Sherlock the Indestructible

Sherlock the Indestructible is an article published in The Sketch on 6 july 1927.

Sherlock the Indestructible

The Sketch (6 july 1927, p. 39)

Sherlock, friend of youth, Sherlock the beguiler of tedium, dread Indestructible. of evildoers, sire of all sleuths, lord of Pure Reason — oh, Sherlock, how art thou translated!

Of your obstinate vitality far be it from me to complain: when you returned from the very grave, we only cried in jubilation, O Moriarty, where is thy victory, O Moran, where is thy sting? We rejoiced to have you back among us, and we cannot but feel a sense of personal loss when your creator announces, in "The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes," that Watson must now for ever hold his peace. Let the case-book be inexhaustible, even if it means further resurrections from the dead or from the contemplative life of the bee-farmer. All the same, Sherlock, thou art translated, and the more we delve into back numbers of the case-book, the more translated dost thou seem.

Your intellect, your chronicler assures us, is unimpaired, your self-confidence undiminished. "I am a brain, Watson. The rest of me is a mere appendix." (This language — need it be said? — is metaphorical, not anatomical.) "My mind is like a crowded box-room, with packets of all sorts stowed away therein." But what is Brain without Deduction? And what are your Deductions, Sherlock?" But surely, "you observe to a pseudo-American, Mr. John Garrideb, "you have been in England some time?"

"Why do you say that, Mr. Holmes?" I seemed to read sudden suspicion in those expres-sive eyes.

"Your whole outfit is English." Mr. Garrideb forced a laugh. "I 've read of your tricks, Mr. Holmes, but I never thought I would be the subject of them. Where do you read that?"

"The shoulder cut of your coat, the toes of your boots — could anyone doubt it?"

Too easy, Sherlock. Watson himself could have done it. You should be aiming higher than that.

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