In the Musgrave Ritual, Holmes forms several inferences following Brunton’s footsteps. Other than disguises, he’s also shown himself capable of stepping into the shoes of other characters to figure out their reasoning. Watson goes on to admit that he’s never failed to be amazed by Holme’s disguises suggesting that this is not a singular occurrence but that something Holmes has put much effort into(inferred by Watson’s amazement) and has used in multiple cases. In the Bohemian Scandal case, Holmes decides to follow Adler dressed as Watson describes, “a drunken-looking groom….with an inflamed face and disreputable clothes.”(Doyle 249). In both cases a crime is about to take place but because it hasn’t, the necessary evidence isn’t present making observation inadequate and requiring action along with inference to prevent the crime.Īside from catching the criminal in the act, Holmes also seems to rely on stepping out of character when right observations when the crime scene doesn’t give enough. Holmes quickly calls in Jones and Merryweather and the group lies in wait in the tunnel for the robbers to appear. Holmes makes several inferences based on Wilson’s account and realizes the league was a ruse for a bank robbery. A similar situation arises in the Red-Headed League case when a confused man comes to Holmes for advice after suddenly losing his job with no notice. He verifies that it’s the snake but the crime is not solved based solely on his skills of logical deduction but catching the criminal in action. Instead of searching for some obscure detail leading to it elsewhere Holmes uses the present situation of the second sister’s upcoming marriage to wait for the criminal to strike. In the case of the Speckled Band, Holmes manages to put together that the ventilator and the unconnected bell-pull were involved in the murder, but there is no evidence of the actual murder weapon. The times when Holmes is forced to think outside the box and go beyond the standard observational investigation is usually when there’s not enough information to go on.