But on certain "off" days when confessions are coming in slowly and three or four newspapers have run to earth as many different guilty persons, Jolnes will knock about the town with me, exhibiting, to my great delight and instruction, his marvellous powers of observation and deduction4.
The other day I dropped in at Headquarters and found the great detective gazing thoughtfully at a string that was tied tightly around his little finger.
"Good morning, Whatsup," he said, without turning his head. "I'm glad to notice that you've had your house fitted up with electric lights at last."
"Will you please tell me," I said, in surprise, "how you knew that? I am sure that I never mentioned the fact to any one, and the wiring was a rush order not completed until this morning."
"Nothing easier," said Jolnes, genially5. "As you came in I caught the odour of the cigar you are smoking. I know an expensive cigar; and I know that not more than three men in New York can afford to smoke cigars and pay gas bills too at the present time. That was an easy one. But I am working just now on a little problem of my own."
"Why have you that string on your finger?" I asked.
"That's the problem," said Jolnes. "My wife tied that on this morning to remind me of something I was to send up to the house. Sit down, Whatsup, and excuse me for a few moments."
The distinguished6 detective went to a wall telephone, and stood with the receiver to his ear for probably ten minutes.
"Were you listening to a confession3?" I asked, when he had returned to his chair.
"Perhaps," said Jolnes, with a smile, "it might be called something of the sort. To be frank with you, Whatsup, I've cut out the dope. I've been increasing the quantity for so long that morphine doesn't have much effect on me any more. I've got to have something more powerful. That telephone I just went to is connected with a room in the Waldorf where there's an author's reading in progress. Now, to get at the solution of this string."
After five minutes of silent pondering, Jolnes looked at me, with a smile, and nodded his head.
"Wonderful man!" I exclaimed; "already?"
"It is quite simple," he said, holding up his finger. "You see that knot? That is to prevent my forgetting. It is, therefore, a forget-me-knot. A forget-me-not is a flower. It was a sack of flour that I was to send home!"
"Beautiful!" I could not help crying out in admiration7.
"Suppose we go out for a ramble," suggested Jolnes.
"There is only one case of importance on hand just now. Old man McCarty, one hundred and four years old, died from eating too many bananas. The evidence points so strongly to the Mafia that the police have surrounded the Second Avenue Katzenjammer Gambrinus Club No. 2, and the capture of the assassin is only the matter of a few hours. The detective force has not yet been called on for assistance."
Jolnes and I went out and up the street toward the corner, where we were to catch a surface car.
Half-way up the block we met Rheingelder, an acquaintance of ours, who held a City Hall position.
"Good morning, Rheingelder," said Jolnes, halting.
"Nice breakfast that was you had this morning."
Always on the lookout8 for the detective's remarkable9 feats11 of deduction, I saw Jolnes's eye flash for an instant upon a long yellow splash on the shirt bosom12 and a smaller one upon the chin of Rheingelder—both undoubtedly13 made by the yolk14 of an egg.
"Oh, dot is some of your detectiveness," said Rheingelder, shaking all over with a smile. "Vell, I pet you trinks und cigars all round dot you cannot tell vot I haf eaten for breakfast."
"Done," said Jolnes. "Sausage, pumpernickel and coffee."
Rheingelder admitted the correctness of the surmise15 and paid the bet. When we had proceeded on our way I said to Jolnes:
"I thought you looked at the egg spilled on his chin and shirt front."
"I did," said Jolnes. "That is where I began my deduction. Rheingelder is a very economical, saving man. Yesterday eggs dropped in the market to twenty-eight cents per dozen. To-day they are quoted at forty-two. Rheingelder ate eggs yesterday, and to-day he went back to his usual fare. A little thing like this isn't anything, Whatsup; it belongs to the primary arithmetic class."
When we boarded the street car we found the seats all occupied—principally by ladies. Jolnes and I stood on the rear platform.
About the middle of the car there sat an elderly man with a short, gray beard, who looked to be the typical, well-dressed New Yorker. At successive corners other ladies climbed aboard, and soon three or four of them were standing16 over the man, clinging to straps17 and glaring meaningly at the man who occupied the coveted18 seat. But he resolutely19 retained his place.
"We New Yorkers," I remarked to Jolnes, "have about lost our manners, as far as the exercise of them in public goes."
