Sherlock Holmes told his friend Watson that the case of “The Gloria Scott” was the beginning of his career as a professional
detective. It occurred during his student days, and it concerned theft, murder and blackmail.

The complex problem of “Wisteria Lodge” gave him plenty of scope. And set him in friendly rivalry with Inspector Baynes of the Surrey Constabulary, the only police official who was unarguably his equal as a detective.

This story comes from The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes, the last of the nine books about the great detective to be written by his creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The Mazarin Stone, being based on a stage play, The Crown Diamond.

While rewriting Conan Doyle’s script, the American actor William Gillette famously asked, “May I marry Holmes?” The author replied, “You may marry or murder, or do what you like with him!”

FIVE YEARS AFTER the supposed death of Sherlock Holmes at the hands of his arch-enemy Professor Moriarty, The Strand Magazine published two apparently unrelated mystery stories, each quoting an un-named criminal investigator. Devotees have long debated the identity of this person: was he Sherlock Holmes or not? In this ingenious new play, M J ELLIOTT assumes that Holmes and Watson did investigate the mysterious murder on the Rugby express.