The double
line a little above the wrist, where the typewritist presses against
the table, was beautifully defined
The sewing-machine, of the hand
type, leaves a similar mark, but only on the left arm, and on the side
of it farthest from the thumb, instead of being right across the
broadest part, as this was
One was
buttoned only in the two lower buttons out of five, and the other at
the first, third, and fifth
“I noted, in passing, that she had written a note before leaving home
but after being fully dressed
You observed that her right glove was
torn at the forefinger, but you did not apparently see that both glove
and finger were stained with violet ink
She had written in a hurry and
dipped her pen too deep
It must have been this morning, or the mark
would not remain clear upon the finger
All this is amusing, though
rather elementary, but I must go back to business, Watson
Would you
mind reading me the advertised description of Mr
Hosmer Angel?”

I held the little printed slip to the light
“Missing,” it said, “on
the morning of the fourteenth, a gentleman named Hosmer Angel
in height; strongly built, sallow complexion, black
hair, a little bald in the centre, bushy, black side-whiskers and
moustache; tinted glasses, slight infirmity of speech
Was dressed,
when last seen, in black frock-coat faced with silk, black waistcoat,
gold Albert chain, and grey Harris tweed trousers, with brown gaiters
over elastic-sided boots
Known to have been employed in an office in
Leadenhall Street
“As to the letters,” he continued,
glancing over them, “they are very commonplace
Absolutely no clue in
them to Mr
Angel, save that he quotes Balzac once
There is one
remarkable point, however, which will no doubt strike you.”

“They are typewritten,” I remarked
“Not only that, but the signature is typewritten
Look at the neat
little ‘Hosmer Angel’ at the bottom
There is a date, you see, but no
superscription except Leadenhall Street, which is rather vague
However, I shall write two letters, which
should settle the matter
One is to a firm in the City, the other is to
the young lady’s stepfather, Mr
Windibank, asking him whether he could
meet us here at six o’clock to-morrow evening
It is just as well that
we should do business with the male relatives
A professional case of great gravity was engaging my own attention at
the time, and the whole of next day I was busy at the bedside of the
sufferer
I found Sherlock Holmes alone, however, half
asleep, with his long, thin form curled up in the recesses of his
armchair
A formidable array of bottles and test-tubes, with the
pungent cleanly smell of hydrochloric acid, told me that he had spent
his day in the chemical work which was so dear to him
“Well, have you solved it?” I asked as I entered
It was the bisulphate of baryta.”

“No, no, the mystery!” I cried
I thought of the salt that I have been working upon
There
was never any mystery in the matter, though, as I said yesterday, some
of the details are of interest
“This is the girl’s stepfather, Mr
“He
has written to me to say that he would be here at six
He shot a questioning glance at each of us, placed his shiny
top-hat upon the sideboard, and with a slight bow sidled down into the
nearest chair
“I think that this
typewritten letter is from you, in which you made an appointment with
me for six o’clock?”

“Yes, sir
I am afraid that I am a little late, but I am not quite my
own master, you know
I am sorry that Miss Sutherland has troubled you
about this little matter, for I think it is far better not to wash
linen of the sort in public
It was quite against my wishes that she
came, but she is a very excitable, impulsive girl, as you may have
noticed, and she is not easily controlled when she has made up her mind
on a point
Of course, I did not mind you so much, as you are not
connected with the official police, but it is not pleasant to have a
family misfortune like this noised abroad
Besides, it is a useless
expense, for how could you possibly find this Hosmer Angel?”

“On the contrary,” said Holmes quietly; “I have every reason to believe
that I will succeed in discovering Mr
Windibank gave a violent start and dropped his gloves
“I am
delighted to hear it,” he said
“It is a curious thing,” remarked Holmes, “that a typewriter has really
quite as much individuality as a man’s handwriting
Unless they are
quite new, no two of them write exactly alike
Some letters get more
worn than others, and some wear only on one side
Now, you remark in
this note of yours, Mr
“And now I will show you what is really a very interesting study, Mr
“I think of writing another little
monograph some of these days on the typewriter and its relation to
crime
It is a subject to which I have devoted some little attention