“For an instant I imagined that Bannister had taken theunpardonable liberty of examining my papers. He denied it,however, with the utmost earnestness, and I am convinced thathe was speaking the truth. The alternative was that someonepassing had observed the key in the door, had known that I wasout, and had entered to look at the papers. A large sum of moneyis at stake, for the scholarship is a very valuable one, and anunscrupulous man might very well run a risk in order to gain anadvantage over his fellows.
“Bannister was very much upset by the incident. He had nearlyfainted when we found that the papers had undoubtedly beentampered with. I gave him a little brandy and left him collapsedin a chair, while I made a most careful examination of the room.
I soon saw that the intruder had left other traces of his presencebesides the rumpled papers. On the table in the window wereseveral shreds from a pencil which had been sharpened. A brokentip of lead was lying there also. Evidently the rascal had copiedthe paper in a great hurry, had broken his pencil, and had beencompelled to put a fresh point to it.”
“Excellent!” said Holmes, who was recovering his good-humouras his attention became more engrossed by the case. “Fortune hasbeen your friend.”
“This was not all. I have a new writing-table with a fine surfaceof red leather. I am prepared to swear, and so is Bannister, that itwas smooth and unstained. Now I found a clean cut in it aboutthree inches long—not a mere scratch, but a positive cut. Notonly this, but on the table I found a small ball of black dough orclay, with specks of something which looks like sawdust in it. Iam convinced that these marks were left by the man who rifledthe papers. There were no footmarks and no other evidence asto his identity. I was at my wit’s end, when suddenly the happythought occurred to me that you were in the town, and I camestraight round to put the matter into your hands. Do help me,Mr. Holmes. You see my dilemma. Either I must find the man orelse the examination must be postponed until fresh papers areprepared, and since this cannot be done without explanation,there will ensue a hideous scandal, which will throw a cloud notonly on the college, but on the university. Above all things, I desireto settle the matter quietly and discreetly.”
“I shall be happy to look into it and to give you such advice asI can,” said Holmes, rising and putting on his overcoat. “The caseis not entirely devoid of interest. Had anyone visited you in yourroom after the papers came to you?”
“Yes, young Daulat Ras, an Indian student, who lives on the samestair, came in to ask me some particulars about the examination.”
“For which he was entered?”
“Yes.”
“And the papers were on your table?”
“To the best of my belief, they were rolled up.”
“But might be recognized as proofs?”
“Possibly.”
“No one else in your room?”
“No.”
“Did anyone know that these proofs would be there?”
“No one save the printer.”
“Did this man Bannister know?”
“No, certainly not. No one knew.”
“Where is Bannister now?”
“He was very ill, poor fellow. I left him collapsed in the chair. Iwas in such a hurry to come to you.”
“You left your door open?”
“I locked up the papers first.”
“Then it amounts to this, Mr. Soames: that, unless the Indianstudent recognized the roll as being proofs, the man whotampered with them came upon them accidentally withoutknowing that they were there.”
“So it seems to me.”
Holmes gave an enigmatic smile.
“Well,” said he, “let us go round. Not one of your cases,Watson—mental, not physical. All right; come if you want to.
Now, Mr. Soames—at your disposal!”
The sitting-room of our client opened by a long, low, latticedwindow on to the ancient lichen-tinted court of the old college. AGothic arched door led to a worn stone staircase. On the groundfloor was the tutor’s room. Above were three students, one oneach story. It was already twilight when we reached the scene ofour problem. Holmes halted and looked earnestly at the window.
Then he approached it, and, standing on tiptoe with his neckcraned, he looked into the room.
“He must have entered through the door. There is no openingexcept the one pane,” said our learned guide.
“Dear me!” said Holmes, and he smiled in a singular way as heglanced at our companion. “Well, if there is nothing to be learnedhere, we had best go inside.”
The lecturer unlocked the outer door and ushered us intohis room. We stood at the entrance while Holmes made anexamination of the carpet.
“I am afraid there are no signs here,” said he. “One could hardlyhope for any upon so dry a day. Your servant seems to have quiterecovered. You left him in a chair, you say. Which chair?”
“By the window there.”
“I see. Near this little table. You can come in now. I have finishedwith the carpet. Let us take the little table first. Of course, whathas happened is very clear. The man entered and took the papers,sheet by sheet, from the central table. He carried them over to thewindow table, because from there he could see if you came acrossthe courtyard, and so could effect an escape.”
“As a matter of fact, he could not,” said Soames, “for I enteredby the side door.”
“Ah, that’s good! Well, anyhow, that was in his mind. Let me seethe three strips. No finger impressions—no! Well, he carried overthis one first, and he copied it. How long would it take him to dothat, using every possible contraction? A quarter of an hour, notless. Then he tossed it down and seized the next. He was in themidst of that when your return caused him to make a very hurriedretreat—very hurried, since he had not time to replace the paperswhich would tell you that he had been there. You were not awareof any hurrying feet on the stair as you entered the outer door?”
“No, I can’t say I was.”
