an instant. To be sure the secret must lie there."
He flattened it out upon the table, and a cry of triumph burst from his
lips.

"Look at this, Watson!" he cried. "It is a London paper, an early
edition of the _Evening Standard_. Here is what we want. Look at the
headlines--'Crime in the City. Murder at Mawson and Williams'. Gigantic
Attempted Robbery; Capture of the Criminal.' Here, Watson, we are all
equally anxious to hear it, so kindly read it aloud to us."

It appeared from its position in the paper to have been the one event of
importance in town, and the account of it ran in this way:--

"A desperate attempt at robbery, culminating in the death of one man and
the capture of the criminal, occurred this afternoon in the City. For
some time back Mawson and Williams, the famous financial house, have
been the guardians of securities which amount in the aggregate to a sum
of considerably over a million sterling. So conscious was the manager of
the responsibility which devolved upon him in consequence of the great
interests at stake, that safes of the very latest construction have been
employed, and an armed watchman has been left day and night in the
building. It appears that last week a new clerk, named Hall Pycroft, was
engaged by the firm. This person appears to have been none other than
Beddington, the famous forger and cracksman, who, with his brother, has
only recently emerged from a five years' spell of penal servitude. By
some means, which are not yet clear, he succeeded in winning, under a
false name, this official position in the office, which he utilized in
order to obtain mouldings of various locks, and a thorough knowledge of
the position of the strong room and the safes.

"It is customary at Mawson's for the clerks to leave at midday on
Saturday. Sergeant Tuson, of the City Police, was somewhat surprised
therefore to see a gentleman with a carpet bag come down the steps at
twenty minutes past one. His suspicions being aroused, the sergeant
followed the man, and with the aid of Constable Pollock succeeded, after
a most desperate resistance, in arresting him. It was at once clear that
a daring and gigantic robbery had been committed. Nearly a hundred
thousand pounds worth of American railway bonds, with a large amount of
scrip in other mines and companies, were discovered in the bag. On
examining the premises the body of the unfortunate watchman was found
doubled up and thrust into the largest of the sa