Considering how many hundreds of statues of the great Emperor
must exist in London, it is too much to suppose such a coinci-
dence 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. A man who had read deeply about Napoleon, or who had
possibly received some hereditary family injury through the great
war, might conceivably form such an idee fixe and under its
influence be capable of any fantastic outrage.
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