Title of the story: A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle Case description: A man is found dead without any

visible wounds on his body, and with a shocked expression on his face. On the wall of the room where he died, the German word Rache (revenge) is scrawled in blood. A few days later, his known associate is found stabbed to death in his hotel room. Two mysterious pills are found in the room. Sherlock Homes unravels a tale of revenge that has its roots in America, in the story of a doomed love and enforced plural marriage among the Mormons of Salt Lake City, Utah. Some choice quotes from Homes: y From a drop of water, said the writer, a logician could infer the possibility of an Atlantic or a Niagara without having seen or heard of one or the other. So all life is a great chain, the nature of which is known whenever we are shown a single link of it. I consider that a man's brain originally is like a little empty attic, and you have to stock it with such furniture as you choose. A fool takes in all the lumber of every sort that he comes across. Now the skillful workman is very careful indeed as to what he takes into his brain-attic. He will have nothing but the tools which may help him in doing his work, but of these he has a large assortment, and all in the most perfect order. a study in scarlet, eh? Why shouldn't we use a little art jargon. There's the scarlet thread of murder running through the colourless skein of life, and our duty is to unravel it, and isolate it, and expose every inch of it. Most people, if you describe a train of events to them will tell you what the result would be. They can put those events together in their minds, and argue from them that something will come to pass. There are few people, however, who, if you told them a result, would be able to evolve from their own inner consciousness what the steps were which led up to that result. This power is what I mean when I talk of reasoning backward, or analytically.

Summary and evaluation of Holmes deductive reasoning: Conclusion Preliminary deductions I. Watson has been in Afghanistan (Chapter 1) Premises 1. He seems to be an army doctor 2. He has just come from the tropics, given the tan on his face and the lighter shade of his wrists 3. He looks like he has undergone hardship and sickness 4. His left arm appears injured 1. A blue anchor is tattooed on the back of his hand 2. He has a military carriage and regulation side whiskers 3. He is with some amount of selfimportance and a certain air of command 4. He is a steady, respectable, middleaged man Evaluation

II. The man on the street is a retired sergeant of the Marines (Chapter 2)

The Lauriston Garden mystery A. The blood in the room at Lauriston Gardens belongs to a second individual, possibly the murderer (Chapter 3) B. The blood on the floor had burst from the murderers nose in his excitement (Conclusion)

1. There is no wound on the dead body 2. The word Rache is scrawled in blood on the wall 1. Conclusion A The blood belongs to a second individual 2. There are no signs of a struggle
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3. The track of the blood coincides with the track of his feet C. The murderer is a robust and ruddy-faced man (Conclusion) 1. Conclusion B The blood had burst from the murderers nose 2. It is seldom that a man, unless he is full-blooded, breaks out in this way through emotion The scattered ash on the floor is dark in color and flaky, which can only made by a Trichinopoly, as per Holmes special study of cigar ashes The plaster was slightly scratched on the wall, which would not have been the case if his fingernails had been trimmed 1. The writing on the wall is just over six feet from the ground 2. On the garden walk, there are square-toe boot marks indicating that a man had hopped over a puddle which is four-and-a-halffeet wide 1. The A has been printed somewhat after the German fashion 2. A real German invariably prints in the Latin character
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D. The murderer smoked a Trichinopoly cigar (Chapter 3)

E. The fingernails of the murderers right hand were remarkably long (Chapter 3)

F. The murderer is more than six feet high, is in the prime of his life, has small feet, and wore square-toed boots (Chapter 3)

G. The German word Rache (which means revenge) has been written by a clumsy imitator in order to mislead investigators that the crime

involved Socialism and secret societies (Chapter 3)

H. Murderer and victim must have 1. On the street, a cab has made two arrived via a four-wheeled cab ruts with its wheels close to the which was drawn by a horse with curb three old shoes and one new one on 2. There has been no rain up to the his off fore-leg (Chapter 3) previous night, so the wheels that left the impression must have been there during the night 3. The cab was not there during the morning (as per Gregsons report) 4. There are horses hoof marks, the outline of one of which is more clearly cut than the other I. The murderer had driven the cab (Conclusion) 1. The marks on the road showed that the horse had wandered on in a way which would have been impossible if anyone had been in charge of it 2. Its unlikely for a man to commit a murder if there were a third person to witness it The footprints on the path showed two patterns: patent-leather and squaretoed boots

