We know what their trump card is and can arrange our play accordingly, so long as we do not show our hand." "You speak of the police as your antagonists; I noticed that at the 'Yard' this morning, and was surprised to find that they accepted the position.

But surely their business is to discover the actual offender, not to fix the crime on some particular person." "That would seem to be so," replied Thorndyke, "but in practice it is otherwise.

When the police have made an arrest they work for a conviction.

If the man is innocent, that is his business, not theirs; it is for him to prove it.

The system is a pernicious one--especially since the efficiency of a police officer is, in consequence, apt to be estimated by the number of convictions he has secured, and an inducement is thus held out to him to obtain a conviction, if possible; but it is of a piece with legislative procedure in general.