The swindling Sherlock

“There has never been a Sherlock Holmes story where he has failed to find the answer. Yes, his first theory was off the mark in the Adventure of the Yellow Face, but he eventually found out what happened by himself. Yes, he was beaten by Irene Adler in A Scandal in Bohemia but he did solve it by himself. There has never been a Sherlock Holmes story where he has failed to find the answer. Until now.”

Billy MacBilly smiled as the crowd gasped. 

“As you may know, the last of Conan Doyle’s stories were published 3 years before his death, in 1927. When he died, he was working on a new set of stories, the first being The Disappearance of Mr. James Phillimore, referenced in The Problem of Thor Bridge. Found in the study of Windlesham Manor, we produce it. This is an extract:

I paced around in frustration while Sherlock Holmes looked on in bemusement. ‘Elementary, my dear Watson, we will get our answer soon enough.’

So get your own The Disappearance of Mr. James Phillimore today, for a meagre price of £4.99!”

A flurry of cheers rushed through the crowd as they bought their copies.

As Billy MacBilly rubbed his hands with glee, he spotted a note lying on the ground. It wrote:

What does it say and mean?