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Ibis eyes twinkled warmly, but his face appeared carved from an old, weathered, tree-trunk. 'It bothers the logical side of his nature to think that he might have irrational family loyalties above and beyond the clarion call of justice. Mycroft, of course.. ' and he gazed at his corpulent brother, '. . : is rather ashamed of us in the exalted circles in which he now moves. That probably explains why they kept from you the fact that my name was upon the list of Library users provided by Mr Ambrose.'

Both Sherlock and Mycroft shifted slightly where they stood.

'You've a sharper brain than both of us put together, Sherringford, if only you would turn it outward upon the world rather than reserving it for crop rotation and sheep breeding,' Mycroft said grudgingly, 'but you still have not explained why you are here. What connection do you have with this Library?'

Sherringford sighed.

'Is this necessary, dear boy?' he asked.

'Very necessary. You may hold a vital clue as the identity of the thief and murderer, assuming them to be one and the same.'

'Very well. As you know, it has long been my ambition to write the history of our family: Indeed, I have had some success in tracing our roots back to Norman times. More recently, I discovered that one of our distant relatives married the Commander in Chief of the Naval Forces of His Holiness the Pope during the last century. .'

'Holmes mentioned it to me,' I blurted. 'When we were on the Pope's train a few days ago.'

Sherringford appeared surprised.

'I had always assumed that you never read the letters I sent you, Sherlock.'

he said. 'Perhaps I have done you an injustice. No matter. Mention of His Holiness brings me to this Library, where I have been researching the time that our father spent in the service of the East India Company. His own journal is fragmentary, and three volumes are missing from the family archives. Eventually I tracked them down to here. I do not pretend to understand how they came to be in this Library, and Mr Ambrose will not enlighten me. I took rooms in London and started to examine them. Mr Ambrose kindly put this room at my disposal.'

'But I thought that this Library contained only those documents which the Catholic Church claim could destabilize the world,' I said.

'Perhaps so.' Sherringford glanced up at me. Suffice it to say that our father's journals were amongst those stolen soon after I arrived, along with other documents relating to the Indian subcontinent, with special reference to myths and legends.'

'I have been investigating the theft of our father's diaries?' Holmes snapped.

'Amongst other documents, indeed. I suspect that it was my own interest in them that prompted the theft, and the interest of the Doctor here in some of the other documents.'

He glanced at the Doctor, who looked bashfully at the floor, clasped his hands before him and swung one leg to and fro.

'Mr Ambrose made me aware of his intention to notify the hierarchy of the Catholic Church of the thefts. I tried to dissuade him - the documents were not, after all, that important, but he would not be swayed. I must admit that I had not anticipated that the Pope himself would seek you out, Sherlock, and engage you to investigate the theft. This Library must be more important to them than I had thought.'

'Or, perhaps, the stolen books are,' the Doctor murmured. Sherringford cast him a sharp glance.

'Be that as it may,' he continued, 'you have quickly ascertained, more through luck than judgement, that the culprit is Baron Maupertuis. His motive is unclear, but no doubt it can be established by the constabulary in short order. Even better, you have regained two of the books. Well done, Sherlock!

Mycroft, the Doctor and I all turned to stare at Holmes. He looked inclined to dissemble for a moment, then delved into a pocket and retrieved two small volumes, about the size of the palm of my hand. Sherringford waved an imperious hand, and Holmes passed them to him with obvious reluctance.