But it was manifestly impossible to inquire of all the spectacle-makers in Europe--for the glasses were not necessarily made in England.

As confirmation the spectacles might be valuable; as a starting-point they were of no use at all.
From the spectacles I turned to the pieces of reed.

These were what had given Thorndyke his start.

Would they give me a leading hint too?
I looked at them and wondered what it was that they had told Thorndyke.
The little fragment of the red paper label had a dark-brown or thin black border ornamented with a fret-pattern, and on it I detected a couple of tiny points of gold like the dust from leaf-gilding.

But I learned nothing from that.