"His Massive Brow Furrowed in Thought, As He Gazed at the Cryptic Letters"

"The Button Extractograph."

By Rex Hummerston (?-?).

Illustrations by Laurie [Lawrence B.] Tayler (1873-?; Design & Art Australia Online HERE).

First appearance: Pearson's Magazine, May 1919.

Short short story (5 pages; 6 illos).

Online at Hathi Trust (HERE).

(Note: Some text faded.)

   "My duty, then, is to demonstrate my method of deducing incontrovertible facts from each and every one of them."

SHERLOCK HOLMES had his methods, and they worked. Professor Bosca has his, and . . . well . . .

Principal characters:

~ Mrs. Mooney ("Oh, Professor, I have come to enlist your services in assisting me to thwart the machinations of a perfidious traitor"), Professor Eeza Bosca ("Scientific deduction," he resumed, "plus intelligent elimination—"), and the "perfidious traitor" ("What the devil do you mean by demanding my presence—").

References:

- "Port Said" (HERE)

- "determined to help win the war" (HERE)

- "the Sphinx" (HERE)

- "the left ear of Charles Peace" (HERE)

- "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" (HERE)

- "The Exploits of Craig Kennedy, Scientific Detective" (HERE)

  (There was no such title featuring the formidable Kennedy.)

- "the Anzac" (HERE and especially HERE).

Sources: Wikipedia and Standard EBooks.

Resources:

- "The Button Extractograph" is Rex Hummerston's only FictionMags list item.

- Professor Bosca reminds us very much of Ellis Parker Butler's Philo Gubb (HERE).

Unless otherwise noted, all bibliographical data are derived from The FictionMags Index created by William G. Contento & edited by Phil Stephensen-Payne.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~