"Man, I'll admeet that I had my doubts if there was ever an
outsider," said MacDonald, "but that's all past now. We've had
the bicycle identified, and we have a description of our man; so
that's a long step on our journey."
"It sounds to me like the beginning of the end," said Holmes.
"I'm sure I congratulate you both with all my heart."
"Well, I started from the fact that Mr. Douglas had seemed
disturbed since the day before, when he had been at Tunbridge
Wells. It was at Tunbridge Wells then that he had become
conscious of some danger. It was clear, therefore, that if a man
had come over with a bicycle it was from Tunbridge Wells that he
might be expected to have come. We took the bicycle over with us
and showed it at the hotels. It was identified at once by the
manager of the Eagle Commercial as belonging to a man named
Hargrave, who had taken a room there two days before. This
bicycle and a small valise were his whole belongings. He had
registered his name as coming from London, but had given no
address. The valise was London made, and the contents were
British; but the man himself was undoubtedly an American.
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