R. Austin Freeman

“ The caretaker, fancying he heard a noise, armed himself with a truncheon, and came downstairs to the first floor, where he found the door of one of the rooms open and a light burning inside. He stepped on tiptoe to the open door, and was peering in, when he was seized from behind, and half suffocated by a pad held over his mouth, pinioned, gagged, and blindfolded with a bag.
"His assailant—whom he never saw—was amazingly strong and skilful, and handled him with perfect ease, although he, the caretaker, is a powerful man, and a good boxer and wrestler. ”

“ For, if he only passes the factory, the dust will be on the outside of the hat only; the inside will be protected by his head. But if he is engaged in the works, the dust will be inside, too, as the hat will hang on a peg in the dust-laden atmosphere, and his head will also be powdered, and so convey the dust to the inside. ”

“ Thorndyke laughed. "The point," said he, "is this. This is a hard hat, and so must have fitted fairly, or it could not have been worn; and it was a cheap hat, and so was not made to measure. But a man with a head that shape has got to come to a clear understanding with his hat. No ordinary hat would go on at all. ”

“ A fresh receiver having been fitted on, the nozzle was now drawn over the silk lining of the hat, and then through the space behind the leather head-lining on one side; and now the dust that collected in the receiver was of the usual gray color and fluffy texture, and included two more hairs.
"And now," said Thorndyke, when the second receiver had been detached and set aside, "we want a mold of the inside of the hat, and we must make it by the quickest method; there is no time to make a paper mold. ”

“ The human race, as you know, is roughly divided into three groups—the black, the white, and the yellow races. But, apart from the variable quality of color, these races have certain fixed characteristics, associated especially with the shape of the skull, of the eye-sockets, and the hair. So that we have, in the black races, long skull, long orbits, flat hair; in the white races, oval skull, oval orbits, oval hair ”

“ Mysterious affairs, these—as to motive, I mean. You can’t melt down a picture or an ivory carving, and you can't put them on the market as they stand. The very qualities that give them their value make them totally unnegotiable. ”

“ He lives for his collection, and he lives with it. The house is not a very large one, and the collection takes up most of it; but he keeps a suite of rooms for his own occupation, and has two servants—a man and wife—to look after him. The man, who is a retired police sergeant, acts as caretaker and watchman ”

“ He has a very round head, and he is probably a workman engaged at some whiting or cement works. That is all we know; if you can tell us any more, sir, we shall be very glad to hear it."
"I can only offer a few suggestions," said Thorndyke, "but perhaps you may find them useful. For instance, at 13 Birket Street, Limehouse, there is living a Japanese gentleman named Futashima, who works at Badcomb and Martin's mother-of-pearl factory. I think that if you were to call on him, and let him try on the hat that you have, it would probably fit him." ”

“ His hat and clothes were powdered with white, like those of the workmen whom we had seen come out of the factory. Thorndyke accosted him.
"Is that a flour-mill up the road there?"
"No, sir; pearl-shell. I work there myself."
"Pearl-shell, eh?" said Thorndyke. "I suppose that will be an industry that will tend to attract^ the aliens. Do you find it so?"
"No, sir; not at all. The work's too hard. We've only got one foreigner in the place, and he ain't an alien—he's a Jap." ”

“ If I don't find my man there, I shall hand the facts over to the police and waste no more time on the case."
"What is your man like?" I asked.
"I am looking for an elderly Japanese, wearing a new hat or, more probably, a cap, and having a bruise on his right cheek or temple. I am also looking for a cab-yard. ”

“ You see, his taste is quite catholic, and his knowledge of rare and curious things is probably greater than that of any other living man. He is never mistaken; no forgery deceives him, and hence the great prices that he obtains: for a work of art purchased from Isaac Lowe is a work certified as genuine beyond all cavil. ”

“ The little man bustled to a cupboard and brought a singular appliance somewhat like a miniature vacuum cleaner. He had made it from a bicycle foot-pump, by reversing the piston-valve, and it was fitted with a glass nozzle and a small detachable glass receiver for. collecting the dust, at the end of a flexible metal tube.
"We will sample the dust from the outside first," said Thorndyke, laying the hat upon the work-bench. "Are you ready, Polton?" ”

“ The inspector scribbled ravenously in his note-book, and Mr. Marchmont—an old admirer of Thorndyke's—leaned back in his chair, chuckling softly and rubbing his hands.
"Then," continued my colleague, "there is in Rankin Street, Limehouse, a cab-yard, where another Japanese gentleman, named Itu, is employed. You might find out where Itu was the night before last; and if you should chance to see a hansom cab there,—number 22,481,—have a good look at it. In the frame of the number-plate you will find six small holes. ”