Watson's Tin Box meeting summary - May 18, 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 on May 18 for another great gathering of members - 20 in total. As always I took a census of where people were attending from, and Columbia and Frederick MD were tied.

We welcomed a new first-time visitor - Breier Scheetz - who found us through www.sherlockiancalendar.com where most meetings are listed around the country.

The story of the meeting was 'The Sussex Vampire'.... but we always start with toasts. 

Karen Wilson provided a toast to 'The Woman' - a sing-along toast! Karen originally wrote this toast for a COVID-era Zoom meeting of WTB, but didn't manage to get the sing-along part working - but in person five years later it worked a treat! Karen sang the verse, and the whole group joined in for the bolded choruses:

“Good Night, Irene (Adler)”

Karen Wilson

Irene, goodnight--; Irene, goodnight.

Goodnight, Irene; Goodnight, Irene

I'll see you in my dreams

You were a great prima donna

Crowds paid to hear you sing

Your career might have gone even longer

If you had not met the King

His promises they were empty

Good thing you retained souvenirs

His henchmen attempted to steal them

It ended -- for them  -- in tears

All right, Irene--; All right, Irene

I'm sure Wilhelm's men won't try again

And you would have made a fine queen

You married in the morning

To Godfrey Norton, Esquire

By afternoon, old Sherlock

Tried to set your house on fire

Not right, Irene--; Not right, Irene

But I'm sure you will win round two

And thwart the detective's scheme

Imagine Holmes's reaction

The photo all gone; just your note

I'll bet he blushed to learn you were

The slim youth in the coat!

You say that you're leaving England

For Continental parts

Let's hope they don't try to track you

By a trail of broken hearts

Let's toast Irene--; Let's toast Irene

To this fine lass we lift a glass

To our Irene, a toast!

Liane Luini again dug into the archives and produced a toast to 'A Certain Gracious Lady', originally written by Virginia Sherlockian Emily S. Whitten and delivered at the Gaslight Gala, New York, January 11, 2019. The toast was deposited at Ross Davies' Sherlockian Toasts database:

Her influence stretched from East to West;
From moral code to mode of dress.
Her reign was vast and long remembered;
Her image on each farthing tendered.
But in the annals of Watson’s tales,
What we’ll recall, without fail,
Are initials shot into the wall
By Holmes when struck by boredom’s pall!
So pour yourself the finest drink,
And raise a glass – prepared to clink,
When sun is over oak and shadow under elm,
To Victoria Regina, forever queen of Sherlock’s realm!

Tom Fahres then delivered his traditional Haiku for the story - this month for Sussex Vampire:

A spoiler alert!
Woman with hot tropic blood.
Story’s red herring.

Next came Announcements

• Liane Luini reminded everyone that copies of Irene's Cabinet are selling for $10 - and we mail ! Just email Liane for details.
• Each month, WTB will be presenting the contents of the Evidence Boxes at the Crew of the Barque Lone Star (Texas) scion meetings - on zoom. Lauren Cercone has also announced a new scion - the Tidewaiters of Delaware, and we'll be taking the Evidence Box to their first meeting as a treat.
• David Burke died on the 10th of May. He was the first John Watson in the Granada series, appearing in 13 episodes before stepping away from the show. With David's passing, the most prominent actor from the series who remains with us is probably Colin Jeavins - who approaches 100 years of age.
• Nea Dodson let members know that people can follow the events of Bram Stoker's Dracula in real-time at draculadaily.substack.com . The unabridged text will be emailed (if you subscribe) or posted on the day that the even happens. It started on May 3, and runs to November.
• The next Red Circle of Washington DC will be held on June 27, with Bradley Harper speaking on the topic "Sherlock Holmes as Science Fiction". Details atht website here.
• Brent Morris made the beautiful gesture of bringing a large amount of tea that belonged to Jacquelynn Bost-Morris, and invited members to take some home, and think of Jacquelynn whenever we sipped our tea. Jacquelynn loved tea, and also was an enthusiastic member of the Tea-Brokers of Mincing Lane scion.

