The Inquisition – The Stockbroker’s Clerk (Answers)

“Now we have the Sherlock Holmes test …”

–  A Scandal in Bohemia (SCAN)

So, how well do you know your Canon and The Adventure of the Stockbroker’s Clerk. Let’s see the answers (in bold) to this month’s Inquisition.

1. From whom did Watson purchase his “formerly excellent” practice? – “old Mr. Farquhar”
2. Why did that fellow have to give it up? – “his age, and an affliction of the nature of St. Vitus’s dance from which he suffered”

3. For how long had Watson been devoting himself to it, to the exclusion of interaction with Holmes? – three months
4. In what month of the year does this case occur? – June
5. What is Watson reading when Holmes comes to call? – the British Medical Journal
6. What indicates to Holmes that his friend has had a cold? – Watson’s scorched slippers
7. From what does Holmes draw a conclusion about Watson’s practice? – the wear on his front steps (three inches deeper than his neighbor’s = a better practice)
8. What Canonical case is mentioned by name in Holmes & Watson’s conversation? – The Sign of Four
9. From what class of people, evidently approved of by Watson, does Hall Pycroft hail? – Cockney
10. Name one of the two legitimate firms that hired Pycroft. – Coxon & Woodhouse’s or Mawson & Williams’s
11. How much was he offered to work for the Franco-Midland Hardware Co.? – 500 pounds a year
12. In what countries did Arthur Pinner say his firm had branches? – France (134), Belgium (1, in Brussels), and Italy (1, in San Remo) 
13. What task does Pycroft do for harry Pinner during his first week in Birmingham? – He “mark[s] off all the hardware sellers, with their addresses,” in the directory of Paris
14. What clue finally drives Pycroft to consult Holmes about his Franco-Midland gig? – the gold-stuffed tooth (which led him to deduce that the Pinner brothers were one man)
15. What was Pinner’s real name? – Beddington
16. What liquid restorative did Watson employ in his first aid to the hanged man? – cold water (poured over the face)
17. What role do Harris and Price play in the events? – They are Holmes and Watson’s aliases when Pycroft takes them to meet Pinner.
18. What role do Tuson and Pollack play in the events? – They are the London policemen who arrest the fake Pycroft.
19. What was stolen from the safe? – “nearly a hundred thousand pounds’ worth of American railway bonds, with a large amount of scrip in mines and other companies”
20. To what does Holmes attribute the suicide attempt? – brotherly affection

How well did you do on this quiz?

Karen Wilson has the investiture of “A Faithful Scotchwoman” with us and the Adventuresses of Sherlock Holmes. She was the Tantalus (Quizmaster) of Watson’s Tin Box for 5 years and for the last three years she has helped develop the “killer quiz” on all 60 stories for that group’s annual Mycroft. Karen has been the organizer of the annual Scintillation of Scions conference and is resting after this year’s virtual event that took place on June 12-13, 2020.