make　his　way　into　the

building　after　hours；　he　would　need　three　keys；　would　he　not；

before　the　could　reach　the　papers？〃

〃Yes；　he　would。 The　key　of　the　outer　door；　the　key　of　the

office；　and　the　key　of　the　safe。〃

〃Only　Sir　James　Walter　and　you　had　those　keys？〃

〃I　had　no　keys　of　the　doors……only　of　the　safe。〃

〃Was　Sir　James　a　man　who　was　orderly　in　his　habits？〃

〃Yes；　I　think　he　was。 I　know　that　so　far　as　those　three　keys　are

concerned　he　kept　them　on　the　same　ring。 I　have　often　seen　them

there。〃

〃And　that　ring　went　with　him　to　London？〃

〃He　said　so。〃

〃And　your　key　never　left　your　possession？〃

〃Never。〃

〃Then　West；　if　he　is　the　culprit；　must　have　had　a　duplicate。 And

yet　none　was　found　upon　his　body。 One　other　point： if　a　clerk

in　this　office　desired　to　sell　the　plans；　would　it　not　be　simply

to　copy　the　plans　for　himself　than　to　take　the　originals；　as　was

actually　done？〃

〃It　would　take　considerable　technical　knowledge　to　copy　the　plans

in　an　effective　way。〃

〃But　I　suppose　either　Sir　James；　or　you；　or　West　has　that

technical　knowledge？〃

〃No　doubt　we　had；　but　I　beg　you　won't　try　to　drag　me　into　the

matter；　Mr。　Holmes。 What　is　the　use　of　our　speculating　in　this

way　when　the　original　plans　were　actually　found　on　West？〃

〃Well；　it　is　certainly　singular　that　he　should　run　the　risk　of

taking　originals　if　he　could　safely　have　taken　copies；　which

would　have　equally　served　his　turn。〃

〃Singular；　no　doubt……and　yet　he　did　so。〃

〃Every　inquiry　in　this　case　rev