Sherlock stopped, staring at the man in an odd combination disconcertion for a second; his eyes picked out the details automatically:

Ill-fitting clothes, far too long for his limbs and torso, but tight in the chest especially; therefore not his--

Animal hairs, mostly concentrated on the shoulders; all from a single animal, but accumulated over time--

His brain did a quick search and ruled out canine and feline families immediately, then went through the order mammalia and into carnivora before finding its match--

Mustelidae.

Probability suggested ferret, but weasels and their relatives were a distinct possibility as well--

Poor impulse control, hardly worth the time it took to notice, it was that obvious; he discarded it--

Recently at sea; his clothes hadn't washed in... two three days, but clearly not worn in that time period--

Odd wear pattern on the interior of the sleeve hem; most likely a concealed item carried by its original owner--a knife, then; irrelevant--

Irregular rhythm in speech, abnormal inflection and simplistic, fragmented diction; Sherlock's mind reeled through the list of accents and languages, but came up empty--

Sherlock grappled briefly with irritation and confusion--if he didn't know any better, he'd think he was trying to talk to a ferret.

"Yes, I see the train, thank you," he replied in a clipped, brusque voice.