We examined the evidence box for The Sussex Vampire with Debbie Clarke presenting. Here are some examples of the evidence.

Brent's gesture was well-timed, as the Tea-brokers of Mincing Lane appear in this very story.

Pictured are 2 photographs of young Jacky, one with Carlo, both with a cane/crutch at his side. Shown at right are notes from Sherlock's notebook stating evidence from the case.

Pictured is a pub mat from The Chequers, the inn which Holmes andWatson stayed in Lamberley, and the receipt from their stay.

The crowd favorite was probably the dart was used by Little Jacky to poison his step-brother. Unfortunately, there was no container of curare that the dart was probably dipped into. This was one of the  South American weapons displayed on wall at Cheeseman’s.

Then we of course discussed the story. This was a favorite for a few of our members, for good reason, and this led to a wonderful discussion, and a side-discussion on influences such as Dracula. The story first appeared in 1924, and has been adapted several times. There was wide agreement that the Granada adaptation was appalling, and recommendations were made for the Japanese 'Miss Sherlock' version (Season 1, Episode 4) as being excellent.

The story has a classic opening - a referral letter from lawyers who don't normally deal in Vampiric business, followed by a letter from Big Bob Ferguson of Cheeseman, who shares his ordeal. The story takes a while to get from case introduction to 'action'. We discussed the poor dog Jack experimented on, and the poor baby. But we mainly discussed Doyle's favorite strategy of the foreigner as the distracting Red Herring at the center of the story. How does a tea-broker meet a Peruvian? And why was the nurse so willing to hide to truth of what was happening in exchange for a fiver?

There was also robust debate on what should have happened to Jack once he was found out? A year at sea to sweep the family embarrassment under the carpet was generally agreed to be a terrible solution. Shouldn't he be locked up in an asylum or the juvenile equivalent? Perhaps that was not the solution Doyle would go for given his family history. And Sherlock stories love to send a problematic Briton across the seas to avoid scandal.

As for influence - beyond literary influences like Dracula, Nosferatu had been released in 1922, and the story elements were right in line with popular culture at the time. It turns out Nosferatu didn't screen in England till 1928 as Stoker's widow blocked it on copyright grounds.

For this evening, I wore a Blackheath Rugby Club throwback jersey, using a 1870s design and a wonderful collar. It is in 'Sussex Vampire' that we learn that Watson played rugby, and what his team was - the letter to Holmes seeking help ends: "P. S. I believe your friend Watson played Rugby for Blackheath when I was three-quarter for Richmond. It is the only personal introduction which I can give."

Grant Heller was our presenter for the evening. Grant was raised in the Midwest, and has lived in MD for 40 years. At various times he has worked as a farmhand, a carpenter, a sailor, a nuclear reactor operator, a radio engineer, and for the last quarter of a century, a comms security engineer. Grant's interest in the Canon has extended over fifty years, and his first Sherlockian activity was joining the Six Napoleons in the 1980s.

Grant's talk was titled "Of Submersibles and Subterfuge" provided an amazing overview of the history of submarines, and the likely scandal in the story 'Bruce-Partington Plans'. Grant began by providing us with a recap of the story as a take-home flier. 

Grant walked us through the early history of submarines, their design, where they were being constructed, and which countries had submarines (and which didn't!). Grant's deep historical research allowed him to pin-point the true nature of the 'plans' described in the story. As always, I don't provide details summaries of talks that aren't published - and I'm confident there's a Sherlockian article in development by Grant! Or you know.... your scion could invite Grant to give a talk!

 

And finally, the quiz! Olivia Millunzi created another great quiz for us - I am TERRIBLE at noting who won the quiz. The prize was a wonderful t-shirt design created by the always-productive Michelle March (and I'll add a picture of the brilliant prize as soon as I receive it).