Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1906-06-22
That's no business of mine" said

Let me hear the details"
Lestrade look out his official note.
book inc refreshed his memory from
it's pages.
THE first case reported was four days
ago" said he. 1T was at the shop OF
Morse hudson, who has a place for the
sale Of pictures and statues I'm the Ken
nington Road. The assistant had left
the front shop for an instant, when he
heard n crash, and hurrying in he
found q plaster BUS of Napoleon, which
stood with several other works of art
upOn the counter, lying shivered into
fragments. He rushed out into the road,
but, although several passersby de-
claTed they had noticed a man run out
Of the shop, he could neither see any
one nor could he n any means of
Identifying the rascal. IT seemed to be
one OF those senSeless acts of Hooligan-
ism which occur from time to time, and
IL was reported to the constable on the
beat as such. The plaster cast was
not worth more than a few shillings,
and the whole affair appeared TO be too
childish for any particular inVestiga-
ton.
The second case, however, was more
serious, and also more singular. 1t oc-
CURED only last night.
In Remington Road, and within a
few hundred yards of Morse Hudson's
SIlOp lIltIe lives d wen hllO"h UleulCdl
practitioner, named Dr.. Barnicot, who
has n of the largest practices upon
the south side of the Thames. His
residence and principal consulting room
is at Remington Road, but he has a
branch surgery and "dispensary at
Lower Brixton Road, two miles away.
This DR.. Barnicot Is an enthusiastic
admirer Of Napoleon, and his house is
full of books, pictures and relics OF the
French emperor. Some little time ago
he purchased from Morse Hudson two
duplicate plaster casts of the famous
head of Napoleon by the French sculp-
tor, Devine. One of these he placed in
his hall in the house at Remington
Road. n the other on the mantel-
piece of the surgery at Lower Brixton.
Well, when DR.. Barnicot came down
this morning he was astonished to find
that his house had been burgled dur
ing the night, but that nothing had
been taken save the plaster head from
the hall. 1t a been carried out and
had been dashed s%avagely against the
garden wall, under which its splintered
fragments were discovered"
Holmes rubbed his hands.
This is certainly very novel," said
he.
u thought IT would please you. But
/ nave not got to the end yet. DR..
Barnicot was due at his surgery at
twelve o'clock. and you can imagine
his amaZement when, on arriving there,
he found that the window had been
opened in the night, and hat the
broken pieces of his second bust were
strewn all over the room. 1t had been
smashed to atoms where it stood. In
neither case were there any signs which,
could give us a clew as to the criminal
or lunatic who has done the mischief.
Now, Mr.. Holmes, you have got the
facts"
They are singular, not 10 say
grotesque," said Mr.. Holmes. May /
ask whether the two busts smashed in
DR.. Barnicot's rooms were the exact
duplicates Of the one which was de-
stroyed in Morse Hudson's shop?"
They were taken from the same
mould"
Such q fact must tell against the
theory that the man who breaks them
is influenced by m general hatred of
Napoleon. Considering how many hun-
dreds of statues of the great emperor
must exist in London, it is too much to
suppose such a coincidence as that a
promiscuous iconoclast should chance
to begin upon three specimens of the
same bust"
We'll, / thought as you do" said
LcStrade. con the other hand, this
Morse Hudson is the purveyor of busts
in that part Of London, and these three
were the only ones which had been in
his shop for years. So, although, as you
say, there are many hundreds of
statues in London, it is very probable
that these three were the only ones
i'm that district. Therefore, a local
fanatic would begin with them. What
do you think, DR.. Watson?"
There are no limits to the p%ossibili-
ties Of monomania," / answered. There
is the condition which the modern
French psychologists have called the
idee fxe.' which may be trihing in
character, and accompanied by a COM
plete sanity in every other way. A man
who had read deeply about Napoleon,
or who had possibly received some
hereditary family injury through the
great war, might c~onceivably form
such an idee fixe' and under it's in
iuence be capable of any fantastic out
rage"
That won't do. my lear Watson"
said Holmes, shaking his head, for no
amount of idee fixe' would enable your
interesting monomaniac TO find u
where these busts were situated"
We'll, how do you explain it,"
II don't attempt TO do so. I would
only observe that there is a certain
method in the gentleman's eccentric
proceedings. For "xample, in DR..
Barnicot's hall, where a sound might
arouse the family, the bust was taken
outside before being broken, whereas
In the surgery, where there was less
danger of an alarm, 1t was smashed
where 1t stood. The affair seems abb
surdly trifing, and yet I dare call moth
ing trivial when / reflect that some of
my most classic cases have had the
least promising commencement. You
will remember. Watson. how the dread
full business OF the Abernetty family
was first brought to my notice by the
depth which the parsley had SUM into
the butter upon a hot day. / can't af-
ford, therefore, to smile at you three
broken busts. Lestrade, and / shall be
very much obliged TO you II o will
let me hear Of any fresh development
of so singular a chain OF events"
The development for which my friend
had asked came In a quicker and an
Infinitely more tragic form than he
could have imagined. 1 was still dress
ing in my bedroom next morning. when
there was a tap at the door n Holmes
entered. a telegram in his hand. He
read IL aloud:
Come instantly, 131 Pitt street, Ken
sington,-Lestrade.''
"What Is il, then?"I asked.
Don't know-may be anything. But
II spect IL is the sequel of the story of
the statues. In that case our friend,
tha ip,a ga-hraakar has bactrp opQra-