Alice meets Holmes, Watson and Lestrade in the hotel, and she hopes that Holmes has found a way to prove James's innocence. She also believes that she was the subject of the argument between the McCarthys - Charles wanted his son to marry her, but James had refused. Alice had taken James's side out of respect for him, and her father was also against the union. Holmes asks Alice if he could meet her father, but she says his health worsened after the death of Charles, whom he had known since they were in Victoria. Holmes decides to see James.