"no, no. no crime," said sherlock holmes, laughing. "only one of those whimsical little incidents which will happen when you have four million human beings all jostling each other within the space of a few square miles. amid the action and reaction of so dense a swarm of humanity, every possible combination of events may be expected to take place, and many a little problem will be presented which may be striking and bizarre without being criminal. we have already had experience of such."