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short stories | novels | children's stories

"The Blue Eyed Dog" (2002 / 1980)
Included in: The Secret Files of Sherlock Holmes (Frank Thomas)
Story Type: Third Person Pastiche
Canonical Characters: Sherlock Holmes; Dr. Watson; Billy
Other Characters: John Bennett; Martin Trewlawney; Charles Trewlawney; Stationmaster Pierce; Lama, the dog; Dr. Devon Almont; Maid; Cook; Horace Ledbetter; Agnes Bisbee; Vincent Staley; Constable Farquhar
Locations: 221B, Baker Street; A Train to Shaw; Shaw Station; The Queen's Arms; Trewlawney's House; a Four-Wheeler to Marley; Marley; Ledbetter's Farm
Story: Holmes & Watson are called to the village of Shaw by John Bennett to investigate the death of Martin Trewlawney. His pet dog, Lama, was in the room when he was killed, so Bennett suggests that, as in "Silver Blaze", the killer must have been known to it. Holmes rules out Trewlawney's son as a suspect, but learns of a long-standing feud between the Trewlawneys, the Ledbetters and the Staleys. Unfortunately, of the two other suspects, one was in jail on the night in question and the other becomes the next victim.

NOTE 1: This story also appears as a chapter of Thomas's novel Sherlock Holmes and the Treasure Train.

NOTE 2: The character of Constable John Bennett of the village of Shaw is a clear reference to American Sherlockian John Bennett Shaw.

"The Four Detectives" (2002 / 1975)
Included in: The Secret Files of Sherlock Holmes (Frank Thomas)
Story Type: Third Person Pastiche
Canonical Characters: Sherlock Holmes; Dr. Watson; Mrs. Hudson; Mycroft Holmes
Other Characters: Arséne Pupin; Wolfgang Von Shalloway; Chan Chow Lee; lady carrell-Hews; Hugo Bessinger; Junius Crane; James Crawford; Inez Crane; SS Satanic Steward; Charles Storm; Bessinger's Butler
Locations: 221B, Baker Street; The Diogenes Club; A Carriage; The Archery Tavern
Story: Watson & Mycroft arrange a dinner meeting between Holmes & three of the world's other great detectives who happen to be in London. They agree to a competition to solve the mystery of the death of New York detective Bessinger, which appears linked to the disappearances of attorney, Crawford, and Junius Crane. Each comes up with his own solution to the mystery.

NOTE 1: Arséne Pupin appears to be a conflation of Arséne Lupin, C. Auguste Dupin & Hercule Poirot (constant references to "little grey cells"), Chan Chow Lee, likewise is derived from Charlie Chan.

NOTE 2: This story also appears as a bridge puzzle in Thomas's book Sherlock Holmes, Bridge Detective Returns.

"A Hand at the Throat" (2002 / 1978)
Included in: The Secret Files of Sherlock Holmes (Frank Thomas)
Story Type: Third Person Pastiche
Canonical Characters: Sherlock Holmes; Dr. Watson; (Inspector MacDonald)
Other Characters: Regina Braham; Gresham; Reggie Bonhomme
Locations: 221B, Baker Street
Story: MacDonald sends Miss Braham to Holmes - she had woken the previous night to find a hand at her throat. The culprit was scared away by Gresham, the butler, alerted by the noise of a lamp being knocked over. Nothing was stolen from the room. Holmes is able to link the incident to a series of jewel thefts and the house's former occupant.

NOTE: This story also appears as a bridge puzzle in Popular Bridge magazine.

