No. 7 The Adventure of the Reigate Squire by Arthur Conan Doyle
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at_the trial . but this_is what we really wanted ." he held up a little crumpled piece of paper .

" the remainder of_the sheet ! " cried the inspector .

" precisely ."

" and where was_it ? "

" where i_was sure it must_be .I'll make_the whole matter clear to_you presently . i_think, colonel, that you and Watson might return now, and_I_will_be with_you again in an hour at_the furthest . the inspector and I_must_have a word with_the prisoners, but you_will certainly see me back at luncheon time ."

Sherlock Holmes was as good as his word, for about one o'clock he rejoined us in_the colonel's smoking- room . he_was accompanied by a little elderly gentleman, who was introduced to_me as_the Mr Acton whose house had_been the scene of_the original burglary .

"I wished Mr Acton to_be present while I demonstrated this small matter to_you," said Holmes, " for_it is natural that he_should take a keen interest in_the details . I_am afraid, my dear colonel, that you_must regret the hour that you took in_such a stormy petrel as I_am ."

" on_the contrary," answered the colonel, warmly, "I consider it the greatest privilege to_have_been permitted to study your methods of working .I confess that_they quite surpass my expectations, and_that I_am utterly unable to account for_you result . I_have_not_yet seen the vestige of aclue ."

" I_am afraid that my explanation may disillusion you but it has always been my habit to hide none of_my methods, either from my friend Watson or from any_one who_might take an intelligent interest in_them . but, first, as I_am rather shaken by_the knocking about_which I had in_the dressing- room, i_think that I_shall help myself to a dash of your brandy, colonel . my strength had_been rather tried of late ."

"I trust that you had no more of_those nervous attacks ."

Sherlock Holmes laughed heartily ." we_will come to_that in its turn," said he ." i_will lay an account of_the case before_you in its due order, showing you the various points which guided me in my decision . pray interrupt me if_there_is any inference which_is not perfectly clear to_you .

" it_is of_the highest importance in_the art of detection to_be_able to recognise, out of a number of facts, which are incidental and which vital . otherwise your energy and attention must_be dissipated instead of being concentrated . now, in this_case there_was not the slightest doubt in my mind from_the first that_the key of_the whole matter must_be looked for in_the scrap of paper in_the dead man's hand .

" before going into_this, i_would draw your attention to_the fact that, if Alec Cunningham's narrative was correct, and if_the assailant, after shooting William Kirwan, had instantly fled, then it obviously could_not_be he who tore the paper from_the dead man's hand . but if_it_was not he, it must_have been Alec Cunningham himself, for by_the_time that_the old man had descended several servants were upon_the scene . the point is a simple one, but the inspector had overlooked it because he had started with_the supposition that_these county magnates had had nothing to_do with_the matter . now, I make a pint of never having any prejudices, and of following docilely wherever fact may lead me, and so, in_the very first stage of_the investigation, I_found myself looking a little askance at_the part which had_been played by_Mr Alec Cunningham .

" and now I_made a very careful examination of_the corner of paper which the inspector had submitted to_us . it_was at once clear to_me that_it formed part of a very remarkable document . here it_is . do_you not now observed something very suggestive about_it ? "

" it has a very irregular look," said the colonel .

" my dear_Sir," cried Holmes, " there cannot_be the least doubt in_the_world that it_has_been written by two persons doing alternate words . when I draw your attention to_the strong t's of ' at' and ' to', and ask_you to compare them with_the weak ones of ' quarter' and 'twelve,' you_will instantly recognise the fact .a very brief analysis of_these four words would enable you to_say with_the utmost confidence that_the ' learn' and_the ' maybe' are written in_the stronger hand, and_the ' what' in_the weaker ."

" by Jove, it's as clear as day ! " cried the colonel ." why on earth should two men write a letter in_such a fashion ? "

" obviously the business was a bad one, and one_of_the men who distrusted the other was determined that, whatever was_done, each should_have an equal hand in_it . now, of_the two men, it_is clear that_the one who wrote the ' at' and ' to' was_the ringleader ."

" how do_you get at_that ? "

" we_might deduce it from_the mere character of_the one hand as compared with_the other . but we_have more assured reasons than that for supposing it . if_you examine this scrap with attention you_will come to_the conclusion that_the man with_the stronger hand wrote all his words first, leaving blanks for_the other to_fill up . these blanks were_not always sufficient, and you_can see that_the second man had a squeeze to fit his ' quarter' in between_the ' at' and_the ' to,' showing that_the latter were already written . the man who wrote all his words first in undoubtedly the man who planned the affair ."

" excellent ! " cried Mr Acton .

" but very superficial," said Holmes ." we come now, however, to a point which_is of importance . you_may not be aware that_the deduction of a man's age from_his writing is one which_has brought to considerable accuracy by experts . in normal cases one can place a man in_his true decade with tolerable confidence . I_say normal cases, because ill- health and physical weakness reproduce the signs of old age, even when_the invalid is a youth . in this_case, looking at_the bold, strong hand of_the one, and_the rather broken-backed appearance of_the other, which still retains its legibility although the t's have begun to lose their crossing, we can_say that_the one was a young man and_the other was advanced in years without being positively decrepit ."

" excellent ! " cried Mr Acton again .

" there_is a further point, however, which_is subtler and of greater interest . there_is something in common between_these hands . they belong to men who_are blood-relatives . it may_be most obvious to_you in_the Greek e's, but to_me there_are many small points which indicate the same thing . I_have no_doubt at all that a family mannerism can_be traced in_these two specimens of writing . I_am only, of_course, giving you the leading results now of_my examination of_the paper . there were twenty- three other deductions which would_be of more interest to experts than to_you . they all tend to deepen the impression upon my mind that_the Cunninghams, father and son, had written this letter .

