Eagle River Democrat. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1893-1896, 1895-10-07
BY CONAN DOYLE.
CHAPTER vi;
The Conclusion.


matter in hand and Jefferson Hope
had been summoned before tribunal
where strict justice would be melted
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 placid
smile upon his face. as though he h."
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 hey had very much
to do with his capture | answered.
what you do in this world is 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,"
i Simple" I circulated.
"Well really it can 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 few very or
binary deductions, I was able to lay
my hands upon the criminal within
three days"
"That is true" said I.
II have already explained to you
| fhG4 what ic ont of tho iC
ually guide rather than hindrance."
In solving a problem of this sort, the
grand thing is to be able to reason
| backward. This is a very useful ac-
complishment and very easy one,
but people do not practice it much. In
the every day affairs of life it 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 analytically."
| II confess said l. that l do not
quite follow you"
II hardly expected that you would.
Let me see if I can make it clear.
Most people if 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 and
argue from them that something will
come to pass. There are few people,
however, who, if you told them 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 [ mean
when I talk of reasoning backward, or
analytically."
II understand" said 7.
sENnNx1 This q in which
We're 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 a cab, which, |
ascertained by inquiry must have
been there during the night.
I satisfied myself that it was cab and
not a private carriage by the narrow
gauge Of the wheels. The ordinary
London growler is considerably less
wide than gentleman's brougham.
'This was the first point gained. l
then walked slowly down the garden
path, which happened to be composed
Of a clay soil, peculiarly suitable for
taking impressions No doubt it ap-
peared to you TO be a mere trampled
line of slush, 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 # trac-
ing footsteps. Happily, J. have always
laid great stress upon it, and much
practice has made it second nature to
me- I saw the heavy footmarks Of the
constables, but | saw also the track
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 obliterated ~ the others,
coming on top Of them. In this way
NV 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, 10 Judge from the small and
elegant impression left by his boots.
ION entering the house this last IN
ference was confirmed. My we'll boot
ed man lay before me. The tall enc,
then, had done the murder, il murder
there was. There was no wound upon
the dead mans person, but the agitated
expression upon his face assured me
that he had foreseen 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
it lad been forced upon him from the
hatred and fear expressed upon his
face. By the method of exclusion I
had arrived at. this result for no other
hypothesis would meet the facts. Do
not imagine that it was very unheard-
of idea. The forcible administration
of poison is by no means new thing
in criminal annals. The eases of Dol
sky, in Odessa, and of Leturier, in
Montpelier, viii occur at once to any
| toXicolC gist.