"The Hoax" (2002 / 1975)
Included in: The Secret Files of Sherlock Holmes (Frank Thomas)
Story Type: Third Person Pastiche
Canonical Characters: Sherlock Holmes; Dr. Watson; Mycroft Holmes; Lord Cantlemere; Lord Bellinger
Other Characters: Apple Seller; Man With Eye Patch; Waiter; Homer Wren; Bartender; Drunk; Passer By; Mycroft's Men; Wells; Connaught; (Mahler)
Locations: Baker Street; Waldo Winchichester Bookstore; 221B, Baker Street; The Grenadier Tavern; Asiatic Imports office; A Hansom
Story: Mycroft lures Holmes, by a series of messages, to dinner at the Grenadier Tavern where he tells him of Wren, the failed inventor of a timing device for explosives who has now designed a machine gun. Wren has accused the government of stealing his timing design and using it for a timelock safe invented by Mahler. He has agreed to leave his gun plans in the safe until they can be viewed by Bellinger & Cantlemere. Holmes is asked to check the security arrangements for delivery of the plans, and is able to forestall a pickpocketing scheme. The plans are placed in the safe, but when it is opened they have been replaced with fakes. Wren claims compensation from the government, but Holmes is able to sort things out to everyone's satisfaction.

NOTE: This story also appears as a bridge puzzle in Thomas's book Sherlock Holmes, Bridge Detective Returns.

"The Pilfered Paintings" (2002 / 1973)
Included in: The Secret Files of Sherlock Holmes (Frank Thomas)
Story Type: Third Person Pastiche
Canonical Characters: Sherlock Holmes; Dr. Watson
Other Characters: Chief Constable Fenwick Truscott / Trescott; John Ehrlenvale; Lord Duncan; Oswald Sacker
Locations: 221B, Baker Street; Bath; Bath Police Station; The Fox & Crow
Story: One of the four Panamanian Girl paintings has been stolen. The paintings have a history of disappearances that Holmes has been following. In Bath, the police have taken into custody a cracksman, Oswald Sacker. Holmes deduces, from ashes found on his shoes, that he has burned the painting, and later, the police find its remains in the park. Under questioning, Sacker reveals enough for Holmes to deduce the true fate of the four paintings.

NOTE 1: The arbitrary nature of the spelling of the policeman's name throughout this story makes it unclear as to whether he is called Truscott or Trescott.

NOTE 2: This story also appears as a bridge puzzle in Thomas's book Sherlock Holmes, Bridge Detective, and as a novel.

"The Rajah's Ruby" (2002 / 1975)
Included in: The Secret Files of Sherlock Holmes (Frank Thomas)
Story Type: Third Person Pastiche
Canonical Characters: Sherlock Holmes; Dr. Watson; Billy; Mycroft Holmes
Other Characters: Hansom Driver; The Rajah of Alkar; Princess Yamasha; Mr. Jabowan; Bodyguards; Aaranan; Wells; (Hooglie)
Date: September
Locations: 221B, Baker Street; A Hansom; Great Eastern Hotel
Story: Mycroft summons Holmes to investigate the theft of a ruby from the bedroom of the Princess of Alkar. Arriving at the hotel Watson learns that Holmes spent some time during the hiatus, as Sigerson, in Alkar. Holmes deduces that the ruby was stolen, not because of its value, but because of the legend that when the ruby vanished the Rajah would fall. The box the ruby was kept in, given by the rajah's rival, Hooglie, reveals a secret, and an examination of the rooms fittings yields up the final solution.

NOTE: This story also appears as a bridge puzzle in Popular Bridge magazine.

"The Rangoon Jade" (2002 / 1979)
Included in: The Secret Files of Sherlock Holmes (Frank Thomas)
Story Type: Third Person Pastiche
Canonical Characters: Sherlock Holmes; Dr. Watson; Inspector Lestrade
Other Characters: Alexander Bostwick; Bostwick's Butler; Cedric Bostwick; (General Sternways; Mrs. Sternways)
Date: October
Locations: 221B, Baker Street; Bostwick's House, Sackville Street
Story: A valuable white jade ornament has been stolen from Bostwick's house. Footsteps on the lawn obviously indicate an outside agent. Holmes believes the answer is even more obvious.

NOTE: This story also appears as a bridge puzzle in Popular Bridge magazine.

