If I were asked what were the best qualifications for a detective I should say to be a jack-of-all-trades and a master of none. That, perhaps, is because I happen to be an indifferent jack-of-all-trades myself, and I cannot remember any smattering that I acquired in distant corners of the earth that did not come in useful at Scotland Yard. Other countries try to make specialists of their detectives. They would have them know chemistry, surgery, and mineralogy; they would have them competent to appraise the value of jewels, to judge the time a corpse has been dead, or how long a footprint has been impressed upon damp earth. They forget that there is a specialist round every corner, and that …
Your support pays for translating these classics into more languages.
Support for $12/month DonateSubscribers read with instant translation, without waiting for the free daily limit.