The Adventure of the Red Circle | Page 7

angle of the door, we kept our eyes fixed upon the mirror. Suddenly, as the landlady's
footsteps died away, there was the creak of a turning key, the handle revolved, and two
thin hands darted out and lifted the tray form the chair. An instant later it was hurriedly
replaced, and I caught a glimpse of a dark, beautiful, horrified face glaring at the narrow
opening of the box-room. Then the door crashed to, the key turned once more, and all
was silence. Holmes twitched my sleeve, and together we stole down the stair.
"I will call again in the evening," said he to the expectant landlady. "I think, Watson, we
can discuss this business better in our own quarters."

"My surmise, as you saw, proved to be correct," said he, speaking from the depths of his
easy-chair. "There has been a substitution of lodgers. What I did not foresee is that we
should find a woman, and no ordinary woman, Watson."
"She saw us."
"Well, she saw something to alarm her. That is certain. The general sequence of events is
pretty clear, is it not? A couple seek refuge in London from a very terrible and instant
danger. The measure of that danger is the rigour of their precautions. The man, who has
some work which he must do, desires to leave the woman in absolute safety while he
does it. It is not an easy problem, but he solved it in an original fashion, and so
effectively that her presence was not even known to the landlady who supplies her with
food. The printed messages, as is now evident, were to prevent her sex being discovered
by her writing. The man cannot come near the woman, or he will guide their enemies to
her. Since he cannot communicate with her direct, he has recourse to the agony column
of a paper. So far all is clear."
"But what is at the root of it?"
"Ah, yes, Watson--severely practical, as usual! What is at the root of it all? Mrs. Warren's
whimsical problem enlarges somewhat and assumes a more sinister aspect as we proceed.
This much we can say: that it is no ordinary love escapade. You saw the woman's face at
the sign of danger. We have heard, too, of the attack upon the landlord, which was
undoubtedly meant for the lodger. These alarms, and the desperate need for secrecy,
argue that the matter is one of life or death. The attack upon Mr. Warren further shows
that the enemy, whoever they are, are themselves not aware of the substitution of the
female lodger for the male. It is very curious and complex, Watson."
"Why should you go further in it? What have you to gain from it?"
"What, indeed? It is art for art's sake, Watson. I suppose when you doctored you found
yourself studying cases without thought of a fee?"
"For my education, Holmes."
"Education never ends, Watson. It is a series of lessons with the greatest for the last. This
is an instructive case. There is neither money nor credit in it, and yet one would wish to
tidy it up. When dusk comes we should find ourselves one stage advanced in our
investigation."
When we returned to Mrs. Warren's rooms, the gloom of a London winter evening had
thickened into one gray curtain, a dead monotone of colour, broken only by the sharp
yellow squares of the windows and the blurred haloes of the gas-lamps. As we peered
from the darkened sitting-room of the lodging-house, one more dim light glimmered high
up through the obscurity.
"Someone is moving in that room," said Holmes in a whisper, his gaunt and eager face
thrust forward to the window-pane. "Yes, I can see his shadow. There he is again! He has

a candle in his hand. Now he is peering across. He wants to be sure that she is on the
lookout. Now he begins to flash. Take the message also, Watson, that we may check each
other. A single flash--that is A, surely. Now, then. How many did you make it? Twenty.
Do did In. That should mean T. AT--that's intelligible enough. Another T. Surely this is
the beginning of a second word. Now, then--TENTA. Dead stop. That can't be all,
Watson? ATTENTA gives no sense. Nor is it any better as three words AT, TEN, TA,
unless T. A. are a person's initials. There it goes again! What's that? ATTE--why, it is the
same message over again. Curious, Watson, very curious. Now he is off once more!
AT--why he is repeating it for the third time. ATTENTA three times! How often will he
repeat it? No, that seems to be the finish. He has withdrawn form the window. What do
you make of it, Watson?"
"A cipher