Each third Monday of the month, the Watson's Tin Box of Ellicott City scion meets - and after a virtual meeting in July we gathered on Monday August 18 for our LARGEST MEETING since COVID. It was wonderful to see so many people attend, especially on the back of over forty people the month before for our Zoom meeting.
The story of the meeting was The Empty House, or, as we called it - "Part 2".
After introductions (we again had more attendees from Frederick MD than anywhere else, and visitors from FOUR states/districts including TEXAS), we moved to the toasts.
After a traditional toast to The Woman, Liane Luini reprised a toast to Pietro Venucci. The toast was written by Paul Churchill, published in the 2008 issue of Irene's Cabinet, and I'm happy to say was first proposed at a meeting of the Red Circle of Washington, DC in 2007. In 'those days', the Red Circle met at the National Press Club (as Peter Blau, organizer of the Red Circle then and now, was a member of 'the Press'. Here is the toast:
This toast was followed by the traditional Haiku for the story was delivered by Tom Fahres:
Holmes, Watson, Lastrade
Are skulking thru dark allies
To capture Moran
We then moved on to Announcements. We discussed the visit to Denny Dobry's 221B Sitting Room (many members were there!), the upcoming Red Circle meeting, informed the group that the all digital copies of Irene's Cabinet are now on-line, and had a MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT:
Irene's Cabinet is BACK for 2026! That's right, if you have an idea for a original Sherlockian article, artwork, or other type of creative piece, please consider submitting to the newly returned Irene's Cabinet. We will return to the presses in 2026:
Attenta! The Watson's Tin Box journal, Irene's Cabinet, is returning after a hiatus! Details below - we welcome your submissions.
Call for Submissions – Irene’s Cabinet
The Journal of Watson’s Tin Box of Ellicott City
After six years in hiatus, Irene’s Cabinet will be hitting the presses once again in 2026 — and we’re looking for Sherlockians submissions!
You don't need to be a member of Watson's Tin Box to publish in Irene's Cabinet! Whether you’re a seasoned Baker Street Irregular, a fresh initiate to the Canon, or a passionate admirer of the Great Detective and his world, we invite you to contribute your work.
We welcome original submissions of all kinds, including but not limited to:
Scholarly articles and critical essays
Creative fiction (pastiches, parodies, or original stories set in the Sherlockian universe)
Artwork and illustration
Poetry
Personal reflections, memoirs of Sherlockian adventures, and society histories
Humour and puzzles of a Sherlockian nature
Deadline for submissions: December 15, 2025
Projected publication: Spring 2026
Submission format: Word documents preferred for text; high-resolution files (PNG, TIFF, JPG) for artwork.
Email submissions and queries to: baroness.gruner@gmail.com , with the subject line of the submissions to read "Submission for Irene's Cabinet 2026".
Please include a brief author bio and let us know if the piece has been published elsewhere, or presented to a scion society.
Jacquelynn Bost-Morris - Editor, Irene’s Cabinet
Following announcements, Karen Wilson made her presentation 'Boswell. We'd be lost without him. Sounding like the draft of a future Irene's Cabinet article (~cough~), Karen shared the background on Boswell. Why? In 'A Scandal in Bohemia', Holmes says of Watson "I am lost without my Boswell". Karen provided a lively biography of James Boswell, and a biography of the subject of his famous biography: Samuel Johnson - famous among other things for his dictionary. Karen concluded her presentation by reflecting on what exactly Sherlock may have been inferring by calling Watson 'my Boswell'.
A side-note of the discussion. I mentioned that Samuel Johnson's home still stands in London, and a member reminded us that this home was a location for the Rathbone/Bruce movie 'Dressed to Kill'.
We then moved to the Story for the Month - The Empty House.
Jacquelynne Morris presented the Evidence Box on behalf of Debbie Clark. The items were laid out. A reminder that you can browse the Evidence Box items at our website:
Some example items:
Left to right: The tinted glasses worn by a tall, thin man whom Watson surmised was a detective, possibly with Scotland Yard ; the police whistle Holmes used to signal Lestrade to enter
the Camden House once the trap had been sprung on Moran ; Ward/Lock’s Switzerland, a Swiss travel book Holmes & Watson would have used in their travels to escape Moriarty.
Pictured is the flask which Holmes used to revive Watson with Brandy after causing Watson to faint. From the story: Certainly a grey mist swirled before my eyes, and when it cleared I found my collar-ends undone and the tingling after-taste of brandy upon my lips. Holmes was bending over my chair, his flask in his hand.
And finally, we discussed the story. We wondered why Watson needed to wait ten years to tell the public that Sherlock was back! We identified discrepancies in the story. And there was a lot of laughter, and a lot of "what if's". I do wonder how Holmes' rooms could be there intact like he was never gone, particularly given that there was a fire on the day Holmes departed London. Relevant to the story, we discovered that Rachel had just returned from a trip to France including Montpellier, the place where Holmes had conducted some chemical researches during the great hiatus.
We ended the evening with a 'shout out' quick from Olivia Millunzi, freshly returned from a vacation to Australia. And with that, prizes were collected, and members dispersed.... until September !
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