Chapter 4. Sir Henry Baskerville

earthatevenhehasnotquitegraspedthesignificanceofthissentence.” “No,IconfessthatIseenoconnection.” “Andyet,mydearWatson,thereissoverycloseaconnectionthattheoneisextractedoutoftheother.‘You,’‘your,’‘your,’‘life,’‘reason,’‘value,’‘keepaway,’‘fromthe.’Don’tyouseenowwhencethesewordshavebeentaken?” “Bythunder,you’reright!Well,ifthatisn’tsmart!”criedSirHenry. “Ifanypossibledoubtremaineditissettledbythefactthat‘keepaway’and‘fromthe’arecutoutinonepiece.” “Well,now—soitis!” “Really,Mr.Holmes,thisexceedsanythingwhichIcouldhaveimagined,”saidDr.Mortimer,gazingatmyfriendinamazement.“Icouldunderstandanyonesayingthatthewordswerefromanewspaperbutthatyoushouldnamewhich,andaddthatitcamefromtheleadingarticle,isreallyoneofthemostremarkablethingswhichIhaveeverknown.Howdidyoudoit?” “Ipresume,Doctor,thatyoucouldtelltheskullofanegrofromthatofanEsquimau?” “Mostcertainly.” “Buthow?” “Becausethatismyspecialhobby.Thedifferencesareobvious.Thesupra-orbitalcrest,thefacialangle,themaxillarycurve,the—” “Butthisismyspecialhobby,andthedifferencesareequallyobvious.ThereisasmuchdifferencetomyeyesbetweentheleadedbourgeoistypeofaTimesarticleandtheslovenlyprintofaneveninghalf-pennypaperastherecouldbebetweenyournegroandyourEsquimau.Thedetectionoftypesisoneofthemostelementarybranchesofknowledgetothespecialexpertincrime,thoughIconfessthatoncewhenIwasveryyoungIconfusedtheLeedsMercurywiththeWesternMorningNews.ButaTimesleaderisentirelydistinctive,andthesewordscouldhavebeentakenfromnothingelse.Asitwasdoneyesterdaythestrongprobabilitywasthatweshouldfindthewordsinyesterday’sissue.” “SofarasIcanfollowyou,then,Mr.Holmes,”saidSirHenryBaskerville,“someonecutoutthismessagewithascissors—” “Nail-scissors,”saidHolmes.“Youcanseethatitwasaveryshort-bladedscissors,sincethecutterhadtotaketwosnipsover‘keepaway.’” “Thatisso.Someone,then,cutoutthemessagewithapairofshort-bladedscissors,pasteditwithpaste—” “Gum,”saidHolmes. “Withgumontothepaper.ButIwanttoknowwhytheword‘moor’shouldhavebeenwritten?” “Becausehecouldnotfinditinprint.Theotherwordswereallsimpleandmightbefoundinanyissue,but‘moor’wouldbelesscommon.” “Why,ofcourse,thatwouldexplainit.Haveyoureadanythingelseinthismessage,Mr.Holmes?” “Thereareoneortwoindications,andyettheutmostpainshavebeentakentoremoveallclues.Theaddress,youobserveisprintedinroughcharacters.ButtheTimesisapaperwhichisseldomfoundinanyhandsbutthoseofthehighlyeducated.Wemaytakeit,therefore,thattheletterwascomposedbyaneducatedmanwhowishedtoposeasanuneducatedone,andhisefforttoconcealhisownwritingsuggeststhatthatwritingmightbeknown,orcometobeknown,byyou.Again,youwillobservethatthewordsarenotgummedoninanaccurateline,butthatsomearemuchhigherthanothers.‘Life,’forexampleisquiteoutofitsproperplace.Thatmaypointtocarelessnessoritmaypointtoagitationandhurryuponthepartofthecutter.OnthewholeIinclinetothelatterview,sincethematterwasevidentlyimportant,anditisunlikelythatthecomposerofsuchaletterwouldbecareless.Ifhewereinahurryitopensuptheinterestingquestionwhyheshouldbeinahurry,sinceanyletterposteduptoearlymorningwouldreachSirHenrybeforehewouldleavehishotel.Didthecomposerfearaninterruption—andfromwhom?” “Wearecomingnowratherintotheregionofguesswork,”saidDr.Mortimer. “Say,rather,intotheregionwherewebalanceprobabilitiesandchoosethemostlikely.Itisthescientificuseoftheimagination,butwehavealwayssomematerialbasisonwhichtostartourspeculation.Now,youwouldcallitaguess,nodoubt,butIamalmostcertainthatthisaddresshasbeenwritteninahotel.” “Howintheworldcanyousaythat?” “Ifyouexamineitcarefullyyouwillseethatboththepenandtheinkhavegiventhewritertrouble.Thepenhassplutteredtwiceinasinglewordandhasrundrythreetimesina