“No, sir.”

 

“Read it up—you really should. There is nothing new under the sun. It has all

been done before.”

 

As he spoke, his nimble fingers were flying here, there, and everywhere,

feeling, pressing, unbuttoning, examining, while his eyes wore the same far-away

expression which I have already remarked upon.

 

So swiftly was the examination made, that one would hardly have guessed the

minuteness with which it was conducted. Finally, he sniffed the dead man’s lips,

and then glanced at the soles of his patent leather boots.

 

“He has not been moved at all?” he asked.

 

“No more than was necessary for the purposes of our examination.”

 

“You can take him to the mortuary now,” he said. “There is nothing more to be

learned.”

 

Gregson had a stretcher and four men at hand. At his call they entered the room,

and the stranger was lifted and carried out. As they raised him, a ring tinkled

down and rolled across the floor. Lestrade grabbed it up and stared at it with

mystified eyes.