46334 But I want to know why the word "moor" should have been written?'
46335 'Because he could not find it in print.
46336 The other words were all simple, and might be found in any issue, but "moor" would be less common.'
46337 'Why, of course, that would explain it.
46338 Have you read anything else in this message, Mr Holmes?'
46339 'There are one or two indications, and yet the utmost pains have been taken to remove all clues.
46340 The address, you observe, is printed in rough characters.
46341 But The Times is a paper which is seldom found in any hands but those of the highly educated.
46342 We may take it, therefore, that the letter was composed by an educated man who wished to pose as an uneducated one, and his effort to conceal his own writing suggests that that writing might be known, or come to be known, by you.
46343 Again, you will observe that the words are not gummed on in an accurate line, but that some are much higher than others.
46344 "Life", for example, is quite out of its proper place.
46345 That may point to carelessness or it may point to agitation and hurry upon the part of the cutter.
46346 On the whole I incline to the latter view, since the matter was evidently important, and it is unlikely that the composer of such a letter would be careless.