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Inspector Lestrade

There was one little sallow, rat-faced, dark-eyed fellow.

"A well-known detective. He got himself into a fog recently over a forgery case, and that was what brought him here.” (
Sherlock Holmes)

(
Lestrade) lean and ferret-like as ever, was standing by the doorway, and greeted my companion and myself.

Inspector Lestrade

“I have been down to see friend Lestrade at the Yard. There may be an occasional want of imaginative intuition down there, but they lead the world for thoroughness and method.” (Sherlock Holmes)

Area

“We would do better in the area. There is an excellent archway down yonder in case a too zealous policeman should intrude.”
  • A sunken enclosure giving access to the basement of a building often used as a servants’ entrance in Victorian houses.
  • These pictures of Bath, U.K. show the rails of the 'area' which in this instance was at the front of the house.
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  • This photograph of the Jane Austen centre clearly shows the railings round the 'area', the basement windows and the superior front door which the family and their guests would have used.
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Inspector Lestrade

Thin and austere.

Red Lamp

"You ask about the Red Lamp." says the postscript to the preface of the American edition of Arthur Conan Doyle's Round the Red Lamp (1894): 'It is the usual sign of the general practitioner in England.'
(The new annotated Sherlock Holmes; Leslie S Klinger Vol II (2005))

Contents of Pietro Venucci's pockets

An apple, some string, a shilling map of London, and a photograph.

Lumber room

  • Articles of furniture or other household items that are no longer useful and inconveniently take up storage space: as an adjective: a lumber room.

An area beneath

  • A sunken enclosure giving access to the basement of a building often used as a servants’ entrance in Victorian houses.

Idée fixe

  • An idea or desire that dominates the mind; an obsession.
  • ORIGIN mid 19th cent.: French, literally ‘fixed idea.’

Sherlock Holmes - Deductions

“I would only observe that there is a certain method in the gentleman’s eccentric proceedings. For example, in Dr. Barnicot’s hall, where a sound might arouse the family, the bust was taken outside before being broken, whereas in the surgery, where there was less danger of an alarm, it was smashed where it stood.” Read More...

Sherlock Holmes - Character Illustrations

It was no very unusual thing for Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, to look in upon us of an evening, and his visits were welcome to Sherlock Holmes, for they enabled him to keep in touch with all that was going on at the police headquarters. In return for the news which Lestrade would bring, Holmes was always ready to listen with attention to the details of any case upon which the detective was engaged, and was able occasionally without any active interference, to give some hint or suggestion drawn from his own vast knowledge and experience.
Read More...

Sherlock Holmes - Sayings

“The Press, Watson, is a most valuable institution, if you only know how to use it.”

Sherlock Holmes' message to Horace Harker

“If you are going back to Pitt Street, you might see Mr. Horace Harker. Tell him for me that I have quite made up my mind, and that it is certain that a dangerous homicidal lunatic, with Napoleonic delusions, was in his house last night. It will be useful for his article.”

Black Pearl

Next instant, with a loud shout of triumph he held up one splinter, in which a round, dark object was fixed like a plum in a pudding.
“Gentlemen,” he cried, “let me introduce you to the famous black pearl of the Borgias.”

Hunting-crop

He had himself picked up the loaded hunting-crop, which was his favourite weapon.

Napoleonic busts

Six plaster casts of the famous head of Napoleon by the French sculptor, Devine.

Special Messenger letter to Josiah Brown

“I had the note which you sent by the express messenger, and I did exactly what you told me. We locked every door on the inside and awaited developments.”

Telegram from Lestrade

“Come instantly, 131 Pitt Street, Kensington. “LESTRADE.”

Conk-Singleton forgery case

Th papers of the Conk-Singleton forgery case.

Abernetty family

The dreadful business of the Abernetty family was first brought to my notice by the depth which the parsley had sunk into the butter upon a hot day.

Church Street, Stepney, London

Site of Gelder & co. who manufactured the Napoleonic busts.
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Empty house in Campden House Road

In the garden of which Mr Horace Harker’s Napoleon bust was smashed.

