"There's been pawn activity in both neighborhoods, and he slipped up. Left a receipt. It's nothing enough to live on for a chronic alcoholic, but it is disrupting the flow of the illicit jewel trade. The police are worthless with the double blind."
Sherlock Holmes was not the favorite of any local police force.
"... has the Agency spoken with you of late?" Sherlock was curious if he was the only one these supposed secret agents had approached.