"Having got so_far, my next step was, of_course, to examine into_the details of_the crime, and to_see how far they_would help_us .I went up_to_the house with_the inspector, and saw all that was to_be seen . the wound upon_the dead man was, as i_was able to determine with absolute confidence, fired from a revolver at_the distance of something over four yards . there_was no powder-blackening on_the clothes .Evidently, therefore, Alec Cunningham had lied when he_said that_the two men were struggling when_the shot was fired . again, both father and son agreed as_to_the place where the man escaped into_the road . at_that point, however, as it happens, there_is abroadish ditch, moist at_the bottom . as there were no indications of boot-marks about_this ditch, i_was absolutely sure not_only that_the Cunninghams had again lied, but that there had never been any unknown man upon_the scene at all .

" and now I_have to consider the motive of_this singular crime . to_get at_this, I endeavoured first of all to solve the reason of_the original burglary at Mr Acton's .I understood, from something which the colonel told us, that a lawsuit had_been going on between you, Mr Acton, and_the Cunninghams . of_course, it instantly occurred to_me that_they had broken into your library with_the intention of getting at some document which might_be of importance in_the case ."

" precisely so," said Mr Acton ." there can_be no possible doubt as to_their intentions . I_have the clearest claim upon half of_their present estate, and if_they could_have found a single paper-- which, fortunately, was in_the strong- box of_my solicitors-- they_would undoubtedly have crippled our case ."

" there you_are," said Holmes, smiling ." it_was a dangerous, reckless attempt, in_which I seem to trace the influence of young Alec .Having found nothing they tried to divert suspicion by making it appear to_be an ordinary burglary, to_which end they carried off whatever they_could lay their hands upon . that_is all clear enough, but there_was much that was still obscure . what i_wanted above all was to_get the missing part of_that note . i_was certain that Alec had torn it out_of_the dead man's hand, and almost certain that he_must_have thrust it into_the pocket of_his dressing- gown . where else could he have put it ? the only question was whether it_was still there . it_was worth an effort to_find out, and for_that object we all went up_to_the house .

" the Cunninghams joined us, as_you doubtless remember, outside the kitchen door . it_was, of_course, of_the very first importance that_they should_not_be reminded of_the existence of_this paper, otherwise they_would naturally destroy it without delay . the inspector was about to_tell them the importance which we attached to_it when, by_the luckiest chance in_the_world, I tumbled down in a sort of fit and so changed the conversation .

" good heavens ! " cried the colonel, laughing, " do_you_mean to_say all our sympathy was wasted and your fit an imposture ? "

"Speaking professionally, it_was admirably done," cried I, looking in amazement at_this man who was forever confounding me with some new phase of_his astuteness .

" it_is an art which_is often useful," said he ." when I recovered I managed, by a device which had perhaps some little merit of ingenuity, to_get old Cunningham to write the word 'twelve,' so_that I_might compare it with_the 'twelve' upon_the paper ."

"Oh, what an ass I_have_been ! " I exclaimed .

"I could_see that you were commiserating me over my weakness," said Holmes, laughing ." i_was sorry to cause you the sympathetic pain which I_know that you felt . we then went upstairs together, and having entered the room and seen the dressing- gown hanging up behind the door, I contrived, by upsetting a table, to engage their attention for_the moment, and slipped back to examine the pockets .I had hardly got the paper, however-- which_was, as I had expected, in one_of_them-- when_the two Cunninghams were on me, and would, I verily believe, have murdered me then and there but for your prompt and friendly aid . as_it_is, I_feel that young man's grip on my throat now, and_the father has twisted my wrist round in_the effort to_get the paper out of_my hand . they saw that I_must know all about_it, you_see, and_the sudden change from absolute security to complete despair made them perfectly desperate .

"I had a little talk with old Cunningham afterwards as_to_the motive of_the crime . he_was tractable enough, though his son was a perfect demon, ready to blow out his own or anybody else's brains if he could_have got to_his revolver . when Cunningham saw that_the case against him was so strong he_lost all heart and made a clean breast of everything . it seems that William had secretly followed his two masters on_the night when_they made their raid upon Mr Acton's, and having thus got them into his power, proceeded, under threats of exposure, to levy black- mail upon them .Mr Alec, however, was a dangerous man to play games of_that sort with . it_was a stroke of positive genius on_his part to_see in_the burglary scare which_was convulsing the country side an opportunity of plausibly getting rid of_the man whom he feared .William was decoyed up and shot, and had they only got the whole of_the note and paid a little more attention to detail in_the accessories, it_is very possible that suspicion might never have_been aroused ."

" and_the note ? " I asked .

Sherlock Holmes placed the subjoined paper before_us .

if_you_will only come around to_the east gate you_will very_much surprise you and be of_the greatest service to_you and also to Annie Morrison . but say nothing to anyone upon_the matter

" it_is very_much the sort of thing that I expected," said he ." of_course, we_do_not yet know what the relations may have_been between Alec Cunningham, William Kirwan, and Annie Morrison . the results shows that_the trap was skilfully baited . I_am_sure that you_cannot fail to_be delighted with_the traces of heredity shown in_the p's and in_the tails of_the g's . the absence of_the i-dots in_the old man's writing is also most characteristic .Watson, i_think our quiet rest in_the country has_been a distinct success, and I_shall certainly return much invigorated to baker street to- morrow ."

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