Welcome to Sherlock Holmes short stories. I'm Hugh Bonneville, and from the Noiser podcast network,

this is The Naval Treaty, Part 3. Last time, after hearing Percy Phelps' account of the stolen treaty,

Holmes asked a series of probing questions, including if anyone knew

that he would be copying the treaty in his office that evening. Phelps was adamant that

he had told no one, not even his fiancée, Annie. Holmes then visited Detective Forbes

at Scotland Yard to get more information about the police's investigation.

There, Holmes learned that the commissioner and his wife had been thoroughly investigated and completely cleared of the crime.

Satisfied with Detective Forbes's work, Holmes and Watson then visited Lord Holdhurst, Phelps' uncle and

the Foreign Minister. The statesman noted an encouraging detail. After ten weeks, there had

been no diplomatic fallout, suggesting the treaty remained out of foreign hands. Finally,

Holmes and Watson headed back to Woking to update Percy

Phelps on their progress. When they arrived, they were shocked to learn that a cloaked intruder

had tried to break into Phelps's sick room the previous night, and he was brandishing a knife.

Now, Percy is about to tell Holmes and Watson more about his unexpected midnight visitor. This is most interesting, said Holmes.

Pray, what did you do then?

I should have followed him through the open window if I had been stronger.

As it was, I rang the bell and roused the house. It took me

some little time for the bell rings in the kitchen and the servants all sleep upstairs.

I shouted, however, and that brought Joseph down, and he roused the others.

Joseph and the groom found marks on the bed outside the window, but the weather has been

so dry lately that they found it hopeless to follow the trail across the grass. There's

a place, however, on the wooden fence which skirts the road, which shows signs, they tell

...