‘Here are the very letters’ (FIVE): Sherlockian Correspondence in Japan

A while back, I wrote a blog post about a letter by David Christie Murray that was on display in Tokyo. That led to some wonderful exchanges with Tomoya Yoshida and we decided to write an article about it - and this blog post is also written by both of us.

Long story short, the same letter has also been discussed by Hirayama Yuichi in ‘A Conan Doyle Letter in Japan: Marquis Maeda’s Collection’ (Canadian Holmes, vol. 49, no. 4, Fall 2026, pp. 31–34). Hirayama reconstructs Conan Doyle’s movements in the spring of 1896, using Pugh’s Chronology to place him in London on the date of writing. He also looks at Christie Murray’s own Holmes imitation, ‘The Investigations of John Pym’ (1895). 

Or article focuses on the letter’s provenance and its place in the wider correspondence between the two men. We examine the purchase from Maggs Bros., whose sale catalogues issued before 1929 do not list the letter, and we note that Maeda Toshinari also bought a first edition of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes from the firm in 1930. We describe Toshinari’s practice of keeping a single autograph from each person, which may explain why the other Christie Murray letters are not in the Maeda Ikutokukai collection. And we read the letter alongside the four other Conan Doyle letters printed in Murray’s Recollections (1908), which concern the Dreyfus case, a proposed statue of George Washington in London, and My Contemporaries in Fiction. Read side by side, the two articles complement each other.

So we have formatted the article as a longer-form blog post for people to read, as it won't be published. Many thanks to Mark Jones for his editorial feedback on the original article - including the title. I'm terrible at thinking of titles.

‘Here are the very letters’ (FIVE): Sherlockian Correspondence in Japan
Tomoya Yoshida and Matthew D. Hall

Tomoya Yoshida is a Japanese Holmesian who lives and works in Tokyo, Japan. He is a member of the Japan Sherlock Holmes Club and serves on the editorial committee of its annual publication, The World of Holmes. He has also been a member of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London since 2006.

Matthew D. Hall is an Australian scientist who lives and works in Maryland, USA. He is invested as "The Earl of Maynooth" in the Baker Street Irregulars, and is currently the Gasogene of Watson's Tin Box of Ellicott City.

A recent exhibition at the Tokyo National Museum titled ‘Hyakumangoku! The Maeda Clan of Kaga’ included a letter written by Arthur Conan Doyle. The exhibition, which ran from April 14 to June 7, 2026, commemorated the one-hundredth anniversary of the Maeda Ikutokukai Foundation, established to preserve the cultural legacy of the Maeda family, former rulers of the Kaga Domain (an administrative region of Japan) and one of the most powerful samurai houses of Edo period Japan (1603-1868). 

Exhibition Advertisement. Courtesy of Tomoya Yoshida.

Over centuries, the Maeda family amassed an extraordinary collection of manuscripts, books, artworks, arms, armour and personal objects that reflected both their political influence and interest in scholarship and culture. The Maeda family flourished through its marital ties with the House of Tokugawa, whose successive heads held the title of ‘Shogun’ during the Edo period from 1603 until 1867. The fifth Maeda lord, Tsunanori (1643-1724), began collecting valuable books in his teens and devoted himself to the preservation of cultural assets through three principal activities: acquisition, conservation, and systematic cataloguing. His efforts made a major contribution to laying the foundations of Kaga culture.

Following the end of the Edo period, Maeda Toshitsugu (1858-1900), the fifteenth head of the Maeda family, received a noble title from the Emperor and served as a member of the House of Peers. In the modern era, the Maeda clan moved from Kanazawa to Tokyo, where the ‘Marquis’ Maeda Toshinari (1885-1942) sought to ensure that the materials collected by the family over centuries would be carefully protected and made available for future study through the creation of the Maeda Ikutokukai Foundation. The central items in the collection are twenty-two items now ranked as ‘National Treasures’ such as samurai swords, and an important archive of rare Japanese and Chinese books, historical documents and family records. In the twentieth century, the Marquess Toshinari Maeda collected an international collection of autographs and letters. Toshinari became the sixteenth head of the Maeda clan in 1900, served in the Diet and trained in the Army where he became a Commander in the Imperial Guard of Japan. The Foundation was created in 1926 and from 1927 to 1930 Toshinari served as a military attaché in London. It was there that he set about collecting manuscripts written by monarchs, statesmen, military leaders, scientists, artists, and authors such as Arthur Conan Doyle. 

