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the Devonshire estate. The bond of affection between father and daughter is strong. Lord Carfax exhibits deep humanitarian tendencies. He gives generously of both his money and his time to the Montague Street Hostel in London, a sanctuary for indigents.
    Michael Osbourne
    Second son of Kenneth. A source of shame and sorrow to his father. Michael, according to testimony, bitterly resented his inferior position as a second son and non-inheritor, and embarked upon a profligate life. Bent, it is said, upon disgracing the title beyond his reach, he is also reported to have married a woman of the streets, apparently for no other reason than to further that misguided end. This reprehensible act is purported to have taken place while he was a medical student in Paris. He was expelled from the Sorbonne shortly thereafter. His fate thenceforward, and his present address, are unknown.
    Joseph Beck
    A pawn-broker with a shop on Great Heapton Street. Of doubtful importance, on the basis of data at hand.
    Dr. Murray
    A dedicated M.D. who superintends the Montague Street morgue, and devotes himself to the adjoining hostel he himself created.
    Sally Young .
    The niece of Dr. Murray. She gives her full-time to the hostel. A devoted nurse and social-worker, it was she who pledged the surgeon’s-kit at Beck’s pawn-shop. When questioned, she gave information freely, and appeared to hold nothing in reserve.
    Pierre
    A seemingly harmless imbecile taken in at the hostel, where he performs menial tasks. The surgeon’s-case was found among his possessions, and pledged by Miss Young for his benefit. He appears to have come from France.
    The Scar-faced Woman
    Unidentified.
    Holmes ran through the résumé with a dissatisfied frown. “If this accomplishes nothing else,” said he, “It shows us what a little way we have come, and how far we have still to go. It does not list the victims, who underscore our need for haste. There have been four known butcheries, and any delay on our part will no doubt add to the list. So if you will clothe yourself, Watson, we shall flag a hansom and be off to the Diogenes Club.”
    Holmes sat deep in thought as we rattled over the cobble-stones, but I risked disturbing him for something that came suddenly to mind.
    â€œHolmes,” said I, “as we were leaving the Duke of Shires’s estate, you mentioned that Lord Carfax had failed on two counts. I think I have become aware of one of them.”
    â€œIndeed?”
    â€œIt occurs to me that he made no inquiry as to how you had come by the surgical-case. It therefore seems logical that he already knew.”
    â€œExcellent, Watson.”
    â€œIn the light of the omission, we are justified in assuming that it was he who sent it to you?”
    â€œWe have at least a right to suspect that he knows who did.”
    â€œThen perhaps Lord Carfax is our key to the identity of the scar-faced woman.”
    â€œEntirely possible, Watson. However, recognising a key as such, and turning it, can be two different matters entirely.”
    â€œI must confess that his Lordship’s second lapse has escaped me.”
    â€œYou will recall that, in Lord Carfax’s presence, I dropped the case and spilled its contents onto the floor? And that he courteously picked up the instruments?”
    â€œYes?”
    â€œBut perhaps you failed to note the practised skill with which he replaced them, each to its proper niche, with no hesitation whatever.”
    â€œWhy, of course!”
    â€œAnd, now that you recall this, what additional information does it give you concerning his Lordship?”
    â€œThat, even though he professes no surgical knowledge or experience, he is quite familiar with the tools of surgery.”
    â€œPrecisely. A fact that we must place in our mental file for future reference. But here we are, Watson, and Mycroft awaits us.”
    The Diogenes Club! I remembered it well, even though I had entered its hushed