The Inquisition – The Norwood Builder (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 Norwood Builder. Let’s see the answers (in bold) to this month’s Inquisition.

1. Whose death does Holmes appear to lament in the story’s opening paragraphs? Professor Moriarty

2. Watson is living with Holmes again. Who bought his Kensington practice? Dr. Verner (a distant cousin of Holmes’)

3. What does Watson divulge about the case of “the shocking affair of the Dutch steamship Friesland”? It almost cost him and Holmes their lives.

4. How does their new case’s client introduce himself? “The unhappy John Hector MacFarlane”

5. Holmes makes four immediate deductions about the client, and Watson tells us the basis for each. What was deduced from the untidiness of the man’s attire? that he was a bachelor

6. And what was deduced from the charm on his watch-chain? that he was a Freemason

7. What Scotland Yarder is on the case? Lestrade

8. After examining the draft of Oldacre’s will, what does Holmes immediately deduce about it? that it was written on a train

9. Why did Mrs. MacFarlane break her long-ago engagement to Jonas Oldacre? She heard that he had turned a cat loose in an aviary.

10. Besides organic remains, what clue did the police find in the burnt woodpile? several metal trouser buttons

11. What additional clue are the police presented with the day after their investigation? a thumbprint in the hall

12. How did Holmes know where Oldacre was hiding? He had paced one corridor and found it six feet shorter than the corresponding one below.

13. What is Oldacre’s defense for his actions? It was a practical joke.

14. What alter-ego had Oldacre created as part of his scheme? Mr. Cornelius

15. What does Holmes tell Watson to record as the source of the organic remains in the woodpile? rabbits

BONUS: Jonas Oldacre is described as “a little, wizened man” whose career spanned “many years” and who has been retired for “some years.” But how old is he? 52 years old

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 already planning for the 2021 event to be held on August 6-7.