Sherlock Holmes and the Golden Bird (1979)
Story Type: Pastiche
Canonical Characters: Sherlock Holmes; Dr. Watson; Mrs Hudson; Billy; Count Negretto Sylvius; Baron Dowson; Alec MacDonald; Sam Merton; Mycroft Holmes; Wiggins; Baker Street Irregulars; (Mrs Farintosh; Barker; Colonel Upwood; Inspector Lestrade)
Historical Figures: Dr Max Bauer; Edwin Streeter; (Jonathan Wild; Ali Pasha; Vasiliqia)
Other Characters: Nils Lindquist; Hansom Driver; Dowson's Assistant; Chinese Men; Slim Gilligan; Hansom Driver 2; Klaus; Berlin Carriage Driver; Chinese Hatchet Men; Berlin Policeman; Berlin Carriage Driver 2; Achmet; Vasil D'Anglas; Sergeant Dienstag; Policeman; Wolfgang Von Shalloway; Von Shalloway's Men; Orient Express Attendant; Nis Porter; Hassim's Salesman; Aben Hassim; Amos Gridley; Harold Witherspoon, M.D.; Crossbow Waiter; Constable Dankers; Lothar Gridley; Haven Customers; Haven Barman; Dave "The Dirk" Buckholtz; Selkirk's Grooms; Cedric Falmouth; Basil Selkirk; Slippery Styles; Diogenes Members; Club Manager; Baker Street Neighbour; Wakefield Orloff; MacDonald's Men; Giant Chinaman; Chu San Fu; Chinese Girls; Scrawny Chinaman; Hansom Passengers; Loo Chang; Meers; (Barker's Landlady; Chinese Sailor; Maurice Rothfils; Chu San Fu's Daughter; Inspector Schmidt; Woman who Found the Bird; Woman's Mother; Chinese Commission Agent; Whitey Burke; Halcroft Crouder; Police Commissioner; Sydney Sid; Messenger; Jean D'Anglas)
Date: Late Autumn some time after the hiatus
Locations: 221B, Baker Street; Soho; Nonpareil Club; Germany; Berlin; The Bristol Kempinsky Hotel; D'Anglas's Residence; Alexanderplatz; The Meldwesen; Zoological Gardens Station; Stuttgart Train; The Orient Express; Bosnia; Nis; Turkey; Istanbul; Golden Horn Hotel; Hassim's Shop; The Boat Train; A Train; St Aubrey; The Crossbow Pub; Gridley's Cottage; The Haven; Gridley's Shop; Selkirk Castle; Diogenes Club; Limehouse; Chu's Lair; Hansom Cab; The Strand
Story: Lindquist has been hired by D'Anglas to recover the Golden Bird statuette, which has been stolen in Constantinople. Holmes's rival, Barker, has been killed while searching for it in London. Lindquist, in failing health, puts Holmes on the case, by the following day Lindquist is dead. In Barker's lodgings Holmes finds a letter addressed to him which points him towards Baron Dowson and the Nonpareil Club, and an interview with the cracksman, Gilligan. In concealment at the Club they see Dowson and Sylvius with the Bird, before the place is overrun by Chinese and they are rescued by Gilligan. Gilligan tells Holmes about a murdered Chinese sailor and a missing Buddha statuette. From a second letter from Barker Holmes deduces that two rival collectors, one of them the Insidious Chu San Fu, and their gangs, are after the Bird.

Holmes is decoyed to Berlin where he tries to learn the real reason for the Bird's great worth. He and Watson travel on to Constantinople aboard the Orient Express and learn the truth about the Bird's disappearance. Returning to England Holmes endeavours to learn why they were lured away and comes upon the death of antique dealer Amos Gridley. Visiting Gridley's home town Watson gets involved in a bar-room brawl. They also call on millionaire art collector Selkirk who lives in the same town. Selkirk assures Holmes that the Bird will soon be in his possession. Sam Merton delivers it to Baker Street, and a disguised Watson smuggles it out and takes it to Mycroft.

