In two days he had received an answer, informing him that the horse-dealer had been called to England by the illness of a relative, and that he had hitherto failed to send any address to which his letters could be forwarded.
Hearing this, and having exhausted his funds, Sharon had returned to London.

It now rested with Moody to decide whether the course of the inquiry should follow the horse-dealer next.

Here was the cash account, showing how the money had been spent.

And there was Sharon, with his pipe in his mouth and his dog on his lap, waiting for orders.
Moody wisely took time to consider before he committed himself to a decision.

In the meanwhile, he ventured to recommend a new course of proceeding which Sharon's report had suggested to his mind.
"It seems to me," he said, "that we have taken the roundabout way of getting to our end in view, when the straight road lay before us.