But it was not our prisoner to whom Holmes was giving his attention.Squatted on the doorstep, he was engaged in most carefully examining that which the man had brought from the house.It was a bust of Napoleon like the one which we had seen that morning, and it had been broken into similar fragments.Carefully Holmes held each separate shard to the light, but in no way did it differ from any other shattered piece of plaster.He had just completed his examination when the hall lights flew up, the door opened, and the owner of the house, a jovial, rotund figure in shirt and trousers, presented himself.
"Mr.Josiah Brown, I suppose?" said Holmes.
"Yes, sir; and you, no doubt, are Mr.Sherlock Holmes? I had the note which you sent by the express messenger, and I did exactly what you told me.We locked every door on the inside and awaited developments.Well, I'm very glad to see that you have got the rascal.I hope, gentlemen, that you will come in and have some refreshment."However, Lestrade was anxious to get his man into safe quarters, so within a few minutes our cab had been summoned and we were all four upon our way to London.Not a word would our captive say; but he glared at us from the shadow of his matted hair, and once, when my hand seemed within his reach, he snapped at it like a hungry wolf.We stayed long enough at the police-station to learn that a search of his clothing revealed nothing save a few shillings and a long sheath knife, the handle of which bore copious traces of recent blood.