Повернення Шерлока Холмса
The Adventure of Black Peter
”
“Thisisamostextraordinarything,”saidtheinspector,“Icouldswearthatthesemarkswerenothereyesterdayevening.”
“Somecuriouspersonfromthevillage,perhaps,”Isuggested.
“Veryunlikely.Fewofthemwoulddaretosetfootinthegrounds,farlesstrytoforcetheirwayintothecabin.Whatdoyouthinkofit,Mr.Holmes?”
“Ithinkthatfortuneisverykindtous.”
“Youmeanthatthepersonwillcomeagain?”
“Itisveryprobable.Hecameexpectingtofindthedooropen.Hetriedtogetinwiththebladeofaverysmallpenknife.Hecouldnotmanageit.Whatwouldhedo?”
“Comeagainnextnightwithamoreusefultool.”
“SoIshouldsay.Itwillbeourfaultifwearenottheretoreceivehim.Meanwhile,letmeseetheinsideofthecabin.”
Thetracesofthetragedyhadbeenremoved,butthefurniturewithinthelittleroomstillstoodasithadbeenonthenightofthecrime.Fortwohours,withmostintenseconcentration,Holmesexaminedeveryobjectinturn,buthisfaceshowedthathisquestwasnotasuccessfulone.Onceonlyhepausedinhispatientinvestigation.
“Haveyoutakenanythingoffthisshelf,Hopkins?”
“No,Ihavemovednothing.”
“Somethinghasbeentaken.Thereislessdustinthiscorneroftheshelfthanelsewhere.Itmayhavebeenabooklyingonitsside.Itmayhavebeenabox.Well,well,Icandonothingmore.Letuswalkinthesebeautifulwoods,Watson,andgiveafewhourstothebirdsandtheflowers.
