written hurriedly on a train, with the legible writing representing stops at stations. Also, Oldacre's financial dealings are found to have been a bit odd. Several cheques for substantial amounts, for unknown reasons, have recently been made out to a Mr. Cornelius. The discovery of Oldacre's trouser buttons in the fire ashes does nothing to exonerate McFarlane. Holmes fears the worst; "All my instincts are in one direction, and all the facts are in another." Still, Holmes has powers of observation that suggest Oldacre's housekeeper is deliberately withholding information. Lestrade's gloating reaches a peak when a bloody thumbprint is found at Oldacre's house that matches McFarlane's thumb. However, Holmes becomes quite sure that something very devious is afoot, as he had examined that part of the house only a day earlier, and the thumbprint was quite surely not there then. Because McFarlane has been in gaol since his arrest at 221B Baker Street, Holmes deduces that someone is attempting a deception. Holmes sets up a small fire in one room of the house with a little straw and tells three of Lestrade's constables to shout "Fire!" Lestrade and Watson are quite astonished at what happens next: Oldacre emerges alive from a hidden chamber at the end of a hallway, where Holmes has deduced it must be by measuring the corridors, and runs to escape the fire. Oldacre is immediately seized. It is revealed that McFarlane being accused of his murder had been part of a revenge campaign against the woman who rejected Oldacre years previously, the young mother of McFarlane. Oldacre tries to pass off his actions as a practical joke but is taken into custody, along with the housekeeper as an accomplice. Holmes lightly chaffs his rival for neglecting Blackheath, where he acquired the key information. As for Mr. Cornelius, the recipient of so much of Oldacre's munificence, Holmes deduces that it had likely been an alias used by Oldacre, who has been leading a double life with the eventual goal of shedding his Oldacre identity so that he would be able to start a new life. The bank account of "Mr. Cornelius" will be seized by Oldacre's creditors. Oldacre swears revenge against Holmes, who serenely dismisses the threats. Holmes remarks to Lestrade that Oldacre's plot was nearly perfect. Still, he went one step too far by planting the thumbprint (from a wax seal that McFarlane had pressed), thinking