"Eh? What was that?"

"I say that I have solved it."

"Where, then, is my wife?"

"That is a detail which I shall speedily supply."

Lord St. Simon shook his head. "I am afraid that it will take

wiser heads than yours or mine," he remarked, and bowing in a

stately, old-fashioned manner he departed.

"It is very good of Lord St. Simon to honor 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, hello, 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 clew 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 maner?"

"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 discolored 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 neighborhood 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 upon the table in front of him. "Listen to this: 'You will

see me when all is ready. Come at once. F.H.M.' Now my theory all

along has been that Lady St. Simon was decoyed away by Flora

Millar, and that she, with confederates, no doubt, was

responsible for her disappearance. Here, signed with her

initials, is the very note which was no doubt quietly slipped

into her hand at the door and which lured her within their

reach."

"Very good, Lestrade," said Holmes, laughing. "You really are

very fine indeed. Let me see it." He took up the paper in a

listless way, but his attention instantly became riveted, and he

gave a little cry of satisfaction. "This is indeed important,"

said he.

"Ha! you find it so?"

"Extremely so. I congratulate you warmly."

Lestrade rose in his triumph and bent his head to look. "Why," he

shrieked, "you're looking at the wrong side!"

"On the contrary, this is the right side."

"The right side? You're mad! Here is the note written in pencil

over here."

"And over here is what appears to be the fragment of a hotel

bill, which interests me deeply."

"There's nothing in it. I looked at it before," said Lestrade.

"'Oct. 4th, rooms 8s., breakfast 2s. 6d., cocktail 1s., lunch 2s.

6d., glass sherry, 8d.' I see nothing in that."

"Very likely not. It is most important, all the same. As to the

note, it is important also, or at least the initials are, so I

congratulate you again."

"I've wasted time enough," said Lestrade, rising. "I believe in

hard work and not in sitting by the fire spinning fine theories.

Good-day, Mr. Holmes, and we shall see which gets to the bottom

of the matter first." He gathered up the garments, thrust them

into the bag, and made for the door.

"Just one hint to you, Lestrade," drawled Holmes before his rival

vanished; "I will tell you the true solution of the matter. Lady

St. Simon is a myth. There is not, and there never has been, any

such person."

Lestrade looked sadly at my companion. Then he turned to me,

tapped his forehead three times, shook his head solemnly, and

hurried away.