“play tricks with me and I’ll crush you” [ABBE]

Was Sherlock Holmes too lenient with how he handled some of the criminals he defeated? There are a number whom he caught and set free, flouting the law in the process.

Inspired by a recent article in The Baker Street Journal, we look at examples in a handful of stories and compare the fates of the accused in each. Did they get what they deserved? It's much more than just a Trifle.

If you have a question for us, please email us at trifles@ihearofsherlock.com. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift.

• Related episodes:
• • Episode 183 - Justice, Part 1: Unresolved
  • Episode 184 - Justice, Part 2: Disproportionate
  • Episode 187 - Justice, Part 3: Comeuppance
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• Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com

“another thread which I have extricated out of the tangled skein” [HOUN]

It has long been accepted that the original title of A Study in Scarlet was meant to be A Tangled Skein. While there is no surviving manuscript of the first Sherlock Holmes story, a single page of notes has long served as Sherlock Holmes's "birth certificate."

However, Matt Hall discovered a letter in Sydney, Australia that proves otherwise. His research is presented in Vol. 37 No. 2 of The Sherlock Holmes Journal. And it's much more than just a Trifle.

If you have a question for us, please email us at trifles@ihearofsherlock.com. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift.

• The Sherlock Holmes Journal
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• Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com

“put £100 down in front of him” [BLUE]

Humans are suckers for round numbers. And 100 seems like a perfectly reasonable one to settle on. It's the first three-digit number (in Arabic numbers, that is; Romans were happy to hit a C note).

When it comes to £100 in the Sherlock Holmes stories, it's a figure often associated with some sort of scam — enough to get attention and secure the trust of the mark. Which stories feature £100 and what were the circumstances? It's just a Trifle.

If you have a question for us, please email us at trifles@ihearofsherlock.com. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift.

• Related: Episode 121 - Old Money
• All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock
• Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com

“I had painted” [TWIS]

The Morley-Montgomery Award-winning article we're discussing this month is by H.C. Potter from Vol. 26, No. 2 of The Baker Street Journal.

In it, Potter looks at Watson's prosaic way of setting the scene for us. He selects excerpts from a number of stories to prove his case. Was he successful in backing up his claims? It's just a Trifle.

If you have a question for us, please email us at trifles@ihearofsherlock.com. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift.

• The Morley-Montgomery Award
• The Morley-Montgomery Award series of episodes (Patreon | Substack)
• H.C. Potter's obituary (The New York Times)
• David McCullough: Painting with Words (IMDb)
• All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock
• Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com

“traces of the ancient people” [HOUN]

When Watson noted a "difficult and dangerous quest" on "the forbidden moor" in The Hound of the Baskervilles. The moor played an outsized role in that story, providing the perfect setting for this gothic tale of terror, greed, and mystery.

What is the moor really like? How does the Canonical version differ from reality? Listener Nelson Pigeon wrote in to ask, and we answer. It's just a Trifle.

If you have a question for us, please email us at trifles@ihearofsherlock.com. If you use your inquiry on the show, we'll send you a thank you gift.

• The Hound of the Baskervilles: Hunting the Dartmoor Legend by Philip Weller
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“What, in heaven’s name, was it?” [HOUN]

One of the most famous Sherlock Holmes stories, The Hound of the Baskervilles, tells a terrifying story of a dog that most certainly did something in the night-time.

But what do we know about the actual canine? In a Morley-Montgomery Award-winning article in 1975, Michael L. Burton dispels myths and narrows down the likely breed. It's just a Trifle.

• The Morley-Montgomery Award
• The Morley-Montgomery Award series of episodes (Patreon | Substack)
• All of our social links: https://linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock
• Email us at trifles @ ihearofsherlock.com