about two in
the morning
`` It does seem to be a little out of the common , '' he remarked , calmly . `` Would you mind reading it to me aloud ? '' This is the letter which I read to him -- `` MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES , -- `` There has been a bad business during the night at 3 , Lauriston Gardens , off the Brixton Road . Our man on the beat saw a light there about two in the morning , and as the house was an empty one , suspected that something was amiss . He found the door open , and in the front room , which is bare of furniture , discovered the body of a gentleman , well dressed , and having cards in his pocket bearing the name of ` Enoch J. Drebber , Cleveland , Ohio , U.S.A. ' There had been no robbery , nor is there any evidence as to how the man met his death . There are marks of blood in the room , but there is no wound upon his person . We are at a loss as to how he came into the empty house ; indeed , the whole affair is a puzzler .