telling all he knows. Bannister will not own up to anything, and insists that there was no one in Soames's office while he was there. Holmes, however, sends for Gilchrist, and proceeds to lay out his results. The cheater was someone who knew the exam proofs were there. This could only be Gilchrist because the proofs' whereabouts had been kept secret, and Gilchrist was the only one tall enough to look in through Soames's window to see his desk. Holmes has also identified the blobs as the special clay found in the long-jump pit, further implicating Gilchrist. Gilchrist reveals his guilt by reproaching Bannister for his apparent treachery. Bannister was indeed the one who covered for Gilchrist. He felt that he had to, for old times' sake: Bannister was once Gilchrist's father's butler. Holmes then explains the remaining clues. The scratch on the desk was caused by Gilchrist's spiked jumping shoes as he grabbed them in his haste, and the clay blobs fell from his shoes. Bannister had collapsed in the chair to hide Gilchrist's gloves, which he saw had been left on the chair. For his part, Gilchrist credits Bannister with convincing him not to profit from his misdeed, and presents Soames with a letter stating his wish not to sit the exam, but to instead accept an offer to work for the Rhodesian Police. Publication history "The Adventure of the Three Students" was published in the UK in The Strand Magazine in June 1904, and in the US in Collier's on 24 September 1904. The story was published with seven illustrations by Sidney Paget in the Strand, and with nine illustrations by Frederic Dorr Steele in Collier's. It was included in the short story collection The Return of Sherlock Holmes, which was published in the US in February 1905 and in the UK in March 1905. Adaptations Film A silent short film adapted from the story was released in 1923 as part of the Stoll film series starring Eille Norwood as Sherlock Holmes and Hubert Willis as Watson, with William Lugg as Hilton Soames and A. Harding Steerman as Bannister. Literature While the tale is not directly adapted, the novel The Thinking Engine by James Lovegrove is set around the time of these events, explaining that Holmes and Watson were in the unnamed university town mentioned here to compete against the titular Thinking Engine, which is essentially an