"Perhaps so," said Jolnes, lightly; "but the man you evidently refer to happens to be a very chivalrous20 and courteous21 gentleman from Old Virginia. He is spending a few days in New York with his wife and two daughters, and he leaves for the South to-night."
"I never saw him before we stepped on the car," declared the detective, smilingly.
"By the gold tooth of the Witch of Endor!" I cried, "if you can construe23 all that from his appearance you are dealing24 in nothing else than black art."
"The habit of observation—nothing more," said Jolnes. "If the old gentleman gets off the car before we do, I think I can demonstrate to you the accuracy of my deduction."
Three blocks farther along the gentleman rose to leave the car. Jolnes addressed him at the door:
"Pardon me, sir, but are you not Colonel Hunter, of Norfolk, Virginia?"
"No, suh," was the extremely courteous answer. "My name, suh, is Ellison—Major Winfield R. Ellison, from Fairfax County, in the same state. I know a good many people, suh, in Norfolk—the Goodriches, the Tollivers, and the Crabtrees, suh, but I never had the pleasure of meeting yo' friend, Colonel Hunter. I am happy to say, suh, that I am going back to Virginia to-night, after having spent a week in yo' city with my wife and three daughters. I shall be in Norfolk in about ten days, and if you will give me yo' name, suh, I will take pleasure in looking up Colonel Hunter and telling him that you inquired after him, suh."
"Thank you," said Jolnes; "tell him that Reynolds sent his regards, if you will be so kind."
I glanced at the great New York detective and saw that a look of intense chagrin25 had come upon his clear-cut features. Failure in the slightest point always galled26 Shamrock Jolnes.
"Did you say your three daughters?" he asked of the Virginia gentleman.
"Yes, suh, my three daughters, all as fine girls as there are in Fairfax County," was the answer.
Shamrock Jolnes clutched his arm.
"One moment, sir," he begged, in an urbane28 voice in which I alone detected the anxiety—"am I not right in believing that one of the young ladies is an adopted daughter?"
"You are, suh," admitted the major, from the ground, "but how the devil you knew it, suh, is mo' than I can tell."
"And mo' than I can tell, too," I said, as the car went on.
Jolnes was restored to his calm, observant serenity29 by having wrested30 victory from his apparent failure; so after we got off the car he invited me into a café, promising31 to reveal the process of his latest wonderful feat10.
"In the first place," he began after we were comfortably seated, "I knew the gentleman was no New Yorker because he was flushed and uneasy and restless on account of the ladies that were standing, although he did not rise and give them his seat. I decided32 from his appearance that he was a Southerner rather than a Westerner.
"Next I began to figure out his reason for not relinquishing33 his seat to a lady when he evidently felt strongly, but not overpoweringly, impelled34 to do so. I very quickly decided upon that. I noticed that one of his eyes had received a severe jab in one corner, which was red and inflamed35, and that all over his face were tiny round marks about the size of the end of an uncut lead pencil. Also upon both of his patent leather shoes were a number of deep imprints36 shaped like ovals cut off square at one end.
"Now, there is only one district in New York City where a man is bound to receive scars and wounds and indentations of that sort—and that is along the sidewalks of Twenty-third Street and a portion of Sixth Avenue south of there. I knew from the imprints of trampling37 French heels on his feet and the marks of countless38 jabs in the face from umbrellas and parasols carried by women in the shopping district that he had been in conflict with the amazonian troops. And as he was a man of intelligent appearance, I knew he would not have braved such dangers unless he had been dragged thither39 by his own women folk. Therefore, when he got on the car his anger at the treatment he had received was sufficient to make him keep his seat in spite of his traditions of Southern chivalry40."
"That is all very well," I said, "but why did you insist upon daughters—and especially two daughters? Why couldn't a wife alone have taken him shopping?"
"There had to be daughters," said Jolnes, calmly. "If he had only a wife, and she near his own age, he could have bluffed41 her into going alone. If he had a young wife she would prefer to go alone. So there you are."
"I'll admit that," I said; "but, now, why two daughters? And how, in the name of all the prophets, did you guess that one was adopted when he told you he had three?"
"Don't say guess," said Jolnes, with a touch of pride in his air; "there is no such word in the lexicon42 of ratiocination43. In Major Ellison's buttonhole there was a carnation44 and a rosebud45 backed by a geranium leaf. No woman ever combined a carnation and a rosebud into a boutonniere. Close your eyes, Whatsup, and give the logic46 of your imagination a chance. Cannot you see the lovely Adele fastening the carnation to the lapel so that papa may be gay upon the street? And then the romping47 Edith May dancing up with sisterly jealousy48 to add her rosebud to the adornment49?"
