"What you say is perfectly logical, Mr. Holmes. I feel that the
matter is indeed out of our hands."
"Let us presume, for argument's sake, that the document was
taken by the maid or by the valet ----"
"They are both old and tried servants."
"I understand you to say that your room is on the second floor,
that there is no entrance from without, and that from within no
one could go up unobserved. It must, then, be somebody in the
house who has taken it. To whom would the thief take it?
To one of several international spies and secret agents, whose
names are tolerably familiar to me. There are three who may be
said to be the heads of their profession. I will begin my
research by going round and finding if each of them is at his
post. If one is missing -- especially if he has disappeared
since last night -- we will have some indication as to where
the document has gone."
"Why should he be missing?" asked the European Secretary.
"He would take the letter to an Embassy in London, as likely as not."
"I fancy not. These agents work independently, and their
relations with the Embassies are often strained.
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