49 things from this book went into her brain. Here are the first 6.
In The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, Conan Doyle shows Holmes separating the framework of established fact from the guesses of theorists and reporters before he draws any inference.
In Silver Blaze, Holmes finds that talking a case through with someone else clears his own thinking, so he lays out the facts aloud before he asks for help.
In Silver Blaze, Conan Doyle has Holmes describe Inspector Gregory as thorough and competent but without imagination, a reminder that diligence alone can stop short of the answer.
In Silver Blaze, Holmes tests a case against a suspect by listing the questions it cannot yet answer, such as why the horse was taken from the stable and where it could be hidden.
In Silver Blaze, Holmes sets a working hypothesis about where the horse must be, then follows it across the moor to see what it leads to, rather than waiting for more facts.
In Silver Blaze, Holmes argues that imagination is what lets an investigator act on a reasoned guess, test it on the ground, and find it holds.
In Silver Blaze, Holmes treats the watchdog that did nothing in the night as the key clue, showing that an absence can tell you as much as an event.
In Silver Blaze, Holmes says that one true inference invariably suggests others, so each solid conclusion opens the next question to test.
In The Adventure of the Cardboard Box, Holmes rebuilds Watson's wandering thoughts from small shifts in his eyes and face, showing how close attention to people reveals more than they say.
In The Adventure of the Cardboard Box, Holmes reads the wrapping, the string and the handwriting in turn, and each small clue narrows down who sent the parcel and what kind of person they were.
In The Adventure of the Cardboard Box, Holmes assumes his reasoning is right, then asks what each answer would require of the sender, until the tangle of the case comes loose.
In The Adventure of the Cardboard Box, Holmes says he and Watson began with an open mind, observed first and drew inferences only afterwards, which is the same discipline a business owner needs before picking a fix.
In The Adventure of the Cardboard Box, Holmes tests a second, unlikely explanation anyway, because a plausible-looking answer should be checked before the case is closed.
In The Adventure of the Cardboard Box, Browner's confession shows how unspoken suspicion and quarrels about nothing can slowly widen the gap between two people who once trusted each other.
In The Yellow Face, Holmes reads a stranger's habits from an old patched pipe, showing how ordinary objects hold honest evidence about the people who use them.
In The Yellow Face, Munro's suspicions grow wilder with each sleepless hour, showing how a mind short of facts will keep inventing theories that are less and less likely.
In The Yellow Face, Holmes holds his theory only as a provisional one, to be reconsidered as soon as new facts arrive that it cannot cover.
At the end of The Yellow Face, Holmes asks Watson to warn him if he grows over-confident or gives a case less care than it deserves, a habit that keeps a craftsman honest.
In The Yellow Face, Grant Munro answers a painful secret with generosity, admitting he is no saint but hoping he is better than his wife has given him credit for.
In The Stockbroker's Clerk, Holmes notes that a piece of reasoning looks simple once it is explained, so good work often seems obvious only in hindsight.
In The Stockbroker's Clerk, Pycroft gets a chill of doubt when a too-good offer comes from people he knows little about, a warning that suits anyone weighing a deal today.
In The Stockbroker's Clerk, Pycroft notices the empty offices with no company name on the wall and feels uneasy, but he ignores the warning signs a shrewd businessman would check first.
In The Stockbroker's Clerk, Holmes finds that a tangled affair often hinges on two points, then asks what the other side wanted that it could only get one way.
In The Gloria Scott, young Holmes reads a host's past from a loaded stick, boxer's ears and a half-erased tattoo, and the reasoning is only as good as the evidence it starts from.
In The Gloria Scott, Holmes says a praise from an older man first made him feel that a hobby could become a profession, a reminder that an honest encouragement can change the course of a life.
In The Gloria Scott, Holmes cracks a coded note by trying one pattern after another, backwards, then alternate words, until the key finally shows itself. Persistence with a method beats a single lucky guess.
In The Gloria Scott, Holmes reasons that the words a person reaches for without thinking, such as sporting terms, reveal their real interests more honestly than a planned answer does.
In The Gloria Scott, a handful of men refuse to join in cold-blooded killing even when the group pressures them, a reminder that conscience can hold firm inside a bad crowd.
In The Musgrave Ritual, Holmes says his name grew slowly, through a few early cases that came by introduction from old friends, a reminder that a reputation for good work is built one referral at a time.
In The Musgrave Ritual, Holmes tries to find the one starting point that links a butler's disappearance, a maid's breakdown and a lake full of junk, because a tangled run of events usually hangs on a single first cause.
In The Musgrave Ritual, Holmes's careful calculation fails until his client checks the written instructions and points out a two-word phrase he had skipped. A forgotten detail in the source can undo a sound plan.
In The Musgrave Ritual, Holmes works out a plan by putting himself in the place of the man he is studying and asking how he would have acted with the same skill and the same obstacles.
In The Reigate Squires, Doyle shows that even Holmes's iron constitution broke after two months of fifteen-hour days, and that a sharp mind needs real rest before the next problem.
In The Reigate Squires, Holmes reasons that the missing part of the note must have been taken because it incriminated someone, so asking who wanted it gone points the way to the culprit.
In The Reigate Squires, Holmes asks the simple question everyone had skipped: what if the thing taken for granted, that the burglar never got in, was not true? Testing the assumption changes the whole case.
In The Reigate Squires, Holmes says the art of detection is sorting which facts are incidental and which are vital, so that attention is concentrated rather than scattered.
In The Reigate Squires, Holmes says he holds no prejudices and follows the facts wherever they lead, even when they point at someone everyone else has ruled out.
In The Crooked Man, Holmes explains that a clever deduction looks remarkable only because the listener missed the one small point it rests on, which makes it seem elementary once shown.
In The Crooked Man, Holmes reasons by elimination: since the couple could not have taken the missing key, a third person must have, which turns the search to whoever could have come in by the window.
In The Crooked Man, Holmes first tries a tidy explanation, then drops it when the facts that do not fit, such as the word David, refuse to go away. Good detectives test their guesses against the awkward evidence.
In The Resident Patient, Holmes will not advise a man who keeps back the facts, because no adviser can help when the person asking hides what is really going on. His answer is simply to speak the truth.
In The Greek Interpreter, Holmes holds that to underrate yourself is as much a departure from the truth as to overrate yourself, so an honest assessment of your own powers counts as much as any other fact.
In The Greek Interpreter, Holmes says his brother Mycroft reasons brilliantly from an armchair but will not check his own answers, and that a good idea still has to be proved in practice before it counts.
In The Greek Interpreter, Holmes reads a stranger's history from small visible things, such as posture, the way a hat sits and the state of his boots, showing that careful observation of ordinary details can reveal a great deal.
In The Naval Treaty, Holmes asks what small trace the intruder might have left, a stray hair or a scent, because a trifle that looks unimportant can be worth more than a grand theory.
In The Naval Treaty, Holmes says the hardest problem is the one with no obvious purpose, so he asks first who profits from it. Asking who gains is a sound way to start any unclear question.
In The Naval Treaty, Holmes says the main difficulty was too much evidence, with what was vital hidden under what was irrelevant. The skill is picking out the few facts that are essential and putting them in order.
In The Final Problem, Holmes warns Watson not to think meanly of a rival. A clever opponent should be measured as an equal, because assuming he is slow is how a careful plan gets caught out.
In The Final Problem, Holmes looks back on his work and finds comfort that, across a thousand cases, he cannot recall using his abilities on the wrong side. It is a fair test to set against any working life.
