Dr. Watson

But that's ridiculous.

I'm very fond of him.

Of course it's ridiculous.

The whole plot was ridiculous.

He leased the house next door, had a tunnel dug, and gunpowder and fuses planted there.

He even entered the name of the tenants as...

Winter, Rokewood and Keynes, to give the apparent plot a further authenticity.

You mean my cousin was the real tenant?

Certainly he was.

However, he was clumsy enough to drop that piece of silk with the wire ring on the end that you found in the cellar, Watson.

The thing you called a jess?

And what's a jess?

It's a strap that goes round a falcon's leg to which its leash is fastened.

You will remember that Mr. Stewart informed us that falconry is his hobby.

And it therefore indicated that he had been in the cellar and consequently must have known about the whole plot.

And all he was trying to do was to build up in our minds the belief that his cousin was trying to kill him.

Exactly, my dear fellow.

Had we believed him, of course, he could have shot you just now, Mr. Falkenby, in apparent self-defense.

Good Lord, what a fantastic plot.

I still can't quite believe it.