Barnicot's
rooms were the exact duplicates of the one which was destroyed
in Morse Hudson's shop?"
"They were taken from the same mould."
"Such a fact must tell against the theory that the man who
breaks them is influenced by any general hatred of Napoleon.
Considering how many hundreds of statues of the great Emperor
must exist in London, it is too much to suppose such a
coincidence as that a promiscuous iconoclast should chance
to begin upon three specimens of the same bust."
"Well, I thought as you do," said Lestrade. "On the other hand,
this Morse Hudson is the purveyor of busts in that part of
London, and these three were the only ones which had been in his
shop for years. So, although, as you say, there are many
hundreds of statues in London, it is very probable that these
three were the only ones in that district. Therefore, a local
fanatic would begin with them. What do you think, Dr. Watson?"
"There are no limits to the possibilities of monomania,"
I answered. "There is the condition which the modern French
psychologists have called the `idee fixe,' which may be trifling
in character, and accompanied by complete sanity in every other
way.
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