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

1. Why is Holmes acting as his own chronicler for this adventure?

Because, beyond the occasional weekend visit, “Watson had passed almost beyond [his] ken.”

2. Holmes’ Sussex villa, he boasts, has a great view of what natural feature?

The Channel

3. Whom does Holmes describe as the only person “on such terms with me that we could drop in on each other in the evenings without an invitation”?

Harold Stackhurst

4. What is the name of the academic coaching establishment located half a mile from Holmes’ house?

The Gables

5. The ill-tempered, aloof, and seemingly friendless teacher is a specialist in what academic discipline?

Mathematics (of course)

6. Who wrote the note found in the dead man’s pocket?

Maud Bellamy (It was signed “Maudie.”)

7. What occupant of The Haven is described as having “flaming red” hair?

Tom Bellamy, Maud’s father (The red hair is a beard.)

8. “I do not encourage such conversations,” Holmes tells us in reference to purveyors of local gossip, but who arrests his attention with news of what “everyone” is saying about “the incident of the dog”?

His old housekeeper (gosh, how did we *ever* think she was Mrs. Hudson?)

9. Who owned the Airedale terrier?

Fitzroy McPherson (the dead man)

10. What weapon does Holmes suggest to Inspector Bardle as capable of producing the dead man’s wounds?

“a very stiff cat-o’-nine-tails with small hard knots upon it”

11. Whom do the police appear ready to arrest before Holmes, er, solves the crime?

Ian Murdoch, the surly mathematician (What math professor hurt you, ACD?)

12. Which character is described by Holmes as “an omnivorous reader with a strangely retentive memory”?

Sherlock Holmes (I like to think it was the opening line of his personals ad.)

13. What remedy, drunk in copious amounts, seems to help those attacked by Cyanea capillata?

Brandy!

14. What theory is offered for why the first victim of the Cyanea capillata succumbed to his injuries, while the final victim did not?

McPherson was weakened by a heart condition (due to an earlier bout of rheumatic fever).

15. How did Holmes dispatch the Lion’s Mane?

With the help of Stackhurst, he dropped a big boulder on it.

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.