Read Online The Adventure of the Tired Captain A Sherlock Holmes Case by K. Michael Gaschnitz - Free Book Online
Authors: K. Michael Gaschnitz
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gaze.
“You are equipped with a microscope and scalpel?” he asked looking around the room.
“Yes, of course.”
“May I make use of them?” he asked
“As you wish Holmes,” I replied, puzzled by the request.
“As a doctor you will be aware that there are physical differences between the distinct races aside from the obvious one,” he said to me, taking an envelope from his pocket and placing the contents under the microscope.
“I have heard something of the kind,” I said wryly.
“Tell me what you see Watson,” he said motioning me over to the delicate instrument.
“It appears to be a hair, Holmes,” I said peering into the eyepiece.
“It is indeed a hair. What you may or may not know Doctor is that the hair of members of the Negroid race tends to be kinky and have an uneven distribution of pigment while that of the Caucasian tend to be straighter and have a more even distribution of pigment. The image on the right is a section of Negroid hair while the image on the left is a section of my own hair. You will notice that the hair on the right is also flatter than my own hair. This is another typical racial characteristic. I have made a study of the subject and perhaps I shall one day write a monograph upon the differences in the hair of persons of distinct racial origins.”
“A rather esoteric subject, I would think Holmes.”
“No subject is too trivial for the serious investigator, Watson,” he said severely.
“This hair then came from Mary’s room?” I asked returning to the business at hand.
“This hair came from the bowler hat which I have here and which was left in your wife’s room.”
“So the man to whom this hat belonged is a Negro?” I replied with genuine incredulity.
“ Not only is the man a Negro but he is left handed, quite intelligent, an American, not much given to physical exertion and as recently as last evening he traveled on the Underground.”
I had no trouble registering my typical look of bafflement at these deductions.
“How do you deduce that he is left handed?”
“Look closely Watson. There is definite wear on the left side of the brim where the hat is normally clutched as it is put on and taken off. That the wearer is not used to physical exertion, you can see by the inside band. Although the hat is far from new it is not discolored as much by perspiration as one might expect thus indicating the owner does not walk anywhere when he can ride. That he is intelligent one may deduce from the size of the object. Anyone with such a large head must have something in it.”
“And the fact he is an American?” I asked.
“Printed upon the man’s calling card, which was tucked into the inside lining, was the man’s name and the fact that he was a graduate of Tuskeegee Institute in Alabama which is a Negro school.”
“Is it not unusual to have printed upon your card the name of your school?” I asked.
“To each his own, Watson.”
“There are any number of further indications that the man is an American. Claridge’s is an expensive hotel and most English travelers who stay there would probably employ their own valets. The Americans, especially Negroes, would be less likely to engage servants. This would explain the traces of soot upon the hat. Soot which he would have come in contact with while riding on the Underground.
“The cigarette end which I found in the room was also of an American manufacture but most telling of all were his boots.”
“His boots, Holmes,” I said trying to sound nonchalant.
“Yes his boots were of an American style, and I also found the boy who took them to be cleaned.
“This lad narrated to me a peculiar story. He tells of a stocky middle age man with a m oustache, purporting to be a Scotland Yard inspector. This man approached him in the hallway and paid him to lure the room’s resident from his chambers with some cock and bull story about his being wanted at the front desk. An Englishman would of course
“You are equipped with a microscope and scalpel?” he asked looking around the room.
“Yes, of course.”
“May I make use of them?” he asked
“As you wish Holmes,” I replied, puzzled by the request.
“As a doctor you will be aware that there are physical differences between the distinct races aside from the obvious one,” he said to me, taking an envelope from his pocket and placing the contents under the microscope.
“I have heard something of the kind,” I said wryly.
“Tell me what you see Watson,” he said motioning me over to the delicate instrument.
“It appears to be a hair, Holmes,” I said peering into the eyepiece.
“It is indeed a hair. What you may or may not know Doctor is that the hair of members of the Negroid race tends to be kinky and have an uneven distribution of pigment while that of the Caucasian tend to be straighter and have a more even distribution of pigment. The image on the right is a section of Negroid hair while the image on the left is a section of my own hair. You will notice that the hair on the right is also flatter than my own hair. This is another typical racial characteristic. I have made a study of the subject and perhaps I shall one day write a monograph upon the differences in the hair of persons of distinct racial origins.”
“A rather esoteric subject, I would think Holmes.”
“No subject is too trivial for the serious investigator, Watson,” he said severely.
“This hair then came from Mary’s room?” I asked returning to the business at hand.
“This hair came from the bowler hat which I have here and which was left in your wife’s room.”
“So the man to whom this hat belonged is a Negro?” I replied with genuine incredulity.
“ Not only is the man a Negro but he is left handed, quite intelligent, an American, not much given to physical exertion and as recently as last evening he traveled on the Underground.”
I had no trouble registering my typical look of bafflement at these deductions.
“How do you deduce that he is left handed?”
“Look closely Watson. There is definite wear on the left side of the brim where the hat is normally clutched as it is put on and taken off. That the wearer is not used to physical exertion, you can see by the inside band. Although the hat is far from new it is not discolored as much by perspiration as one might expect thus indicating the owner does not walk anywhere when he can ride. That he is intelligent one may deduce from the size of the object. Anyone with such a large head must have something in it.”
“And the fact he is an American?” I asked.
“Printed upon the man’s calling card, which was tucked into the inside lining, was the man’s name and the fact that he was a graduate of Tuskeegee Institute in Alabama which is a Negro school.”
“Is it not unusual to have printed upon your card the name of your school?” I asked.
“To each his own, Watson.”
“There are any number of further indications that the man is an American. Claridge’s is an expensive hotel and most English travelers who stay there would probably employ their own valets. The Americans, especially Negroes, would be less likely to engage servants. This would explain the traces of soot upon the hat. Soot which he would have come in contact with while riding on the Underground.
“The cigarette end which I found in the room was also of an American manufacture but most telling of all were his boots.”
“His boots, Holmes,” I said trying to sound nonchalant.
“Yes his boots were of an American style, and I also found the boy who took them to be cleaned.
“This lad narrated to me a peculiar story. He tells of a stocky middle age man with a m oustache, purporting to be a Scotland Yard inspector. This man approached him in the hallway and paid him to lure the room’s resident from his chambers with some cock and bull story about his being wanted at the front desk. An Englishman would of course
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