'We can see about that later!' said Holmes. 'But now
please tell me, Mr Ryder. How did the diamond get from the
hotel into a goose? And how did the goose get into a shop?
And please tell the truth.'
Ryder began:
When the police arrested Horner, I left the hotel with the
diamond in my pocket. I didn't want to stay at the
Cosmopolitan, not with the police everywhere, looking at
everything, so I went to my sister's house in South London.
She lives in Brixton Road with her husband, Mr Oakshott.
I saw lots of police officers on my way there and when I
got to Brixton Road I was very afraid.
'What's the matter?' my sister asked.
I told her about the diamond thief and about the police
arresting Horner. Then I went into the back garden to
smoke and think. What could I do with the diamond now?
In the garden, I remembered my friend Maudsley. He began
well, but he went bad, and in the end he went to prison for
his crimes 'Perhaps he knows about selling diamonds,' I
thought So I decided to visit him at his home in Kilburn in
North London.
'But how can I walk across London with the diamond?' I
thought 'I can't have it in my pocket Not with all those
police officers in the streets.' Then I looked down at the
geese in the garden and I thought of something.
I knew one of those geese was for me, for my Christmas
dinner. So I decided to take my goose there and then, and
not to wait for it
I quickly caught a big white goose with a black tail.
Then I took the diamond from my pocket, and put it into
the bird's mouth. I felt the jewel go down its neck. With