3:17 a.m. - 2023-02-26
A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA PART 2
Holmes's deductive skills are one of his most compelling traits, and Doyle made it a point to treat his readers to numerous examples throughout the 56 stories and 4 novels. Here, as is often the case, he amazes his old friend with several demonstrations before the case has even begun, knowing without being told that Watson is "back in harness" and is burdened with a slatternly maid who makes a bad job of cleaning his boots. From that he proceeds to a series of deductions about his mysterious new client, based on the note sent in advance of their meeting. Like his real-life inspiration, Dr Joseph Bell, Holmes can draw remarkably accurate conclusions based on what seems to be almost no evidence at all.

Along with his previously noted farcical description of the king, Doyle has added other moments of humor to SCANDAL. Holmes in his disguise as an idling stable groom is unexpectedly drafted into being a witness to Adler's marriage, and even given a tip for his compliance. The description of the slovenly maid Mary Jane as "a particularly malignant boot-slitting specimen of the London slavey" exemplifies Doyle's gift for memorable phrasing, while hinting at the rigid class distinctions and prejudices of the Victorian era. Presumably Mary Jane had her own point of view on the matter of boot-wiping. One can imagine the maid, at the end of a long day, having to wait for her master's late night return from his wanderings about London, so that his boots could be scraped clean and ready for the next day. And Adler herself shows a puckish sense of humor, greeting Holmes by name when, disguised herself, she passes him on the street.

There are several unanswered question in SCANDAL that the reader may find distracting. Surely there must have been the possibility that Adler had more than one copy of the incriminating photograph. Matthew Brady was able to produce multiple copies of his Civil War photographs, well before SCANDAL took place. Could the king really have felt safe by taking the copy that his former inamorata kept in her home? When Adler realized that the fire had been contrived, even noting the plumber's smoke bomb in her sitting room, shouldn't Holmes have known, or at least suspected, that she would take counter measures? And lastly, who is the mysterious Mrs Turner? The landlady at 221B is named Hudson in every other appearance. Shouldn't her temporary replacement have been explained, even in a cursory way?

Whatever its flaws, A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA is one of the more memorable and frequently discussed stories in the canon, a more than satisfying opening to THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES.

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