Haymarket Theatre had not been occupied on the night in question, its number deduced from the ticket that Watson had seen. Also, the painting was a clue. Holmes realised that it was being done to mask a smell, and he soon discovered what that was: gas. He found a gas pipe leading into the strongroom with a tap outside. Amberley had lured his wife and her lover—for so he had believed Dr. Ernest to be—into the strongroom, locked them in, and turned the gas on, killing them out of jealousy. He had simply hidden the "stolen" valuables somewhere. In indelible pencil, one of the victims wrote "We we…", perhaps meaning to write "We were murdered." The bodies are found in a disused well in the garden, hidden under a dog kennel, just where Holmes suggested that the police look. Amberley apparently hired Holmes out of "pure swank", believing that no-one would ever find him out. Holmes believes that Amberley will likely end up at Broadmoor rather than on the scaffold, owing to his mental state. Publication history "The Adventure of the Retired Colourman" was first published in the US in Liberty in December 1926. It was published in the UK in The Strand Magazine in January 1927. The story was published with four illustrations by Frederic Dorr Steele in Liberty, and with five illustrations by Frank Wiles in the Strand. It was included in The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes, a short story collection published in the UK and the US in June 1927. Adaptations Radio The story was adapted by Edith Meiser in 1931 as an episode of the American radio series The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. It aired on 6 April 1931, with Richard Gordon as Sherlock Holmes and Leigh Lovell as Dr. Watson. Meiser was also a writer for the American radio series The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, which aired two episodes based on the story, on 11 March 1940 and 3 September 1943 respectively. Basil Rathbone played Holmes and Nigel Bruce played Watson. A radio adaptation by Michael Hardwick of "The Retired Colourman" aired in 1964 on the BBC Light Programme, as part of the 1952–1969 radio series starring Carleton Hobbs as Sherlock Holmes and Norman Shelley as Dr. Watson. "The Retired Colourman" was dramatised for BBC Radio 4 in 1994 by Bert Coules as part of the 1989–1998 radio series starring Clive Merrison as Holmes