Under siege in Baker Street, Holmes sets a trap for Chu's men. A book found in Barker's rooms suggests that the secret of the bird might be linked to the master criminal Jonathan Wild and eventually deduces what it is and how it is connected to Chu's daughter's wedding to banker, Rothfils. Watson is abducted in a hansom cab and finds himself in the lair of Chu San Fu. Holmes exchanges the bird for Watson, then makes plans to restore it, and its missing contents to their rightful owner, but is forced to crack a code when one of the principals dies, before finally learning the Bird's full history.

Sherlock Holmes and the Masquerade Murders (1986)
Story Type: Pastiche
Canonical Characters: Sherlock Holmes; Dr. Watson; Mrs Hudson; Billy; Athelney Jones / Peter Jones; Stanley Hopkins; Mrs Hudson; Lord Bellinger; Lord Cantlemere; Duke of Holdernesse; Mrs Farintosh; Duchess of Holdernesse; (Baker Street Cook; Dr Anstruther; Mycroft Holmes; Von Herder; Professor Moriarty; Alec MacDonald; The Moriarty Gang; Baron Dowson; Negretto Sylvius; Tobias Gregson; Francis Hay Moulton; Baron Maupertuis; King of Bohemia; Thurston; Lord Backwater; Inspector Lestrade; Lord Saltire)
Fictional Characters: (Lady Windermere; Duchess of Paisley)
Historical Figures: (Billy the Kid / Ledger; Florenz Ziegfeld; Bernard Spilsbury)
Other Characters: James Wyndhaven; Filbrick Straithway / Holbrook D'Arcy; Phineas Portney; Whitey Burke's Boys; Constables; Police Officer; Claymore Frisbee; Simpson's Waiters Cecil Brickstone; Brickstone's Companions; Simpson's Customers; Maitre D'Hotel; Quale; Frontnoy Leicester; Hansom Drivers; Waldo Wynn-Chichester; 'Get Rich Quick' Wallingford; Slim Gilligan; Lady Teasdale; Wallace Wailes; Harland Macy; Mabel Stark; Geoffrey Weems; Andrews; Slippery Styles; Swifty Summers; Hotel Guest; Vivian Sinclair / Gaye Farraday; Lacy; Teasdale's Guests; Bellinger's Escorts; Waiters; Orchestra; Harry Saunders; Burlington Bertie; Tiny; (Medical Team; Basil Selkirk; Manheim; Leicester Ltd Porter; Constable; File Clerk; Secretaries; Blatt; Wells; Johannes Schmitz; Sophie Athelney-Jones; Mrs Leicester; Reicher; Clive Franklin; Jake Biggs; Hoskins; Street Urchins; Mr Wilberforce; Mrs Macy; Macy's Friends; Sir Basil Teasdale; Messenger; Fenn)
Date: Winter
Locations: 221B, Baker Street; The Savage Building; Baker Street; Simpson's; Scotland Yard; Wynn-Chichester's Bookshop; Teasdale's House; Kensington; Wailes's House; Marylebone; Stark's House; Cartright Hotel; Tyburnia; High Holborn; Queen Street; Grosvenor Square Hotel
Story: Holmes receives a letter announcing a visit from stock appraiser, Wyndhaven, but at the appointed time it is Peter Athelney-Jones who arrives, with news that Wyndhaven is dead. A look of fear on the man's face, a cigarette burn on his tie, and the absence of the papers he should have been working on, added to the fact that salthough his medication was near at hand he did not take it, lead Holmes to reason that the supposed heart attack was not the actual cause of death. The following day they are visited by Straithway, claiming to be Wyndhaven's solicitor, and, after being shot at in their cab, dine with Wyndhaven's employer, Frisbee of the Inter-Ocean Trust bank. From him they learn that Wyndhaven was looking into a deal with the German steel tycoon and art collector, Manheim, and a German optiical firm, for Leicester Ltd, and that he specialised in spotting forgeries.