Laburnum Lodge, Laburnum Vale, Chiswick, London

A secluded road fringed with pleasant houses, each standing in its own grounds. In the light of a street lamp we read “Laburnum Villa” upon the gate-post of one of them. Home of Josiah Brown.
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Two doors from the High Street Station, Kensington

Site of Harding Bros. shop.
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Inspector Hill

An inspector who makes a specialty of Saffron Hill and the Italian quarter.

131 Pitt Street, London

A quiet little backwater just beside one of the briskest currents of London life. No. 131 was one of a row, all flat-chested, respectable, and most unromantic dwellings.

Kennington Road, London

Morse Hudson’s shop in the Kennington Road.
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Lucretia Venucci

Lady’s maid to the Princess of Colonna.
There is no doubt in my mind that this Pietro who was murdered two nights ago was the brother.

Pietro Venucci

Pietro Venucci, from Naples, and he is one of the greatest cut-throats in London. He is connected with the Mafia, which, as you know, is a secret political society, enforcing its decrees by murder. Read More...

Mr Sandeford of Reading

An elderly red-faced man with grizzled side-whiskers was ushered in. In his right hand he carried an old-fashioned carpet-bag, which he placed upon the table.

Josiah Brown of Laburnum Lodge

A jovial, rotund figure in shirt and trousers.

Harding Bros.

The founder of that great emporium proved to be a brisk, crisp little person, very dapper and quick, with a clear head and a ready tongue.

Manager of Gelder & Co.

The manager, a big blond German, received us civilly and gave a clear answer to all Holmes’s questions. the production of the photograph had a remarkable effect upon the manager. His face flushed with anger, and his brows knotted over his blue Teutonic eyes.

Horace Harker

Mr Horace Harker of the Central Press Syndicate.
An exceedingly unkempt and agitated elderly man, clad in a flannel dressing-gown, was pacing up and down. He was introduced to us as the owner of the house.

Dr Barnicot

In Kennington Road, and within a few hundred yards of Morse Hudson’s shop, there lives a well-known medical practitioner, named Dr. Barnicot, who has one of the largest practices upon the south side of the Thames. His residence and principal consulting-room is at Kennington Road, but he has a branch surgery and dispensary at Lower Brixton Road, two miles away.

Morse Hudson

He was a small, stout man with a red face and a peppery manner.
It was at the shop of Morse Hudson, who has a place for the sale of pictures and statues in the Kennington Road.

Beppo

His name, it appeared, was Beppo, second name unknown. He was a well-known ne’er-do-well among the Italian colony. He had once been a skilful sculptor and had earned an honest living, but he had taken to evil courses and had twice already been in jail — once for a petty theft, and once, as we had already heard, for stabbing a fellow-countryman. He could talk English perfectly well.
Read More...

Inspector Lestrade

It was no very unusual thing for Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, to look in upon us of an evening, and his visits were welcome to Sherlock Holmes, for they enabled him to keep in touch with all that was going on at the police headquarters.

Inspector Martin of the Norfolk Constabulary

A dapper little man, with a quick, alert manner and a waxed moustache.

Inspector Lestrade

“The conduct of the criminal investigation has been left in the experienced hands of Inspector Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, who is following up the clues with his accustomed energy and sagacity.”

Inspector Lestrade

Lestrade, as wiry, as dapper, and as ferret-like as ever, was waiting for us at the station. Read More...

Inspector Lestrade of Scotland Yard

Inspector Lestrade of Scotland Yard.

Inspector Lestrade

A lean, ferret-like man, furtive and sly-looking.... Read More...

Dr John Watson

Companion and chronicler of Sherlock Holmes.

Sherlock Holmes

“Well, I have a trade of my own. I suppose I am the only one in the world. I’m a consulting detective, if you can understand what that is. Here in London we have lots of government detectives and lots of private ones. When these fellows are at fault, they come to me, and I manage to put them on the right scent." (Sherlock Holmes) (Study in Scarlet)
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