2020: An Unparalleled Year

2019 saw The Parallel Case of St. Louis outgrowing our old meeting space at a local branch of the St. Louis Public Library.  So we moved to a larger meeting room at The Ethical Society of St. Louis, a place that we'd hosted a few movie nights at previously and we had big plans for this year.

We met there once.

As a scion that met every other month, we got our January meeting in with attendance continuing to grow from month-to-month, and we were looking to continue that trend at the March meeting.  Well...... we didn't know exactly what this new Covid-19 illness was or how long things would be on hold, so we postponed the meeting, hoping to get together in April.  Everyone knows how the Covid thing went, so like many Sherlockian groups, we moved our meetings to Zoom, deciding that meeting via screens was better than not meeting at all.

As the year continued, our meetings were so popular, that we DOUBLED our meeting regularity and were quickly welcoming folks from other states and other countries to our story discussions!  Just like many other scions, we soon learned how great it was to fling open the doors and welcome anyone interested, no matter where they lived or how many meetings they'd previously attended (I've very proud to say The Parallel Case of St. Louis has been the first Sherlockian meeting for a handful of new folks this year!)

If you missed our recap posts from each meeting, feel free to check them out below.  The discussions get into some great canonical points as well as non-sequiturs that crack everyone up!

January: The Final Problem

March/April: The Hound of the Baskervilles

May: The Empty House

July: The Norwood Builder

August: The Dancing Men

September: The Solitary Cyclist

October: The Priory School

November: Black Peter

December: Charles Augustus Milverton

But our thoughts on the Canon and Sherlockiana weren't contained to just meeting discussions!  2020 saw a huge influx of blog posts from members of the Parallel Case.  They ranged from a medical view of the Canon to how Ghostbusters is related to The Hound of the Baskervilles.  So many great thoughts were shared on the blog this year, and I'm already looking forward to what our members will come up with for 2021.  But before we move forward, a quick look back at some of the amazing scholarship form this year:

The Terror of the Hound of the Baskervilles by Heather Hinson

The Adventure of the Baffled Critic by William R. Cochran

Can We Trust the Canon? by Tom Crammond

Holmes, Heroic, Hiatus: A Man to Match the Swiss Mountains by Gordon Speck

A Short But Interesting Visit by Ed Moorman

The World View of Robert Downey Jr.'s Sherlock Holmes by Kevin Letts

Jonas Oldacre: Norwood Builder by Rich Krisciunas

What Gun Did Abe Slaney Use in the Adventure of the Dancing Men? by Michael W.

Scriptor Subpono: The Solitary Cyclist by Andrew Basford

Medical Musings from the Sherlock Holmes Canon by Srini Raghavan

The blog is always open to folks who would like to see their thoughts in print, so if you have an idea you'd like to write up please let us know!

On the down side, The Parallel Case of St. Louis was poised to host a second Holmes in the Heartland in 2020 with an impressive lineup of speakers, vendors, games, tours, and fun.  Although it wasn't safe for anyone to travel to St. Louis or for people to gather, we are too stubborn to completely cancel the event, so we are looking forward to everyone joining us in St. Louis NEXT summer, July 9-11, 2021.  And luckily, every single one of our speakers has committed to be there, so if you were excited about it, mark your calendars!

2020 has been quite a year, but the Parallel Case of St. Louis weathered the storm in admirable Sherlockian spirit.  If you'd like to join in, you can be added to our email list by contacting parallelcasestl @ gmail.com or following us on Facebook and Twitter.  And please join us at our next meeting on January 16 to discuss The Six Napoleons.  Zoom at once if convenient!

December Meeting: Charles Augustus Milverton

The Parallel Case of St. Louis started out this year moving to a new location, but when Covid 19 hit, we shifted to Zoom meetings like so many other Sherlockian groups around the world, and they proved to be so popular we moved to a monthly schedule for the remainder of the year.  We had participants from all over the country, as well as Canada, England, and France!  Although 2020 has been a tough one on everyone for many reasons, we in St. Louis were able to find some Sherlockian joy in meeting and discussing the stories that we love.

We will continue to have meetings via Zoom in 2021 until we feel that it is safe for our members to meet again in person.  We will, however, be going back to our bi-monthly schedule, with meetings in January, March, May, September, and November.  You may have noticed that July isn't on that list.  That's because Holmes in the Heartland is on the second Saturday of July, when we would normally host a meeting, and we couldn't imagine a better way to have our July meeting than to enjoy the great lineup of speakers that are slated for the event!

