Secret Morphology and Vicious Series: Form and Motif in BorgesFord Maddox Ford believed that an author should begin with "the note that suggests the whole book." In the short story “Death and the Compass,” Borges's third sentence accomplishes this: “But he guessed,” he writes of his detective protagonist Erik Lönnrot, “the secret morphology of the vicious series.” Indeed, the fixation on form, pattern and symmetry – for conformation – is fundamental to Borges's story. This is not surprising: after all, the equidistant triangle that connects the locations of the three enigmatic crimes on the city map is "the key." This solves the mystery. But even in less prestigious positions, geometric shapes are omnipresent: the Hôtel du Nord is a “high prism”; the painting studio which serves as the setting for the second murder presents “yellow and red diamonds”; the kidnappers disguised as harlequins display “yellow, red and green diamonds… diamond designs." And consider the "rectangular" water of the adjoining quay basin, and the "rectangular belvedere of the Triste-le-Roy villa" and "this perverse box on the rue de Toulon; "Order is imposed on chaos; the asymmetrical contours of reality are adjusted into sharp, parallel lines. Which makes sense, because Lönnrot is a shape-maker. When Police Commissioner Treviranus suggests that the first victim, Rabbi Yarmolinsky, was murdered by chance, that the intended victim was probably the wealthy tetrarch of Galilee who was staying in a neighboring room and that the thief simply went to the wrong room, Lonnrot rejects the idea. the theory. “In the hypothesis that you postulate, a lot of it is chance,” he says. “A rabbi died. I would prefer a purely rabbinical explanation...in the middle of an article......in the Yiddsche Zeitung that you read Yarmolinsky's writings to find the key to his death,” Sharlach told Lönnrot. It's a peculiar thing to do, but Sharlach understands it – because that's what he probably would have done: find structure in everything. This deepens Borges’ comment even further. Because in this final scene, this confrontation of detectives, Borges does not pit Lönnrot against an Other; he places it in front of an opposite mirror, against a reflection of himself. Notice the language Borges uses to describe them: Sharlach is “indifferent,” displaying “weary triumph” and great “sadness”; Lönnrot feels “an impersonal, almost anonymous sadness”. And with a final metonymic twist, Lönnrot's own hamartia is his undoing: With Lönnrot's personal weapon in hand, Sharlach "took a few steps back." Then, very carefully, he pulled.”