"And then," I cried, beginning to feel enthusiasm, "when he declared that he had three daughters—"
"I could see," said Jolnes, "one in the background who added no flower; and I knew that she must be—"
"Adopted!" I broke in. "I give you every credit; but how did you know he was leaving for the South to-night?"
"In his breast pocket," said the great detective, "something large and oval made a protuberance. Good liquor is scarce on trains, and it is a long journey from New York to Fairfax County."
"Again, I must bow to you," I said. "And tell me this, so that my last shred50 of doubt will be cleared away; why did you decide that he was from Virginia?"
"It was very faint, I admit," answered Shamrock Jolnes, "but no trained observer could have failed to detect the odour of mint in the car."
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1
muster
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| v.集合，收集，鼓起，激起；n.集合，检阅，集合人员，点名册 | |
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2
confessions
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| n.承认( confession的名词复数 )；自首；声明；（向神父的）忏悔 | |
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3
confession
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| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
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4
deduction
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| n.减除，扣除，减除额；推论，推理，演绎 | |
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genially
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| adv.亲切地，和蔼地；快活地 | |
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6
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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7
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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8
lookout
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| n.注意，前途，瞭望台 | |
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9
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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10
feat
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| n.功绩；武艺，技艺；adj.灵巧的，漂亮的，合适的 | |
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11
feats
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| 功绩，伟业，技艺( feat的名词复数 ) | |
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12
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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13
undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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yolk
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| n.蛋黄，卵黄 | |
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15
surmise
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| v./n.猜想，推测 | |
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16
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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17
straps
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| n.带子( strap的名词复数 )；挎带；肩带；背带v.用皮带捆扎( strap的第三人称单数 )；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带 | |
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18
coveted
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| adj.令人垂涎的；垂涎的，梦寐以求的v.贪求，觊觎(covet的过去分词)；垂涎；贪图 | |
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19
resolutely
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| adj.坚决地，果断地 | |
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chivalrous
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| adj.武士精神的；对女人彬彬有礼的 | |
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21
courteous
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| adj.彬彬有礼的，客气的 | |
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22
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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23
construe
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| v.翻译，解释 | |
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24
dealing
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| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
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25
chagrin
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| n.懊恼；气愤；委屈 | |
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26
galled
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| v.使…擦痛( gall的过去式和过去分词 )；擦伤；烦扰；侮辱 | |
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27
descend
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| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
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28
urbane
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| adj.温文尔雅的，懂礼的 | |
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29
serenity
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| n.宁静，沉着，晴朗 | |
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30
wrested
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| （用力）拧( wrest的过去式和过去分词 )； 费力取得； （从…）攫取； （ 从… ） 强行取去… | |
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31
promising
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| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
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32
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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33
relinquishing
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| 交出，让给( relinquish的现在分词 )； 放弃 | |
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34
impelled
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| v.推动、推进或敦促某人做某事( impel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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35
inflamed
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| adj.发炎的，红肿的v.（使）变红，发怒，过热( inflame的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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36
imprints
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| n.压印( imprint的名词复数 )；痕迹；持久影响 | |
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37
trampling
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| 踩( trample的现在分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯 | |
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38
countless
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| adj.无数的，多得不计其数的 | |
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39
thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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40
chivalry
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| n.骑士气概，侠义；（男人）对女人彬彬有礼，献殷勤 | |
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41
bluffed
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| 以假象欺骗，吹牛( bluff的过去式和过去分词 )； 以虚张声势找出或达成 | |
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42
lexicon
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| n.字典，专门词汇 | |
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43
ratiocination
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| n.推理；推断 | |
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44
carnation
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| n.康乃馨（一种花） | |
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45
rosebud
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| n.蔷薇花蕾，妙龄少女 | |
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46
logic
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| n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性 | |
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47
romping
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| adj.嬉戏喧闹的，乱蹦乱闹的v.嬉笑玩闹( romp的现在分词 )；（尤指在赛跑或竞选等中）轻易获胜 | |
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48
jealousy
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| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
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49
adornment
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| n.装饰；装饰品 | |
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50
shred
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| v.撕成碎片，变成碎片；n.碎布条，细片，些少 | |
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