And our last meeting of 2020 was another fun one!  After welcoming and introductions, we got down to some Sherlockian news and events:

All of the events for the BSI Birthday Weekend in January are now open and the Friday night dinner is the only event listed that requires an invitation.  Everything else on the docket is open to anyone interested, and there are a LOT of chances to visit with and listen to some great Sherlockians speak (without having to pay for airfare and hotel!).  We are encouraging everyone to check out at least one Birthday Weekend event in January, and have in fact moved our January meeting  back a week so that there is no conflict for any Parallel Case members who want to participate in the festivities.

Presentations from the Left Coast Sherlockian Symposium are now available for viewing on their website.

Rebecca Romney gave the 2020 Cameron Hollyer Memorial Lecture at the Toronto Public Library, sponsored by the Friends of Arthur Conan Doyle Collection.  Her talk was on Sherlockian collecting and anyone who has picked up a few items of Sherlockiana here and there can definitely relate to her topic!

Steve told everyone about the current projects being hosted by the Beacon Society, supporting efforts to introduce Sherlock Holmes to young people.  Educators can apply for the Jan Stauber Grant of up to $750 to support their endeavors with Holmes, the R. Joel Senter Essay Contest awards students up to $300 for their essays about the Great Detective, the new newsletter Sherlock's Spotlight Gazette is specifically targeted to fourth to sixth graders who may be interested in Sherlock Holmes, and the Fortescue Quiz is available for Sherlockians of any age wanting to test their knowledge of the Canon.  Details for all of these projects and more can be found on the Beacon Society website.  

Elaine shared her stamps and postcards she ordered from the British postal service from BBC Sherlock.

Opera Theater St. Louis will be hosting a virtual performance of Pirates of Penzance along with a premiere party, Pirates and Pancakes, on January 23.   

Madeline has a fun cartoon series reimagining Moriarty and Moran's working relationship.  

The Sherlock Holmes on Screens discussion group on Facebook has posted some incredible finds recently.                

The Shaw Festival in Niagara on the Lake will be staging Sherlock Holmes and the Raven's Curse next summer.  Nancy reports that they've done Sherlockian shows many times before and they've always been worth seeing.

Joe announced that Parallel Case of St. Louis pins are available for sale.  Pins are $10 each plush shipping and handling.  You can email Joe at jeckrich @ sbcglobal.net but know that the pins will not be shipped until after the holidays.

And there were so many upcoming events!  You can definitely get your Sherlockian fix by checking these meetings out:

The Alkali Plainsmen met on Sunday

The Six Napoleons of Baltimore will meet this Monday, register here 

The Harpooners of the Sea Unicorn will meet on Friday, to observe the Feast of the Blue Carbuncle 

The Sherlockians of Baltimore will meet on Saturday, register here  

The Fourth Garrideb Facebook Live! 3GAR reading Fri. 12/25 8 pm EST

Rich gave a great presentation on who he thought was the murderer of Charles Augustus Milverton (look for that in an upcoming issue of The Sherlock Holmes Review).  But that led to quite a discussion on the blackmailer's murder.  

David liked Rich's theory, but Kevin pushed back by asking why Watson would have ever published this story if Rich were correct.  Bruce cited the Paget illustration to support this argument.  Edith said that no matter the outcome, we are still debating this case over a hundred years later.

Cindy said that the murderess was one of her favorite characters in the Canon.  John G cited Granada's version for her motivation.  Stacey theorized that the murderess was Princess Beatrice, whose husband had created court gossip with his behavior towards Beatrice's sister and Agatha was her accomplice.  But Baronne wondered if a servant would be willing to lose her position by allowing her employer to be killed.  

Rob cited research that offered Lady Rothschild as being the murderess.  Nancy knew of the family and their connection to the Royal Family and Stacey said Lady Rothschild would have been alive at the correct time, but her husband's death didn't line up.  Michael had a suspect, but was willing to say her name as she has famous living descendants.  He also thought it was connected to the Prince of Wales's paramours at the Langham Hotel.

Nancy questioned where this story falls in the chronology, wondering if Holmes would have still been alive when it was published.  Rob cited chronologists that place this story early in Holmes's career due to Watson's reticence at breaking in and Cindy and Steve said they would have had to have been fairly young to jump that wall and run two miles.  Brad and Howard thought that this would have taken place in 1891 and that Milverton was associated with Moriarty.

