“Years later,” Bones said, “having finally remade his fortune, Jefferson Hope returned to the area where the Group had been only to find that, while most of the Group were still there, the Secretary and, er, John Smith were no longer among them. For whatever reasons, the Secretary and, er, John Smith had chosen to leave the Group. And so, like Jefferson Hope himself, they were now considered by the Group to be outsiders.”

“So then what happened?” I asked.

“By this time,” Bones said, “er, John Smith was still a very wealthy man – he did still have Joe Fur’s money, after all – but things had not gone as well for the Secretary, who had far less money.”

“Ah!” I said, understanding finally clicking in. “So that is how he became the Secretary.”

“Just so,” Bones said. “At any rate, now armed with his own fresh and large supply of cash, Jefferson Hope dogged the traces of the two villains, like a dog with a bone.”

“Only the two?” Waggins said. “But there were other men involved in the kidnapping of the Furs. I mean, when you think about it, the whole entire Group was responsible, in one way or another, for what happened to Lucy and her adopted father.”

“But that’s just it,” I said. “Earlier, Bones said the Group numbered ten thousand. Even a man as determined as Jefferson Hope couldn’t hope to avenge himself on ten thousand. He could, however, do so with the two men he blamed most.”

“Precisely,” Bones said. “Your deductive powers are increasing by the day, Catson.”

Kiss him. Kill him. It’s always fifty-fifty.

“Jefferson Hope tracked all over the United States of America. Anytime he would draw close, though, somehow they would get wind of him and get away. He then traced them from the States to Europe, and across that continent from country to country until he found them finally – finally! – here in England.”

We all stared at him, waiting for him to continue. While we stared at him, he pulled out his pipe and played with it; he never smokes the thing, thankfully, for it is a filthy habit. Then he studied his manicure … all four paws. For good measure, he pretended to box and fence his way across the living room even though he hadn’t bothered to get out either his gloves or sword. He even picked up and began to play a song on his violin. But no amount of staring appeared to induce him to speak again.

Therefore, I was forced to say:

“And?”

“And what?” He appeared perplexed, stopping his bow mid-strum.

“And what else happened?”

“You know what happened, my dear Catson.” He set his violin down, resumed his seat. “It happened at the beginning of our last case which is somehow now part of this case too.”

“Yes but – ” I started to object, but from the look on his face I realized there was little point. He’d said as much as he would for now. If there was more, it would come later. “Well!” I said. “That is quite a tale!”

“Yes.” He was obviously pleased with himself. “It is, isn’t it?”

“But what I would like to know is … ”

“Yes?” he jumped on this. Was there ever, in the history of the world, a creature who so liked being asked questions? Who so liked knowing, more than anyone else, the answers to everything?

“But how?” I said, unable to stop myself from asking. “The last I checked, I knew everything you knew about the case, but now you know all this. You know all this … information, some of it going back decades! So how? How do you know all these things?”

“Because I read.” More pleased. “Because I read and observe.” More pleased still. “Plus, I’m incredibly nosy, and you take some incredibly long naps.”

“What does that mean? The events you have been discussing mostly took place in America.”

“That is true. You are no doubt deducing that as long as your naps may be, they are not long enough for me to make my way to America and back again. If so, you are deducing correctly.”

I nodded firmly in response.

“Elementary, my dear Catson. During your naps, I made use of the telephone, calling America frequently to further my investigation. You may not care for the device, but I am rather fond of that invention of mine.”

He –

Just how big was my telephone bill going to be?

Finally, most pleased of all: “Also, I visited Jefferson Hope in prison, not long after his arrest, one day while you were busily occupied with one of your longer naps.”

Knock.

“Oh, and also?”

Knock. Knock.

“I know who that is at the door,” he said smugly.

How could he? I looked around: the puppies, Mr. Javier, him, me. Wasn’t everyone we knew already in this room? And yet:

Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock.