The sun. [volume] (Morris, Stevens County, Minn.) 1882-1895, 1894-09-20

Simple as 1t was, there were several
most instructive points about it."
Simpler / circulated.
well really 1t can hardly be de-
scribed as otherwise" said Sherlock
Holmes. smiling at my surprise. 1.-The
proof of Its intrinsic simplicity is, that
without any help, save few very or
binary deductions, was able to lay
my hands upon the criminal within
three days"
That is true" said I.
II have already explained to you
that what Is out OF the common is us
ually guide rather than hindrance"
In solving problem Of this sort, the
grand thing is to be able to reason
backward This Is very useful ac-
complishment and very easy one,
but people do not practice 1t much. In
the every day affairs of life 1t is more
useful to reason forward, and so the
other comes to be neglected. There
are fifty who can reason synthetically
for one who can reason hnalytically,"
II confess" said /, shat / do not
quite follow you"
, Il hardly expected that you would
Let me see IL / can make 1t clear
Most people Ii you describe train of
events to them, will tell you what the
result will be. They can put those
events together in their minds and
argue from them that something will
come to pass There are few people,
however, who, il you told them "A re-
SILT. would be able to evolve from
their own inner consciousness what
the steps were which led up to that
result This power is what l mean
when talk of reasoning backward, or
analytically.'
II understands said 7.
Now this was case in which you
were given the result and had to find
everything else for yourself Now let
me endeavor TO show you the differ
ent steps In my reasoning. To begin
at the beginning: | approached the
house, as you know, on foot. and with
with my mind entirely free from all
impressions, I naturally began to
examine the roadway, and there, as
have already explained to you, saw
clearly the marks Of cab, which,
ascertained by inquiry must have
been there during the night
/ satisfied myself that 1t was cab and
not private carriage by the narrow
gauge of the wheels. The ordinary
London growler is considerably less
wide than a gentleman's broughaIn.
This was the first point gained.
then walked slowly down the garden
path, which happened to be composed
Of clay soil, peculiarly suitable for
taking impressions. No doubt 1t ap-
peaped to you to be mere trampled
line Of siush, but TO my trained eyes
every mark upon Its surface had a
meaning. There Is no branch Of detec-
tive science which Is SO important and
so much neglected as the art RI trac-
ing footsteps. Happily, have always
laid great stress upon it, and much
practice has made it second nature to
me. saw the heavy fQotmarks OF the
oolstables, but I saw also the track
of the two rnGn who had first passed
through the garden. 1t was easy to tell
that they bad been before the others,
because In places their marks had
been entirely obliterated by the Others
coming on top Of them. In this way
my second link was formed, which told
me that the nocturnal visitors were
two in number, enc remarkable for his
heigfE las ! CALCULATED from the length
of his stridef, and the other fashlanably
dressed, to Judge from the small and
elegant impression left by his boots.
"On entering the house this last In
ference was confirmed. My well boot
ed man lay before me. The tall one,
then, had done the murder, Ii murder
there was. There was no wound upon
the dead mans person, but the agitated
expression upon his face assured me
that he had fareseen his fate before
it came upon him. Men who die from
heart disease or any sudden natural
cause, never by any chance exhibit
agitation 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
1t had been forced upon him from the
hatred and fear expressed upon his
face, BY the method of exclusion
had arrived at this result for no other
hypothesis would meet the facts, Do
not imagine that 1t was very unheard
of idea. The forcible administration
of poison is by no means new thing
In criminal annals. The cases Of Dol
sky, in Odessa, and of Leturier, in
Montpelier, will occur at once to any
toxicol6 gist.
ard 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 1t woman? That was
the question that confronted me.
was inclined from the first to the lat
ter supposition. Political assassins are
are only too glad to do their work
and to fly. This murder had, OH the
contrary, been done more deliberately,
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
Wae more inclined than ever to my
oririon The thing was too yilantly
blind When the ring was found,
b~wcver, it settled the question. q slr-
" the murderer had used it to remind
his victim Of some dead Or absent
woman. 1t was at this point that /
asked Gregson whether he had inquired
In his telegram to Cleveland as to any
particula' point in Mr.. Drebber's for
ner career: He answered, you remtm-
Der, in the negative.
II then proceeded to make careful
examination Of the room, which con-
firmed me in my opinion as to the muir
derer's height, and furnished me with
tbs. additional details as 20 the Trichi-
nopoly cigar and the length of his nails.
| had already come to the conclusion,
since there were no signs of struggle,
that the blood which covered the floor
had burst from the murderer's nose in
his excitement. / could see that the
track of blood conceded with tho track
Of his feet. It Is seldom that any man,
unless he is very full-blooded, breaks
out In this way through emotion, so
hakarded the opinion that the criminal
vas probably A robust and ruddy faced
man. Events proved that / judged COR
rectly.
Having left the house, proceeded
| to do what Gregson had neglected.
| telegraphed the head of the police at
1 lfx..fk tr,r fo TIM