Nancy also wanted to know why Watson would own tennis shoes.  Rob thought the tennis shoes would have looked out of place with his theater-going outfit and Steve figured that Watson was being sponsored by Nike.  

Rob wanted to know where the guard dog was during Holmes and Watson's escape.  John G said that Agatha routinely put the dog up so Escott could visit and David said that the dog was so familiar with Holmes that it did nothing in the night-time.

As we talked about the layout of Appledore Towers, Rob showed The Milvertonians of Hampstead and a picture of what they had decided was Appledore Towers, which is called The Logs in real life.  Josh is interested in the old houses of Hampstead, and said that The Logs is owned by Boy George today!  He shared a website where you can actually see the wall that Holmes and Watson scaled.

Another book was discussed that went well with this story, The Worst Man in London.  We talked for a few minutes about an essay in this book about the real life inspiration for Milverton, Charles Augustus Howell, a truly despicable person.

Rob said he felt that Holmes was working the complete opposite of a blackmail case here as he did in A Scandal in Bohemia.  Olivia and Madeline argued that the King of Bohemia wasn't truly being blackmailed.

Bruce offered that Milverton was actually an honest businessman, even if people didn't like what he was selling.  David agreed with that and wondered if that's why Holmes had such a visceral reaction to him.

This led to a group discussion of how much everyone hated Milverton.  The word "slimy" was used VERY often!  David compared Milverton to Moriarty in the way that they were both unrepentant and would not stop unless Holmes stopped them.

And speaking of moral choices, we moved to how Holmes treated Agatha in this story.  Olivia offered that Holmes viewed his behavior as acceptable because Agatha already had another suitor waiting in the wings.  John G said that it was a class issue and it was evident that Watson was happy for the engagement until he found out that it was to a maid.  Nancy found it interesting that Watson congratulated him at first instead of being surprised.  

Steve said that once you start going down the road of believing that Watson lies (like many of us were willing to go along with when it came to the murderess), then maybe Watson made up the whole engagement story, too!  Rob said that Holmes was doing the same thing to Agatha that made him so angry when it was done to Mary Sutherland in IDEN.

David said that this was an ends justify the means situation.  Olivia and Madeline said Holmes's actions were reminiscent of his behavior towards Watson in The Dying Detective.  

Rob cited a passage from Brad Keefauver's book, Sherlock Holmes and the Ladies, where Brad posited that the engagement was Agatha's agenda.  Brad still stands by his thoughts, even decades after he first wrote it, saying Holmes took advantage of a situation that was available.

....and that led Nancy to ask how much "advantage" Holmes took of Agatha?

Olivia said she hoped Holmes would have stayed a gentleman.  Andrew had a classic bon mot about a plumber and Elaine pointed out that Holmes knew where everything was in the house, which meant she must have let him in the house more than once.  Rob pointed out that Holmes said that his courtship included long walks, although just a few days later Watson reports it as being bitterly cold.  How much time could they have spent outside?  David cited Holmes as saying, "I got all I wanted."  

Changing the topic before things got too graphic, Rob recited the exchange between Holmes and Watson:

“You are not coming.”

“Then you are not going."

Olivia said that no adaptation of this story has ever captured this exchange.  But apparently, Randy's wife is good at delivering Watson's line.  

Rob also enjoyed the line, "You know, Watson, I don’t mind confessing to you that I have always had an idea that I would have made a highly efficient criminal."  Someone should write a book about that.

Elaine said she thought that Milverton's bust of Athena in the study was foreshadowing that he would be taken down by a formidable woman.  And Cindy thought that Milverton was baiting the woman that eventually shot him.

Holmes and Watson escaped the scene of the crime and ran two miles.  Rob said that was quite a feat for a wounded war veteran.  John said that the wound was in his shoulder so it wouldn't have mattered, and Andrew said this path should be renamed the Milverton Marathon.

Lestrade shows up at Baker Street the next morning, asking for Holmes's help catching the criminals.  Lestrade describes one of the criminals as "...." This is the only full description in the entire Canon that readers get of John Watson.

Srini wondered if Lestrade actually suspected Watson, and pointed out that the force didn't seem to work too hard to find their suspects after Holmes rebuffed him.  Kevin wondered if Holmes's visits as Escott were observed while Scotland Yard had Milverton under observation.

