Sherlock Holmes: Trifles

"Good old index. You can't beat it." [SUSS]  Sherlock Holmes had quite the index. We get glimpses of it in use at various times throughout the Canon, from a biographical reference to a logging of crime. Was Holmes's index a single large volume, or many smaller volumes? Was it hardbound or simply an assembly of files?   And it never quite seemed like it was organized in a sensible way. How did Holm...

"Mrs. Hudson entered with the tea and coffee" [NAVA]  When it comes to British mysteries, tea is like aqua vitae. It's a given that it's part of the scenery. And of course we do come across tea a number of times in the Sherlock Holmes stories.   But have you ever taken a tally of how many times we witness tea being served versus coffee? Or of the therapeutic uses of either? Grab a cup (or a cuppa)...

"it is surely Hudson" [GLOR]  One of the most enduring figures of the Canon after Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson, Mycroft Holmes and Inspector Lestrade is Mrs. Hudson. We know a little about her, but how did she happen to become the landlady of 221B Baker Street? And what were the "princely" rent payments that Holmes made? As we make our way across the Sherlock Holmes stories, we do come across one o...

"it is a nice household" [SPEC]    We've got another recurring feature for you here on Trifles: seeing as there were so many unpublished cases that Watson mentioned, we find that there are plenty of trifles to discuss with regard to those. We're calling this series of episodes  Unpublished Cases  and we'll regularly revisit the topic.   When we glance across a number of such cases that Watson ment...

"upon the sideboard" [BERY]    In this episode of Trifles, we're starting what will become a recurring feature over the course of a few episodes: namely, we're looking at some of the things you'll find in Sherlock Holmes's sitting room at 221B Baker Street. We're calling the series Inside 221B .    The sideboard makes a number of appearances in the Canon, and serves as a solemn but essential membe...

"compound a felony as usual." [3GAB]  Welcome to Season 2 of Trifles. We'll be working through some of the questions we ask in our show introductions this season, including a number of recurring themes. We hope you'll subscribe.  In  Episode 48 ("Gotcha!") we discussed times when Sherlock Holmes caught his criminal red-handed, dead to rights. But what about the times that he caught criminals but l...

"compliments of the season" [BLUE]    "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle" is one of the more well-known stories in the Canon. And yet we're presented with a few trifling issues, including the color of the gem.   But beyond that, we have a victim and perpetrators who didn't seem to have thought through things to their logical conclusion. How else can we factor in the use of poultry as a hiding pl...

"there was peace in our hearts" [SIGN]    Peace in the canon. Reading the Sherlock Holmes stories to find peace is something like going to Casablanca for the water.       "But there are no waters in Casablanca."       "I was misinformed."   Regardless, during this season of peace, we reflect on moments — even if they're glimpses — of bucolic, peaceful moments we find scattered throughout the Sherl...

"what a chorus of groans, cries and bleatings" [REDC]    Agony column. Agony column? To the modern reader, that term might be unfamiliar. Well, at least it would be unfamiliar with the reader who is new to the Sherlock Holmes stories. The first time we come across Holmes using the agony column is in  The Sign of Four  when he advertised for the  Aurora  in the agony column of the  Standard .     H...

"You have a grand gift of silence, Watson" [TWIS]     When Cyril Overton sent a telegram to Sherlock Holmes, proclaiming the status of Godfrey Staunton, it was met with puzzlement. And even after Overton arrived at Baker Street, Holmes was still puzzled. We know that he had his "limits," based on Watson's famous list from  A Study in Scarlet .   But Watson sat in silence as Holmes twisted in the w...

"you have been caught in the act" [BERY] One of the general bits of enjoyment of the Sherlock Holmes stories is the denouement in which Sherlock Holmes apprehends the criminal. In some instances, he does so after the crime has been committed; in other instances, no crime has been committed.  But what about those delicious times when the criminals are caught in the act? Or even better, those instan...

"to mar the contentment of their family life" [VALL]   Family. For many, it's a part of the holiday season. And with Thanksgiving coming up tomorrow in the United States, it's a perfect opportunity to reflect on families in the Sherlock Holmes stories.    And in doing so, we come to a rather sad conclusion: that many of the families in the Canon were not happy ones at all. Just what was it about t...

