Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Page B

Ratcliff Highway murders, the article concluded by admonishing the Government and advocating a closer watch over foreigners in England.
    The
Standard
commented upon the fact that lawless outrages of the sort usually occurred under a Liberal Administration. They arose from the unsettling of the minds of the masses, and the consequent weakening of all authority. The deceased was an American gentleman who had been residing for some weeks in the Metropolis. He had stayed at the boarding-house of Madame Charpentier, in Torquay Terrace, Camberwell. He was accompanied in his travels by his private secretary, Mr Joseph Stangerson. The two bade adieu to their landlady upon Tuesday, the 4th inst., and departed to Euston Station with the avowed intention of catching the Liverpoolexpress. They were afterward seen together upon the platform. Nothing more is known of them until Mr Drebber’s body was, as recorded, discovered in an empty house in the Brixton Road, many miles from Euston. How he came there, or how he met his fate, are questions which are still involved in mystery. Nothing is known of the whereabouts of Stangerson. We are glad to learn that Mr Lestrade and Mr Gregson, of Scotland Yard, are both engaged upon the case, and it is confidently anticipated that these well-known officers will speedily throw light upon the matter.
    The
Daily News
observed that there was no doubt as to the crime being a political one. The despotism and hatred of Liberalism which animated the Continental Governments had had the effect of driving to our shores a number of men who might have made excellent citizens were they not soured by the recollection of all that they had undergone. Among these men there was a stringent code of honour, any infringement of which was punished by death. Every effort should be made to find the secretary, Stangerson, and to ascertain some particulars of the habits of the deceased. A great step had been gained by the discovery of the address of the house at which he had boarded – a result which was entirely due to the acuteness and energy of Mr Gregson of Scotland Yard.
    Sherlock Holmes and I read these notices over together at breakfast, and they appeared to afford him considerable amusement.
    â€˜I told you that, whatever happened, Lestrade and Gregson would be sure to score.’
    â€˜That depends on how it turns out.’
    â€˜Oh, bless you, it doesn’t matter in the least. If the man is caught, it will be
on account
of their exertions; if he escapes, it will be
in spite
of their exertions. It’s heads I win and tails you lose. Whatever they do, they will have followers. “Un sot trouve toujours un plus sot qui l’admire.”’
    â€˜What on earth is that?’ I cried, for at this moment there came the pattering of many steps in the hall and on the stairs, accompanied by audible expressions of disgust upon the part of our landlady.
    â€˜It’s the Baker Street division of the detective police force,’ said my companion gravely; and as he spoke there rushed into the room half a dozen of the dirtiest and most ragged street Arabs that ever I clapped eyes on.
    â€˜â€™Tention!’ cried Holmes, in a sharp tone, and the six dirty scoundrels stood in a line like so many disreputable statuettes. ‘In future you shall send up Wiggins alone to report, and the rest of you must wait in the street. Have you found it, Wiggins?’
    â€˜No, sir, we hain’t,’ said one of the youths.
    â€˜I hardly expected you would. You must keep on until you do. Here are your wages.’ He handed each of them a shilling. ‘Now, off you go, and come back with a better report next time.’
    He waved his hand, and they scampered away downstairs like so many rats, and we heard their shrill voices next moment in the street.
    â€˜There’s more work to be got out of one of those little beggars than out of a dozen of the force,’ Holmes remarked. ‘The mere