| At that moment a knock comes on the door. The three men are disappointed to see it is not Vernet, or the limping doctor, but rather a young boy with a letter for Mr 'Henry Camberley'. The detective accepts the letter, and asks about the man who gave it to the boy. |
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 | who gave you this? | |
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| I don't know his name, but the man was tall, dark-haired, and smoked a pipe. | |
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| The letter reveals that the Tall Man knows not only that the detective is not Henry Camberley, but that he knows his real name. He in fact has read a number of his papers, and corresponded with him on his paper The Dynamics of an Asteroid. |
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| He proceeds to list the mistakes the detective made in his disguise when visiting the theatre: firstly, that it is unlikely a pipe-smoking man would have a new pipe and no tobacco; secondly, that it is very unlikely that a theatrical producer would not only be ignorant of the usual theatrical payment standards; and thirdly, that he would be accompanied by a taciturn ex-army officer (whom he also correctly deduces is back from Afghanistan). Furthermore, he advises that cab drivers also have ears, and that in the future it would be best not to take the first cab that comes along. |
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