e to observe and to draw inferences from
our observations. What did we see first? A very placid and respectable
lady, who seemed quite innocent of any secret, and a portrait which
showed me that she had two younger sisters. It instantly flashed across
my mind that the box might have been meant for one of these. I set the
idea aside as one which could be disproved or confirmed at our leisure.
Then we went to the garden, as you remember, and we saw the very
singular contents of the little yellow box.

"The string was of the quality which is used by sail-makers aboard ship,
and at once a whiff of the sea was perceptible in our investigation.
When I observed that the knot was one which is popular with sailors,
that the parcel had been posted at a port, and that the male ear was
pierced for an earring which is so much more common among sailors than
landsmen, I was quite certain that all the actors in the tragedy were to
be found among our seafaring classes.

"When I came to examine the address of the packet I observed that it was
to Miss S. Cushing. Now, the oldest sister would, of course, be Miss
Cushing, and although her initial was 'S.,' it might belong to one of
the others as well. In that case we should have to commence our
investigation from a fresh basis altogether. I therefore went into the
house with the intention of clearing up this point. I was about to
assure Miss Cushing that I was convinced that a mistake had been made,
when you may remember that I came suddenly to a stop. The fact was that
I had just seen something which filled me with surprise, and at the same
time narrowed the field of our inquiry immensely.

"As a medical man, you are aware, Watson, that there is no part of the
body which varies so much as the human ear. Each ear is as a rule quite
distinctive, and differs from all other ones. In last year's
_Anthropological Journal_ you will find two short monographs from my pen
upon the subject. I had therefore examined the ears in the box with the
eyes of an expert, and had carefully noted their anatomical
peculiarities. Imagine my surprise then, when, on looking at Miss
Cushing, I perceived that her ear corresponded exactly with the female
ear which I had just inspected. The matter was entirely beyond
coincidence. There was the same shortening of the pinna, the same broad
curve of the upper lobe, the same convolution of the inner cartilage. In
all essentials it was the same ear.

"Of course, I at on