The catalog of the exhibition states that the letter was purchased at Maggs Brothers’ antiquarian bookshop on 15 May 1929. Maggs Brothers was, and still is, a celebrated London bookdealer. Just a few years prior to Toshinari’s purchase, it had famously sold the penis of Napoleon Bonaparte to the Philadelphian book collector Abraham Rosenbach and, in 1932, they acquired a Gutenberg Bible and the Codex Sinaiticus from the Soviet government. In this window of time, Toshinari purchased the letter illustrated as Figure 2 and also a first edition of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (on 6 March 1930), which is still held by the Maeda Ikutokukai (but was not displayed in the exhibition). The letter from Conan Doyle, to Christie Murray of whom more shortly, could not be identified in any available sales catalogue of Maggs Brothers published prior to Toshinari's purchase, but at the time they did have for sale Conan Doyle's signed autograph manuscripts of ‘The King of the Foxes’ and ‘An Iconoclast’.¹

The letter on display at the exhibition, titled ‘DOYLE, SIR ARTHUR CONAN. English detective Novelist, author of “Sherlock Holmes.” 1859-1930.’

The exhibition catalogue provides images of both sides of the letter, addressed to fellow author and journalist David Christie Murray (1847-1907). It is a significant literary letter for it describes Conan Doyle's feelings on killing off his famed character:

Reform Club

May 8 / 96

My dear Christie Murray,

I have been in Egypt and have only just got back and received your note. Poor Holmes is dead and damned. I couldn't revive him if I would (at least not for years), for I have had such an overdose of him that I feel towards him as I do towards pâté de foie gras, of which I once ate too much, so that the name of it gives me a sickly feeling to this day. Any old Holmes story you are, of course, most welcome to use. I am house-hunting in the country, which means continual sallies and alarms, but I should much like to meet you before I go away, to talk over our American experiences. I do hope you are not going to allow lecturing to get in the way of your writing. We have too few born story-tellers.

With all kind regards.

Yours very truly,

A. Conan Doyle.

Conan Doyle's thoughts on Sherlock’s demise are already known because Christie Murray included the transcript of this letter and several others in his book Recollections published in 1908. Christie Murray had been fairly prolific as an author earlier in his career, but was unwell in later years of his life and Recollections was his first book in ten years and his final one. In fact, he had died the previous year (1907), although there is no recognition in the introduction to the fact that the book was completed by an editor. Presumably Recollections was in press at the time of Christie Murray's death. 

In his letter, Conan Doyle does not completely rule out the literary resurrection of Sherlock (‘at least not for years’), but it is clearly not something Conan Doyle could then stomach, and it was another five years after this letter that The Hound of the Baskervilles appeared. While Conan Doyle indicated that Christie Murray was ‘most welcome to use… any old Holmes story’, there is no evidence that one was used by Christie Murray for a literary project. 

Conan Doyle and Christie Murray corresponded and even met in the United States in 1894 – a menu from dinner at the Aldine Club in New York signed by both Conan Doyle and Christie Murray was auctioned in 2017 (shown).² 

The front and back of a menu for a dinner given by the Aldine Club NY to Conan Doyle in 1894. Note that the menu rear is signed by both ACD and Christie Murray.

They presumably interacted regularly in England, though both travelled a great deal. Christie Murray’s book My Contemporaries in Fiction (1897) dedicated a great deal of space to praising Conan Doyle (Chapter 13 titled 'The Young Romancers’), and Christie Murray likely earned Conan Doyle's appreciation with the praise for his non-Sherlock work:

‘The Sherlock Holmes stories are far, indeed, from being Dr. Doyle’s best work, but it is to them that he mainly owes his popularity. They took the imaginative side of the general reader, and their popular properties are likely to keep them before the public mind for a long while to come. To estimate Dr. Doyle’s position as a writer one has to meet him in ‘The Refugees,’ in ‘The White Company,’ and in ‘Rodney Stone.’ In each of these there is evident a sound and painstaking method of research, as well as a power of dramatic invention; and in combination with these is a style of unaffected manliness, simplicity, and strength, which is at once satisfactory to the student and attractive to the mass of people who are content to be pleased by such qualities without knowing or asking why. The labour bestowed on ‘The White Company’ may very well be compared to that expended by Charles Reade on ‘The Cloister and the Hearth.’

