Series C. Num. 23 — A carefully dressed young woman...
THE ORPHAN
Miss Morstan entered slowly. She was a fair-haired young woman, carefully dressed; her presence at once inspired sympathy. She was in a state of intense emotion.
— Forgive me for presenting myself in this way, sir. I come on the recommendation of Mrs. Forrester. She has often praised the effectiveness of your intervention. I find myself in a strange and inexplicable situation.
— Let us hear it, miss.
— My father, an officer in an Indian regiment, sent me to England when I was still almost a child. In 1878 my father obtained leave and came to England. He telegraphed me of his arrival in London so that I might go to see him at the Langham Hotel. I went there, and they told me that the night before he had gone out and had not yet returned. I waited for him without result, informed the police, and had advertisements published. All in vain; I have never heard anything more of my poor father.
— Did he have friends in London?
— Only one: Major Sholto, who said he knew nothing; but... there is something even more mysterious still: about six years ago I read in The Times an advertisement asking for my address. I inserted it in the same newspaper and received by post a small box containing a beautiful pearl. There was not a single letter with it. Since then, every year, on the same day, I receive a little box with another equally beautiful pearl.
— And lastly, she continued, today I have received this letter.
Sherlock read: You, at seven o'clock, in front of the Lyceum Theatre, near the third column. If you are afraid, bring someone with you.
— I think, said Holmes, that you should keep the appointment with us. Will you be able to come and fetch us at six?
So it was arranged. Miss Morstan left. Sherlock went out as well. And I remained alone, with a book before me, but thinking more of Miss Morstan than of the text.
Holmes returned at half past five. He seemed cheerful and determined.
— There is no great mystery in all this. Looking through the files of The Times, I have found that Sholto died on the 8th of April, 1882. Sholto was Captain Morstan's only friend and said that he knew nothing of him. Sholto dies four years later, and exactly a week afterward Miss Morstan receives the first pearl...
The carriage arrived with Miss Morstan. We set out. Our friend handed us a paper that she had found in her father's desk. It was the plan of a large building. A red cross could be seen, and below it was written: 3.37 from the right. Lower down one could read: The sign of the four: Jonathan Sholto, Mahomet Singh, Abdullah, Dost Akbar.
We arrived at the Lyceum Theatre. We got down at once and took our place beside the third column.