Edmund Lovelace

You don't know anything about me, but if you'll accept my case, you can save four lives.

I wouldn't say that I know nothing about you, sir.

No, it's true that I know little beyond the somewhat obvious fact that, well, you're single, that you keep a dog, but not a manservant.

and that you are much preoccupied with your business, which I take to be some form of insurance.

Now, what is this?

But I'll be hanged if I can see how he knows.

It's a practical application of logic, sir.

The briefcase that you carry might at first indicate a barrister or some other professional man, but your brusque business-like manner counteracts that suggestion.

An insurance broker who must visit clients at odd hours is the likeliest man to combine that manner with a briefcase of midnight.

But the wife and the manservant and the fact that I'm preoccupied with my business.

Your cufflinks don't matter.

Each is from a different pair.

That would suggest preoccupation.

And it's a mistake that neither a wife nor a manservant would have allowed to pass.

Oh, surely that's obvious, Watson.

I shall let you ponder on that matter while Mr. Lovelace tells us his problem.

Mr. Holmes, are you as interested in preventing a murder as in solving one?

Naturally I am, Mr. Lovelace.

Even more so.

But please tell me your story.