Christie Murray's 1908 Recollections include transcriptions of five letters from Conan Doyle. Each letter is included in the book as a transcript rather than an image of the original letter.

I recently purchased a fairly battered copy of Recollections - the only copy I could find available (though I'm sure they pop up regularly). 

The first letter is included in a chapter on Christie Murray's handwriting expertise and his researches into the Dreyfus Affair, the French espionage scandal that could have inspired several Holmes stories. Conan Doyle was clearly interested in the scandal, and the serving of justice:

‘My dear Murray, 

Its being a week-end will prevent my coming up for I have always several visitors. I hope when you can come down you will let me know. Very much interested in your views upon the Dreyfus case. I fancy that the Government may know upon evidence which they dare not disclose (spy or traitor evidence) that he is guilty and have convicted him on a bogus document,

Yours very truly,

A. Conan Doyle.

The remaining letters are included in a chapter composed of letters received by Christie Murray. The second letter is that recently on display in Tokyo. The third is on the curious topic of a proposed statue of George Washington to be erected in London. Christie Murray first published a letter in newspapers in 1897 on the topic, and presumably Conan Doyle wrote to him shortly afterwards (the letter is undated):

My Dear Sir,

I think that your idea of a statue to Washington to be erected by public subscription in London is an admirable one. The future of the world belongs to the Anglo-Celtic races if they can but work in unison, and everything which works for that end makes for the highest. I believe that the great stream which bifurcated a century ago may have re-united before many more centuries have passed, and that we shall all have learned by then that patriotism is not to be limited by flags or systems, but that it should embrace all of the same race and blood and speech. It would be a great thing – one of the most noble and magnanimous things in the history of the world – if a proud people should consent to adorn their capital with the statue of one who bore arms against them. I wish you every success in your idea, and shall be happy to contribute ten guineas towards its realisation.

Yours very truly,

A. Conan Doyle.

The reader could be forgiven for expecting to read of a quartering of the Union Jack and the Stars & Stripes!

Letters four and five presumably relate to Christie Murray's book My Contemporaries in Fiction. Conan Doyle was indeed grateful for being counted among peers such as Robert Louis Stevenson and Rudyard Kipling, and a comparison made with Poe. The second letter refers to having just moved into Undershaw, so the letters were probably written in 1897 (and may have been direct follow-up correspondence to the Washington statue letter above).

Undershaw, Hindhead, Haslemere

My Dear Murray,

I shall be delighted and honoured to have a first glance at the ms. I never read anything of yours which I did not like, so I am sure I shall like it, but there are degrees of liking, and I will tell you frankly which degree I register.

Now you will bear that visit in mind and write to me when you are ready and your work done.

With all kind regards, yours very truly,

A. Conan Doyle.

Undershaw, Hindhead, Haslemere.

My Dear Murray,

I have just finished your critical book and think it most excellent and useful. I couldn't help writing to you to say so. It is really fine—so well-balanced and clear-sighted and judicial. For kind words about myself many thanks. I don't think we are suffering from critical kindness so much as indiscriminate critical kindness. No one has said enough, as it seems to me, about Barrie or Kipling. I think they are fit—young as they are—to rank with the highest, and that some of Barrie's work, Margaret Ogilvy and A Window in Thrums, will endear him as Robert Burns is endeared to the hearts of the future Scottish race.

I have just settled down here and we are getting the furniture in and all in order. In a week or so it will be quite right. If ever you should be at a loose end at a week-end, or any other time, I wish you would run down. I believe we could make you happy for a few days. Name your date and the room will be ready. Only from the 16th to the 26th it is pre-empted.

With all kind remembrances, yours very truly,

A. Conan Doyle

As the Sherlock letter was acquired by Toshinari, one wonders whether the other Christie Murray letters are also in private hands (see below); they are certainly not with the Maeda Ikutokukai Foundation. As a matter of principle, Maeda Toshinari collected only a single autograph from each individual. If he later obtained a finer example, he would relinquish the previously acquired item. Ultimately, he built a collection comprising the autographs of 230 figures.

