The Delta independent., 1895-07-03

LlLlc OF ~ Stusiy III soClTict'
| He shook his head sadly. Tglanced
over it." said he. Honestly, 1 cannot
congra tulntc you upon it. Detection
is. or onght to be, an exact science, and
should be treated in the same cold and
Unconditional manner. You have at
tempted TO tinge it with romanticism,
which produces much the same effect
as if you worked love story or an
elopcmcnt into the fifth proposition of
Euclid"
.'I.rt the romance was there re-
monstrated. Il could not tampcr with
the facts"
'.Sonc facts should be suppressed, or
Mt least n just sense of proportion
should be observed in treating them.
The only point in the case which de-
served mention was the curious ana
| lytical reasoning from effects to causes
| by which ! succeeded in unraveling it"
was annoyed at this criticism of Il
work which had been specially dc
signed to please him. ! confess, too.
that was irritatcd by the cgotisln
which seemed to demand that every
line of my pamphlet should be devoted
to his own special doings. More than
once during the years that had lived
with him in Baker street ] had OBJ
served that n small vanity undcrlay my
companions quiet and didactic manner.
made no remark, however, but sat
nursing my wounded leg. had had
Jczail bullet through it sometime be-
fore, and though it did not prevent me
from walking, it ached wearily at
every change of the weather.
"My practice has extended recently
to the continent" said Holmes, after
awhile, filling up his old brier-root
pipe. II was consulted last week by
Francois lie Willard, who, as you prob
ably know, has come rather to the
front lately in the French detective
service. He has all the Celtic power of
quick intuition, but he is deficient in
the wide range of exact knowledge
which is essential to the higher dcvel-
opmcnts OF his art The case was con-
ccrncd with n will, and possessed some
! features Of interest. ! was able to re-
fer him to two parallel cases, the one
| Mt Riga in 1857, and tho other at st.
Louis in 1871, which have suggested to
him the truc solution. Here is the let
ter which had this morning, acknowl-
adging my assistance" lie tossed over,
as he spoke, a crumpled sheet of for
eign notepapcr. 1 glanced my eyes
down it, catching a profusion of notes
of admiration, with stray ''magni-
Gqucs, Coup de maitres" and tours
de force" all tcstifying to the ardent
admiration of the Frenchman.
"IIc speaks as pupil to his MASTER"
said I.
"Oh, he rates my assistance too high
ly," said Sherlock Holmes, Tightly.
"He has considerable gifts himself. He
possesses two out of the three quail
ties necessary for the ideal detective.
lie has the power of observation and
that of deduction. lie is only wanting
in lsnowlcdge; and that may come in
time. He is now translating my small
works into French"
"Your worlssp"
"Oh, didn't you know?" he cried,
laughing. "yes, have been guilty of
several monographs. They are all
upon technical subjects. Here, for cX-
ample, is one Upon the Distinction Be-
tween the Ashes of the Various Tobae-
Goes In it 1 cnumerate a hundred
and forty forms of cigar, cigarette and
pipe tobacco, with colored plates illus
trating the difference in the ash. 1t
is point which is continually turning
up in criminal trials, and which is
sometimes of supreme Importance as
clew. If you can say definitely, for ex-
ample, that some murder has been
done by man who was smoking an
Indian lunl<ah, it obviously narrows
your field Of search. To the trained
eye there is as much difference be-
tween the black ash of Trichinopo1y
opI {ba ,,,1;to p,,f ~ hsr1.s c fIaro
is between u cabbage and n potato"
r"You have an extraordinary genius
for minutiD." remarked.
81 appreciate their Importance. Here
is my monograph upon the tracing of
footsteps, with some remarks upon the
uses of plaster of Paris as n preservcr
of impresses. Here, too, is curious
little work upon the influence of
trade upon the form of the hand, with
the lithotypes of the hands Of slaters,
sailors, corl-cutters, compositors, weav-
ers and diamond polishers. That is q
matter of great practical interest to the
scientific dctective,-especially in cases
of unclaimed bodies, or in discovering
the antecedepts of criminals. But l
weary you with my hobby"
mot at ALL" answered, earnestly.
at is of the greatest interest to me, es-
pccially since I have had the oppor-
tunity Of observing your practical ap-
plicetion of it. But you spoke just
now of observation and deduction.
Surely the one to some extent implies
the other
"Why. hardly" he answered, leaning
back luxuriously in his armchair, and
sending up thick blue wreaths from
his pipe. For example, observation
shows me that you have been to the
Wigmore street post office this morn
ing, but deduction let's me know that
VIXEN there you despatched tclc-
gram"
''Itight.' said l. Right on both
points. But I confess. that don't see