At the hotel Holmes explains to Watson that "Cooee" is an Australian cry and that the apparent reference to "a rat", overheard by James, in fact comprised the last syllables of "Ballarat", a place in Australia. The person Charles was meeting was, therefore, someone he knew from Australia. John Turner, Alice's father, then comes to their room (coincidentally being announced by a hotel employee right as Watson is about to name him as the killer, after correctly interpreting the hints Holmes has offered him), entering with a limp, and, realizing that Holmes has deduced the crime, confesses.