The idea of such a thing!
But there are many who would like to become detectives if they could, and are willing to take time to learn the business, which, believe me, has to be learned like everything else.
Of course there may be some “smart Alecks” who have picked up the business—doubtless there are—but like extra smart people in other lines they do not often make it a success.
Therefore I say that to give a series of rules which, if followed, will make a boy a detective, would only be to make a fool of myself and my pupils too.
It can’t be done.
In our business no two situations are ever alike; the case you are working on to-day is totally different from the case of to-morrow, and the case of next week different again from either, and so it goes.
What I propose to do, therefore, is to tell how I made one boy—no, two—detectives. Let their experiences serve for others to go by.
First, however, let me give a list of the particular qualities and attainments necessary to make a good detective, and say also a few words on the different kinds of detectives—the good and the bad.
QUALIFICATIONS OF A GOOD DETECTIVE.
1. Indomitable courage and good health.