Знак четырех
III. In Quest of a Solution
HeandpapawereincommandofthetroopsattheAndamanIslands,sotheywerethrownagreatdealtogether.Bytheway,acuriouspaperwasfoundinpapa’sdeskwhichnoonecouldunderstand.Idon’tsupposethatitisoftheslightestimportance,butIthoughtyoumightcaretoseeit,soIbroughtitwithme.Itishere.”
Holmesunfoldedthepapercarefullyandsmootheditoutuponhisknee.Hethenverymethodicallyexamineditalloverwithhisdoublelens.
“ItispaperofnativeIndianmanufacture,”heremarked.“Ithasatsometimebeenpinnedtoaboard.Thediagramuponitappearstobeaplanofpartofalargebuildingwithnumeroushalls,corridors,andpassages.Atonepointisasmallcrossdoneinredink,andaboveitis‘3.37fromleft,’infadedpencil-writing.Intheleft-handcornerisacurioushieroglyphiclikefourcrossesinalinewiththeirarmstouching.Besideitiswritten,inveryroughandcoarsecharacters,‘Thesignofthefour,—JonathanSmall,MahometSingh,AbdullahKhan,DostAkbar.’No,IconfessthatIdonotseehowthisbearsuponthematter.Yetitisevidentlyadocumentofimportance.Ithasbeenkeptcarefullyinapocket-book;fortheonesideisascleanastheother.”
“Itwasinhispocket-bookthatwefoundit.”
“Preserveitcarefully,then,MissMorstan,foritmayprovetobeofusetous.IbegintosuspectthatthismattermayturnouttobemuchdeeperandmoresubtlethanIatfirstsupposed.Imustreconsidermyideas.”Heleanedbackinthecab,andIcouldseebyhisdrawnbrowandhisvacanteyethathewasthinkingintently.
