There are always some lunatics about. The world would be utterly dull without them.

Today is a cause for celebration for the first blog post of the Parallel Case of Saint Louis, our BSI scion society. For fifteen years, we have gone without an updated internet presence and at last we start anew.

December of 2013 marked our 25th year of activity, and we look forward to many more.

Conveniently enough for the occasion, we discussed A Study In Scarlet on our first meeting of the year. Six members were in attendance despite the chilling weather, iced roads, and the promise of snow on the dark and lonely drive home.

We began our meeting with dinner at Dressel's Pub in the Central West End of Saint Louis. There, we welcomed a new member, Mia, to our society.

At the last meeting in December, we actually had a previous discussion about the Mormons and other aspects of the story. Prejudice against Mormons during the Victorian era was a topic that we discussed at length, and we discussed similarities of Mormon stereotypes both in the United States and England during that time. Additionally, the modern BBC Sherlock was a hot topic of discussion, so we compared how the show made references to the canon in interesting ways- for example, the canon RACHE scratched into the wall was mistaken to be an unfinished version of "Rachel" only for Holmes to set things straight that it could only be German for "revenge". In "A Study in Pink", it happens the exact opposite way, and the key to solving that case is Miss Rachel indeed!

But enough about the December meeting. At Big Sleep Books, we opened up discussion with other Sherlockian events going on, such as the Noble Bachelor's annual meeting coming up this next weekend! (Will I see you there?)

Topics that we discussed included how much was Watson's salary exactly upon military discharge, and whether it was comfortable enough for him to have lived in a hotel for a week. We all agree that it was not an uncomfortable existence, but how much would it have amounted to? We are still waiting with bated breath waiting for new information from another member to come through.

Additionally, we discussed Holmes' methods of deduction- looking at facts before forming theory, and not falling into the traps of tunnel vision that ensare most of us when solving a mystery (like where my trash bag vouchers are, for example...). And if Watson's impressions of Holmes were accurate from the beginning. (Nope.)

As per the occasion, Gordon and Joe handed round heart shaped boxes of chocolates guarded by Snoopy, the Sherlock Holmes of love. And I, your faithful chronicler, had Valentines from the "Adventure of the Cardboard Box", complete with chocolate ears, ill-trained handwriting, packed in salt for completeness sake.