The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1906-06-22
That's no business OF mine" said

he.
Exactly. That's what I said. But
then. when the mar commits burglary
in order to break images which are not
his own. that brings it away from the
doctor and on to the policeman
Holmes sat up again.
burglary. This is more interesting.
Let me hear the details"
Lestrade took out his official note.
book and refreshed his from
its 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 in the Ken
nington Road. The assistant had left
the front shop for an instant, whe he
heard a crash, and hurrying in he
found a plaster bust 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-
clared they had noticed a man run out
of the shop. he could neither see any
one nor could he find any means of
Identifying the rascal. 1t seemed to be
one of those senseless acts of H%ooligan-
ism which occur from time to time, and
it 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
CIllIIlSll " dltS1 DdIllCulIr llNGSClRa.
ton.
The second case, however, was more
serious, and also more singular. 1t oc-
Cured only last night.
I'm Remington Road. and within a
few hundr yards of Morse Hudson's
shop, there lives a we'll known medical
practitioner, named DIR. Barnicot, who
a n OF the largest practices upon
the south side of the Thames. His
n principal consulting room
is at Remington Road, but he has a
branch surgery and d~ispensary at
Lower Brixton Road, two miles away.
This DR.. Barnicot is ar enthusiastic
ad1nircr CT Napoleon, and his house is
full of books, pictures n 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 h house at Remington
Road. and the other on the mantel-
Well. when DR.. Barnicot came down
this morning he was astonished to find
that his house a been burgled dur
ing the night, out hat nothing had
been taken ave the plaster head from
the hall. 1t had been carried out and
garden wall, under which it's splintered
fragments were discovered"
Holmes rubbed his hands.
This is certainly very novel; said
he.
II thought 1T 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
in the night, and that the
pieces of his second bust were
strewn all over the room. 1t had Deer
to atoms where it stood. In
case We're there any signs which
could give US a clew as to the criminal
or !unatic has done the mischief.
Mr.. Holmes. o have got the
They are singular. not to say
grotesque." said Mr.. Holmes. May I
DR.. Barnicot's rooms were the exact
of the one which was de-
in Morse Hudson's shop"
They were taken from the same
mould
Such a fact must tell against the
theory that the man who breaks them
is influenced by any general hatred of
Napoleon. Considering how many hum
dreds of statues of the great emperor
must exist in London, it is too much to
suppose such a coincidence as tina a
promiscuous iconoclast should chance
to begin upon three specimens of the
same bust"
Lestrade. "on 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
there are many hundreds of
in London, it is very probable
these three We're the only ones
In that district. Therefore, a local
would begin with them. What
do you think, DIR. Watson?"
There are no limits to the possibili-
ties of menomania." I answered. There
Is he condition which the modern.
psychologists have called the
idee fixe.' which may be trihing in
character, and accompanied by a COM
plete sanity in every other way. A man
had read deeply about Napoleon,
or who had possibly received some
family injury through the
great war. might conceivably form
be capable Of any fantastic out
rage"
That won't do. my lear WATSON
said Holmes, shaking his head, flor no
amount of idee f1xe' would enable your
interesting m~onomaniac to find out
where these busts were situated"
We'll, how do you explain it?"
Il don't attempt to do SO. 1 would
only observe that there is a certain
in the gentleman's eccentric
proceedings. Tor -xample, in DR..
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 it stood. The affair seems alb
surdly trifling, and yet 1 dare can moth
ing trivial when l reflect that some Of
most classic cases have had the
least promising commencement. You
remember, Watson, how the dread
full business Of the Abernetty family
was first brought to my notice by the
depth which the parsley had sunk into
the butter upon a hot day. I can't af-
ford, therefore. to smile at your three
broken busts. Lestrade, and 1 shall be
very much obliged to you if you will
let ne heal 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, was still dress