over to your window, then worked a long-bladed knife through the sash. He used the knife first to open

the window and then the shutters. Within a few minutes, he had entered the bedroom. "Very quietly, I crept across the lawn so I could see what he was doing. "I watched as he lit the candles on the mantelpiece, then turned back a corner of the carpet near the door. He lifted a loose floorboard and took out that little roll of paper. Then he put back the floorboard and carpet, blew out the candles, climbed out of the window—and walked straight into me. "Your future brother-in-law reacted more violently than I expected, flying at me with his knife. I received a cut on the knuckles before I managed to grab his wrists and overpower him. He had murder in his eyes, but his position was helpless and eventually he handed over the treaty.

"Once I had it, I let Harrison go, but I've wired Forbes with all the details. He may catch him, though it will probably be better for the government if he doesn't. I doubt either you, Mr. Phelps, or Lord Holdhurst are anxious for this affair to be made public, which it would be if Harrison goes on trial." "Are you telling me that the stolen treaty was in that room with me all this time?" gasped Phelps. "I certainly am." "And Joseph of all people was the villain and the thief?" "Joseph Harrison may not have been quite the fine, upstanding man you thought him to be,"