'I don't think so. I think there is an easier way for us to get what we want. I can't be completely sure, because it all depends upon something which we cannot control at all. But I am very hopeful - in fact, the odds are exactly two to one - that if you come with us tonight I can help you to catch your man.'

'In the Italian Quarter?'

'No, Chiswick is an address where we are more likely to find him. If you come with me to Chiswick to-night, Lestrade, I promise I will go with you to the Italian Quarter to-morrow. It will do you no harm to wait another day. And now, I think that we should have a few hours' sleep. I do not plan to leave before eleven o'clock tonight, and it is unlikely that we will be back before morning. You'll have dinner with us, Lestrade, and then you are welcome to rest on the sofa until it is time for us to start. In the meantime, Watson, I should be glad if you would call for a messenger. I have an urgent letter to send and it is important that it should be sent at once.'

Holmes spent the evening looking for something in the files from old newspapers. (One of our storerooms was completely filled with these.) At last he came down, and there was a look of triumph in his eyes. But he he did not tell either of us what he was looking for, or what he had found.