Once again, I was astonished by what Dupin knew. 'How could you possibly know,' I asked, 'that the man was a sailor, and that he belonged to a Maltese ship?'
'I do not know it,' said Dupin. 'I am not sure of it. But I found this small piece of ribbon on the ground at the bottom of the lightning-rod. Look.'
He gave me the ribbon to look at. It was a dark-red colour, and old and dirty.
'Sailors always use ribbons like these,' Dupin said, 'to tie