at the gate.
"There it is, Holmes, on the shield. De Castone's fox!"
3
To my mind, Holmes had seemed almost leisurely so far in his examination. He had not, for example, gone upstairs at once to view the study wall. Now however, he took his seat by the fire of the side parlour, and one by one, the remaining servants entered.
First came the cook, a Mrs. Castle. She was a large woman, neat and tidy, with a sad face which, I hazarded, had once been merry.
"Now, Mrs. Castle. We must thank you for your splendid dinner."
"Oh, Mr. Holmes," she said, "I am so glad that it was enjoyed. I seldom have a chance to cook for more than Miss Caston, who has only a little appetite."
"Perhaps the former Miss Caston ate more heartily."
"Indeed, sir, she did. She was a stout lady who took an interest in her food."
"But I think you have other reasons to be uneasy."
"I have seen it!"
"You refer—?"
"The white fox. Last week, before the snow fell, I saw it, shining like a ghost under the moon. I know the story of wicked old Sir Hugh. It was often told in these parts. I grew up in Chislehurst Village. The fox was said to be a legend, but my brother saw just such a white fox, when he was a boy."
"Did he indeed."
"Then there are those letters cut in the snow. And the number upstairs, and all of us asleep—a five, done in red, high upon the wall. The five days before Christmas, when the lady is in peril. A horrible thing, Mr. Holmes, if a woman may not live at her own property alone, but she must go in fear of her life."
"After the death of your former employer, you take these signs seriously."
"The first Miss Caston had never had a day's indisposition until last Christmas. She always went away just before that time. But last year her carriage stood ready on the drive every day, and every day the poor old lady would want to go down, but she was much too ill. Her poor hands and feet were swollen, and she was so dizzy she could scarce stand. Then, she was struck down, just as she had always dreaded."
"And the fox?" Holmes asked her.
The cook blinked. She said, "Yes, that was strange."
"So you did not yourself see it, on that former tragic occasion?"
"No, sir. No one did."
"But surely, Mrs. Castle, the present Miss Caston's former maid, Lucy, saw the white fox in the fields at the time of the elder lady's death?"
"Perhaps she did, sir. For it would have been about," Mrs. Castle replied ominously.
"Well, I must not keep you any longer, Mrs. Castle."
"No, sir. I need to see to my kitchen. Some cold cuts of meat have been stolen from the larder, just as happened before."
"Cold meat, you say?"
"I think someone has been in. Someone other than should have been, sir. Twice I found the door to the yard unlocked."
When she had left us, Holmes did not pause. He called in the footman, Vine. The boy appeared nervous and awkward as he had during dinner. From his mumblings, we learned that he had seen the white fox, yesterday, but no other alien thing.
"However, food has been stolen from the kitchen, has it not?"
"So cook says," the boy answered sullenly.
"A gypsy, perhaps, or a vagrant."
"I saw no one. And in the snow, they would leave their footprints."
"Well done. Yes, one would think so."
"I saw the letters dug out there," blurted the boy, "and Miss Caston standing over them, with her hand to her mouth. Look here, she says to me, who has written this?"
"And who had?"
The boy stared hard at Holmes. "You are a famous gentleman, sir. And I am nothing. Do you suspect me?"
"Should I?"
Vine cried out, "I never did anything I should not have! Not I. I wish I never had stayed here. I should have left when Lucy did. Miss Caston was a hard mistress."
I frowned, but Holmes said, amiably, "Lucy. She was obliged to care for her ailing mother, I believe."
Vine looked flustered, but he said, "The mistress never mourned her aunt, the old woman. Mistress likes only her books and piano, and her thoughts. I asked her leave to go home for the Christmas afternoon. We live only a mile or so distant, at Crowby. I should have been back by nightfall. And she says to me, Oh no, Vine. I will have you here."
"It was your place to be here," I