# John Thorndyke's Cases

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This collection of detective stories includes one novelette/novella (the first) and 7 short stories.
JOHN THORNDYKE'S CASES
RELATED BY CHRISTOPHER JERVIS, M.D.
AND EDITED BY
R. AUSTIN FREEMAN AUTHOR OF "THE GOLDEN POOL" ETC
WITH SIX ILLUSTRATIONS BY H. M. BROCK, AND NINE FROM PHOTOGRAPHS, ETC.
HYPERION PRESS, INC. WESTPORT, CONNECTICUT
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Freeman, Richard Austin, 1862-1943.
John Thorndyke's cases.
Reprint of the 1909 ed. published by Chatto & Windus, London. CONTENTS: The man with the nailed shoes.--The stranger's latchkey.--The anthropologist at large. [etc.] I. Title.
PZ3.F8806J04 (PR6011.R43] 823'.9'12 74-10486 ISBN 0-88355-201-9
Published in 1909
by Chatto & Windus, London.
Hyperion reprint edition 1975. Library of Congress Catalogue Number 74-10486
ISBN 0-88355-201-9
Printed in the United States of America
TO MY FRIEND
FRANK STANDFIELD
IN MEMORY OF MANY A PLEASANT EVENING
SPENT WITH MICROSCOPE AND CAMERA
THIS VOLUME IS DEDICATED

### PREFACE

The stories in this collection, inasmuch as they constitute a somewhat new departure in this class of literature, require a few words of introduction. The primary function of all fiction is to furnish entertainment to the reader, and this fact has not been lost sight of. But the interest of so-called "detective" fiction is, I believe, greatly enhanced by a careful adherence to the probable, and a strict avoidance of physical impossibilities; and, in accordance with this belief, I have been scrupulous in confining myself to authentic facts and practicable methods. The stories have, for the most part, a medico-legal motive, and the methods of solution described in them are similar to those employed in actual practice by medical jurists. The stories illustrate, in fact, the application to the detection of crime of the ordinary methods of scientific research. I may add that the experiments described have in all cases been performed by me, and that the micro-photographs are, of course, from the actual specimens.
I take this opportunity of thanking those of my friends who have in various ways assisted me, and especially the friend to whom I have dedicated this book; by whom I have been relieved of the very considerable labour of making the micro-photographs, and greatly assisted in procuring and preparing specimens. I must also thank Messrs. Pearson for kindly allowing me the use of Mr. H. M. Brock's admirable and sympathetic drawings, and the artist himself for the care with which he has maintained strict fidelity to the text.
R. A. F.
Gravesend,
       September 21, 1909.

### CONTENTS

* chapterpage
* I. The Man with the Nailed Shoes 1
* II. The Stranger's Latchkey 67
* III. The Anthropologist at Large 97
* IV. The Blue Sequin 123
* V. The Moabite Cipher 145
* VI. The Mandarin's Pearl 179
* VII. The Aluminium Dagger 216
* VIII. A Message from the Deep Sea 251

### ILLUSTRATIONS

* Professor Popplebaum is enlightened, Frontispiece
* Plan of St. Bridget's Bay 9
* The Sergeant's Sketch 41
* Fluff from Key-Barrel To face 88
* The Stranger is run to Earth {{{1}}}„ 94
* Transverse Sections of Human Hair {{{1}}}„ 113
* Thorndyke's Strategy {{{1}}}„ 117
* The Discovery {{{1}}}„ 125
* The Moabite Ciphre 156
* The Professor's Analysis 171
* The Apparition in the Mirror To face 199
* The Aluminium Dagger {{{1}}}„ 240
* The Sand from the Murdered Woman's Pillow {{{1}}}„ 262
* Human Hair, Showing Roots {{{1}}}„ 282
* Superintendent Miller Rises to the Occasion {{{1}}}„ 286
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1929.
The longest-living author of this work died in 1943, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 80 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
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