Aceves 1 Esteban Aceves Dr.

Lynda Haas Writing 37 1 February 2014 The Perfect Detective In most detective stories, the detective is capable of using their skills to solve the case. The detective sees things that most people would miss and uses their knowledge to solve the mystery. The detective is a master at his profession and can solve the cases better than anyone else. Sherlock Holmes describes the perfect detective as someone who possesses three qualities: knowledge, observation, and deduction. The idea that Sherlock Holmes is the perfect detective because he possess the three qualities is seen throughout many of the Sherlock Holmes stories. One of the best examples of how Holmes portrays his skills of knowledge, deduction, and observation can be seen in Sir Arthur Conan Doyles, The Red-Headed League, from The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes. In this short story, Sherlock Holmes and his partner Watson were introduced to a case that seemed, to the normal human, to be just a prank, and turned it into a huge crime bust catching two professional criminals. How Holmes possibly does such a thing, you ask. By using observation, deduction, and knowledge. In the short story The Red- Headed League, master detective Sherlock Holmes is introduced to a case by a pawnbroker. The pawnbroker explains to Sherlock Holmes how he is was accepted into The Red-Headed League, and was given four pounds a week to copy the encyclopedia, however after a couple of weeks, the Red-Headed League disappeared and no trace of them was left. What seemed to be a meaningless case, Sherlock saw something

Aceves 2 completely different. By the end of the story, Sherlock busted two of the biggest criminals in London. When Watson, who was completely confused as to how Sherlock managed to do something that amazing was shocked to find out how Sherlock solved the case. Sherlock explains his steps to solving; Had there been women in the house, I should have suspected a mere vulgar intrigue. That, however, was out of the question. The mans business was a small one, and there was nothing in his house which could account for such elaborate preparations, and such an expenditure as they were at. It must, then, be something out of the house. What could it be? I thought of the assistants fondness for photography, and his trick of vanishing into the cellar. The cellar! There was the end of this tangled clue. Then I made inquiries as to this mysterious assistant and found that I had to deal with one of the coolest and most daring criminals in London. He was doing something in the cellarsomething which took many hours a day for months on end. What could it be, once more? I could think of nothing save that he was running a tunnel to some other building (Doyle). The first thing that Holmes does after the case is use deduction. Sherlock realizes that the pawnbroker would be out of his house for numerous hours. The pawnbroker also recently hired an assistant that would work for little pay, meaning while he was out, the assistant would be at the pawnshop for numerous hours while the owner was out. Holmes used deduction and came to the conclusion that the Red-Headed League was a distraction to get the pawnbroker out of the shop for hours while the new assistant would be in the Pawn Shop cellar for hours digging a tunnel to the bank where they planned to steal money. The methods that Holmes used to put the pieces together are perfect examples of deduction. Before Holmes solved the case completely, he used observation to put the final pieces together. Holmes tells Watson, I surprised you by beating upon the pavement with my stick. I was ascertaining whether the cellar stretched out in front or behind. It was not in front. Then I

Aceves 3 rang the bell, and, as I hoped, the assistant answered it. We have had some skirmishes, but we had never set eyes upon each other before. I hardly looked at his face. His knees were what I wished to see (Doyle). When Holmes walked to the pawnshop he was outside and pounded on the pavement to hear if it was hollow underneath to prove his tunnel theory, however he heard nothing. Right after, Holmes rang the doorbell to the pawnshop and the assistant answered the door, using his keen observation skills, Holmes notices that the assistant had very battered knees, using deduction, Holmes connected the dots and finalized his conclusion that there is a tunnel underneath the pawnshop. Using his knowledge, Holmes determined the night the criminals were going to rob the bank, a Saturday, because the banks are closed on Sunday, they would have time to flee, and stopped them as they attempted to rob the bank. The ideal detective in the mystery-detective genre is a master at his profession. Holmes says that the ideal detective has three qualities that makes him great, they include: Observation, deduction, and knowledge. Sherlock Holmes is seen using all three of this qualities to solve the toughest cases though out all his stories. In the mystery genre it is important for the detective to master these qualities and to have more knowledge than anyone else in the story. It is a reoccurring genre convention that can be seen in novels and TV shows today.

Aceves 4 Work Cited: Conan Doyle, Sir Arthur. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" Adventure 2: "The Red-Headed League" Web. 02 Feb. 2014. Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan. Sherlock Holmes - The Hound of the Baskervilles New York: Dell, 1964. Kindle eBook.