The armoire came last. Deacon Buttons’ few clothes hung neatly. Three pairs of shoes were perfectly aligned along the bottom. Holmes picked up each in turn, exclaiming over the last, ‘Hmm. This pair is damp, the others are dry.’

He frowned, perplexed, then moved to the centre of the room and remained there for some time, unmoving, with one finger to his lips.

It was coming on to four in the morning. My energy was flagging and the wound in my leg was now shouting for attention. ‘Holmes?’ I ventured. I would need to sit down soon.

He shook his head ruefully.

‘It is a singular case, Watson. A kind of obsession. Miss Wyndham arrived with a plan, I would estimate. Either she asked Buttons to pawn the rings, or … he took them from her. Somehow things went terribly wrong.’

‘I would never think Buttons capable of hurting the girl.’

Holmes shrugged. ‘Great violence was done in this room.’

‘I don’t see it. But of course, I am standing out here.’

‘Watson, it is obvious! Candle wax spattered on the wall. Broken glass in that corner over there, cleaned up but not fully. Dents on the arm of that chair. Picture it, Watson! I found evidence that the girl was in his bed. Her scent on the pillow. A hair. And that ironstone water-jug. Cracked along the edge with a smear of blood.’

‘The head wound!’

‘Precisely. And the ink bottle! The ink!’

‘What of the ink?’

‘The bottle was thrown – there – at the door about head height. The cap cracked, some ink spattered. The ink was then cleaned off the wall, leaving a small amount, here, in the moulding. Whoever cleaned up did so quickly, missing much. Even the police might deduce that a fight raged here.’

‘Or I would, had I been allowed into the room!’

Holmes smiled up at me. ‘Yes, even you, Watson. Dillie put up a tremendous fight. She was overcome, and the killer pushed her naked, unconscious body out of this window and into the garden just below.’

‘The killer? You mean Deacon Buttons, then, do you not? Or do you mean Leo Vitale? Or Eden-Summers?’

‘I do not know yet.’

‘But how can you tell that she was put out through the window?’

‘Because I was looking for it. Another hair, caught on the edge of the sill, just there. And a tiny smear of blood on the clasp. Outside I saw an indentation in the earth just below, where the body landed. This was under an eave, and so the rain had not entirely washed away the imprint. Although the footprints nearby are indicative but not conclusive. One appears to be Vitale’s. But damn this rain! I cannot be sure.’

Vitale’s!

Holmes continued to stare around the room, willing more information.