In the early dawn I woke with a start, and was surprised to find
him standing by my bedside, clad in a rude sailor dress with a
pea-jacket, and a coarse red scarf round his neck.
"I am off down the river, Watson," said he. "I have been turning
it over in my mind, and I can see only one way out of it. It is
worth trying, at all events."
"Surely I can come with you, then?" said I.
"No; you can be much more useful if you will remain here as my
representative. I am loath to go, for it is quite on the cards
that some message may come during the day, though Wiggins was
despondent about it last night. I want you to open all notes and
telegrams, and to act on your own judgment if any news should
come. Can I rely upon you?"
"Most certainly."
"I am afraid that you will not be able to wire to me, for I can
hardly tell yet where I may find myself. If I am in luck,
however, I may not be gone so very long. I shall have news of
some sort or other before I get back."
I had heard nothing of him by breakfast-time. On opening the
Standard, however, I found that there was a fresh allusion to the
business. "With reference to the Upper Norwood tragedy," it
remarked, "we have reason to believe that the matter promises to
be even more complex and mysterious than was originally supposed.
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