that this man, Pettibone,
who traveled under the name of John Grayson,
was the real messenger.
Pettibone?
Yes.
Alfred Pettibone?
Yes.
Good man.
None better.
I've worked with him often.
I hope you may be able to work with him again.
But he's completely disappeared,
he's vanished, gone without leaving a trace.
I can see the possibility
of serious ramifications in his disappearance.
Exactly.
So far we've been able to keep
the knowledge of our loss
from both the American and British public.
Holmes you must retrieve that document
before it can be used against us.
Of course the Washington Police have been notified
of Grayson's disappearance
but even they don't know
that he was carrying the document.
Now that's about all the detail
I'm at liberty to give you.
Well if they've got Grayson,
that is Pettibone, they must got the papers.
Not necessarily Watson.
It doesn't follow because they got man,
they got the document.
What form is this document in?
It was typed on two sheets of legal paper.
Two sheets?
That's too bulky to swallow.
And dry Watson, cheerfully dry.
Especially legal papers.
Well whatever shape the document was in
I trust Pettibone to get rid of it
before anyone could lay hands on him.
The document must be found
before it falls into the hands of our enemies.
I'm here on behalf of His Majesty's government
who urges you to find it.
That means going to Washington, of course.
With all possible speed.
A bomber is waiting for you at Creighton.
Goodbye Doctor Watson.
Goodbye Sir.
Goodbye Ahren.
Goodbye Holmes, good luck.
Thanks very much.
We're relying on you.
Well Watson
we're off to Washington at once.
America, I say that's exciting.
I've never seen a game of baseball.
Let's go and start packing at once.
First I'd like to take a look at the home
of Alfred Pettibone.
Come along Watson.
Why Doctor Watson,
what a surprise.
And Mr. Holmes,
won't you come in?
Thank you.
I'm frightfully sorry
but you've won't find my son in
he's gone to Washington.
Some business or other.
Poor fellow I'm afraid that he'll never...
never get used to the climate over there.
Would you mind if we
looked over your son's room?
Why of course, it's upstairs.
Thank you.
Some friends tell me very, very muggy,
very sticky.
You'll find his room
in a dreadful pickle Mr. Holmes.
Quite a mess he is.
And I'm not allowed to put my nose inside,
as if I cared anything about
his silly old collection.
This fellow, Pettibone,
seems a curious sort of a fellow.
Sort of a collector of collections.
Postage stamps,
military buttons,
butterfly,
oh, bugs,
snapshots,
all sorts of rubbish.
Yes, I shall write a monograph some day
on the noxious habit
of accumulating useless trivia.
Please be so good as to stop pacing Watson,
you distract me.
All right, all right.
Unless I'm greatly mistaken,
our friend Pettibone,
did not carry two pages of legal paper
when he left this room.
I wouldn't be too sure Holmes.
Ashes are deceptive you know?
On the contrary my dear Watson.
The rag used on artificial documents
leads an ash that is unmistakable.
Oh do stop pacing!
I'm not pacing.
I haven't moved an inch.
I'm sorry old fellow, my error.
Must be Mrs. Pettibone,
heavy woman light on her feet.
Doesn't follow.
Our friend seems to be quite a camera enthusiast.
What's this?
Cook F15, that's a very fast lens
F35,
and a (unintelligible).
Copying set up.
American match folders.
That's right, U. S. A.
Now why would Pettibone
want American match folders in his work?
And a microscope,
most interesting.
What's this?
Watson this microscope
was last used for examining microfilm.
I'm beginning to see the pattern.
It stopped now.
Did you know that the letters
of our soldiers overseas
are being photographed on microfilm
so that one carrier pigeon
can carry the equivalent of 18,000 letters?
Oh really?
We had a carrier pigeon in the last war.
Back in 1915 belonging to the Brigade Signal Corp.
Did you?
Yeah, the poor bird kept flying round and round
in circles all day long.
Found out later on that it was cross-eyed.
Tragic thing.
Where are you going, huh?
Oh dark room huh?
This is what I was looking for.
This projector magnifies tremendously
anything placed on the slide
like this piece of microfilm.
Understand?
Can't say I do exactly, no.
Wait a minute.
I'll show you one of his photographs.
Well it's that match folder.
Why did he want to photograph that for?
Probably to line up his equipment
before he photographed the document.
We got him Watson.
Oh have we?
Yes.
Come along.
All is clear as mud to me.
Just as I thought,
this document has been reduced to microfilm
to make its concealment possible.
Alfred Pettibone is a most ingenious fellow.
A bulky document
is obviously difficult to conceal
but two pages of a state paper,
photographed on microfilm,
would be reduced to a size
no larger than a stamp.
Slitting a match folder with this...
with this razor blade...
Pettibone placed the now minute document inside,
stuck it together again
and there he had it.
An American match folder, rare in London
but completely inconspicuous in the United States.
Do you mean to say were off to America
just to look for a match folder?
It's a big country.
A big country Watson
and a small match folder.
Come along.
Did you find what you were looking for Mr. Holmes?
Yes thank you Mrs. Pettibone.
By the by you haven't been up on the roof
in the last twenty minutes have you?
Why no.
What made you think that...
Well we distinctly heard footsteps...
Nonsense Watson,
it was the house settling.
Gracious yes.
Such popping and groaning,
we're quite used to it.
Thank you.
Goodbye Mr. Holmes.
Goodbye Mrs. Pettibone.
Goodbye Doctor Watson.
Goodbye.
So sorry you missed Alfred.
I'll tell him the minute he gets back.
Gets back?
Oh yes, yes, yes of course.
Goodbye again Mrs. Pettibone.
Just a minute Watson.
That was no accident I assure you Watson.
Well aren't you going to find out who did it?
Time's too precious now.