In an original Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 1893 short story titled "The Cardboard Box", a woman receives severed ears in the mail and Sherlock Holmes investigates. The remainder of the story is not used in this episode.
There is much debate between historians about the truth of the story of Bertillon's earliest mugshots.
The subject was the master criminal François Bertillon, with the notation: "François Bertillon,
23 months
(Baby, Gluttony, Nibbling
All the Pears from a Basket)
October 17, 1893."
Depending on who you ask, the pictures are either; really Alphonse Bertillon's son, his nephew, or the story is complete fiction.