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for example, that the Secretary escapes suspicion."

"But do you seriously mean to say there's somebody in this house who comes into my room and disturbs my papers for his own ends?"

"Don't be so shocked about it. You've been spending the last three days spying on other people; is it impossible that other people should spy on you? Look here, that paper is in your room at half-past ten; it is no longer there at half-past twelve; it is back again at four o'clock. Do you mean to tell me that somebody acquainted with your habits hasn't been meddling with your papers?"

"What made you suspect it?"

"That's the odd thing. Did you ever notice how often a false calculation puts you on the track of a true one? Puzzling over that odd experience we had last night about the photograph, I found myself wondering whether conceivably someone could have come in and altered it while you were out. Well, upon reflection, that was impossible, because we were in the room the whole time, all four of us. But meanwhile, it did occur to me that perhaps our proceedings were being rather too public. Look how full of comparative strangers this dormy-house is; any one of those may be Brotherhood's murderer, for all we know, or at least an accomplice. And then, when you found the cipher gone, it occurred to me at once, 'I was right; there is somebody on the spot who is following our movements!' That was why I had that choking-fit at luncheon⁠—you were just going to talk about the disappearance of