Sherlock Holmes : Une étude en rouge (Ecrit dans le sang)

Un sot trouve toujours un plus sot qui l'admire.

Chapitre 1 M. Sherlock Holmes

En l'an 1878, je soutint ma thèse de doctorat en médecine à l'univerrsité de Londres, puis je me rendis à Netley afin de suivre les cours destinés aux chirurgiens des armées. Ayant achevé là-bas mes étdues, je fus ensuite affecté au 5e réégiment de fusilier de Northumberland en qualité d'aide-major.

They say that genius is an infinite capacity for taking pains, he remarked with a smile.

Soyez-en sûr il vient un moment où, pour chaque nouvelle connaissance que nous acquérons, nous oublions quelque chose que nous savons. Il est donc de la plus haute importance de ne pas acquérir des notions inutiles qui chassent les faits utiles.

Qu'est-ce que vous avez à avouez ? Il vaut mieux que deux types qui envisagent de vivre en commun connaissent d'avance le pire l'un de l'autre !

On dit que le génie, remarqua-t-il, consiste en une immense capacité de se donner de la peine ; c'est une mauvaise définition, mais elle s'applique bien au travail du détective.

Un sot trouve toujours un plus sot qui l’admire.

– Il n’est pas facile d’exprimer l’inexprimable ! répondit-il en riant. Holmes est un peu trop scientifique pour moi, – cela frise l’insensibilité ! Il administrerait à un ami une petite pincée de l’alcaloïde le plus récent, non pas, bien entendu, par malveillance, mais simplement par esprit scientifique, pour connaître exactement les effets du poison ! Soyons juste ; il en absorberait lui-même, toujours dans l’intérêt de la science ! Voilà sa marotte : une science exacte, précise.

(première scène de crime)
As he spoke, he whipped a tap measure and a large round magnifying glass from his pocket. With these two implements he trotted about the room, sometimes stopping, occasionally kneeling, and once lying flat upon his face. So engrossed with his occupation that he appeared to have forgotten our presence, for he chattered away to himself under his breath the whole time, keeping up a running fire of exclamations, groans, whistles, and little cries suggestive of encouragement and of hope. As I watched him I was irresistibly reminded of a pure-blooded, well-trained foxhound, as it dashes backward and forward through the covert, whining in its eagerness, until it comes accross the lost scent. For twenty minutes or more he continued his researches, measuring with the most exact care the distance between marks which were entirely invisible to me, and occasionally applying his tape to the walls in an equally incomprehensible manner. In one place he gathered up very carefully a little pile of gray dust from the floor, and packed it away in an envelope. Finally he examined with his glass the word upon the wall, going over every letter of it with the most minute exactness. This done, he appeared to be satisfied, for he replaced his tape and his glass in his pocket.
« They say that genius is an infinite capacity for taking pains », he remarked with a smile. « It’s a very bad definition, but it does apply to detective work. » (p. 46, éd. Omnibus)

(première rencontre avec Sherlock Holmes)
This was a lofty chamber, lined and littered with countless bottles. Broad, low tables were scattered about, which bristled with retorts, test-tubes, and little Bunsen lamps, with their blue flickering flames. There was only one student in the room, who was bending over a distant table absorbed in his work. At the sound of our steps he glanced round and sprang to his feet with a cry of pleasure: "I've found it! I've found it," he shouted to my companion, running towards us with a test-tube in his hand. "I have found a re-agent which is precipitated by hæmoglobin, and by nothing else." Had he discovered a gold mine, greater delight could not have shone upon his features.
"Dr. Watson, Mr. Sherlock Holmes," said Stamford, introducing us.
"How are you?" he said cordially, gripping my hand with a strength for which I should hardly have given him credit. "You have been in Afghanistan, I perceive."
"How on earth did you know that?" I asked in astonishment.
"Never mind," said he, chuckling to himself. "The question now is about hæmoglobin. No doubt you see the significance of this discovery of mine?"
"It is interesting, chemically, no doubt," I answered, "but practically——"
"Why, man, it is the most practical medico-legal discovery for years. Don't you see that it gives us an infallible test for blood stains. Come over here now!" He seized me by the coat sleeve in his eagerness, and drew me over to the table at which he had been working. "Let us have some fresh blood," he said, digging a long bodkin into his finger, and drawing off the resulting drop of blood in a chemical pipette. "Now, I add this small quantity of blood to a litre of water. You perceive that the resulting mixture has the appearance of pure water. The proportion of blood cannot be more than one in a million. I have no doubt, however, that we shall be able to obtain the characteristic reaction." As he spoke, he threw into the vessel a few white crystals, and then added some drops of a transparent fluid. In an instant the contents assumed a dull mahogany colour, and a brownish dust was precipitated to the bottom of the glass jar.
"Ha! ha!" he cried, clapping his hands, and looking as delighted as a child with a new toy.