221B methodology #8

• Take note of how a person’s fingers and hands curl as they walk. People that have been carrying things lately generally continue to ‘carry’ them for hours lately.
• If someone has scars only or mostly on the right side of their body, they are left-handed and vice versa.
• You can  tell the keys most used on a personal computer keyboard by looking at which ones are the most smooth – they have been worn down the most.
• Slight diagonal creases in the corner of a piece of paper suggests that whoever has been writing on this paper keeps the paper on a slant to write, and the paper has been pressed between their arm and the edge of a desk. If the creases are on the left side of the paper, the person is right-handed. If they are on the right side, they are left-handed. The more vertical the creases are suggests the paper is more tilted.
• An avid fencer will usually have visibly uneven muscle tone in their legs.
• If a person uses a cane and pushes off of it slightly when they walk, they most likely have a joint injury where putting weight on the joint is painful. If they don’t push off of it with each step, they most likely use it to aid balance, due to a problem that is more likely to be muscular or nervous.
• Light fixtures are almost always centered to a room or to a piece of furniture. If the lighting in the room is not centered to either, the room was recently redone.
• Gender means very little in the area of Deduction. Men and women are very evenly matched in ability and capability.
• People who would love to prove a point just to be perceived as smart would use big words and unlikely adjectives in their explanation. People who know the subject at heart would use simple words. A person’s uncertainty or defensiveness shows through picking out big words to buy themselves time to think about their explanation and to trick their listeners into thinking about the word’s meaning, instead of the subject at hand.
• You can tell if someone has hearing problems in one ear if their head is more inclined to a certain angle.

Disclaimer: These are taken from the “A Guide to Deduction” numbered pictures that can be found on Tumblr.

– Snowanna of 221B

221B methodology #7

• A person who danced as a child, especially in ballet, will stand and walk with their feet pointed slightly outwards as an adult.
• If a person has had injury that caused any amount of trauma, they will subconsciously touch the part of the body that was injured, even if it has long healed.
• When at a shared meal, a person who comes from a large family will look at the quantity they are allowed compared to the number present, instead of just diving in and taking as much as they need.
• People who have long fingernails on one hand and short ones on the other are guitarists. They use the hand with shorter fingernails to press the strings on the frets and the longer fingernails to strum or pick the strings.
• If a person, when falling, automatically does a roll fall (a forward roll to protect them from falling) it indicates that they are practising karate, parkour and similar sports regularly.
• Dust becomes visible on the surface of liquids left standing indoors after a day or so.
• If a person’s right thumb is crooked, they are likely to play a woodwind instrument like clarinet or saxophone.
• A person who has recently dyed their hair will often have trace amounts of the dye on their skin, mostly at the hairline. Typically more so if they dyed it themselves instead of having a professional dye it.
• In America, a tan on the left arm is a good indicator that an individual has done a great deal of driving recently in a sunny area.
• One can tell which adaptation of Sherlock Holmes a person prefers based on what they call the characters. Fans of more traditional series tend to call the two main characters Holmes and Watson, whereas fans of the modern television adaptation refer to them as Sherlock and John.

Disclaimer: These are taken from the “A Guide to Deduction” numbered pictures that can be found on Tumblr.