The ACD Encyclopedia recently created a page on Christie Murray (inspired by our original blog post perhaps?), and included an image of a second letter from ACD to Christie Murray - the letter on the Dreyfus Affair. This suggests all letters retained by Christie Murray went into the hands of collectors at some point after his death.

The Conan Doyle letter is something of a curiosity at an exhibition of cultural significant Japanese items from the Maeda clan, but it's a wonderful curiosity.

Notes

1. Maggs Brothers, ‘Autograph Letters and Historical Documents’, Sales Catalogue No. 513, Christmas 1928 (https://archive.org/details/b31652086/mode/2up).

2. ‘The Sherlock Holmes Collection of Daniel Posnansky’, 19 December 2017, Profiles in History, Calabasas, California. [Please confirm reference]

New book - The Crumpled Linen Press edition of Oh, whistle and I'll come to you, my lad

I feel that I need to present an up-front apology that I'm a sciencey person, not a literary person, so a lot of this review focuses on the object created. It is not a critique or assessment of the quality of the chapters and content contributed by individual authors.

The Crumpled Linen Press is a new publisher created to reproduce the manuscripts of M.R. James (and apparently other leading literary figures). The series editors are Paul M. Chapman and Mark Jones... known by many as the 'Doings of Doyle' podcast gentlemen. And what a wonderful logo!

I was incredibly excited when this manuscript series was announced - partly bceause I love James, and partly because I knew how deeply Mark and Paul would think about how to organize and arrange of book centered around a manuscript. I deeply admire the Baker Street Irregulars manuscript series, so seeing this product is an interesting comparison.

The first manuscript book is for 'Oh, whistle and I'll come to you, my lad' was first published in 1904. The cover includes an illustration by Sarah Coomer, which pre-dates its use for this book, but really is perfect as it was 'inspired by Jonathan Miller’s iconic adaptation' of the story. The book is beautiful quality, in a large page format with glossy pages.

 

Along with the book, there were several 'bonus' items included (I may have had to pay for them). Included in the envelope above were a set of six art prints including two illustrations published with the original story, an extra art card showing the cover of the book, and a whistle (see below). But what I really want to point out above is the most important thing of all - how the book was packaged. The book was thoroughly packaged in padded wrap, and taped, and then shipped in a solid cardboard sleeve box. As a result of this care, the book was absolutely perfect when it was delivered.

The whistle included is the perfect piece 'faux original' item - it is engraved and bears the inscription 'Fur Fla Fle Bis' as shown in the original edition of the story. The editors suggest that owners 'blow it at your own risk'. The hardcover of the book also shows the same 'Fur Fla Fle Bis' - a lovely touch (again!).

To the book itself. Each volume is numbered and signed by Mark and Paul - I wasn't among the privileged with a low number.

 

To the book itself. Each volume is numbered and signed by Mark and Paul. I assume the numbered the volumes for people based on how much the like them.

To the contents of the volume. 

The book opens with a foreword by perhaps the ideal person - Pulitzer Prize-winning book critic and Washington Post columnist, Michael Dirda. Michael has a quite-literally encyclopedic knowledge of literature generally, and Victorian and post-Victorian literature particularly, and his forward a great 'get'.

We then have an Introduction by Mark and Paul, providing a nice overview of the volume and series concept, and background to the story and its creation.

We then get to the center of affairs, and in this book is something I love - BOTH the full manuscript images with transcription, AND an annotated story text (contributed by multiple people). This is truly ideal - I often find I can access annotated editions of stories, or manuscript editions, but rarely if ever BOTH. This manuscript is owned by King's School, Canterbury (just the oldest continually operating school in the world at 1,500 years-ish). One interesting feature is that annotations are from multiple scholars - each annotation is attributed to the contributor. This provides a nicely balanced effect on commentary. The approach is not unique - for example the Baker Street Almanac includes an occasional series of annotated stories with many contributors - but the James annotations are effectively 'first in class' to co-opt a scientific phrase.

