The Return of Sherlock Holmes

'I don't think so. I fancy there is an easier way for us to attain our end. I can't say for certain, because it all depends - well, it all depends upon something which is completely outside our control. But I have great hopes - in fact, the betting is exactly two to one - that if you come with us tonight I can help you to lay him by the heels.'

'In the Italian Quarter?'

'No, I fancy Chiswick is an address which is more likely to find him. If you come with me to Chiswick to-night, Lestrade, I promise to go with you to the Italian Quarter to-morrow. It will do you no harm to wait another day. And now, I think that a few hours' sleep would do us all good. I do not plan to leave before eleven o'clock, and it is unlikely that we shall be back before morning. You'll dine 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 ring for an express messenger. I have a letter to send and it is important that it should go at once.'

Holmes spent the evening rummaging around the files from old newspapers. (One of our lumber-rooms was completely filled with these). When at last he came down, there was triumph in his eyes. But he said nothing to either of us about what he was looking for or what he had found.

Vocabulary:

Fancy: Here it means 'believe'
Attain: Reach, manage
End: Here it means 'intention, purpose'
Lay by the heels: Capture someone running away
Express messenger: Someone who take a message straight to its address
Rummaging: Looking without a plan
Lumber-rooms: Room used for storing things