incurved, and with a lifted base, and that his auricular temporal
angle was between 96 and 97 degrees, I should have known at once that
he was an impostor Vide Ottolenghui on 'Ears and Noses I Have Met,'
pp. 631-640."

"Do you mean to say that you can tell a criminal by his ears?"
demanded Hamlet.

"If he has any--yes; but I did not know that at the time of the
Brighton mystery. Therefore I should have stayed out of the case.
But here we are. Good-morning, Charon."

By this time the trio had entered the private office of the president
of the Styx Navigation Company, and in a few moments the vessel was
chartered at a fabulous price.

On the return to the wharf, Sir Walter somewhat nervously asked
Holmes if he thought the plan they had settled upon would work.

"Charon is a very shrewd old fellow," said he. "He may outwit us
yet."

"The chances are just two and one-eighth degrees in your favor,"
observed Holmes, quietly, with a glance at Raleigh's ears. "The
temporal angle of your ears is 93.125 degrees, whereas Charon's stand
out at 91, by my otometer. To that extent your criminal instincts
are superior to his. If criminology is an exact science, reasoning
by your respective ears, you ought to beat him out by a perceptible
though possibly narrow margin."