Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1895-07-02

guide rather than hindrance. In solv-
ing a problem Of this sort the grand
thing is to be able to reason backward
That is very useful accomplishment
and very easy one, but people do not
practice it much. In the everyday af-
fairs Of life it il more useful to reason
forward, and so the other comes to he
neglected. There are 30 who can reason
synthetically for one who can reason
analytically.
~ confess" said !, "that / do not
quite follow you"
II hardly expected that you would.
Let me see II can make il clear. Most
people, if you describe train of events
to them, will tell you what the result
would be. They can put those events to.
gether in their minds and argue from
them that something will come to pass.
There are few people, however, who. IL
you told them result, would be able
10 evolve from their own inner con-
sciousness what tho steps wero which
led mp TO that result This power is
what mean when l talk Of reasoning
backward. or analytically.
II understand" said /.
"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 different
steps in my reasoning. To begin at the
beginning. l approached the house, as
you know, on foot and with my mind
entirely free from all impressions. l
naturally began by examining the road
way, and there, rs ! have already ex-
planned TO You. l saw clearly the marks
Of cab, which, l ascertained by in.
quiry, must have been there during the
night. | satisfied myself that it was q
cab and not a private carriage by the
narrow gauge of the wheels. The or
dinary London growler is considerably
less wide than q gentleman's brougham.
This was the first point gained. i
then walked slowly down the garden
path, which happened to be composed OF
clay soil. peculiarly suitable for tax
ing impressions. No doubt it appeared
to you to be mere trampled line Of
slush, but to my trained eye every mark
upon its surface had meaning. There
is no branch Of detective science which
is so important and so much neglected
as the art Of tracing footsteps. Happily
| have always laid great stress upon IL,
and much practice has made it second
nature TO me. saw the heavy foot
marks Of the constables, but i saw also
the tracks of the two men who had first
passed through the garden IL was easy
to tell that they had been before the 9th.
ors, because in places their marks had
been entirely obliterated by the others
coming upon tho top Of them. In this
way my second link was formed, which
told mo that the nocturnal visitors were
two in number, one remarkable for his
height, as calculated from the length
Of his stride, mLthe other fashionably
dressed. To Judge from the small and
elegant impression left by his boots.
ION entering the house this last in.
ference was confirmed My well booted
man lay before me. The tall one, then,
had done the murder, il murder there
was. There was no wound upon the
dead mans person, but the ngitated ex'
preston upon his face assured me that
he had forcsecn his fate before IL came
upon him. Men who die from heart dis
ease or any sudden natural cause never
by any chance exhibit agitation upon
their features Having shifted the dead
mans lips, / detected slightly sour
smell, and l came TO the conclusion that
no 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 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 admins
tration Of poison is by no means new
thing in criminal annals. The cases Of
Dolsky in Odessa and OF Leturier In
Montpelier will occur at once 10 any
toxicologist.
"And now came the great question as
to the reason why. Robbery had not
been the object Of tho murder, for moth
ing YVES taken. Was it politics, then, or
was it woman? That was the question
which confronted ne. was inclined
from the first TO the latter supposition.
Political assassins are cnly too glad to
do their work and to fly. This murder
had, OH the contrary, been done most
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 private wrong and
not q political one which called for
such methodical revenge. When the
inscription was discovered upon the
wall, | was more inclined than ever TO
my opinion. The thing was too evident
ly a blind. When the ring was found,
however, il settled the question. ClTar-
ly the murderer had used il to remind
his victim Of some dead or absent wom-
an. 1t was at this point that / asked
Gregson whether he had inquired in
his telegram to Cleveland as to any par
ticular point in Mr.. Drebber's former
career. He answered, you remember, in
the negative.
~ then proceeded to make careful
examination Of the room, wh.ch COLI
firmed me in my opinion as to the MUIR
derer's height and furnished me with
the additional detail rs to tho Trichi-
nopoly cigar and the length Of his nails.
I had already come to the conclusion,
since there were no signs Of struggle,
that the blood which covered tho floor
had burst from tho murderer's nose in
his excitement. I could perceive that
the track of blood coincided with the
track Of his feet. IL is seldom that any