– Snowanna of 221B

221B methodology #6

• People who recently started wearing a new jewel usually touch it (and adjust it) a lot. The same goes for recently removed jewels.
• Dark rings under the eyes and no other signs of lack of sleep may indicate the person has allergies which have been troubling them lately.
• The letter E is the most used one in the English language. When cracking a secret code, the one symbol that appears the most is most likely an E.
• People who were in marching bands for a long time usually start walking with their left foot when they hear music playing.
• Nail biting can be an indication of low esteem or self-destructive tendencies.
• A pianist’s hands have well-developed muscles and the middle finger tends to curve towards the ring finger.
• When looking at a person’s handwriting, you can tell how much they like being noticed. Large, bold handwriting indicates that the person enjoys being the center of attention, while small handwriting indicates a desire to be unnoticed. Medium sized handwriting can indicate that they prefer to just “fit in”.
• A person is more likely to be actually listening to you if their eyes are roaming about your face, or even watching hand gestures, and not staring into your eyes or at one feature the entire time.
• Just because a person doesn’t look tired, it doesn’t mean they aren’t. Losing trains of thought, being unable to articulate what they mean to say, staring off into space, or a general lack of interest in things all strongly indicates that the person has not had enough sleep. So the next question is, what were they doing last night to prevent sleep?
• There are a few ways you can tell if someone has had martial arts training in the past: 1st: if you can see them walk around barefoot they will walk more on the blades (outsides) of their feet (heel-blade-toes); 2nd: the way they move their hands when they are talking – martial artists have thumbs slightly tucked in towards the palm, the fingers are never really straight and will have a slight bend in the middle knuckles; 3rd: depending on how dedicated they were, the outside or ridge of their hands and their proximal phalanges on their index and middle fingers (base knuckles) could be slightly calloused from repetitive striking of objects.

Disclaimer: These are taken from the “A Guide to Deduction” numbered pictures that can be found on Tumblr.

– Snowanna of 221B

221B methodology #5

• Recent or current presence of cats or dogs is indicated by bite or scratch marks on furniture and people and hair clinging to exposed fibrous materials.
• Who wears long sleeves and pants on hot days? People with something to hide – usually a wound or a tattoo. The next question is: why are they hiding it?
• Women who wear high heels more often usually have shorter strides than women who don’t.
• An avid violinist will usually have a bruise on the left side of their neck.
• Walking speed is proportional to pressure placed on the toe, and thus can be observed through a footprint. A slow gait will have a greater indentation at the back, a fast one at the front. A runner’s footprint won’t have any heel print at all.
• A golf player will often have a slightly less tanned left hand, due to the glove they wear.
• A wallet with slits along the sides of the most easily accessible card slot often belongs to a regular commuter. Thin train tickets do not bulge the slots, but can cause frequent small damage to the wallet.
• A liar tends to give too much detail within their lies; little unnecessary things they think will convince you their story is true.
• People who usually wear glasses have marks on the sides of the nose’s bridge, left there by the nose pads.
• Long, detailed and insistent excuses are an indicator of premeditated lies. People who used time to come up with an excuse don’t want to waste their time. (Or, generally: when people begin in error, they continue in error.)

Disclaimer: These are taken from the “A Guide to Deduction” numbered pictures that can be found on Tumblr.

– Snowanna of 221B

221B methodology #4

• Piercings always leave marks or scars: the more recently the piercing was removed, the more prominent the mark.
• A person who had used a cane for a very long time will sustain an uneven stance for a several months after.
• If someone is lying to you they will look straight into your eyes, while people telling the truth tend to be more casual or at ease. The perception that most people lying look to the left is false.
• People don’t like silence and will often rush to fill it. If you’re asking someone a question, you can get them to talk more about it by keeping quiet.
• You can tell when a person is truly smiling at you by the amount of muscles moving in their face. When someone smiles truly at you their eyes and nose will crinkle. When they are not, the muscles are very stiff.
• Statements with contradictions are more likely to be deceitful than those without contradictions.
• You can tell what someone is thinking by where their eyes go. If they go up and to the left, they are imagining an image. If they go up and right, they are remembering an image. If they simply look left, they are imagining a sound. To the right means they are remembering someone. Down and left means they are recalling feelings, scents and tastes. Down and right is your internal dialogue.
• Liars often respond with longer sentences.
• The word “never” is often used in deceptions, especially when led with a question with the word “ever”.
• A defined but hard to read signature is a sign they sign their name often, so they have a set signature but are lazy when writing it.

Disclaimer: These are taken from the “A Guide to Deduction” numbered pictures that can be found on Tumblr.

