Gilchrist, we are all quite alone here, and no one need ever know one word of what passes between us. Come, come, said Holmes, kindly, it is human to err, and at least no one can accuse you of being a callous criminal. Soames, that you said to me that no one, not even Bannister, could have told that the papers were in your room, the case began to take a definite shape in my mind. No harm would have been done had it not been that, as he passed your door, he perceived the key which had been left by the carelessness of your servant.