第五章 福尔摩斯原型.docx

The Real Sherlock HolmesIrving WallaceOne evening, about the turn of the century, after a weekend shoot in Scotland, a dozen guests sat around a dinner table discussing human monsters, famous murders, and unsolved crimes.1. One of the guests, Dr. Joseph Bell, the eminent surgeon and medical instructor, had the others wide-eyed with his detective acrobatics.“The trouble with most people,” he said, “is that they see, but do not observe. Any really good detective ought to be able to tell, before a stranger has2.fairlysat down, his occupation, habits, and past history through rapid observation and deduction.(1)Glance at a man and you find his nationality written on his face, his means of livelihood on his hands, and the rest of his story in his gait, mannerisms, tattoo marks, watch chain ornaments, shoelaces, and in the lint adhering to his clothes.The guests were fascinated but skeptical.3. One challenged Dr. Bell to give an example of applied observation. Happily, Dr. Bell obliged.“A patient walked into the room where I was instructing the students, and his case seemed to be very simple one. I was talking about what was wrong with him. ‘Of course, gentlemen,’ I happened to say, ‘he has been a soldier in a Highland regiment, and probably a bandsman.’ I pointed out the swagger in his walk, suggestive of the Highland piper; while his shortness told me that if he had been a soldier, it was probably as a bandsman. But the man insisted he was nothing but a shoemaker and had never been in the army in his life. This was rather a floorer, but being absolutely certain, I told two of the strongest clerks to remove the man to a side room and strip him.“Under his left breast I instantly detected a little blue D branded on his skin. He was an 4.army deserter. That was how they used to mark them in the Crimean days. You can understand his evasion. However, this proved my first observation correct. He confessed having played in the band of a Highland regiment in the war against the R