Olivia, David, Rob, and Rich went back and forth on the statute of limitations on Holmes and Watson's crimes and if publishing this story was a smart idea.  It sure was smarter than trying to take out an armed blackmailer with a chair!

We could've kept going and going, but we were coming up on the two hour mark.  So it was time to call it a day and wrap up our discussions for 2020.  But you can join us on January 16, for our discussion on The Six Napoleons.  Zoom at once if convenient!

November Meeting: Black Peter

Dozens of Sherlockians from across America, Canada, and France joined in for this month's discussion on The Adventure of Black Peter.  After some general chitchat and introductions, we jumped in to the little bit of news there was to discuss:

We talked about the Sherlockian Saturday at the Pratt event that happened a few hours before our meeting.  Plenty of our members and attendees were at the Pratt event and everyone agreed that it was full of great presentations.

Srini wrote a wonderful blog post for us about looking at the Canon through a physician's eye.

The Beacon Society just started a gazette for kids in fourth through sixth grade and is definitely worth checking out.

Mike announced that backers for Sherlock Holmes and his Baker Street Irregulars should be receiving their copies soon.  Anyone who wasn't able to get in on the Kickstarter can still order the game at a discounted price.

We talked about Brad's podcast, Sherlock Holmes Is Real, and how it argues that the Ronald Howard series was documentary evidence of Sherlock Holmes's real life. 

A few book recommendations were tossed out:

Srini liked House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz

Heather recommended Villains, Victims, and Violets edited by Tamara Bower and Resa Haile 

Rob recommended More Leaves from the Copper Beeches edited by H.W. Starr

And then it was time to get down to business!

Our story starts off with Watson telling us that 1895 was a busy year for Holmes, with the death of Cardinal Tosca and the case of Wilson the notorious canary trainer.  Rob told of a story he heard when a Sherlockian attended the Gasfitters' Costume Ball during Autumn in Baker Street.  The man was wearing a St. Louis Cardinals jersey with Tosca on the back: Cardinal Tosca! 

Wilson, the notorious canary trainer has had plenty of interpretations as well. Nicholas Meyer adapted this story, which many people remembered fondly.  We talked if the word "canary" was meant to describe birds or criminals.  

Watson says that Holmes was busy that July, but hadn't included him yet in the case.  He knew that Holmes was at work because sailors kept reporting to 221B looking for Captain Basil.  Plenty of us had THIS Captain Basil in mind when we read that:

Holmes comes home one morning carrying a harpoon (which is such a great image!), leading to quite the exchange with his roommate:

Holmes: You'll never guess what I've been up to

Watson: I'm not even going to try

Holmes: I've been trying to stab a pig

Watson: Of course you have

David told us that the game Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments had Black Peter as a playable case where you had to practice harpooning pigs as part of the case.

Stanley Hopkins soon arrives for one of his four appearances in the Canon.  Rob noted that all of Hopkins's appearances occur during The Return.  Hopkins fills Watson in on the case, telling him that they are investigating the murder of a whaling ship captain named Peter Carey.  Carey had been murdered by a harpoon through the chest, "pinned like a beetle on a card."

Randy asked if Peter Carey's body was up off of the ground when he was harpooned to the wall or if he would have been slouched.  Either way, it would have been gruesome.  Joe thought that we should turn this into a part of game night for Holmes in the Heartland.

Hopkins pleads for Holmes to come help, saying, "It's my first big chance."  Holmes agrees to help and they head out.  When they arrive, they find marks showing that someone has tried to break in via the door and the window.  Holmes expects this visitor to return.

After investigating the murder scene, Holmes and Watson take a break and walk through the woods for a few hours before they expect the suspect to return.  Rob pointed out that Holmes appreciated nature, but Randy argued that Watson is quoted as saying Holmes had no room in his life for nature in CARD.  Kevin countered that Holmes showed attention to the moss rose in NAVA, which led to a small discussion on the purpose of that monologue.  Edith and John thought Holmes was covering something up with his digression, while Olivia saw it as genuine.  This conversation somehow led to the Cottingley fairies and Arthur Conan Doyle dressed as Viking.

John got us back on task and said he found it odd that Carey was allowed to be as brutal to everyone in town but the local police never got involved.  He even got away with assaulting the local vicar!

Stacey said the description of Carey's wife and daughter saying they were glad he was dead was heartbreaking.  Elaine said it was a wonder he found anyone willing to marry him in the first place.  