To Holmes's surprise, Commissioner Brickstone fully supports his investigation, and arranges a meeting with financier, Leicester, in whose offices Wyndhaven died. Holmes sets cracksman Gilligan the task of breaking into the building, and Watson calls on one of his patients, Lady Teasdale to assist. A search of the offices reveals stolen stock certificates infiltrated into Manheim's portfolio. After interviewing Leicester's executives, Holmes knows who and how, but the police will have difficulty getting a conviction A revelation by Lady Teasdale makes the case more complicated, as does her call on Holmes to enliven the guest list at her upcoming ball, for which he calls on Bellinger, Cantlemere and Holdernesse. He keeps watch on a lady and spreads rumours of jewel robberies, and has Jones search for a body in the Thames, to move the case towards a conclusion, which comes at the 'Surprise Ball'.

Sherlock Holmes and the Sacred Sword (1980)
Story Type: Pastiche
Canonical Characters: Sherlock Holmes; Dr. Watson; Billy; Mycroft Holmes; Alec MacDonald; Mrs Hudson; Wiggins
Historical Figures: (Mohammed; Tutankhamen)
Other Characters: Burlington Bertie; Cruthers; Mycroft's Driver; Clyde Deets; Pigmy; Deets' Gillies; Dooley; Slim Gilligan; Tiny; Alfred; Telegrapher; Chinamen; Red Lion Barkeep; Slippery Styles; Housebreakers; Carriage Driver; Rapp's Gatekeeper; Rapp's Butler; Sir Randolph Rapp; Ostend Stationmaster; Godolier; Wakefield Orloff; Howard Andrade; Aaron Lewis / Memory Max; Venezia Waiter; Wolfgang Von Shalloway Von Shalloway's Assistant; Sergeant Hammer; Heinrich Hublein / Frau Mueller; Colonel Gray; Loo Chan; Manchurian Wrestlers; Chieftain; Bedouins; Mahoot; Lieutenant; Sutherland-Argyle Regiment; Egyptian Graverobbers; Shadow Schadie; Chu's Men; Lascar; Ferret-Faced Halfbreed; Obese Chinese; Police Squad
(Attackers; Hansom Driver; Lawyer Simpson; Clyde; Litchfield Stationmaster; Blind Louie; Mrs Deets; Mannheim; Werdelin; Doctor; Asylum Attendant; Cairo Authorities; Puzza)
Date: After the hiatus, but before 1902
Locations: 221B, Baker Street; Waterloo Station; Surrey; Litchfield; Mayswood; A Train; Litchfield Telegraph Office; The Red Lion; A Freight Yard; A Train; Mayfair; Rapp's Residence; Belgium; Ostend; Harbour Station; Italy; Venice; Venezia Hotel; A Gondola on the Grand Canal; Rio de San Canciano; Andrade's Residence; Germany; Berlin; Bristol Kempinski Hotel; Alexanderplatz; Police Headquarters; Facility for the Criminally Insane; Egypt; Cairo; Shepheard's Hotel; Sharia Kamel; Native Quarter; The Pyramids; Luxor; Luxor Hotel; Valley of the Kings; Tutankhamen's Tomb; Chu San Fu's Lair
Story: Burlington Bertie brings a dying man to Baker Street whose last words point Holmes towards Chu San Fu. Holmes realises that the man had been brought to the wrong Holmes and is in fact one of Mycroft's agents. They find an Egyptian dagger on the body. Mycroft tells Holmes and Watson of fears of religious uprisings in the Middle East and the appearance of unusual antiquities from the Valley of the Kings that the dead man was investigating. The following day he is hired by Deets to investigate a burglary in which nothing was stolen from a room which was seemingly impossible for the thief to have entered or left.

