"'I'd like to engage a private inquiry agent, but the only worthwhile one is entirely too clever. He operates on the principle that when one has eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. And time trafficking may not be too improbable for him.'"
-Poul Anderson, Time Patrol (Riverdale, NY, 2006), pp. 21-22.
FBI agent Finch says:
"'When we've eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be true.'"
-SM Stirling, Drakon (New York, 2000), p. 235.
Finch adds, "'Classical reference...'" (ibid.) when Henry looks blankly at her. Is there a detective who does not know about the Great Detective? After eliminating aliens, Finch concludes, "'Time traveler...'" (ibid.)
Later, when a time traveler informs Henry about the physical attributes of a future warrior, Henry wants to ask:
"...what about the blue tights and the cape?" (p. 243)
- thus confirming the comparison with superheroes and villains.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
I wish I had caught the allusion to Sherlock Holmes! After all, I have read most of the Holmes stories. I usually concentrate on the story I'm reading, not paying enough attention to such classical allusions. Drat!
Sean
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