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