Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1894-09-27
VII.
The Conclusion.

The SOnciustOh.
We had all been warned to appear
before the magistrates upon the Thurs
day; but when the Thursday came
there was no occasion for our testi-
mony. A higher judge had aiken the
matter in hand, and Jefferson Hope
had been summoned before a tribunal
where strict justice would be meted
out to him. On the very night after
his capture the aneurism burst, and
he was found in the morning stretched
upon the floor of the cell, with a placid
smile upon his face, as though he had
been able in his dying moments to
look back upon a useful life and on
work we'll done.
"Gregson and Lestrade will be wild
about this DEATH" Holmes remarked,
as we chatted it over the next evening.
where will their grand advertisement
be now?"
I don't see that they had very much
to do with his capture" / answered.
What you do in this world is a mat
ter of no consequence" returned my
companion, bitterly. The question Is,
what can you make people believe that
you have done? Never mind, he contin-
ued, more brightly, after a pause, i
would not have missed the investiga-
ton for anything. There has been no
better case within my recollection.
Simple as it was, there were several
most instructive points about it"
Simpler l circulated.
well really it car hardly be de-
scribed as otherwise" said Sherlock
Holmes, smiling at my surprise. The
proof Of it's intrinsic simplicity Is, that
without any help, save a few very or
binary deductions, I was able to lay
my hands upon the criminal within
three days"
That is true" said I.
81 have already explained to you
that what Is out Of the common Is us
ually a guide rather than q ~hindrance."
In solving a problem Of this sort, the
grand thing is to be able to reason
backward. This is q very useful ae-
complishment and q very easy one,
but people do not practice It much. In
the every day affairs of life 1t is more
useful to reason forward, and 80 the
other comes to be neglected. There
are fifty who can reason synthetically
for n who can reason analytically.'
'I confess" said I, that I do not
quite follow you"
IT hardly expected that you would
Let me see II I can make 1t clear.
Most people IL you describe a train OF
events to them. will tell you what the
result will be. They can put those
, events together in their minds ana
, argue from them that something VIII
come to pass. There are few people,
however. who, IL you told them a re-
, SILT. would be able to evolve from
, their w inner consciousness VIVA,
!. the steps were which led up to ina
result. This power is what I mean
n when I talk of reasoning backward, Oh
Y analyticaIy."
t II understand" said I.
sNow this was a case In which you
were given the result and had to hno
everything else for yourself. 0 le'
0 me endeavor to show you the differ
v ent steps In my reasoning. To beglr
q at the beginning: I approached tht
n house. as you know, on foot, and VIII
d with my mind entirely free from al
J. impressions. I naturally began Il
n examine the roadway, and there, as
). have already explained to you, l saw
II clearly the marks Of a cab, when,
e. ascertained by inquiry must nav,
Y been there during the night
n 7 satisfied myself that 1t was a cab AM
le not a private carriage by the marrow
d oouga of the wheels. The ordinar,
London GROWER is considerably les
wide than a gentleman's brougham.
q ''Tbis vas the first point gained.
T tben walked slowly down the gardel
nnth. which happened to be compose
Il Of n clay soil, peculiarly suitable 10
!, taking impressions. No doubt IL az
reared to you to be a mere trample
h. line of slush, but to my trained eye
a every mark upon its surface mad
~ moaning There is no branch OF detet
- tive science which Is so important an
~ 60 much neglected as the art II tra'
~ ~ mo footsteps. Happily, / have Away
80 Ioid GREAT stress upon 1t, and niue
nractice has made it second nature I
~ pme saw the heavy footmarks OF I'll
,, c~onstobles, but l saw also the trac
oe 80 tho two men who had first passe
.. through the garden. 1t was easy TO te
'u that they had been before the other
because in places their marks III
We heen entirely obliterated by the other
coming on top Of them. In TINS wa
b. nv second link was formed, winch 10
me that the nocturnal visitors WEI
two in number, n remarkable ior u
err height las l calculated from the iehg,
lu of his Strlde). ana ue o'hei
In dressed, to judge from the small III
by elegant impression left by his boots.
he "On entering the house this last
TT ference was confirmed. My well DOC
al man lay before me. The tall on
then. had done the murder, II IN
there was. There was no wound up'
no the dead mans person, but the agltat'
he expression upon his face assured Il
that he had foreseen his fate befo
To- II came upon him. Men who die fro
s." heart disease or any sudden na,ui
Die cause. never by any chance exhii
Sc agitation upon their features. Hayl
mt shifted the dead mans lips, detect
Nv ! slightly sour smell, and l came to Z
Conclusion that lie had had pois'
forced upon him. Again, l argued IN
,ck II lad beer forced upon him from
hatred and fear expressed upon
- face. BY the method of exclusion
aw had arrived at this result for no or
Nv h-pothesis would meet the facts.
not imagine that 1t was a very unheal
Any. .u az idea. The forciblc administrau
of poison is by no means a new UNI
~ In criminal annals. The cases OF u
sky. in Odessa, and OF Letuilcr,
!, MONTPELIER, win occur ut once 10 a
xovirnlf QiRt-