"WITH THE BOUND OF A TIGER HOLMES WAS ON HIS BACK."
(See page 492.)
The Strand Magazine.
Vol. xxvii. MAY, 1904. No. 161.
THE RETURN OF
SHERLOCK HOLMES.
By A. CONAN DOYLE.
Copyright, 1904, by A. Conan Doyle, in the United States of America.
VIII.—The Adventure of the Six Napoleons.
T was no very unusual thingfor Mr. Lestrade, of ScotlandYard, to look in upon us of anevening, and his visits werewelcome to Sherlock Holmes,for they enabled him to keepin touch with all that was going on at thepolice head-quarters. In return for the newswhich Lestrade would bring, Holmes wasalways ready to listen with attention to thedetails of any case upon which the detectivewas engaged, and was able occasionally,without any active interference, to give somehint or suggestion drawn from his own vastknowledge and experience.
On this particular evening Lestrade hadspoken of the weather and the newspapers.Then he had fallen silent, puffing thoughtfullyat his cigar. Holmes looked keenly athim.
"Anything remarkable on hand?" heasked.
"Oh, no, Mr. Holmes, nothing very particular."
"Then tell me about it."
Lestrade laughed.
"Well, Mr. Holmes, there is no use denyingthat there is something on my mind.And yet it is such an absurd business that Ihesitated to bother you about it. On theother hand, although it is trivial, it is undoubtedlyqueer, and I know that you havea taste for all that is out of the common.But in my opinion it comes more in Dr.Watson's line than ours."
"Disease?" said I.
"Madness, anyhow. And a queer madnesstoo! You wouldn't think there wasanyone living at this time of day who hadsuch a hatred of Napoleon the First that hewould break any image of him that hecould see."
Holmes sank back in his chair.
"That's no business of mine," said he.
"Exactly. That's what I said. But then,when the man commits burglary in order tobreak images which are not his own, thatbrings it away from the doctor and on to thepoliceman."
Holmes sat up again.
"Burglary! This is more interesting.Let me hear the details."
Lestrade took out his official note-bookand refreshed his memory from its pages.
"LESTRADE TOOK OUT HIS OFFICIAL NOTE-BOOK."
"The first case reported was four daysago," said he. "It was at the shop of MorseHudson, who has a place for the sale ofpictures and statues in the Kennington Road.The assistant had left the front shop for aninstant when he heard a crash, and hurryingin he found a plaster bust of Napoleon,which stood with several other works of artupon the counter, lying shivered into fragments.He r