"observing the dint of a pince-nez" [IDEN]  For many of us, the first time we encounter the word "pince-nez" is in the Sherlock Holmes stories. But for many of us, we very likely saw pince-nez on characters in movies, cartoons or the theater before we knew exactly what they were called.   Mentioned in three separate stories (do you know which three?), the eyewear is most closely associated with th...

"his military challenge" [STUD]  November 11 marks Veterans Day in the United States, when we honor our men and women who have served in the military. From the very first Sherlock Holmes story, we're exposed to the military:  A Study in Scarlet  opens with "(Being a reprint from the reminiscences of John H. Watson, M.D., late of the Army Medical Department.)"   And from there, we find other member...

"The world is big enough for us." [SUSS]    With Halloween just behind us, it's natural to reflect on the supernatural. The Hound of the Baskervilles and "The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire" loom large in our consciousness as stories whose central premise was focused on spectral occurrences. But what of other references? And of the most curious case of all: Arthur Conan Doyle's belief in otherwor...

"Why do you not write them yourself?" [ABBE]  Aside from the untold tales which are hinted at occasionally by Watson, the most intriguing writings in the Canon are those penned by Sherlock Holmes himself. We of course refer to his famous monographs. In his earliest published cases, Holmes himself admits "in fact, I have written a monograph on the subject" [STUD] and "I have been guilty of several...

"a quite epicurean little cold supper" [NOBL]    In "The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor," Lord Robert St. Simon assumed that Holmes was going up in the world by taking him on as a client; Holmes replied that he was actually descending, as his previous client was something of a king. But it was still a royal feast set out at 221B Baker Street for Lord Robert and the assembled guests.   Just what w...

"several successful voyages" [BLAC]    The second week of October marks the remembrance of Christopher Columbus in the U.S.. Long thought to be the individual who "discovered" America, we've come to understand that claim to be overblown and his tendencies less than flawless.   Still, he was a brave voyager. What about some of the great voyages we know that took place in the Sherlock Holmes stories...

"Sarasate plays at St. James's Hall this afternoon" [REDH]  We know Sherlock Holmes enjoyed music. From his own violin playing to a few mentions of concerts he attended, he often escaped from the woes of the world and the problems he was trying to solve through music. In "The Adventure of the Red Headed League," he says "Sarasate plays at St. James's Hall this afternoon," and he and Watson make th...

"this terrible secret society" [FIVE]  The Ku Klux Klan famously plays a role in "The Adventure of the Five Orange Pips." To British audiences, the 'K.K.K.' note would have seemed mysterious - something along the lines of a Dancing Men code. But to American audiences, it was a known entity.    The KKK was a secret society founded in the southern United States following the Civil War, which committ...

"fondness for photography" [REDH]    During the earliest days of the Sherlock Holmes stories, photography was still in its infancy. And yet, we are greeted with a number of instances in which photography plays a central or partial role in the plot.   Who were the Canonical photographers and why did they pursue this hobby? And how did photographs play into Sherlock Holmes's ability to solve crimes?...

"I have no idea what he intends to go in for" [STUD]  It's our Back to School Blowout Sale! Okay, not really. But since it's September and class is in session, we thought it would be the perfect time to talk about Sherlock Holmes's school days.   In his student days, Holmes said that he considered his habit of observation and deduction to be "the merest hobby." What subjects was he studying at col...

"I was already in debt to my tradesmen" [COPP]  With Labor Day just behind us, what do we find in the Sherlock Holmes stories in the ways of the working class? Holmes said that the public could hardly tell "a weaver by his tooth or a compositor by his left thumb," [COPP] as two examples of the working class.   Certainly, Sherlock Holmes himself took on the guise of workers, such as "a drunken-look...

"a Greek by extraction" [GREE]     "The Greek Interpreter" gives us our first glimpse of Mycroft Holmes, through the meeting with him at the Diogenes Club. But it's the introduction of the peculiar Mr. Melas, the Greek interpreter, that sets things in motion. When you think about all of the activity in this case, couldn't we argue that Melas was really the hero of this story? Or was it Holmes, wit...

"the matter is more mysterious" [CARD]    "The Cardboard Box" opens with an iconic diversion on a hot August day on Baker Street. And while the story was published in  The Strand Magazine  just following "Silver Blaze" and just prior to "The Yellow Face." And yet when the second collection of short stories was published in book form as  The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes  in 1894, "The Cardboard Box"...