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“Because he was handy and would come cheap.
“At half wages, in fact.
“Yes.
“What is he like, this Vincent Spaulding?
“Small, stout-built, very quick in his ways, no hair on his face,
though he’s not short of thirty. Has a white splash of acid upon his
forehead.
Holmes sat up in his chair in considerable excitement. “I thought as
much, said he. “Have you ever observed that his ears are pierced for
earrings?
“Yes, sir. He told me that a gipsy had done it for him when he was a
lad.
“Hum! said Holmes, sinking back in deep thought. “He is still with
you?
“Oh, yes, sir; I have only just left him.
“And has your business been attended to in your absence?
“Nothing to complain of, sir. There’s never very much to do of a
morning.
“That will do, Mr. Wilson. I shall be happy to give you an opinion upon
the subject in the course of a day or two. To-day is Saturday, and I
hope that by Monday we may come to a conclusion.
“Well, Watson, said Holmes when our visitor had left us, “what do you
make of it all?
“I make nothing of it, I answered frankly. “It is a most mysterious
business.
“As a rule, said Holmes, “the more bizarre a thing is the less
mysterious it proves to be. It is your commonplace, featureless crimes
which are really puzzling, just as a commonplace face is the most
difficult to identify. But I must be prompt over this matter.
“What are you going to do, then? I asked.
“To smoke, he answered. “It is quite a three pipe problem, and I beg
that you won’t speak to me for fifty minutes. He curled himself up in
his chair, with his thin knees drawn up to his hawk-like nose, and
there he sat with his eyes closed and his black clay pipe thrusting out
like the bill of some strange bird. I had come to the conclusion that
he had dropped asleep, and indeed was nodding myself, when he suddenly
sprang out of his chair with the gesture of a man who has made up his
mind and put his pipe down upon the mantelpiece.
“Sarasate plays at the St. James’s Hall this afternoon, he remarked.
“What do you think, Watson? Could your patients spare you for a few
hours?
“I have nothing to do to-day. My practice is never very absorbing.
“Then put on your hat and come. I am going through the City first, and
we can have some lunch on the way. I observe that there is a good deal
of German music on the programme, which is rather more to my taste than
Italian or French. It is introspective, and I want to introspect. Come
along!
We travelled by the Underground as far as Aldersgate; and a short walk
took us to Saxe-Coburg Square, the scene of the singular story which we
had listened to in the morning. It was a poky, little, shabby-genteel
place, where four lines of dingy two-storied brick houses looked out
into a small railed-in enclosure, where a lawn of weedy grass and a few
clumps of faded laurel bushes made a hard fight against a smoke-laden
and uncongenial atmosphere. Three gilt balls and a brown board with
“JABEZ WILSON in white letters, upon a corner house, announced the
place where our red-headed client carried on his business. Sherlock
Holmes stopped in front of it with his head on one side and looked it
all over, with his eyes shining brightly between puckered lids. Then he
walked slowly up the street, and then down again to the corner, still
looking keenly at the houses. Finally he returned to the pawnbroker’s,
and, having thumped vigorously upon the pavement with his stick two or
three times, he went up to the door and knocked. It was instantly
opened by a bright-looking, clean-shaven young fellow, who asked him to
step in.
“Thank you, said Holmes, “I only wished to ask you how you would go
from here to the Strand.
“Third right, fourth left, answered the assistant promptly, closing
the door.
“Smart fellow, that, observed Holmes as we walked away. “He is, in my
judgment, the fourth smartest man in London, and for daring I am not
sure that he has not a claim to be third. I have known something of him
before.
“Evidently, said I, “Mr. Wilson’s assistant counts for a good deal in
this mystery of the Red-headed League. I am sure that you inquired your
way merely in order that you might see him.