“Acertainselectionanddiscretionmustbeusedinproducingarealisticeffect，“remarkedHolmes。“Thisiswantinginthepolicereport，wheremorestressislaidperhapsupontheplatitudesofthemagistratethanuponthedetails，whichtoanobservercontainthevitalessenceofthewholematter。Dependuponit，thereisnothingsounnaturalasthecommonplace。“
Ismiledandshookmyhead。“Icanquiteunderstandyourthinkingso，“Isaid。“Ofcourse，inyourpositionofunofficialadviserandhelpertoeverybodywhoisabsolutelypuzzled，throughoutthreecontinents，youarebroughtincontactwithallthatisstrangeandbizarre。Buthere，“——Ipickedupthemorningpaperfromtheground——“letusputittoapracticaltest。HereisthefirstheadinguponwhichIcome。’Ahusband’scrueltytohiswife。’
Thereishalfacolumnofprint，butIknowwithoutreadingitthatitisallperfectlyfamiliartome。Thereis，ofcourse，theotherwoman，thedrink，thepush，theblow，thebruise，theunsympatheticsisterorlandlady。Thecrudestofwriterscouldinventnothingmorecrude。“
“Indeedyourexampleisanunfortunateoneforyourargument，“saidHolmes，takingthepaper，andglancinghiseyedownit。“ThisistheDundasseparationcase，and，asithappens，Iwasengagedinclearingupsomesmallpointsinconnectionwithit。Thehusbandwasateetotaler，therewasnootherwoman，andtheconductcomplainedofwasthathehaddriftedintothehabitofwindingupeverymealbytakingouthisfalseteethandhurlingthemathiswife，whichyouwillallowisnotanactionlikelytooccurtotheimaginationoftheaveragestoryteller。Takeapinchofsnuff，doctor，andacknowledgethatIhavescoredoveryouinyourexample。“
Heheldouthissnuffboxofoldgold，withagreatamethystinthecenterofthelid。ItssplendorwasinsuchcontrasttohishomelywaysandsimplelifethatIcouldnothelpcommentinguponit。