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side of the church by means of a path, and were thereafter presented with a round-headed arch above an old oak door, weatherworn by centuries of lashing rain and mists seeping off the marsh of waterways and islands known as The Broads. Not long after, we were stood in the vestry over by a cupboard where they kept surplices, appraising a caricature of a large rat boldly painted on the room’s whitewashed wall.
    â€˜I am at a loss where to begin,’ exclaimed the clergyman.
    â€˜A puzzle easily enough solved. The mystery is already partly cleared up, at least,’ said my colleague with a bored air.
    â€˜Solved? You mean you have some idea who is actually responsible? Gentlemen, I am witness to a miracle. Pray, what on earth has prompted you to declare so easy a victory?’
    â€˜Here on the stone paving, padre, and over there by the left of your desk – ah, and also beneath the encased vestry window, lie the dog-ends of cigarettes. It may interest you to know I have written a small monograph concerning one hundred and forty known varieties of tobacco. The ash I refer to. We are presently looking for a person addicted to hand-rolled cigarettes.’
    â€˜Yes, I’m with you.’
    â€˜Liquorice paper – so distinctive.’
    â€˜Indeed, brown is the colour.’
    â€˜Cork filters. Mark you, slightly stained with blood. Our quicksilver artist suffers from a chaffed, prominent upper lip, else bleeding gums. I rest my case. Do you, padre, recognise to whom I refer? If so, we have solved the identity of the graffiti artist in – let me see – under four minutes.’
    â€˜Good heavens. I know to whom you refer. I’m positive. I recall the boy’s incessant wilful smoking and loitering about the graves on Tuesday last with some other youths. Tommy Weekes. His gums are sensitive and bleed so that on occasions his front teeth appear bloodied and revolting. I must away to tell his mother of her son’s disgraceful behaviour.’
    â€˜Stay your hand for the present, padre. He is talented, I’ll say that much for him.’
    â€˜Talented! Really, sir, sacrilegious is how I should describe his scribblings. Oh, I realise the carvings and defacings do have a certain flair for the absurd. The giant rat drawn on Mrs Lacey’s front door in her own image comes to mind. But he must be punished. A breach birth as a newborn, he was delivered by forceps and this has left him a little dull-witted. His behaviour is eccentric at times. Now I must depart and prepare to deliver the news to Mrs Weekes – that her son must go round with a cloth and pail and remove these images of rats from people’s property. The carvings of rodents must for the time remain.’
    â€˜One moment, vicar,’ said Holmes in a concerned way. ‘I should like as reward to be the first to interview the boy and his mother. I would be interested, during a private interview, to witness his reaction to being found out. I promise all will remain confidential and I shall report my findings to you later this evening.’
    â€˜That sounds fair. He lives with his mother at Thornycroft Cottage, a little way up the lane from my church. May I heartily congratulate you on solving this community matter with such élan and obvious professionalism. Your names, sirs, so that I might recall this moment for posterity.’
    â€˜Doctor Watson,’ said I.
    â€˜Mr Sherlock Holmes at your service.’
    â€˜Good grief – not the Sherlock Holmes?’
    â€˜Just so.’
    â€˜Gentlemen, come to my rectory across the way at once. I must force a sherry on you both. I declare I am an out-and-out devotee of the Strand magazine and follow your articles avidly, – oh, and this evening you must join me for supper, I insist on it.’

9
    Tommy Weekes’s Undoing
    After a short stroll up the lane, banked on either side by tall hedgerow trees, we came across the lighted window of a