The Taste Of Loneliness

William spent days at an end sitting in the chemical laboratory performing unusual experiments. He was always lost in his own works and seldom talked to anyone. He had great affection for his work. Not many people knew that his work was related to making discoveries in the field of Chemistry and using the knowledge to solve criminal cases. Very intriguing indeed!

William was a tall and lean man, over six feet tall with hawk-like nose and piercing eyes. The squareness of his chin marked his determination. I came across him when my friend Stamford introduced me to him. I had been in search of a flat where I could live. Those days, I had been broke so I wanted to share a flat. Stamford said that he knew another man who was in the same situation as I was. Moreover, I didn't have any family or relatives to depend upon so I readily agreed to move into a shared accommodation with this man. So there we were unpacking our luggage in the flat the next evening.

The days went by peacefully and I observed William. He did not talk much. He was quiet and regular in his habits. He used to get up and go to the laboratory even before I woke up. Sometimes he used to lie on the Sofa for the whole day with a faraway look in his eyes. He seemed to be a very lonely type of person and staying with him, even I had the uneasy feeling of being the loneliest person. When I used to ask him about his friends, I used to get a peculiar reply. He said, "I don't have friends. Alone is what I have. Alone protects me."

I noticed William had the most unusual power of deduction. By being unapproachable and quiet, he had developed this skill. He could deduce huge facts from the smallest of details. Now how did I learn about it you may ask?

One day, I saw from the window, a man, a middle-aged one, wandering about outside on the street. I wondered what he was upto, and William, who was sitting beside me, said spontaneously that he was a retired sergeant of the marines. I was quite incredulous. He sounded so certain but I thought he was taking a shot in the dark. "I'll bet you ten pounds the man's occupation is as I said," he said with conviction. I agreed knowing that he would be wrong. He must have that thought I'd believe him easily.

Now William's statement had to be verified. I rushed downstairs and out of the house only to see the man getting into a cab and driving off. I hopped into another cab but by that time the man with the cab was out of sight. I asked my cab driver to go in the direction of that cab. We went after it, catching glimpses of it far ahead off on the other side of the traffic. We chased it through the streets of London. I went on, what seemed like, a wild goose chase. I desperately didn't want to quit as my ten bucks were at stake.

I had almost given up after scouring nearly every street and avenue, when I spotted the cab. But it was empty. I asked the driver to tell me where the man travelling in his car had got off, and he gave me the address. I went to that address only to discover that William was right. The man had indeed been a Sergeant in the marines and had now retired. I could see my ten pounds vanishing into thin air. I returned to my flat in and met William waiting for me. He asked me what I had found out, and in response I sadly handed him a ten pound note.

Now I wanted to know how William had guessed so accurately. I couldn't wait for us to go inside because curiosity was killing me. He said that it was easier to know it than to explain it.

Then on my persistence, he elaborated saying that even across the street he could see a great blue anchor tattooed on the back of the fellow's hand and he had a military carriage which explained the Marine. He had some amount of self-importance and an air of command by the way in which he held his head and swung his stick. He was respectable and middle-aged all these facts led William to believe that he had been a Sergeant. I looked at William with surprise and admiration. William's solitude had surely made him a genius at figuring people out.

I realized that the cab driver that had brought me back was still standing there. I asked him how much the taxi meter read. "Precisely ten pounds, sir." William chuckled beside me and handed him the ten pound note that I had lost to him.