Holmes."
"You certainly have the air of something unusual having
occurred," said Holmes.
Lestrade laughed loudly.
"You don't like being beaten any more than the rest of us
do," said he. "A man can't expect always to have it his own
way, can he, Dr. Watson? Step this way, if you please, gentle-
men, and I think I can convince you once for all that it was John
McFarlane who did this crime."
He led us through the passage and out into a dark hall beyond.
"This is where young McFarlane must have come out to get
his hat after the crime was done," said he. "Now look at this."
With dramatic suddenness he struck a match, and by its light
exposed a stain of blood upon the whitewashed wall. As he held
the match nearer, I saw that it was more than a stain. It was the
well-marked print of a thumb.
"Look at that with your magnifying glass, Mr. Holmes."
"Yes, I am doing so."
"You are aware that no two thumb-marks are alike?"
"I have heard something of the kind."
"Well, then, will you please compare that print with this wax
impression of young McFarlane's right thumb, taken by my
orders this morning?"
As he held the waxen print close to the blood-stain, it did not
take a magnifying glass to see that the two were undoubtedly
from the same thumb.
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