Holmes discovers that his client's father had been an Egyptologist rumoured to be in possession of the Sword of Mohammed, a relic which could be used to foment religious uprisings. A delivery to Baker Street is part of a plot to steal the dagger. Holmes and Watson visit Deets's home, a racehorse breeding establishment, and after deducing the nature of the entry to the house Holmes sends Watson, Gilligan & Styles to keep watch on the house and the surrounding area. A fire masks another attack on the house, the sword is stolen, but Holmes has plans underway to retrieve it. Following Chu, he and Watson travel to Venice, to meet the Egyptologist Andrade whose recent translations have bearing on the matter. Andrade's assistant disappears.

Stopping in Berlin, Holmes looks into some unsolved police cases and visits an asylum. In Egypt Watson follows an old acquaintance and bluffs his way out of trouble, and saves a life on a trip to the pyramids. A deal with one of Chu's followers gives Holmes a riddle to solve which seems to point to the undiscovered tomb of Tutankhamen. In Luxor Watson re-encounters the chieftain whose life he saved, who takes him after Holmes into the Valley of the Kings and a pitched battle. Holmes makes a decision regarding the newly discovered tomb, but must discover why Chu did not enter it and just what he is looking for. Back in Cairo they are captured by Chu. Rescue comes from an unexpected source.

Sherlock Holmes and the Treasure Train (1985)
Story Type: Pastiche
Canonical Characters: Sherlock Holmes; Dr. Watson; Billy; Mrs Hudson; Alec MacDonald; Lord Balmoral; (Inspector Lestrade; Stanley Hopkins; Tobias Gregson; Colonel Moran; Francois Le Villard; Watson's Brother; Mycroft Holmes; Baker Street Irregulars; Dr Verner (Vernier); Prescott; Killer Evans; Professor Moriarty; Porlock; Moriarty Gang)
Fictional Characters: Lady Windermere; Duchess of Paisley
Historical Figures: Billy the Kid; (Alphonse Bertillon; Jack the Ripper)
Other Characters: Alvidon Daniel Chasseur; Board of Directors; Richard Ledger; Constable John Bennett; Lama; Agnes Bisbee; Horace Ledbetter; Claymore Frisbee; Dandy Jack; Slim Gilligan; Get Rich Quick 'Wally' Wallingford; Red Grouse Barman; Hananish's Servants; Hananish's Butler; Burton Hananish; Red Grouse Customers; Hananish's Men; Wakefield Orloff; Tug Captain; Red Grouse Innkeeper's Wife; Wellington Crowd; Wellington Majordomo; Baroness Jeurdon; Lady Lind-Mead; Gerald Stolte; Lord Arthur Seville; Odds On Olderman; Wellington Attendant; Jack Trask; Trask's Companions; Burlington Bertie; Tiny; Constable Sindelar; Train Conductor; Orloff's Men; Red Grouse Innkeeper; Hananish's Housemaids; Hilger; Chasseur's Secretary; (Ezariah Trelawney; Charles Trelawney; Dr Devon Almont; Pierce; Trelawney's Cook; Trelawney's Maid; Queens Arms Proprietor's Wife; Redheaded Stranger; Vincent Staley; Constable Farquhar; Watson's Patients; Ledger's Marksmen; Engine Driver; Fireman; Constables; Dandy Jack's Gang; Dr Goodbody; Ramsey Michael; Herndon; Matilda Herndon; Vanessa Claremont; Constable; Pathologist; Ezra Hinshaw; Bisbee; Cedric Folks; Shadrach; Folks's Hansom Driver; Haberdasher; Bank Examiner; Bank Teller; Lightfoot McTigue / Sydney Kokanour; General Sternways; Wolfgang Von Shalloway; Slippery Styles; McTigue's Woman's Sister; MacDonald's Constables; London, Tilbury & Southend Railway Officer; Chief Inspector Pyrott)
Date: After 1888 but before 1899
Locations: Waterloo; Birmingham & Northern Railroad Building; Aldersgate; Vegetarian Restaurant; St James's Hall; 221B, Baker Street; Trains; Herefordshire; Shaw; The Queens Arms; The Trelawney House; The Ledbetter Farmhouse; Freight Yard; Essex; Brent; Gloucestershire; Fenley; The Red Grouse; Hananish's Mansion; Blockhouse; Bermondsey; Wellington Gun Club
Story: Chasseur tries to hire Holmes to investigate the theft of a shipment of gold from one of his trains, but Holmes refuses to take the case. Returning to Baker Street, a telegram from Bennett takes Holmes and Watson to Shaw to investigate the murder of Trelawney, a banker. A blue-eyed dog, a local feud and anonymous notes , followed by the murder of one of the suspects complicate matters. On their return to Baker Street, Frisbee persuades Holmes to take on the railway case. Holmes sets Mycroft searching for large gold transactions, and examines the train, accompanied by railway security chief, Ledger. He visits the site of the robbery in the company of a smuggler and is shot at back at Baker Street. He realises that Trelawney's murder is linked to the train case, as is the murder of an art critic brought to his attention by MacDonald.

