," said Holmes, smiling, "that all the queen's horses and
all the queen's men cannot avail in this matter." He had spread out
his big map of London and leaned eagerly over it. "Well, well," said he
presently with an exclamation of satisfaction, "things are turning a
little in our direction at last. Why, Watson, I do honestly believe
that we are going to pull it off, after all." He slapped me on the
shoulder with a sudden burst of hilarity. "I am going out now. It is
only a reconnaissance. I will do nothing serious without my trusted
comrade and biographer at my elbow. Do you stay here, and the odds are
that you will see me again in an hour or two. If time hangs heavy get
foolscap and a pen, and begin your narrative of how we saved the State."

I felt some reflection of his elation in my own mind, for I knew well
that he would not depart so far from his usual austerity of demeanour
unless there was good cause for exultation. All the long November
evening I waited, filled with impatience for his return. At last,
shortly after nine o'clock, there arrived a messenger with a note:

Am dining at Goldini's Restaurant, Gloucester Road, Kensington. Please
come at once and join me there. Bring with you a jemmy, a dark
lantern, a chisel, and a revolver.

S.H.

It was a nice equipment for a respectable citizen to carry through the
dim, fog-draped streets. I stowed them all discreetly away in my
overcoat and drove straight to the address given. There sat my friend
at a little round table near the door of the garish Italian restaurant.

"Have you had something to eat? Then join me in a coffee and curacao.
Try one of the proprietor's cigars. They are less poisonous than one
would expect. Have you the tools?"

"They are here, in my overcoat."

"Excellent. Let me give you a short sketch of what I have done, with
some indication of what we are about to do. Now it must be evident to
you, Watson, that this young man's body was PLACED on the roof of the
train. That was clear from the instant that I determined the fact that
it was from the roof, and not from a carriage, that he had fallen."

"Could it not have been dropped from a bridge?"

"I should say it was impossible. If you examine the roofs you will
find that they are slightly rounded, and there is no railing round
them. Therefore, we can say for certain that young Cadogan West was
placed on it."

"How could he be placed there?"

"That was the question