Holmes picked up several of them and examined them
carefully. I was convinced from his intent face and his
purposeful manner that at last he was upon a clue.
"Well?" asked Lestrade.
Holmes shrugged his shoulders.
"We have a long way to go yet," said he. "And yet -- and yet --
well, we have some suggestive facts to act upon. The possession
of this trifling bust was worth more in the eyes of this
strange criminal than a human life. That is one point.
Then there is the singular fact that he did not break it in the
house, or immediately outside the house, if to break it was his
sole object."
"He was rattled and bustled by meeting this other fellow.
He hardly knew what he was doing."
"Well, that's likely enough. But I wish to call your attention
very particularly to the position of this house in the garden
of which the bust was destroyed."
Lestrade looked about him.
"It was an empty house, and so he knew that he would not be
disturbed in the garden."
"Yes, but there is another empty house farther up the street
which he must have passed before he came to this one. Why did
he not break it there, since it is evident that every yard that
he carried it increased the risk of someone meeting him?"
"I give it up," said Lestrade.
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