With the roots of the plot seeming to extend back to the Crimea, Holmes travels to Fenley to interview the financier Hananish, whom he believes is part of the plot, and receives a schooling in international finance. Watson is abducted. Holmes suggests to MaDonald that an old member of the Moriarty Gang may be behind the murders. He attends a shooting competition with Watson, and watches Ledger shoot, deducing that he is an American gunfighter, not the India veteran he claims to be. They return to the scene of the robbery and find themselves in a gun battle that ends with Watson being given Billy the Kid's Colt. They discover crates of brass in an old tin mine, and come face to face with two enemies, while the last of Moriarty's Gang meets his fate in another country.

NOTE: Constable John Bennett from the village of Shaw derives his name from the American Sherlockian John Bennett Shaw.

NOTE 2: The Shaw section of the book also appears as a short story in The Secret Files of Sherlock Holmes. See "The Blue Eyed Dog" above.

"Sherlock's Christmas Gift" (2002 / 1977)
Included in: The Secret Files of Sherlock Holmes (Frank Thomas)
Story Type: Third Person Pastiche
Canonical Characters: Sherlock Holmes; Dr. Watson; Billy; Mrs. Hudson; Catherine Cusack; Steve Dixie
Other Characters: Hansom Driver; George Spelvin; Slim Gilligan; (Constable Farquard; Duchess of Bromley)
Date: Christmas
Locations: Symphony Hall; A Hansom; 221B, Baker Street
Story: Catherine Cusack is being blackmailed by George Spelvin. Her part in the Blue Carbuncle affair will be revealed to her fiancée, Constable Farquard, if she doesn't aid him in burgling her new employer, the Duchess of Bromley's house. Holmes, with the aid of cracksman, Gilligan, the Duchess, and Steve Dixie, sets out to ensure that Spelvin's hold over Catherine is loosened.

NOTE: This story also appears as a bridge puzzle in Popular Bridge magazine.

"The Three Hats" (2002 / 1976)
Included in: The Secret Files of Sherlock Holmes (Frank Thomas)
Story Type: Third Person Pastiche
Canonical Characters: Sherlock Holmes; Dr. Watson; Billy; Inspector Lestrade; Tobias Gregson
Other Characters: Estelle Vollmer; Lester Slade; Howard Bemis; Martin Cobb; Claymore Frisbee; Slim Gilligan
Locations: 221B, Baker Street; A Hansom; Greymore office Building; Another Hansom; Limehouse; Sydney Sid's; Slade's office
Story: Estelle Vollmer tells Holmes of her employer, Slade, who has gone missing. Later Lestrade asks him to look for another missing man, a stamp dealer named Bemis. Holmes deduces that he has been given this task to keep him occupied while Lestrade investigates the higher profile disappearance of banker Cobb. Watson investigates Bemis's office, but finds only a locked safe. It requires the skills of cracksman, Slim Gilligan, to help Holmes prove that all three disappearances are linked.

NOTE: This story also appears as a bridge puzzle in Popular Bridge magazine.