As I see it, sir, the occupants of the house, hearing the fire bell ring, will suppose that a conflagration has broken out.’ I nodded. One could follow the train of thought. ‘Yes, that seems reasonable.’ ‘Whereupon, Mr Glossop will hasten to save Miss Angela, while Mr Fink-Nottle performs the same office for Miss Bassett.’ ‘Is that based on psychology?’ ‘Yes, sir. Possibly you may recollect that it was an axiom of the late Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s fictional detective, Sherlock Holmes, that the instinct of everyone, upon an alarm of fire, is to save the object dearest to them.’ ‘It seems to me
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