It chanced that some days before a gentleman who had been engaged in looking over some houses in the Brixton Road had dropped the key of one of them in my carriage.

It was claimed that same evening, and returned; but in the interval I had taken a moulding of it, and had a duplicate constructed.

By means of this I had access to at least one spot in this great city where I could rely upon being free from interruption.

How to get Drebber to that house was the difficult problem which I had now to solve.
"He walked down the road and went into one or two liquor shops, staying for nearly half-an-hour in the last of them.

When he came out he staggered in his walk, and was evidently pretty well on.