The Press., 1895-03-07
lContfnued.) 4 STUDY IN SCARLET
lcontinued.)
CHAPTER VII.
By A. CONAN DOYLE.


 - .---
 CHAPTER VII.
 The intelligence with which Lestrade greeted us was so momentous and so un- expected that we were all three fairly dumfounded. Gregson sprang out of his chair and upset the remainder of his whisky and water. 1 stared in silence at Sherlock Holmes, whose lips were com pressed and his brows drawn down over his eyes.
 Stangerson, tool" he muttered. ''The plot thickens. "
 ''It was quite thick enough before, " grumbled Lestrade, taking 8 chair. II seem to have dropped into sort of council of war. -a .s..
 "Are you-are you sure of this piece of intelligence?' stammered Gregson.
 1T have Just come from his room, " said LestEade ''I was the first to dis cover what had occurred. ''
 We have been hearing Gregson' $ view of the matter" Holmes observed Would you mind letting us know what you have seen and done?"
 'I have no objection, Lestrade an- swered, seating himself. II freely con- fess that was of the opinion that Stangerson was concerned in the death of Drebber. This fresh development has shown me that was completely mis- taken. Fn1l of the one idea, set myself to find out what had become of the sec retary They had been seen together at Euston station about half past on the evening of the 3d. At 3 in the morning Drebber had been found in the Brixton road. The question which confronted me was to find out how Stangerson had been employed between 8:30 and the time of the crime and what had become of him afterward. I telegraphed to Liv. erpool giving a description of the man and warning them to keep watch upon the American boats. then set to work calling upon all the hotels and lodging houses in the vicinity of Huston. You see, argued that if Drebber and bis companion had become separated the natural course for the latter would be to put up somewhere in the vicinity for the night and then to hang about the station again next morning"
 ''They would be likely to agree on some meeting place beforehand, re- marked Holmes.
 ''So it proved. spent the whole of yesterday evening in making inquiries entirely without avail. This morning began very early, and at o'clock l reached Halliday's s Private hotel in Lit tie George street. On my inquiry as to whether a MT. Staugerson was living there they at once answered me in the affirmative.
 No doubt you are the gentleman he was expecting, they said. He has been waiting for gentleman for two days
 Where is he now? asked.
 He is up stairs in bed. He wished to be called at 9.
 'It seemed to me that my sudden ap- pearance might shake his nerves and lead him to say something unguarded. The boots volunteered to show me the room. It was on the second floor, and there was a small corridor leading up to it. The boots pointed out the door to me and was about to go down stairs again when saw something that made me feel siekish, in spite of my 20 years experience. From under the door there curled little red ribbon of blood, which had meandered across the passage and formed little pool along the skirtine at the other side. Igave 8 cry, which brought the boots back. He nearly tainted when he saw it. The door wal looked on the inside, but we put oul shoulders to it and knocked it in. The window of the room was open, and be side the window, all huddled up, lay the body of man in his nightdress. He was quite dead and had been fol some time, for his limbs were rigid anC cold When we turned him over, thC boots recognized him at once as being the same gentleman who had engaged the room under the name of Joseph Stangerson. The cause of death was z deep stab in the left side, which must have penetrated the heart. And now comes the strangest part of the affair.