His Last Bow | Page 3

tumbledown building in a crazy state of disrepair. When the trap pulled
up on the grass-grown drive in front of the blotched and
weather-stained door, I had doubts as to my wisdom in visiting a man
whom I knew so slightly. He opened the door himself, however, and
greeted me with a great show of cordiality. I was handed over to the
manservant, a melancholy, swarthy individual, who led the way, my
bag in his hand, to my bedroom. The whole place was depressing. Our
dinner was tete-a-tete, and though my host did his best to be
entertaining, his thoughts seemed to continually wander, and he talked
so vaguely and wildly that I could hardly understand him. He
continually drummed his fingers on the table, gnawed his nails, and
gave other signs of nervous impatience. The dinner itself was neither
well served nor well cooked, and the gloomy presence of the taciturn
servant did not help to enliven us. I can assure you that many times in
the course of the evening I wished that I could invent some excuse
which would take me back to Lee.
"One thing comes back to my memory which may have a bearing upon
the business that you two gentlemen are investigating. I thought
nothing of it at the time. Near the end of dinner a note was handed in
by the servant. I noticed that after my host had read it he seemed even
more distrait and strange than before. He gave up all pretence at
conversation and sat, smoking endless cigarettes, lost in his own
thoughts, but he made no remark as to the contents. About eleven I was
glad to go to bed. Some time later Garcia looked in at my door--the
room was dark at the time- -and asked me if I had rung. I said that I had
not. He apologized for having disturbed me so late, saying that it was
nearly one o'clock. I dropped off after this and slept soundly all night.
"And now I come to the amazing part of my tale. When I woke it was
broad daylight. I glanced at my watch, and the time was nearly nine. I
had particularly asked to be called at eight, so I was very much
astonished at this forgetfulness. I sprang up and rang for the servant.
There was no response. I rang again and again, with the same result.
Then I came to the conclusion that the bell was out of order. I huddled

on my clothes and hurried downstairs in an exceedingly bad temper to
order some hot water. You can imagine my surprise when I found that
there was no one there. I shouted in the hall. There was no answer.
Then I ran from room to room. All were deserted. My host had shown
me which was his bedroom the night before, so I knocked at the door.
No reply. I turned the handle and walked in. The room was empty, and
the bed had never been slept in. He had gone with the rest. The foreign
host, the foreign footman, the foreign cook, all had vanished in the
night! That was the end of my visit to Wisteria Lodge."
Sherlock Holmes was rubbing his hands and chuckling as he added this
bizarre incident to his collection of strange episodes.
"Your experience is, so far as I know, perfectly unique," said he. "May
I ask, sir, what you did then?"
"I was furious. My first idea was that I had been the victim of some
absurd practical joke. I packed my things, banged the hall door behind
me, and set off for Esher, with my bag in my hand. I called at Allan
Brothers', the chief land agents in the village, and found that it was
from this firm that the villa had been rented. It struck me that the whole
proceeding could hardly be for the purpose of making a fool of me, and
that the main objet must be to get out of the rent. It is late in March, so
quarter- day is at hand. But this theory would not work. The agent was
obliged to me for my warning, but told me that the rent had been paid
in advance. Then I made my way to town and called at the Spanish
embassy. The man was unknown there. After this I went to see Melville,
at whose house I had first met Garcia, but I found that he really knew
rather less about him than I did. Finally when I got your reply to my
wire I came out to you, since I gather that you are a person who gives
advice in difficult cases. But now, Mr. Inspector, I understand, from
what you said when you entered the room,