“Was there anyone in the room at the time?”

“No. We were all down at dinner.”

Holmes nodded. “Admiral Blythe-Headley’s garden seat, now,” he continued after a moment, “do you know in what way it was damaged?”

Again our visitor shook his head.

“I have no idea. His note did not specify.”

“Do you believe that the seat was in good order when you were in the summer house, earlier that day?”

“I am sure that it was.”

“So whatever the damage was, it was done after you had been there. That would have been at about three o’clock, I take it.”

“That is correct.”

“But the damage must have been done before the evening, as there was evidently sufficient time after its discovery for Admiral Blythe-Headley to write the note to your father which was delivered at Oakbrook Hall the following morning. Why do you suppose they believed you responsible for the damage?”

“I really have not the faintest notion,” said Reid.

“Well, well. Perhaps it was simply that you had been seen there and no one else had. No doubt that seemed clear enough evidence from their point of view. Hum! It is certainly a tangled skein that you have presented us with, Captain Reid!”

“The whole business does indeed seem utterly incredible and inexplicable as I sit here speaking of it,” remarked our visitor with a puzzled shake of the head. “I could not be more dumbfounded if I had returned from India to find that the man in the moon had lately arrived in England and been proclaimed king. The behaviour of my family and friends towards me seems to admit of only one conclusion: either they are insane, or I am.”

“Tut! Tut!” said Holmes quickly in remonstrance. “Do not entertain such debilitating thoughts, Captain Reid. If the problem is to be solved, we must assume as a premise in our little chain of logical reasoning that all parties concerned are acting rationally, as they see the situation. Let us turn now to the letters you received from home when you were overseas. You cannot recall anything there that might shed light on the matter?”

Captain Reid shook his head. “As a matter of fact, I received very few letters during my time abroad. I received one from my mother and father fairly soon after I arrived in India, as I mentioned before, a second and third a little later from my father, and then heard nothing more from home until the brief note informing me of my mother’s death, after which I again heard no more. I received a single letter from Miss Blythe-Headley soon after my arrival. I replied to it promptly, but had no further communication from her. I also received three letters from my sister, Louisa, at very long intervals. Her letters were the only ones I received during my final two years in India.”

“And you are certain that none of these letters contained any information which might have a bearing on your present situation?”

“No. They were all friendly and consisted almost entirely of quite trivial news.”

“I see. Well, whatever the quality of the letters you received, which is, of course, a matter of which only you can judge, their quantity would, I feel, strike even the most casual observer as somewhat on the meagre side, considering the length of time you were away. Did this infrequency of communication cause you any surprise, Captain Reid?”

“Not with regard to my sister, Louisa, for she has always been a notoriously poor correspondent; but with regard to the others it certainly did. I am sure that there was scarcely another man in the regiment who received so few letters. Each time there was a delivery, I would enquire if there was anything for me, and generally I would be disappointed. My friend Ranworth was given charge of postal matters for our battalion, following an injury to Major Bastable, and I fear that he eventually became quite disconcerted by my constant queries. It embarrasses me now to recall the many times I obliged him to shake his head apologetically, as I enquired yet again if any letter had arrived for me.”

“India is, of course, a vast place,” remarked Holmes, “and with the troops being so widely scattered, especially during the Afghan campaign, I suppose it is possible that letters might sometimes go astray?”

“No doubt it happens occasionally, but the Army postal service is remarkably efficient, all things considered. I am sure I should eventually have received any letter which had been sent to me.”

“No doubt. You have not seen your sister since your return?”

“No. I had been looking forward with pleasure to visiting Louisa and her family in Truro, but under the present circumstances I have decided to postpone it. I should not wish to inflict these difficulties upon them.”

“Quite so. Do you know if your sister paid any visits to Oakbrook Hall while you were in India?”

“She returned very briefly for our mother’s funeral, which she subsequently described to me. Apart from that occasion, she has not left Cornwall in the last three years, so far as I am aware.”

“I see,” said Holmes, nodding his head in a thoughtful manner. “Now,” he continued after a moment, “how do you propose to spend the next few days, Captain Reid?”

“I shall be at my club for two more nights. On the thirteenth I am going down to stay with Captain Ranworth at Broome Green, and may be there a week.”

“His address, if you please,” said Holmes, opening his notebook. “I may need to write to you there.”

“You will take the case, then?”

“Certainly.”

“It is, as you will understand, a very delicate affair.”

“Most are which are brought to my attention.”

“It is such a personal, family matter that I should never have given details of it to a stranger were it not that I am utterly at my wits’ end.”

“I understand that perfectly,” said Holmes. “You have acted wisely. I shall go down to West Sussex tomorrow and make a few discreet enquiries.”

Captain Reid shook his head, an expression of perplexity upon his features. “I cannot think that there is anything you can learn which would explain the nightmare in which I have dwelt in recent days. The circumstances must surely be unique.”

“They are certainly unusual,” remarked Holmes, “but not, I think, unique. There is little in this world that is truly unique, I find. I shall communicate with you in a few days’ time, Captain Reid. Until then, remember your regimental motto, Fidus et Audax, and do not despair.”

When our visitor had left us, Holmes lit his pipe, and sat for some time in silence, then he turned to me with a smile.

“A very pretty little puzzle, Watson, would you not agree?” said he in the tones of a connoisseur, his eyes sparkling. “What would you say to a few days in the pleasant Sussex countryside?”

“Why, there is nothing I should like better than to exchange the London reek for the fresh air of the Downs,” I returned, more than a little surprised at the question. “But would my presence there not hamper your investigation, Holmes?”

“On the contrary,” said he. “It would be a great convenience to me to have a companion upon whom I can rely as events unfold, as I am certain they will. I have no doubt that Captain Reid will be more than willing to defray your expenses as well as mine if it means his problem is the more speedily solved.”

“Then I accept your invitation with pleasure,” said I.

II: IN QUEST OF A SOLUTION

In the morning a fresh breeze was blowing. A few wraiths of fog still hung about the streets as we made our way to the railway station, but by the time our train had passed Croydon and was through the North Downs the mist had cleared from the fields and the sun was shining. Wrapped in a long grey cloak, and with a close-fitting cloth cap upon his head, my companion appeared the very picture of the rural traveller, which was a strange sight to one who had only ever seen him upon the bustling pavements of London. He had scarcely spoken since we left Victoria, but stared silently from the window, completely absorbed in his own thoughts.