We all agreed that no one cared that Carey was dead and wasn't concerned with the murderer being brought to justice.  Olivia thought this case would have been one where Holmes would have let the villain escape if Hopkins hadn't been present.  Kevin found this very similar to Grimesby Roylott's death in SPEC and Heather expected us to have the same conversation next month with CHAS.

David said Black Peter is similar to ABBE because Holmes is less interested in catching a murderer than he is in clearing the innocent man that had been arrested.  John pointed out that the killer in this story had already covered up one murder, so Holmes may not have been so lenient with him as he was in other stories.

Rob cited Doyle's description of the vigil which led to everyone listing off all of the many, many times where Holmes and Watson are waiting and watching.  Steve thought having a Harry Potter invisibility cloak would have made these stakeouts much easier.  Olivia thought the name "The Thirsty Beasts of Prey" would make for a great name of a drinking group.

John Nelligan, a shrimpy little 20 year-old shows up and starts looking through Carey's stuff before Hopkins arrests him. Stacey thought Nelligan's outfit was hilarious and showed us examples of the styles described.  Nancy and Susan pointed out that his cover story was that he was staying in town for golfing, but Joe wondered why he would be wearing that at 2 am.

Hopkins tells Holmes that he would have brought the case to a successful close without him, and Rob asked everyone if they thought that was true.  Elaine pointed out that Hopkins wouldn't have thought to do a stakeout.  Susan said if this story was going to be published by the Strand, Holmes had better have been useful!

The next morning, Holmes invites Hopkins to Baker Street to discuss the status of the investigation because he thinks Nelligan is innocent.  Elaine found it so sad that Hopkins was happy to throw someone in jail, even with Holmes pointing out all of the problems with his case.  Stacey said Hopkins was probably just acting as the fashion police.  Srini was interested that Holmes always had high hopes for Hopkins.  John pointed out that Holmes didn't suffer fools, but Nancy countered that he often spoke harshly to Watson, so maybe the comments were meant to help develop his skill.

Three sailors soon arrive to interview for a harpooning position with "Captain Basil."  One of them is named Patrick Cairns, and Holmes asks the man to sign a contract.  When he bends over, Holmes handcuffs him and a fight quickly breaks out.  Watson said that Patrick Cairns would have overpowered Holmes if he and Hopkins hadn't intervened.  Rob wondered if this is the only time in the Canon that Holmes is outmatched in a one-on-one battle.  Srini made an argument for Jefferson Hope, and Olivia thought about Sebastian Moran.

Cairns admits that he killed Peter Carey, but did not murder him.  He killed Black Peter in self-defense.  Rob said the reason Peter Carey died is because he brought a knife to a harpoon fight.

Srini wondered why Cairns wouldn't have been willing to try and sell the securities.  Was he expecting to just find cash in the stolen box?

Stacey talked about her parents taking she and her sister to a whaling museum as a teenager and she hated how graphic the pictures and displays were.  Olivia pointed out that Doyle almost died numerous times on his whaling voyage.  Andy wondered if the safety procedures on the ship would earn a SEAL of approval?

The case is closed, and Holmes tells Hopkins that if the police need him, he and Watson will be in Norway.  Why Norway?  

Olivia thought they were going to investigate narwhal attacks and David said it was to see the fjords.  Elaine cited the Klinger Annotated and said that they were hunting down the lost securities but Joe pointed out that Nelligan's father never made it to Norway.  Brad said maybe Holmes and Watson knew something else of value was there.  John wondered if this trip led to the development of a certain Norwegian named Sigerson.  Stacey thought planning a fake whaling expedition just made Holmes want to go somewhere cold.  And Elaine said he could practice his harpooning skills there.  Nancy posited that there was still something in Norway that would help the Nelligan pay off his debts.  No matter what we said, we were having a hard time making a connection to Norway.  But we did piece together this little tune:

Someday we'll find it, the Norway Connection

The blubbers, the dreamers and me

Our next meeting will be on December 12 to talk about Charles Augustus Milverton.  Zoom at once if convenient!

Medical Musings from the Sherlock Holmes Canon by Srini Raghavan

“When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." [SIGN]

These are some of the immortal words uttered by Sherlock Holmes, over the course of his illustrious career in the story of The Sign of the Four.  Supposedly Arthur Conan Doyle’s inspiration for this was taken from his medical training where one is taught to list all the possible diagnoses for a given condition, and try to eliminate those one after the other based on clinical parameters.  