– Snowanna of 221B

221B methodology #3

• If a person has deep callouses of the fingers of only one hand, this normally signifies that they play a stringed instrument.
• A pink or red palm indicates that a person has been carrying something heavy by a handle or handhold within the past 15-20 minutes.
• If a person has jeans that are the right length and yet ragged around the bottom, it suggests that they have had a significant growth spurt within the past year.
• If a person’s jaw locks, it can be a result of subconsciously grinding their teeth, possibly from stress.
• If a person has an umbrella but hasn’t used it in the rain, it is likely that the wind was too strong for them to use it.
• When somebody’s sclera shows many blood vessels or seems to be a little irritated, it isn’t always because of crying but also due to having dry eyes. People with dry eyes usually spend a lot of time in front of pc/tv screens or use their air conditioner a lot which dries the air around them and thus their eyes as well. Smoke also irritates dry eyes which can therefore be an indicator for one’s smoking habits.
• To find out where someone is keeping something, their phone for example, tell them yours has been stolen and they will instantly check the whereabouts of their own, thus showing you where it is.
• People who usually listen to louder music (such as rock) can have more difficulty hearing quieter sounds or music.
• A smashed window will always leave glass on the side opposite to the place of impact.
• A person who usually types will not have a signature, so when asked to write one the signature will either be overly flamboyant or printed.

Disclaimer: These are taken from the “A Guide to Deduction” numbered pictures that can be found on Tumblr.

– Snowanna of 221B

221B methodology #2

• If there is a large amount of foreign money in someone’s wallet, they have recently been to its country of origin and haven’t had time to change it back yet.
• Clean/new shoes with worn down soles are used for regular running, probably inside.
• An indent or lump on the middle finger of the hand indicates the person writes a lot using that hand.
• Yellowing of the teeth and between the index and middle finger indicates the person is a frequent smoker.
• When a person is crying silently, it is something they won’t talk about. When they are crying aloud, they want attention.
• If a person blinks less than 2 times a minute it is a sign of nervousness, possibly from lying or from anti-social habits.
• If a ring is dirty on the outside and clean on the inside it is removed regularly.
• Keeping an eye on the weather can help to prove location for a few hours into the past.
• If a home’s rooms seem crowded with furniture, then the occupants have moved there from a larger house.
• Dilated eyes can indicate arousal or interest.

Disclaimer: These are taken from the “A Guide to Deduction” numbered pictures that can be found on Tumblr.

– Snowanna of 221B

221B methodology

• You can tell someone is a PC gamer if they automatically rest their left hand over the WASD keys. You can also tell by how frustrated they get when even a minimal amount of lag occurs.
• If someone has bruises on the inner side of either arm, particularly females, they may be archers and the bruises are left by the string when the arrow is loosed.
• Bruises above the knees can indicate rock climbing – from hitting your knees on the grasps. This is more common among amateurs and less common among experienced climbers.
• If someone often touches the bridge of their nose or near their eyes, they are most likely used to wearing glasses and are habitually going to push them up.
• You can tell if a person is right-handed or left-handed by the length of his/her fingers. The bones in his/her dominant hand will be slightly longer.
• A way of spotting a (practicing) gymnast is to see if the balls of their hands are red, calloused or peeling. There may be traces of chalk on them too, as it is sometimes hard to wash off.
• You can tell if someone is a swimmer by the skin around their eyes and hairline. It usually is very dry – the swim cap and the goggles can cause the dryness. They also may have dark rings around their eyes.
• If a person has colour themed or coordinated clothes, any aspect of appearance that doesn’t match is suspicious.
• Scratches on a lock mean that the person was shaking when using the key: fear or the cold would cause lots of small scrapes, while drunkenness would give long, deep scratches.
• A person usually makes a lot of gestures when telling a true story; when telling a lie a person’s hands will stay noticeably still.

Disclaimer: These are taken from the “A Guide to Deduction” numbered pictures that can be found on Tumblr.

– Snowanna of 221B