Sherlock Holmes Investigates

 

"As you both locked your doors at night, no-one could get into your rooms from the corridor. Now, would you have the kindness to go into your room and close your shutters?"

Miss Stoner did so, and Holmes, after a careful examination through the open window, endeavoured in every way to open the shutter, but without success. There was no way to push in a knife to raise the bar. With his lens he examined the hinges, but they were of solid iron, built firmly into the masonry. "Hum!" said he, scratching his chin in some perplexity, "my theory has some difficulties. No one could get in through these shutters if they were closed. Well, we shall see if the inside throws any light upon the matter."

Vocabulary:

Endeavoured: Tried.
Bar: Noun: a stick of metal. Verb: to lock (out)
Lens: Piece of glass shaped to make things look bigger
Hinges: What a door turns on when opened
Masonry: Stone work, part of a building made from stone
Perplexity: The feeling when you do not understand
Throw light: Help to explain