Sherlock Holmes Investigates

 

"My stepfather's business papers. I saw inside, once, some years ago. I remember that it was full of papers."

"There isn't a cat in it, for example? Look at this!" Holmes took up a small saucer of milk which stood on the top of it.

"What a strange idea. No; we don't keep a cat. But there is a cheetah and a baboon."

"Ah, yes, of course! Well, a cheetah is just a big cat, and yet a saucer of milk does not go very far in satisfying its wants, I must say. There is one point which I wish to determine." He squatted down in front of the wooden chair and examined the seat of it with the greatest attention.

"Thank you. That is quite settled," said he, rising and putting his lens in his pocket. "Hello! Here is something interesting!" The object which had caught his eye was a small dog lash hung on one corner of the bed. The lash, however, was curled upon itself and tied so as to make a loop.

"What do you make of that, Watson?"

Vocabulary
Not go far: A colloquial expression meaning not be adequate.
Squat: To sit on the back of your legs.
Settled: Here it means the question is closed.
Lash: A type of whip.
Curled: Bent inwards.
Loop: A circle of something flexible.
Make of: Here it means understand about.