Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1894-08-30
PART II.
By 4. CONAN DOYLE

nat Is true Salu l.
81 have already explained to you
that what is out of the common is
usually a guide rather than a him
drance. In solving problem of this
sort, the grand thing is to be able to
reason backward. That is a very use
full accomplishment and very easy
one, but people do not practice it
much. In the everyday affairs of life
it is more useful to reason forward,
and so the other comes to be neglected.
There are fifty who can reason syn
thetically for one who can reason an
alytically."
Il confess" said I, that 1 do not
quite follow YOU
Il hardly expected that you would.
Let me- see if / can make it clear Most
people, if You describe train of events
to them, will tell you what the result
would be. They can put those events
together in their minds, and argue
from them that something Will come
to pass. There are few people. how
ever, who, if you told them result,
would be able to evolve from their own
inner consciousness what the steps
We're which led up to that result. This
power is what I mean when l talk of
reasoning backward or analytically."
81 understand" said /.
''NOw, this was 4 case in which you
were given the result and had to find
everything else for yourself. Now, let
me endeavor to show you the different
steps in my reasoning. To begin at
the beginning: approached the house,
as You know, on foot, and with my
sions. l naturally began by examin-
ing the roadway, and there, as have
already explained to you. l saw clearly
the marks of 4 cab, which, l ascer-
tanned by inquiry, must have been
there during the night. l satisfied
myself that it was cab and not pri-
vate carriage by the narrow gauge of
the wheels. The ordinary London
growler is considerably less wide than
a gentleman's brougham.
This was the first point gained. 1
then walked slowly down the garden
path, which happened to be composed
of a clay soil, peculiarly suitable for
taking impressions. No doubt it APP
peared to you to be a mere tramp1ed
line of slush, but to my trained eyes
every mark upon its surface had a
meaning. There is no branch of de-
tective science which is so important
and so much neglected as the art Of
tracing footsteps. Happily, have al
ways laid great stress upon it, and
much practice has made it second
nature to me. l saw the heavy foot
marks of the constables, but / saw
also the tracks of the two men who
had first passed through the garden.
1t was easy to tell that they had been
before the others, because in places
their marks had been entirely Obliter-
ated by the others coming upon the
top of them. In this way my second
link was formed which told me that
the nocturnal visitors were two in
number, one remarkable for his height
(as | calculated from the length of his
stride) and the other fashionably
dressed, to judge from the small and
elegant impression left by his boots.
lon entering the house this last in
ference was confirmed. My wellbooted
man lay before me. The tall one, then,
had done the murder. if murder there
was There was no wound upon the
dead mans person, but the agitated
expression upon his face assured me
ludI ilc loitSctH hlS Id tc btiOIc II
came upon him. Men who die from
heart disease or any sudden natural
cause never by any chance exhibit agi-
tation upon their features. Having
shifted the dead mans lips. detected
a slightly sour smell, and | came to the
conclusion that he had had poison
forced upon him. Again / argued
that it had been forced upon him,
from the hatred and fear ex-
pressed upon his face. BY the
method of exclusion l had arrived at
this result. for no other hypothesis
would meet the facts. Do not imagine
that it was a very unheard-of idea.
The forcible administration of poison
is by no means new thing in criminal
annals. The cases of Dolsky, in Odes-
sd, and of Leturier, in Montpelier,
will occur at once to any Psychologist.
'And now came the great question
as to the reason why. Robbery had
not been the object of the murder. for
nothing was taken. Was it politics.
then. or was it a woman? That was
the question which confronted me.
was inclined from the first to the lat
ter supposition. Political assassins
are only too glad to do their work and
to fly. This murder had, on the con-
trary. been done most delibera tely,
and the perpetrator had left his tracks
all over the room. showing that he
had been there all the time. 1t must
have been a private wrong. and not a
political one. which called for such
methodical revenge. When the in
scription was discovered upon the wall
/ was more inclined than ever to my
opinion. The thing was too evidently
n blind. When the ring was found,
however, it settled the question.
Clearly the murderer had used it to
remind his victim of some dead or alb
sent woman. 1t was at this point that
! asked Gregson whether he had in
quired in his telegram to Cleveland as
to any particular point in Mr.. Drebber's
former career. He answered, you re-
member. in the negative.
II then proceeded to make careful
examination of the room, which con-
fruaed me in my opinion as to the muir
,derer's height. and furnished ne with