r. austin freeman

By one of those coincidences which are quite inadmissible in fiction, but

of frequent occurrence in real life, an incident in the story of The

Cat's Eye has found an almost exact duplicate in an actual case which has

been reported in the Press.

The real case was concerned with a most alarming misadventure which

befell a distinguished police official of high rank. The fictitious

incident occurs in Chapter Ten of this book; and the reading of that

chapter will inevitably convey the impression that I have appropriated

the real case and incorporated it in my story; a proceeding that the

reader might properly consider to be in questionable taste.

It seems, therefore, desirable to explain that Chapter Ten was written

some months before the real tragedy occurred. Indeed, by that time, the

book was so nearly completed that it was impracticable to eliminate the

incident, which was an integral part of the plot.

The coincidence is to be regretted; but worse things might easily have

happened. But for the circumstance that I had to lay this book aside to

complete some other work, The Cat's Eye would have been in print when the

crime was committed; and it might then have been difficult for any

one--even for the author--to believe that the fictitious crime had not

furnished the suggestion for the real one.