The Stormy Petrels began the New Year with their annual Sherlock Holmes Birthday Brunch.  Nineteen Petrels and guests enjoyed food and fellowship at The White Spot Restaurant on West Georgia Street on January 5th.

Three current members of the Petrel Exec:

Orilea (one of my V.P’s)  Fran (President)  and Elsa (Retiring Treasurer)

The Stormy Petrels will meet for their first study session of 2019 on February 5th.

We will discuss a case involving:  a death threat, blackmail, disloyalty, a burglary, an offer too good to refuse and an affair.

As Christopher Redmond mentions in his Sherlock Holmes Handbook , “The issue in this affair, as in A Scandal in Bohemia, is blackmail at the point where sex and money meet.”

Now that I have your attention, you can join in on the discussion of The Three Gables on Tuesday, Feb. 5th. 7:00 pm at our usual venue – Hampton Place, Vancouver.

If you would like more information, please contact Fran at:  franziskah@shaw.ca

The story for discussion will be “The Mazarin Stone” published in the Strand Magazine and in Hearst’s International for October 1921.

Narrated in the third person, this adaptation is based on a one-act play, “The Crown Diamond: An Evening with Sherlock Holmes“, written by ACD.

The stage is set! We see scientific charts on the wall, an acid-charred bench of chemicals, a violin case in the corner and a coal scuttle filled with pipes and tobacco.  New to 221b is the curtain across a bow window, which allows room for a chair.

The story also features Billy – the boy in buttons, who welcomes Dr. Watson, which informs the reader that the good doctor is living elsewhere.

We see similarities with other cases. The “shooter of big game” reminds us of Colonel Sebastian Moran; the bust in the window reminds us of an incident from “The Empty House“;

The Stormy Petrels will meet at their usual venue – Hampton Place lounge at UBC, starting at 7:00 pm, Tuesday, December 4th.

We will be setting up our Petrel Tree – decorated with ornaments representing each of the 60 stories of the canon. Please feel free to bring such an ornament.

BONUS QUESTION:  What music was Holmes playing on his gramophone in order to fool his visitors?

“The Blanched Soldier”, the second tale of the Casebook, was published in Liberty Magazine (NY) in October 1926 and in The Strand Magazine in November 1926.  It’s one of the two cases which Sherlock Holmes, himself, had penned.

Where was Dr. Watson?  Holmes mentioned him throughout the story. Do you get the impression that Holmes missed him? I know I do!

What happened to Godfrey Emsworth as he fought in the Boer War and why was his buddy, James Dodd, looking for him?  Why did Dodd suspect Colonel Emsworth was hiding something?

What did the butler know?  What was the secret in the cottage in the garden?

Here we have one of Holmes’s most memorable quotes:  “When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”

Holmes uses the process of elimination.  Was there (a) a crime (b) a case of insanity (c) a disease?

The Stormy Petrels will be discussing this case at their next meeting.

When?  Tuesday, November 6 at 7:00pm

Where?  The Chatham, Hampton Place

If you would like more information, please contact Fran at:  franziskah@shaw.ca