Here
they are in this telegram, and the other end of our tangled skein
must lie among them."
It was nearly six o'clock before we found ourselves in the pretty
Surrey village of Esher, with Inspector Baynes as our companion.
Holmes and I had taken things for the night, and found
comfortable quarters at the Bull. Finally we set out in the
company of the detective on our visit to Wisteria Lodge. It was
a cold, dark March evening, with a sharp wind and a fine rain
beating upon our faces, a fit setting for the wild common over
which our road passed and the tragic goal to which it led us.
2. The Tiger of San Pedro
A cold and melancholy walk of a couple of miles brought us to a
high wooden gate, which opened into a gloomy avenue of chestnuts.
The curved and shadowed drive led us to a low, dark house, pitch-
black against a slate-coloured sky. From the front window upon
the left of the door there peeped a glimmer of a feeble light.
"There's a constable in possession," said Baynes. "I'll knock at
the window." He stepped across the grass plot and tapped with
his hand on the pane. Through the fogged glass I dimly saw a man
spring up from a chair beside the fire, and heard a sharp cry
from within the room.
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