At length he thrust his papers aside.
"I want to see that cellar," he announced. "That is, the point
where you found that red pebble!"
Down in the basement, Sir Henry gave the details. When he came to
mention the various liquids which Fenton had poured into the
woodwork upstairs Watson examined the pool intently.
"Quite so. They would come out here--naturally."
"Naturally!"
Sir Henry could not understand. His perplexity was reflected in
the faces of Herold, the two physicians, Dr. Malloy, Miss Clarke,
and Mme. Le Fabre--and Charlotte spoke for them all:
"Can't you explain, Mr. Watson? The woodwork had nothing whatever
to do with the cellar. There was the floor between, just as you
see it now."
"Naturally," Watson repeated. "It could be no other place! It was
on its way to the other side, but it could go only half-way.
Simply a matter of focus, you know. I beg pardon; you must hold
your curiosity a little longer."
He began measuring. First he located the line across the
floorjoists overhead, where rested the partition separating the
dining-room from the parlour. Finding the middle of this line, he
dropped an improvised plumb-line to the ground; and from this spot
as centre, using a string about ten feet long, he described a
circle on the earth. Then, referring to his calculations, he
proceeded to locate several points with small stakes pressed into
the soil.
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