The good Watson had at that time deserted me for a wife, the only selfish action I can recall in our association. I was alone.

I felt Holmes's hand steal into mine and give me a reassuring shake.

- Watson

Watson. Come at once if convenient. If inconvenient, come all the same.

It was all love on my side, and all good comradeship and friendship on hers. When we parted she was a free woman, but I could never again be a free man.

For strange effects and extraordinary combinations we must go to life itself, which is always far more daring than any effort of the imagination.

As a rule, said Holmes, the more bizarre a thing is the less mysterious it proves to be. It is your commonplace, featureless crimes which are really puzzling, just as a commonplace face is the most difficult to identify.