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ElapticAI-512

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old-fashioned manner he departed.
“It is very good of Lord St. Simon to honour my head by putting it on a
level with his own, said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. “I think that I
shall have a whisky and soda and a cigar after all this
cross-questioning. I had formed my conclusions as to the case before
our client came into the room.
“My dear Holmes!
“I have notes of several similar cases, though none, as I remarked
before, which were quite as prompt. My whole examination served to turn
my conjecture into a certainty. Circumstantial evidence is occasionally
very convincing, as when you find a trout in the milk, to quote
Thoreau’s example.
“But I have heard all that you have heard.
“Without, however, the knowledge of pre-existing cases which serves me
so well. There was a parallel instance in Aberdeen some years back, and
something on very much the same lines at Munich the year after the
Franco-Prussian War. It is one of these cases—but, hullo, here is
Lestrade! Good-afternoon, Lestrade! You will find an extra tumbler upon
the sideboard, and there are cigars in the box.
The official detective was attired in a pea-jacket and cravat, which
gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a black canvas
bag in his hand. With a short greeting he seated himself and lit the
cigar which had been offered to him.
“What’s up, then? asked Holmes with a twinkle in his eye. “You look
dissatisfied.
“And I feel dissatisfied. It is this infernal St. Simon marriage case.
I can make neither head nor tail of the business.
“Really! You surprise me.
“Who ever heard of such a mixed affair? Every clue seems to slip
through my fingers. I have been at work upon it all day.
“And very wet it seems to have made you, said Holmes laying his hand
upon the arm of the pea-jacket.
“Yes, I have been dragging the Serpentine.
“In Heaven’s name, what for?
“In search of the body of Lady St. Simon.
Sherlock Holmes leaned back in his chair and laughed heartily.
“Have you dragged the basin of Trafalgar Square fountain? he asked.
“Why? What do you mean?
“Because you have just as good a chance of finding this lady in the one
as in the other.
Lestrade shot an angry glance at my companion. “I suppose you know all
about it, he snarled.
“Well, I have only just heard the facts, but my mind is made up.
“Oh, indeed! Then you think that the Serpentine plays no part in the
matter?
“I think it very unlikely.
“Then perhaps you will kindly explain how it is that we found this in
it? He opened his bag as he spoke, and tumbled onto the floor a
wedding-dress of watered silk, a pair of white satin shoes and a
bride’s wreath and veil, all discoloured and soaked in water. “There,
said he, putting a new wedding-ring upon the top of the pile. “There is
a little nut for you to crack, Master Holmes.
“Oh, indeed! said my friend, blowing blue rings into the air. “You
dragged them from the Serpentine?
“No. They were found floating near the margin by a park-keeper. They
have been identified as her clothes, and it seemed to me that if the
clothes were there the body would not be far off.
“By the same brilliant reasoning, every man’s body is to be found in
the neighbourhood of his wardrobe. And pray what did you hope to arrive
at through this?
“At some evidence implicating Flora Millar in the disappearance.
“I am afraid that you will find it difficult.
“Are you, indeed, now? cried Lestrade with some bitterness. “I am
afraid, Holmes, that you are not very practical with your deductions
and your inferences. You have made two blunders in as many minutes.
This dress does implicate Miss Flora Millar.
“And how?
“In the dress is a pocket. In the pocket is a card-case. In the
card-case is a note. And here is the very note. He slapped it down