Fake Check!
Thinking of Jenkin yesterday, Arthur almost instinctively arrived at that answer-why would a moderately well-known painter be kidnapped?
Counterfeit banknotes, forged checks, forged paintings.
Those were the three most obvious possibilities.
Of those, forged paintings were the most valuable.
But Maltz had produced a check.
Arthur could already picture Jenkin spending his year in captivity locked up somewhere near the sea, drawing checks day and night.
"Fake Check?"
"I knew I couldn't hide it from you!"
"Did 'Anna' tell you?"
Maltz laughed.
Arthur took a sip of hot milk and shrugged.
In truth, the answer was not difficult to guess. Anyone with a little knowledge and some analytical ability could have figured it out, but many people in this world would overlook it-because this world was remarkably "simple." Most people had never received a real education and spent their entire lives trapped in their own little boxes.
They could not stay calm, nor did they have the necessary knowledge.
Of course, in a certain era, even when relentless bombardment with information elevated everyone to the level of master detective, people would still find themselves trapped in new little boxes-because of arrogance and prejudice!
They would make assumptions, grossly overestimate certain criminal methods, and attack the competence of professionals, forgetting that, most of the time, advances in criminal methods came from advances in technology, not advances in people.
People had always been, and would always remain, users of tools.
For instance, far too many baffling mysteries ultimately came down to-
Checking how much water the meter had recorded.
Taking a look in the rooftop water tank.
Often, it was that simple.
That was why Arthur never overestimated a case or approached one with arrogance or prejudice. He chose to look at every case in the simplest, most direct way,