I think one could parse these words a bit, especially the word impossible, but that would be for another day!  I've picked out a few medical oddities along the Canonical journey for your consideration.

In the Speckled Band, Dr. Roylott’s death was caused by an Indian snake and he supposedly died within 10 seconds. 

There are two major types of venom: the hemotoxic and the neurotoxic . While the neurotoxic acts by paralysis of the respiratory muscle and the hemotoxic acts by clotting the blood within the circulation, neither of them will kill in 10 seconds.  It will take many minutes at its fastest, and usually slower than that. This particular snake was identified  to be a viper which produces a hemotoxic poison, which acts slower than a neurotoxin.

Apparently one Mr. Klauber (per Mr. Baring-Gould’s book) postulated that this snake could have been a hybrid of a Gila monster and a cobra, created by the Infamous Doctor Roylott, (a la Frankenstein) and thus capable of going fast up and down the bell-pull rope, and also having a very deadly bite!

This seems very far-fetched, but does allow Mr. Klauber  to give full reign to his imagination!

The more prosaic explanation is that Dr. Arthur Conan Doyle was just exercising a bit of poetic license.

In the Naval Treaty, after the valuable naval manuscript went missing , Mr. Percy Phelps reports that he was unconscious for 9 weeks with “brain fever" and before that he was “practically a raving lunatic"!

During Victorian times “brain fever” would encompass a lot of mental health states, and this sounded like a “nervous breakdown” but it is impossible for one to be unconscious for 9 weeks from it.

Interestingly, the modern day interpretation of brain fever could be stated as encephalitis, most commonly caused by viruses. St Louis has the dubious distinction of having one such virus named after it. 

Now, if one had a viral encephalitis, one could possibly be unconscious for a long period like the nine weeks mentioned in the story.  One interesting explanation could be that mental stress can decrease the body’s immune responses, and what if Mr. Phelps' stress actually made him susceptible to a viral encephalitis at that time? Just a thought as we will never know!

In the opening passage of The Priory School, Dr. Thorneycroft Huxtable entered their rooms at Baker Street and fell down and becomes “insensible."  Dr. Watson postulates it to be “absolute exhaustion - possibly mere hunger and fatigue."

His  face is described as “heavy white" with “leaden color.”  All these suggest that this gentleman actually had a vasovagal episode also known as a fainting spell!

This condition usually does not produce a thready pulse described, “where the stream of life trickled thin and small.” Usually it does produce a slowish and reasonably strong pulse and the diagnosis of a fainting spell is further reinforced by the fact that he “scrambled up in an instant." Travelling 6 hours on a train can't be that exhausting to cause one to faint.

All these are my views from the perspective of a health care provider and I do realize there can be other interpretations, but I did have fun putting my thoughts down, and I hope you all enjoy those as well.

October Meeting: The Priory School

We kicked off our October meeting with a rousing discussion of the new film, Enola Holmes.  Everyone agreed that we liked the movie and found it to be a lot of fun.  This led to a discussion of the books, which were highly recommended by everyone that had read them.  Kevin found the lack of Watson interesting.  Jerry argued that Mycroft and Sherlock shouldn't have been able to talk in the Diogenes Club.  And Nancy didn't recognize the Mycroft in this movie.  But all in all, recommended heartily by the Parallel Case of St. Louis members!

Howard has a new website all about Holmes on the screen: www.sherlock-holmes-on-screens.com

There was a recap of the previous weekend's Left Coast Sherlockian Symposium.  Rob was one of the speakers, along with Angela Misri, Bonnie MacBird, Mina Hoffman, and Leslie Klinger.  The social hours after the day's programming were also really well regarded.  The talks will be posted to YouTube soon.

Doyle's Rotary Coffin is hosting a short story event, Holmesoween, and everyone is welcome to join.

Heather told everyone about Sherlockathon, a month-long reading event inspired by, but not exclusively, the Sherlock Holmes stories.  It includes small reading sprints, Instagram challenges, and movie watchalongs.

Andy had a fun post last month about what a modern-day version of The Solitary Cyclist would look like.

Even if you're already following our Facebook page, take a minute to revisit to make sure our links are making it to your newsfeed.  

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Rich kicked off the story discussion with a great presentation on who would be held accountable for the crimes in this story.  There should have been more arrests and convictions at the end of this tale, according to him.

