Tales of Terror and Mystery
The Man with the Watches
Whencoupledwithgeneralitiesastotheferocityandcunningofanarchicalandothersecretsocieties,thistheorysoundedasplausibleasany.
Thefactthatheshouldbewithoutaticketwouldbeconsistentwiththeideaofconcealment,anditwaswellknownthatwomenplayedaprominentpartintheNihilisticpropaganda.Ontheotherhand,itwasclear,fromtheguard’sstatement,thatthemanmusthavebeenhiddenthereBEFOREtheothersarrived,andhowunlikelythecoincidencethatconspiratorsshouldstrayexactlyintotheverycompartmentinwhichaspywasalreadyconcealed!Besides,thisexplanationignoredthemaninthesmokingcarriage,andgavenoreasonatallforhissimultaneousdisappearance.Thepolicehadlittledifficultyinshowingthatsuchatheorywouldnotcoverthefacts,buttheywereunpreparedintheabsenceofevidencetoadvanceanyalternativeexplanation.
TherewasaletterintheDailyGazette,overthesignatureofawell-knowncriminalinvestigator,whichgaverisetoconsiderablediscussionatthetime.Hehadformedahypothesiswhichhadatleastingenuitytorecommendit,andIcannotdobetterthanappenditinhisownwords.
"Whatevermaybethetruth,"saidhe,"itmustdependuponsomebizarreandrarecombinationofevents,soweneedhavenohesitationinpostulatingsucheventsinourexplanation.Intheabsenceofdatawemustabandontheanalyticorscientificmethodofinvestigation,andmustapproachitinthesyntheticfashion.
