Question 229
HardOriginal question“I see it, I it. How do I know that you have been getting yourself very wet lately, and that you have a most clumsy and careless servant girl?”
“My dear Holmes,” said I, “this is too much. You would certainly have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago. It is true that I had a country walk on Thursday and came home in a dreadful mess, but as I have changed my clothes I can’t imagine how you deduce it. As to Mary Jane, she is , and my wife has given her notice, but there, again, I fail to see how you work it out.”
He to himself and rubbed his long, nervous hands together.
“It is itself,” said he; “my eyes tell me that on the inside of your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it, the leather is by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously they have been caused by someone who has very carelessly scraped round the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. Hence, you see, my double deduction that you had been out in weather, and that you had a particularly boot-slitting specimen of the London slavey.”
What does Holmes mean by "my double deduction"?
Show the answer and explanation
Correct answer: D
Explanation
The cuts show both that Watson had been in muddy weather and that his servant was careless enough to cut the leather.
One piece of evidence gives two answers, a "double" deduction.
Worth noting
The deduction is Holmes's alone; Watson says he cannot see how it was done.
- Concept
- Understanding how a conclusion is built
- Typical timeTypical
- 55 s
- Your timeYours
- —
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