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!