Extended commentary on many aspects of the story and the manuscript are contributed in she subsequent chapters. I greatly enjoyed the origins of the publication (and a pretty random Australian connection). It is to be expected that there would be literary commentary on the stories and influences, and I was really impressed that the story of McBryde the illustrator and his friendship with James was given careful attention along with excellent reproductions. Provenance on the manuscript is required and was well-performed. The manuscripts in this series are all held by public institutions rather than private owners, and future editions may be slightly limited by what appears to be a fairly common path to King's or Eton.

An excellent feature of the book structure was three dedicated chapters for each adaptation. This is a wonderful foundation for future books, and assists draw the reader to each adaptation and its highlights, deviations, and weaknesses, in turn.

Copies are available at Crumpled Linen Press, and you should buy one immediately. It's well worth owning, and continues the tradition of manuscript facsimiles bringing us closer to a literary creator. 

Was there anything missing from the volume? I'd love to see what Mark and Paul left on the cutting-room floor. I'd like to see a chapter on the 'cover art' and design motifs for various editions, including dust-wrapper designs. That of course could be created for each volume James created, and parachuted into a future volume with more limited content.

In summary: Congratulations to Paul and Mark - this is the best-designed and presented manuscript volume I've seen!

Watson's Tin Box meeting summary - September 21, 2026

On the third Monday of each month, the Watson's Tin Box of Ellicott City scion meets at Union Jack's in Columbia MD and we gathered September 21 for another great gathering of members - TWENTY SEVEN in total. As always I took a census of where people were attending from: Frederick MD won the competition for most attendees with five people - we also had visitors from places including: Gettysburg PA, Bowie, Columbia, Bellcamp, Ellicott City, Silver Spring, Frederick, Gaithersburg, Darnestown Woodbine, Sandy Spring, Baltimore, Odenton. 

Congratulations to Heather Dertsbaugh who became a member of WTB with her second visit, and we welcomed first-time visitor, Michael! 

 tThe story of the meeting was 'The Dancing Men'.... but we always start with toasts. Liane Luini provided a poem by Christopher Morley as toast to The Woman, and a second poem by him as an 'extra'.

Elementary (First published in BSJ September 1961)
If Baker Street required a mate
Or Reason crowned a queen,
The only one to segregate
Would be, of course, IRENE.

Te Deum Laudanum (Written Christmas 1949, first published in BSJ September 1961)
What opiate can best abate
Anxiety and toil?
Not aspirins, nor treble gins,
Nor love, nor mineral oil 
My only drug is a good long slug
Of Tincture of Conan Doyle.

Debbie Belchis also brought along an original poem for the group!!!

Dancing Men Gangsta poem

He’s tall and lean, quick witted and sly
He’ll size you up in the wink of an eye
Describe your travels, your friends, and your foes
Your favorite foods, your habits, and clothes

By examining naught but the mud on your soles.

Lazily lounging with pipe in his hand
His exploits are regaled with awe in the Strand
The world’s greatest detective! He’s Sherlock Holmes

Dr. Watson’s best friend, star of Baker Street prose

But yo! Troubles afoot when forces arrive
From Chicago’s mafia to England’s countryside
Gangsta foes with malicious manner
Intrude on our English Squires Ridling Thorpe Manor
Hidden from site at Elridge’s farm
Dastardly desires, Impending harm!
Yo Ho Sherlock Holmes, Be More Attentive!
Impending disaster should be your incentive!

He skillfully decodes the mysterious hieroglyphics
A gleam in his eye, he telegrams his missive.
But 2 days pass with no reply
Off to East Anglia he must fly!

And there he encounters a mysterious bit
Locked and shuttered windows, candle still lit!
Inspector Martin’s bewildered, must be the wife
No, no the staff cry! Not on your life!

But yo! Sherlock Holmes has deduced the whole matter
A third bullet! And assumptions are shattered!
An unrequited love, a villain from her past!
Coded dancing men and the truth is told at last
Holmes flushes out the villain, hoist with his own petard!
Arrogant to the end, that dastardly blackguard!
Shocked and pained, the man exclaimed, how all this do you uncover?
And Holmes calmly replied, “What one man can invent another can discover”

Lazily lounging with pipe in his hand
His exploits are regaled with awe in the Strand
The world’s greatest detective! He’s Sherlock Holmes!
Dr. Watson’s Best Friend, Star of Baker Street Prose!