J. The murderer and victim walked down the pathway together (Chapter 4)

K. The victim stood still while the murderer walked up and down, getting increasingly agitated (Chapter 4) L. The motive for the murder was personal (Conclusion)

The dust pattern on the floor

1. Conclusion K The victim stood still while the murderer paced; ergo the murder had been done most deliberately, and the perpetrator had been in the room a long time 2. Nothing was taken, so it was not robbery 3. The presence of the ring indicates that it must have been used to remind the victim of some dead or absent woman 4. Upon inquiry with the Cleveland police, Holmes finds out that the victim had applied for protection against an old rival in love, Jefferson Hope 1. The expression on his face says that he must have foreseen his fate 2. Men who die from heart disease or any natural cause never exhibit agitation upon their features 3. There was a slightly sour smell on the dead mans lips 4. The forcible administration of
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M. Drebber must have been murdered, and by poison (Conclusion)

poison is not a new thing in criminal annals N. John Rance, the constable, had walked around the room several times, knelt down by the body, and then walked through and tried the kitchen door (Chapter 4) On the significance of the ring O. The man that Rance took to be a drunkard loitering in the street was the suspect (Chapter 4) The dust pattern on the floor

1. There was a ring found near the body of the victim, a possible reason for the suspect to return to the scene of the crime 2. The man seemed to have played the part of drunkard in an exaggerated way 3. No one else but the suspect was likely to be on the street at that hour 1. The man took a great risk in trying to go back for the ring 2. It would have occurred to him that he may have lost the ring outside the house 3. He would look for notices in the evening papers 4. There is no reason to think that the finding of the ring is connected to the murder
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P. The suspect would respond to the ad about the ring that Holmes put out in the paper (Chapter 5)

Q. The old woman who answered the ad must be an accomplice of the suspect (Chapter 5)

1. Conclusion P The suspect would respond to the ad 2. The person who responds to the ad does not fit the profile of the suspect 3. When Holmes follows the old woman, she does not get off at the address she has loudly announced to the driver; in fact, the cab is empty 4. The address she has indicated belongs to a person named Keswick, not to Sawyer or Dennis as she has claimed during the interview with Holmes 1. His getup is inimitable 2. He is easily aware that he is being followed 3. He is able to get out of the cab while it is in motion, without being seen by either Holmes or the driver

R. The suspects accomplice is not an old woman but an active young man and an incomparable actor (Chapter 6)

The murder of Joseph Stangerson S. The murder of Stangerson is connected to the first murder (Chapter 7) 1. The first victim is Enoch Drebber, as per the findings of Detective Gregson who has followed the lead of the hat beside the dead body 2. Drebbers secretary is a man named Stangerson, as per the interview
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with Drebbers landlady conducted by the detective 3. The word Rache is scrawled in blood on the wall of Stangersons room 4. The boot marks in the room match the ones in the first crime scene T. Of the two pills found in Stangersons room, one is poisonous and the other is harmless (Chapter 7) 1. Conclusion M Drebber was killed by poison 2. Conclusion S Stangersons death is connected to Drebbers 3. When dissolved in water, the first pill does not kill a terrier, while the second does

Conclusions about the murderer U. The murderer has maintained his occupation as a cabdriver, and continues to use his real name, Jefferson Hope (Conclusion)

1. Conclusion I The murderer had driven the cab 2. If one man wished to follow another through London, the best means is to turn cabdriver 3. Upon inquiry, Holmes finds out that the victim had applied for protection against an old rival in love, Jefferson Hope 4. The telegram found in Stangersons room says, J.H. is in Europe 5. The street urchins Holmes employed found a Jefferson Hope among the cabdrivers of London
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