THE SWEDISH MATCH

The Swedish Match

Joe Friday on the old television show, Dragnet, used to say: "Just the facts ma'am."

Some good advice.

A vivid imagination in a police investigation can land innocent people in jail.

Tchubikov, the examining magistrate and his assistant Dyukovsky both jump to conclusions not warranted by any facts. Their idea of an investigation is putting a credible story (in their mind) together and going from there.

A little consultation with John Adams would have helped: "Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence. "

The Swedish match is where some solid investigation is done and it helps lead to the solution -- although not the one fitting the concocted story of Tchubikov and Dyukovsky.

If you have a vivid imagination -- try writing novels.

If you're going to do police work -- stick to the facts.

That said, Malcolm Gladwell's book, Blink, gives us an interesting take on Tchubikov and Dyukovsky.

Gladwell writes: "You could also say that it's a book about intuition, except that I don't like that word. In fact it never appears in "Blink." Intuition strikes me as a concept we use to describe emotional reactions, gut feelings--thoughts and impressions that don't seem entirely rational. But I think that what goes on in that first two seconds is perfectly rational."

As Maxwell Smart used to say:

"Would you believe . . ."