Tom Fahres similarly delivered TWO Haikus. First to The Woman of the evening:

Miss Elsie Patrick

Will always be “The Woman”

To Mister Slaney 

Secondly, Tom delivered his traditional Haiku for the story of the month:

Men dance but don’t speak

Unless you have the right key

Holmes gets it, too late

Next came Announcements

• Carla Coupe reminded us that the 47th Annual "Saturday With Sherlock Holmes" at the Pratt Library will be held Saturday, November 14th from 10:30 to 1:00. More details closer to the date - and it will be recorded also.
• Olivia Millunzi reminded us that the play 'Clue' (based on the movie) will be performed at the Hipodrome, Baltimore on January 23 & 24.
• Tom Fahres shared a save-the-date of Friday Oct 23, from 4-6pm for the MoCo Maryland Mullusk Masticaters SPODE. Meet at Olney Grille, Olney, Maryland/ Tom will provide Details and maps available at the October Tin Box meeting.
• The next meeting of the Red Circle of Washington DC will be held on Saturday, October 3 at J. Hollinger's in Silver Spring. The speaker will be Julie McKuras coming from Minnesota, and details can be found at www.redcircledc.org
• Liane Luini announced that we have had a recent collaboration with Steve Mason and the Beacon Society. The Beacon Society was formed to encourage young people to read the Sherlock Holmes stories. Their website (https://www.beaconsociety.com/) is a wealth of information. One of the programs they manage is the Fortescue Scholarship Honours Program (https://www.beaconsociety.com/fortescue-scholarship-exams.html.) It is a series of exams that start with earning your Bachelors, Masters and Doctorate in Sherlockiana. A number of us Tin Boxers have earned our Doctorates. After that, people wanted more so annual Re-certification exams were started in 2020. And since that, of course, was not enough, Steve decided to offer Mid-Year Re-certification exams. And our connection is our original Mycroft Quizzes created by Steve Clarkson are serving as the source material for the exams. The first one is available and is based on the 1991 quiz. I tried it out. It was tough! I'm just glad I didn't have to do the Quiz in real time at a meeting! The benefit of the Exams is they are open book and there is no time limit to complete them. You can do them in your own time and use any resource available to you except phone a friend. You have to do your own work! I highly recommend trying them. The overall purpose is to increase your knowledge and enjoyment of the Canon and they certainly do that!
• We were reminded that Peter Blau has also announced that tickets are now on sale for Mark Shanahan's popular play "A Sherlock Carol" at the Arts Barn in Gaithersburg.  There will be a  do-it-yourself theater party and Red Circle meeting on Sunday, December 6.  Purchase your own tickets, and the group will then gather somewhere nearby for drinks afterwards. You can purchase your tickets at the Arts Barn web-site.
  
• I announced that Watson's Tin Box will be displaying the Six Napoleons Evidence Box at the dinner, to add to the occasion. I'm sure I'll have a blog post on that dinner soon.
• On the topic of Dancing Men, member Nea Dodson shared a photograph she took of the entrance to the Museum of London Sherlock Holmes exhibition with huge dancing men. Appropriately, they spell: COME AT ONCE.

• And Grant Heller shared that a colleague at work has a Star Trek poster on the wall in his office. Close inspection revealed that one character (I don't know anything about Star Trek) is holding a volume of Baring-Gould!!! See front row, at left: 

We mixed up the agenda this month as an experiment - and it worked. While we settled down to chat and wait for dinner, Olivia Millunzi delivered the quiz while we waited for dinner... and I have to say it works well. We have a new agenda order.

As always, Michelle March provided some wonderful t-shirt design prizes tied to the evening's story. Tonight there were two. In the spirit of not being exclusory, I've included the de-coded meaning under each of these wonderful designs:

IYKYK

Dance like no one's watching.... write like someone is

Debbie Clark presented the evidence box for Devil's Foot to an attentive audience:

The evidence display on the evening, and some examples of the evidence:

Left: Among the items - an advertisement for Thurston’s billiards. Thurston isWatson’s billiard’s partner.From the story:‘You never play billiards except with Thurston.’ Truly remarkable that this exists! Right: Pictured is a saucer from the Imperial Hotel at Russell Square, possibly where Hilton Cubitt stayed in London when he met Elsie Patrick, who would become his wife.From the story:‘Last year I came up to London for the Jubilee, and I stopped at a boarding-house in Russell Square, because Parker, the vicar of our parish, was staying in it.’

