Lestrade's face had begun to grow red and angry.
"I don't know whether you are playing a game with us, Mr. SherlockHolmes," said he. "If you know anything, you can surely say it withoutall this tomfoolery."
"I assure you, my good Lestrade, that I have an excellent reason foreverything that I do. You may possibly remember that you chaffed me alittle some hours ago, when the sun seemed on your side of the hedge, soyou must not grudge me a little pomp and ceremony now. Might I ask you,Watson, to open that window, and then to put a match to the edge of thestraw?"
I did so, and, driven by the draught, a coil of grey smoke swirled downthe corridor, while the dry straw crackled and flamed.
"Now we must see if we can find this witness for you, Lestrade. Might Iask you all to join in the cry of 'Fire!'? Now, then; one, two, three--"
"Fire!" we all yelled.
"Thank you. I will trouble you once again."
"Fire!"
"Just once more, gentlemen, and all together."
"Fire!" The shout must have rung over Norwood.
It had hardly died away when an amazing thing happened. A door
suddenlyflew open out of what appeared to be solid wall at the end of thecorridor, and a little, wizened man darted out of it, like a rabbit outof its burrow.
"Capital!" said Holmes, calmly. "Watson, a bucket of water over thestraw. That will do! Lestrade, allow me to present you with yourprincipal missing witness, Mr. Jonas Oldacre."
The detective stared at the new-comer with blank amazement. The latterwas blinking in the bright light of the corridor, and peering at usand at the smouldering fire. It was an odious face--crafty, vicious,malignant, with shifty, light-grey eyes and white eyelashes.
"What's this, then?" said Lestrade at last. "What have you been doingall this time, eh?"
Oldacre gave an uneasy laugh, shrinking back from the furious red faceof the angry detective.
"I have done no harm."
"No harm? You have done your best to get an innocent man hanged. If itwasn't for this gentleman here, I am not sure that you would not havesucceeded."
The wretched creature began to whimper.
"I am sure, sir, it was only my practical joke."
"Oh! a joke, was it? You won't find the laugh on your side, I promiseyou. Take him down and keep him in the sitting-room until I come. Mr.Holmes," he continued, when they had gone, "I could not speak before theconstables, but I don't mind saying, in the presence of Dr. Watson,that this is the brightest thing that you have done yet, though it is amystery to me how you did it. You have saved an innocent man's life,and you have prevented a very grave scandal, which would have ruined myreputation in the Force."
Holmes smiled and clapped Lestrade upon the shoulder.
"Instead of being ruined, my good sir, you will find that yourreputation has been enormously enhanced. Just make a few alterations inthat report which you were writing, and they will understand how hard itis to throw dust in the eyes of Inspector Lestrade."
"And you don't want your name to appear?"
"Not at all. The work is its own reward. Perhaps I shall get the creditalso at some distant day when I permit my zealous historian to lay outhis foolscap once more--eh, Watson? Well, now, let us see where this rathas been lurking."
A lath-and-plaster partition had been run across the passage six feetfrom the end, with a door cunningly concealed in it. It was lit withinby slits under the eaves. A few articles of furniture and a supply offood and water were within, together with a number of books and papers.
"There's the advantage of being a builder," said Holmes, as we cameout. "He was able to fix up his own little hiding-place without anyconfederate--save, of course, that precious housekeeper of his, whom Ishould lose no time in adding to your bag, Lestrade."
"I'll take your advice. But how did you know of this place, Mr. Holmes?"
"I made up my mind that the fellow was in hiding in the house. When Ipaced one corridor and found it six feet shorter than the correspondingone below, it was pretty clear where he was. I thought he had not thenerve to lie quiet before an alarm of fire. We could, of course, havegone in and taken him, but it amused me to make him reveal himself;besides, I owed you a little mystification, Lestrade, for your chaff inthe morning."
"Well, sir, you certainly got equal with me on that. But how in theworld did you know that he was in the house at all?"