The Priory School starts with the dramatic entrance of Dr. Thorneycroft Huxtable, MA, PhD, etc..  A large, pompous man enters 221B, staggers against the table, slipped down the wall, and laid insensible on the bearskin rug.

Watson sums him up succinctly at, "The ponderous piece of wreckage."

Brandy revives the man and he asks for milk and a cookie before begging Holmes to come to Mackleton on the next train.  But Holmes refuses Dr. Huxtable, saying he is busy with the Ferrers documents and the Abergavenny murder trial.  But Huxtable says that the Duke of Holdernesse's son has been abducted.

Holmes looks up this man: "Holdernesse, Sixth duke, KG, PC, Baron Beverly, Earl of Carston, Lord Lieutenant of Hallamshire."  We discussed what some of these things meant.  Nancy told us that KG meant Knight of the Garter, one of the highest level a person could reach without being part of the royal family.  Stacey told the mythological origin of the Knights of the Garter and Elaine and Rich cited Klinger's extensive notes on all of these titles.

The Duke is offering 5,000 pounds for his son's return and another 1,000 for the person who took him.  Rob noted that if the Duke wanted to keep this disappearance a secret, offering such a reward was bound to do the opposite.  Srini said that the police were involved and there are always leaks.  

Holmes accepts the case and asks for the details.  The Priory School is a preparatory school, and Huxtable is the founder and principal.  Three weeks ago, he found out that Lord Saltire, the ten year-old son of the Duke of Holdernesse would be attending.  Lord Saltire arrived on May 1 and was not happy at home due to the separation of his parents.  His mom had gone to France, Saltire sided with her, and got sent to the Priory School after moping around Holdernesse Hall.  

The boy disappeared three days ago, on Monday.  He'd climbed out of a second floor window and down the ivy growing up the wall.  He had gotten dressed and there was no sign of resistance in the room.  It was also discovered that the German master, Heidegger, was also missing.  He had left his room partly dressed and took his bike.  As far as anyone can tell, there is no connection between the German master and the boy.  There are also not any other bikes missing.  Lord Saltire had only received one letter before his disappearance, from his father.  

That night, Huxtable, Holmes, and Watson arrive at the Priory School.  The Duke of Holdernesse and his secretary, James Wilder, were waiting for them.  Wilder says he tried to stop Huxtable from going to London for Holmes to avoid all public scandal.  Huxtable offers to send Holmes back, but Holmes is having none of that, saying he will investigate whether he is welcomed or not.  The Duke agrees to let Holmes work and says that he thinks Lord Saltire went to France to be with his mother.

Holmes studies an ordinance map, deciding that the only way the missing people could have travelled was north through the moor.  Huxtable comes in and has Lord Saltire's cap.  It was found with a band of gypsies on the moor.

This led to a discussion of gypsies of the time.  Doyle often used them as red herrings (SILV & SCAN).  Stacey agreed that they were very easy scapegoats historically and Vince called them "the pariahs of the Victorian world."  Srini said that they are still blamed for plenty of things in Europe today.  Elaine said there used to be a group in Southern Illinois.  Stacey and Adam cited their targeting by the Nazis.

Doyle's view on gypsies was brought up.  Was he feeding into the zeitgeist or did he truly have negative feelings towards them?  Steve wondered how Holmes would work with them if they actually appeared in a story instead of being a red herring, and Heather said that Holmes and Mary Russell travelled with them in one of the Laurie King novels.

Kevin and Srini discussed the origin of the word "gypsy" and if Egypt was related to it or not.  Vince made the connection to the outsider families in Southern Illinois, and it being called "Little Egypt."  Nancy cited Phillip Pullman novels and the family there that were called gyptians.

The next day, Holmes and Watson search the moor, but early on just find sheep and cow tracks.  Rob wondered how Watson was so confident that these were cow tracks.  Wasn't he a city boy?  Holmes and Watson eventually find bike tracks, but it's a different bike than the one missing from school.  Holmes states that he is "familiar with 42 different impression left by tyres."

