One thing in particular is very strongly illustrated by this case which a young detective should always remember, and it is something which the majority of our oldest hands are pretty apt to forget.
Don’t trust to appearances. They are pretty sure to lead you astray.
Put yourself in the place of the criminal. Try and fancy how you would act if you were placed in his position, and be guided in what you do thereby.
Now here is a rule and it is a good one—yet it is not always safe to follow it.
There is another thing to be considered—the intelligence of the criminal.
Mr. Camm was an intelligent man—emphatically so.
Was it to be supposed that an intelligent man making off with a hundred thousand dollars would openly engage a berth in a sleeping car in his own name?
Decidedly not. It was a blind on the face of it. If I had been in his place I would never for an instant have expected any one to be deceived by so transparent an action, but I took another thing into consideration. Mr. Camm was not as well used to the methods of criminals as I was, therefore I did not blame him for thinking that he might deceive the detectives by his little game.
And was he so far out of the way either?
Evidently not, since he did fool Detective Duffy and my friend Mr. Pease completely, and this brings me to another point.