"Young Ras, an Indian student who lives on the same floor."

"Was he followed by someone?"

"No, he wasn't."

"Why did he come?"

"He came in to ask me some questions about the examination. He used to come to me every time when he wanted some information."

"Where were the papers at that time?"

"They were on my writing-table."

"Where did you leave the papers when you went out?"

"I left them on my writing-table."

"How long were you absent?"

"About an hour."

"Did you lock the door when you went to see me?"

"I didn't need to do it. I left my servant in the room."

"Why didn't he follow you?"

"He wanted to examine the room once more."

"Do you trust² your servant? Is he honest?"

"I do. His honesty is absolutely above suspicion³. I used to trust him with large sums of money."

"Whom do you suspect?"

"It is a very delicate question, I can't answer it."

"Can you tell me the characters of the three students?"

"Of course I can," said Soames.

He told Holmes that of the three students, Maclaren, Ras and Gilford, the former⁴ was the eldest. The two were younger, both were good fellows and industrious⁶ too, although Ras was much more serious than Gilford. The teacher knew that the latter⁶ worked as much as the Indian, but was less intelligent⁷ than Ras. Soames added that Gilford was a fine youth, the tallest of the three, who was fond of sports and was the best jumper in the college team. Unfortunately he was very poor and in greater need of the scholarship than the other two. He said that he would pass the examination more easily than the Indian whose weakest point was languages.

When Holmes asked what he would say about Maclaren, Soames answered that Maclaren was the least industrious and the most unprincipled man among his fellow students, that he spent little time on his studies and felt very nervous on the days followed by the examinations.