Deductions can come from the auction

Margery Allingham, commenting on her crime solver Albert Campion, wrote, "He did not arrive at this conclusion by the decent process of quiet, logical deduction, nor yet by the blinding flash of glorious intuition, but by the shoddy, untidy process halfway between the two by which one usually gets to know things."

It is, of course, better to draw conclusions from logical deduction. In this deal, South is in four hearts. West leads the spade nine. How should East deduce the correct defense?

North made a game-invitational limit raise, showing four or more hearts, 10-12 support points (here, all high-card points, no short-suit points) and eight losers (here, two in each suit).