The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans | Page 6

London. From an
official point of view it's simply awful."
"But you have recovered them?"
"No, Sherlock, no! That's the pinch. We have not. Ten papers were
taken from Woolwich. There were seven in the pocket of Cadogan
West. The three most essential are gone--stolen, vanished. You must
drop everything, Sherlock. Never mind your usual petty puzzles of the
police-court. It's a vital international problem that you have to solve.
Why did Cadogan West take the papers, where are the missing ones,
how did he die, how came his body where it was found, how can the

evil be set right? Find an answer to all these questions, and you will
have done good service for your country."
"Why do you not solve it yourself, Mycroft? You can see as far as I."
"Possibly, Sherlock. But it is a question of getting details. Give me
your details, and from an armchair I will return you an excellent expert
opinion. But to run here and run there, to cross-question railway guards,
and lie on my face with a lens to my eye--it is not my metier. No, you
are the one man who can clear the matter up. If you have a fancy to see
your name in the next honours list--"
My friend smiled and shook his head.
"I play the game for the game's own sake," said he. "But the problem
certainly presents some points of interest, and I shall be very pleased to
look into it. Some more facts, please."
"I have jotted down the more essential ones upon this sheet of paper,
together with a few addresses which you will find of service. The actual
official guardian of the papers is the famous government expert, Sir
James Walter, whose decorations and sub-titles fill two lines of a book
of reference. He has grown gray in the service, is a gentleman, a
favoured guest in the most exalted houses, and, above all, a man whose
patriotism is beyond suspicion. He is one of two who have a key of the
safe. I may add that the papers were undoubtedly in the office during
working hours on Monday, and that Sir James left for London about
three o'clock taking his key with him. He was at the house of Admiral
Sinclair at Barclay Square during the whole of the evening when this
incident occurred."
"Has the fact been verified?"
"Yes; his brother, Colonel Valentine Walter, has testified to his
departure from Woolwich, and Admiral Sinclair to his arrival in
London; so Sir James is no longer a direct factor in the problem."
"Who was the other man with a key?"

"The senior clerk and draughtsman, Mr. Sidney Johnson. He is a man
of forty, married, with five children. He is a silent, morose man, but he
has, on the whole, an excellent record in the public service. He is
unpopular with his colleagues, but a hard worker. According to his own
account, corroborated only by the word of his wife, he was at home the
whole of Monday evening after office hours, and his key has never left
the watch-chain upon which it hangs."
"Tell us about Cadogan West."
"He has been ten years in the service and has done good work. He has
the reputation of being hot-headed and imperious, but a straight, honest
man. We have nothing against him. He was next Sidney Johnson in the
office. His duties brought him into daily, personal contact with the
plans. No one else had the handling of them."
"Who locked up the plans that night?"
"Mr. Sidney Johnson, the senior clerk."
"Well, it is surely perfectly clear who took them away. They are
actually found upon the person of this junior clerk, Cadogan West. That
seems final, does it not?"
"It does, Sherlock, and yet it leaves so much unexplained. In the first
place, why did he take them?"
"I presume they were of value?"
"He could have got several thousands for them very easily."
"Can you suggest any possible motive for taking the papers to London
except to sell them?"
"No, I cannot."
"Then we must take that as our working hypothesis. Young West took
the papers. Now this could only be done by having a false key--"

"Several false keys. He had to open the building and the room."
"He had, then, several false keys. He took the papers to London to sell
the secret, intending, no doubt, to have the plans themselves back in the
safe next morning before they were missed. While in London on this
treasonable mission he met his end."
"How?"
"We will suppose that he was travelling back to Woolwich when he
was killed and thrown out of the compartment."
"Aldgate, where the body was found, is considerably past the station
London Bridge, which would