But he might be a bachelor.
Nay, he was bringing home the goose as a peace-offering to his wife.
Remember the card upon the bird s leg.
You have an answer to everything. But how on earth do you deduce that
the gas is not laid on in his house?
One tallow stain, or even two, might come by chance; but when I see no
less than five, I think that there can be little doubt that the
individual must be brought into frequent contact with burning
tallow walks upstairs at night probably with his hat in one hand and a
guttering candle in the other. Anyhow, he never got tallow-stains from
a gas-jet. Are you satisfied?
Well, it is very ingenious, said I, laughing; but since, as you said
just now, there has been no crime committed, and no harm done save the
loss of a goose, all this seems to be rather a waste of energy.
Sherlock Holmes had opened his mouth to reply, when the door flew open,
and Peterson, the commissionaire, rushed into the apartment with
flushed cheeks and the face of a man who is dazed with astonishment.
The goose, Mr. Holmes! The goose, sir! he gasped.
Eh? What of it, then? Has it returned to life and flapped off through
the kitchen window? Holmes twisted himself round upon the sofa to get
a fairer view of the man s excited face.
See here, sir! See what my wife found in its crop! He held out his
hand and displayed upon the centre of the palm a brilliantly
scintillating blue stone, rather smaller than a bean in size, but of
such purity and radiance that it twinkled like an electric point in the
dark hollow of his hand.
Sherlock Holmes sat up with a whistle. By Jove, Peterson! said he,
this is treasure trove indeed. I suppose you know what you have got?
A diamond, sir? A precious stone. It cuts into glass as though it were
putty.
152