Detective Method 2: Questioning Technique zusgazmy, 16/11/202316/11/2023 16, November, 2023 Rated: ⭐⭐⚝ This technique is taken from Sherlock Holmes himself. When I was studying “The sign of four” a few weeks ago, there was a scene where Sherlock Holmes tracked the culprit down to the river and start questioning the wife of the boat renter, whose house was near that river. His famous quote: “The main thing with people of that sort,” said Holmes, as we sat in the sheets of the wherry, “is never to let them think that their information can be of the slightest importance to you. If you do, they will instantly shut up like an oyster. If you listen to them under protest, as it were, you are very likely to get what you want.” Holmes knew that this household was involved somehow in the escape whether intentionally or not. He leaned to the side of carefulness and act like he just interested in some other business rather than directly asking question and make the wife cautious. He started with well-intent toward the kid to lower the wife’s guard. Then he asked about the family business like he wanted to rent the boat, solely for what it is, nothing related to the case that he’s chasing. He made sure to compliment the boat to validate his choice and further lower the wife’s guard. He acted surprised when hearing information about the possible culprit that matched his deduction earlier, and asked more questions as if they were just gossiping. Holmes did not know what the boat looked like, but he acted like he knew the boat for its name and its details were not on the top of his head. By doing this, he made the wife describe the boat to him without asking the question. Everything was handled under the radar, the suspicion of the wife. This questioning technique was in chapter 8 of the novel The Sign of Four. Related Blog intermediateParrot