on that this was snatched from
the face or the person of the assassin."

Sherlock Holmes took the glasses into his hand, and examined them with
the utmost attention and interest. He held them on his nose, endeavoured
to read through them, went to the window and stared up the street with
them, looked at them most minutely in the full light of the lamp, and
finally, with a chuckle, seated himself at the table and wrote a few
lines upon a sheet of paper, which he tossed across to Stanley Hopkins.

"That's the best I can do for you," said he. "It may prove to be of some
use."

The astonished detective read the note aloud. It ran as follows:

"Wanted, a woman of good address, attired like a lady. She has a
remarkably thick nose, with eyes which are set close upon either side
of it. She has a puckered forehead, a peering expression, and probably
rounded shoulders. There are indications that she has had recourse to an
optician at least twice during the last few months. As her glasses are
of remarkable strength, and as opticians are not very numerous, there
should be no difficulty in tracing her."

Holmes smiled at the astonishment of Hopkins, which must have been
reflected upon my features. "Surely my deductions are simplicity
itself," said he. "It would be difficult to name any articles which
afford a finer field for inference than a pair of glasses, especially
so remarkable a pair as these. That they belong to a woman I infer from
their delicacy, and also, of course, from the last words of the dying
man. As to her being a person of refinement and well dressed, they
are, as you perceive, handsomely mounted in solid gold, and it is
inconceivable that anyone who wore such glasses could be slatternly in
other respects. You will find that the clips are too wide for your nose,
showing that the lady's nose was very broad at the base. This sort of
nose is usually a short and coarse one, but there is a sufficient number
of exceptions to prevent me from being dogmatic or from insisting upon
this point in my description. My own face is a narrow one, and yet I
find that I cannot get my eyes into the centre, nor near the centre, of
these glasses. Therefore, the lady's eyes are set very near to the sides
of the nose. You will perceive, Watson, that the glasses are concave
and of unusual strength. A lady whose vision has been so extremely
contracted all her life is sure to have the physical characteristics
of such vision, which ar