which culminated in unex-
pected tragedy. It is true that the circumstance did not admit of
any striking illustration of those powers for which my friend was
famous, but there were some points about the case which made it
stand out in those long records of crime from which I gather the
material for these little narratives.
On refering to my notebook for the year 1895, I find that it
was upon Saturday, the 23d of April, that we first heard of Miss
Violet Smilh. Her visit was, I remember, extremely unwelcome
to Holmes, for he was immersed at the moment in a very
abstruse and complicated problem concerning the peculiar perse-
cution to which John Vincent Harden, the well known tobacco
millionaire, had been subjected. My friend, who loved above all
things precision and concentration of thought, resented anything
which distracted his attention from the matter in hand. And yet
without a harshness which was foreign to his nature, it was
impossible to refuse to listen to the story of the young and
beautiful woman, tall, graceful, and queenly, who presented
herself at Baker Street late in the evening, and implored his
assistance and advice.
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