Left: Pictured is the note Holmes sent to Abe Slaney at Elrige’s Farm, asking Slaney to return to the Cubitt’s residence. The dancing men message read, ‘Come here at once.’. Right: Watson's cheque book... that Holmes keeps locked in a drawer.

Our discussion of the Dancing Men story was highly enjoyable.... how could it not be? After all, in some ways the Dancing Men story is the most iconic of all. Certainly it provides the most recognizable imagery. In preparation for meetings, I normally read an annotated version of the story, and listen to an audiobook version (preferably Stephen Fry) - and learned that Dancing Men really isn't easy to follow as an audiobook!

Tom Fahres asked how we really know that Elsie tried to commit suicide? A robust discussion on firearms and forensic evidence was had, and Al (see below!) shared his expertise on blowback from firing a weapon. Everyone agreed that Sherlock failed his clients - for a range of reasons, including just not visiting the scene to investigate earlier. And once he solved the code... why didn't he send them a telegram immediately? Or order an express train to get there immediately? So many questions. 

Nea pointed out that Elsie didn't exactly help matters - she clearly had a husband who supported her and could have put a lid on the whole episode, and addressed it directly. A side-note from me - if Elsie did indeed attempt suicide - was that not a crime? Or at least one that would have been investigated at the time?

One thing I mentioned when introducing the story -  this 1905 article is one of many suggesting (strongly) that Doyle picked up the general idea from Edgar Allan Poe, and not for the first time.

Our very special esteemed presenter for this meeting was Allen Hafner, with a talk titled "Forensic Science, from Sherlock to CSI." Al Hafner has worked in law enforcement for 45 years. He graduated from the Baltimore City Police Academy in 1972 and went to work for the Howard County Police Department. HCPD was a small department at that time and each officer was responsible for handling their own minor crime scenes, literally on-the-job training. Larger scenes would be taken over by a detective. Evidence collected for further examination would be sent to labs run by other police departments. With the building of the new town of Columbia, Howard County experienced explosive growth and the police department grew with it. When a dedicated crime scene unit was created in the 1980s, Al was transferred to the new unit because of his past crime scene work and his skills in photography. After 21 years in uniform, Al opted for early retirement to work for the State of Maryland as a Fingerprint Technician and was their primary fingerprint trainer. He assisted in linking the State’s fingerprint computer system with new Booking Centers, using this system to confirm the identity of arrested suspects. In 1998, Al returned to HCPD as a Latent Print Examiner, crime scene investigator, and academy instructor. Al has been involved in many serious criminal investigations and served on multi-jurisdictional task forces. He has testified as an expert witness in many local courts and several times in Federal courts. During his career, Al was awarded two Bronze Stars and a box full of meritorious certificates. Since his retirement in 2018, Al continued to work under contract for a few years to perform latent print verifications and forensic case reviews. He continues to consult with detectives on cold case investigations.

OK.... all that biography should make it clear that this was going to be good - and Al had the whole group hanging on his every word. Al taught us that physical evidence is all about the context we find it in - and evidence falls into two categories: Class Characteristics and Individualization. We even saw a real crime scene (a burglary) and learned what Al saw that pointed to the solution (along with fingerprints). We also learned about early innovators in bringing science to criminal solution - Bertillon and Hans Gross. Gross wrote 'Criminal Investigation, A Practical Textbook'. Jumping forward a hundred years, Al discussed the advent of DNA testing and its effects on criminal investigation, and then the 'CSI effect'  when that TV show appeared, and everyone's new career goal was to become a forensic scientist.

Perhaps the best sign of a wonderful talk are the questions.... and when I packed everything up and left at the end of the meeting, Al was still surrounded by people asking questions!! Thanks Al for an amazing talk - it's clear we'll need a Part 2. And probably a Part 3!

What a great meeting!! I'll end the post with this violin model that Michelle made and shared with the group. It's amazing, and includes quotes from the canon written into blank spaces.