? ? ? ? Our hope was that, by taking train, we might get to Beckenham as soon as or sooner than the carriage. On reaching Scotland Yard, however, it was more than an hour before we could get Inspector Gregson and comply with the legal formalities which would enable us to enter the house. It was a quarter to ten before we reached London Bridge, and half past before the four of us alighted on the Beckenham platform. A drive of half a mile brought us to The Myrtles -- a large, dark house standing back from the road in its own grounds. Here we dismissed our cab and made our way up the drive togeter.
? ? ? ? "The windows are all dark," remarked the inspector. "The house seems deserted."
? ? ? ? "Our birds are flown and the nest empty," said Holmes.
? ? ? ? "Why do you say so?"
? ? ? ? "A carriage heavily loaded with luggage has passed out during the last hour."
? ? ? ? The inspector laughed. "I saw the wheel-tracks in the light of the gate-lamp, but where does the luggage come in?"
? ? ? ? "You may have observed the same wheel-tracks going the other way.
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