Vince, Randy, and Steve waded into the debate on whether or not Holmes would have been able to tell the direction a bike was riding based off of its tracks.  Heather wanted to know why this story had so much information about bike tires, but not our last story, The Solitary Cyclist.  Kevin posited that if Holmes were working today, he would probably be an expert in car tires.  Michael thought this discussion was tiresome. (groan)

They eventually come across the German's path and find blood along the trail by more cow tracks.  Watson spots a bike hidden in a bush a way's off and they also find the German master's body, dead from a crushing blow to his skull.  Holmes is torn.  He feels like he must continue the search but should also report the death.  There is CONVENIENTLY someone off on the distance who can take the message to the village.  

Holmes concludes that Saltire chose to leave his room.  The German master saw this from his room and quickly followed.  It would be natural to run after a boy, but he got on a bike instead.  He was killed five miles away by a heavy blow.  That wasn't from the kid.  Saltire had a companion and they were moving rapidly somehow.  But all there is on the ground are cow tracks!

"It is impossible as I state it, and therefore I must in some respect have stated it wrong."  Rob said this line sums him up every time he loses his car keys.

Holmes and Watson follow the trail of the other bike, and it eventually leads them to a village and the local inn.  Holmes "sprains" his ankle right in front of the innkeeper, Reuben Hayes.  Hayes is far from the model of customer service.  After a bluff, telling Hayes that Lord Saltire has been spotted in Liverpool, they spend some time at Hayes's inn eating disgusting soup and investigating the horses in the smithy: old shoes but new nails!

Something has clicked into place for Holmes.  Holmes notes that not many cows walk, canter, and gallop like the tracks on the moor show.  "What a blind beetle I have been."  Rob wondered if this statement wasn't specifically about hoofprints.  If Holmes had been raised on a country estate, he would've been familiar with the different kinds of droppings made by different livestock.  He should've quickly been able to tell the difference between cows and horses while trailing them.  Michael said the plop was thickening, but Rich said he was pooh-poohing the conversation.

They are chased away from the inn, and hide on the side of the road just in time to see a cyclist speeding toward it.  Holmes and Watson sneak back, see James Wilder there, and Holmes peeks into an upstairs window before they head back.  Holmes sends a telegram, and they console Huxtable over the news of his German teacher.

The next day, they visit Holdernesse Hall and blow off Wilder when he said the Duke wasn't able to meet with them.  The Duke is taken aback when Holmes asks for his reward, but Holmes tells him what he knows.  The Duke doubled the reward from 6 to 12,000.  Rob wondered if that was 6 for Holmes and 6 for Watson.  Heather said it was blackmail money and Michael said Holmes probably got more than 12, but didn't tell Watson about it.

Holdernesse reveals that James Wilder is his illegitimate son, surprising Holmes.  Wilder has always been jealous of Saltire and the fact that he would inherit everything.  He'd slipped a note  into the Duke's letter asking to meet him about the boy's mom.  When Saltire came out, Reuben Hayes then imprisoned him at the inn.  Wilder said he would release Saltire if the Duke left him his estate.  But when he learned of the German master's death, he confessed everything to his father.

Holmes had no sympathy, saying the Duke condoned this behavior, tried to let a murderer escape, and probably inadvertently supplied him with money for his escape.  But above all, he left his son in danger at the inn for three days.

Holmes insists that Saltire be retrieved immediately and Wilder must leave the household.  The Duke says that Wilder is on his way to Australia.  How much of a punishment was that?  Some of us thought that Wilder would have to work for his own money and deal with the convict population.  While others thought that he would be able to use his father's reputation to set himself up fairly comfortably.

Why would Reuben Hayes keep quiet once he was arrested?  Why wouldn't he implicate James Wilder?  Nancy and Srini thought it had to do with the importance of Holdernesse.  Stacey pointed out that Holdernesse could influence Hayes to stay quiet.  Steve offered that Holdernesse's money could have kept him quiet.  A really good discussion followed, talking about Holmes's opinion on nobility and punishment.

Rob found it interesting that Holmes would deign to give marital advice to the Duke.

The story ends with Holmes finding out that the cow tracks were made by special horseshoes from the Holdernesse museum.  But he is ultimately more interested in his reward money.  Nancy pointed out that a 6,000 pound payment would be equivalent to $200,000 today.

We all agreed that Wilder was the absolute worst and Elaine bet he wouldn't have even been a good secretary!

Vince noted that this story is one of the few stories that has an agreement between chronologists on its date.

Our next meeting is just a few weeks away!  We will meet again on November 14 to discuss The Adventure of Black Peter.  RSVP on our Facebook event page and join us for some of the best Sherlockian discussions on the web.  Zoom at once if convenient!