Everyone sat down, feeling disgruntled. The girl named Emily Brooks was so angry that her chest was heaving, while those who hadn’t dared to try earlier now started to sneer. As the laughter grew louder, the boy sitting next to the girl, unwilling to accept it, suddenly stood up, startling Paul Carter. This boy, fuming and unceremonious, said, “Mr. Carter, I think you’re deliberately making things difficult for us.”

At once, the whole room fell silent. This handsome guy, Adam Parker, was one of Emily Brooks’s suitors and was quite close to her. For him to stand up for Miss Brooks in this situation, you had to admire his courage.

“Oh, is that so?” Paul Carter smiled, unconcerned. “Then do you think my question was very difficult?”

“It’s not that it’s difficult, it’s just… you’re deliberately leading us astray. Who reasons like that?” Adam Parker protested.

“My very first sentence was: please pay attention to the limiting conditions. The first requirement for a criminal police officer is to be meticulous. You all focused on one goal and ignored the simple elements—that’s what’s called a blind spot in thinking. Falling into the same trap a second time is inertia of thought. If you can’t overcome these blind spots and inertia, you’ll take many detours in your future work.” Paul Carter said, but he didn’t manage to convince the dissatisfied boy. He continued, “You really like watching Conan and Sherlock Holmes, don’t you?”

“Huh?” The boy immediately looked up, surprised. Judging by his expression, the guess was probably right.

“My question just now wasn’t hard either. If we assume D was telling the truth, the other three conditions could all be true at the same time, and you could deduce that C was the real culprit… But that’s not what I was testing. I was testing your attention and observation. You can complain that my approach was misleading, but you can’t say the question was too hard, right?” Paul Carter revealed the answer with a smile, causing a wave of embarrassed laughter from the students below. Seeing that Adam Parker still looked unconvinced, he added, “Adam Parker, let’s continue with the previous question. I’ll play Sherlock Holmes for a moment and try to deduce something about you, how about that?”

Adam Parker looked a bit skeptical, a little stunned, unsure whether this old cop was bluffing or really had some skills. He froze, while Paul Carter began to speak as if no one else was there:

“…You have very good personal habits and like cleanliness; one or both of your parents are civil servants, I think at least at the section chief level or above; your family is quite well-off, with an annual income of at least three hundred thousand, maybe more; you don’t smoke or drink; your relationships with classmates aren’t very harmonious, which could be described as being a bit aloof; you have a strong artistic vibe, and I think you have a special interest in painting and appreciation… Don’t doubt it, I haven’t seen your personal file, only the name list. Was my guess far off?”

Paul Carter said with a smile, firing off a string of judgments that stunned the whole room of rookies. They whispered among themselves, and it seemed his guesses were pretty accurate. Adam Parker’s handsome face looked a bit awkward, as if he’d been stripped bare. Just as he was hesitating, Paul Carter hit him with an even bolder statement: “If I add one more thing, from the details I can tell you’re pursuing a girl, but haven’t succeeded yet, right?”

The whole class burst out laughing. Emily Brooks’s face couldn’t hide her embarrassment either; she covered her forehead with her hand, hiding her face as she giggled shyly. Even the instructor was surprised—his guesses were almost spot on, about as much as the homeroom teacher knew…

Chapter 03: True or False

Amid the laughter of the class, Ethan was impressed by Paul Carter’s poise. He turned back and said solemnly to Eric Foster, “Eric, the old man seems to have some real skills?”

“If he didn’t, how could he fool us?” Eric Foster replied with a grin.

“What do you mean, fool us? He guessed pretty well.” Ethan said, clearly impressed by Paul Carter.

“You’re silly. Just look at Adam Parker, that flashy guy who washes his face and puts on cologne. You can tell from his clothes he’s a rich official’s kid. Does that even need guessing?” Eric Foster said, unimpressed.

This guy was always so cool and skeptical, never trusting the system. Not getting any agreement from Ethan, he stopped responding and looked back at the Director on the podium, who was speaking so confidently. His accuracy had subdued the usually arrogant and aloof Adam Parker. This kind of ability to read people at a glance really made these inexperienced trainees admire him.

Paul Carter saw that Adam Parker was a bit embarrassed and explained with a smile, “Please sit down, Adam Parker. I’m not targeting you. In fact, with such a privileged background, you’re someone most people would envy.”

Giving him a way out, Adam Parker managed to save a bit of face as he sat down. Paul Carter turned and continued, “In Sherlock Holmes’ investigations, the most commonly used method is judging a person’s behavior through details. The reason Sherlock Holmes is so popular worldwide, I think, isn’t because the cases are so brilliant, but because what he describes are all things ordinary people can do… but also things ordinary people overlook. If you pick up on these details, one day you’ll find that you can be Sherlock Holmes too, maybe even better than him.”

His words weren’t loud, but it was as if he spoke right to the hearts of the rookies. The student Emily Brooks was first surprised, then amazed, truly impressed by the old policeman’s insight. She led the applause, followed by two, three more, and soon the whole classroom was filled with applause—not just for the strange questions, but for his ability to see through Adam Parker at a glance. That alone deserved some applause.