"The Six Napoleons" by Arthur Conan Doyle (adapted)

Part Four

Lestrade and I woke up at half past ten. Holmes was waiting for us. He told me to bring my gun. I noticed that he took his favourite strong walking stick with him.

We quickly drove to Chiswick, and Holmes took us to a large house in a dark street. The house, too, was dark and quiet. The people inside were probably already asleep in bed.

'I'm glad that it's not raining,' said Holmes quietly. 'It's possible that we'll have to wait a long time. We mustn't smoke and we must be very quiet. I hope we're going to discover something tonight.'

We only had to wait for five minutes. The garden gate suddenly opened, and a man ran quickly down the garden path towards the house.

We could not see his face. It was too dark and he was moving too quickly. He disappeared into the darkness and we waited in silence.

Next, we heard the sound of a window opening very slowly. Then we saw a small light inside the front room of the house.

'Let's go to the open window. Then we can catch him as he comes out,' said Lestrade.

But before we moved, the man came outside again. He was carrying something. He looked around him. He saw that nobody was watching him. Then there was a sudden crash as he broke the thing against the wall.

We ran forward. Holmes jumped on his back and the man fell heavily to the ground. Lestrade and I quickly went to help Holmes. I had my gun ready. Soon the man was our prisoner.

He looked up at us. His face was very ugly. We could see that he was surprised and angry. I realized immediately that he was the man in the photograph.

While we were holding the man on the ground, Holmes was looking at the broken pieces of another bust of Napoleon. He lifted up each piece and looked at it in the light.

Somebody turned on the lights in the house. Then a short fat man in a shirt and trousers came out towards Holmes.

'You're Mr Sherlock Holmes, aren't you?' he asked, with a smile on his face.

'That's correct,' said Holmes. 'And you are Mr Josiah Brown.'

'Yes, sir. We did what you told us. We locked the doors to the house and turned off the lights. Then we waited very quietly. You've done very well. Please come inside and have some food and drink.'

Holmes thanked Mr Brown, but Lestrade wanted to take the man away. So we all drove to Scotland Yard. The thief said nothing, but he looked at us all the time. His ugly white face was like an animal's.

When we arrived at Scotland Yard, the man was searched. He had nothing with him except a long knife with dry blood on it and a little money.

As we were leaving, Lestrade said, 'Well, Mr Holmes, I must thank you for all your help. My ideas were correct – don't you agree?'

Holmes smiled and said, 'It's a little late at night now for me to explain. But I think the business of the busts is very important. It's much more important than you think. Can you come and see me again at six o'clock tomorrow evening?'

'Of course,' said Lestrade. 'I'm always happy to visit you. I'll be pleased to come.'

As we were going home, Holmes said to me, 'Lestrade is a good detective, but he doesn't understand everything about this case. I think this is a very unusual case, Watson.'

'Really?' I said. 'Is there more to explain?'

'The busts, Watson. I think they're the most important part of this case.'