Sherlockian Story Summaries

S.M. Ghatak

WARNING: These are summaries, not reviews, and may contain story spoilers.

Click on these links for publication details of editions used for indexing

"The Case of the Abducted Cook" (2002)
Included in:
The Case of the Parson's Parrot and Other Stories (S.M. Ghatak)
Story Type:
Parody
Canonical Characters: Sherlock Holmes; Dr Watson; Mrs Hudson; Billy
Historical Figures: (Viceroy of India)
Other Characters: Lord Ayling of Chislehurst; Chislehurst Residents; Black Beard; (Professor Johannes Baumgarten; Lord Aetheling; Aetheling's Cook; Friar; Sir Adolphus Cattanach; Francis; Rashid Gul; Peshawar Turf Club Abdars; itinerant Pathan; Major Bob Cruickshank; SS Maidenhead Purser; Captain Philip Costain; Turf Club Waiter; Turf Club Gardener; Karamat Ali)
Date:
28th April
Locations: 221B, Baker Street; Chislehurst; Ayling's Manor House; Chislehust Station
Story: His plan to hold the Chislehurst Mayday feast in the grounds of Cattanach Hall stymied, Sir Adolphus Cattanach abducts Lord Ayling's cook, Francis. Lord Ayling consults Holmes.
Holmes sends Watson to replae the cook.

"The Case of the Bashful Bohemian" (2002)
Included in:
The Case of the Parson's Parrot and Other Stories (S.M. Ghatak)
Story Type:
Parody
Canonical Characters: Sherlock Holmes; Dr Watson; Mrs Hudson
; Boy in Buttons
Characters Based on Canonical Characters: Count Wilhelm von Kramm (King of Bohemia); (Baron Sigismond von Ormstein (King of Bohemia))
Other Characters: Miss Croxley; Sir Miles Masterton; Miss Barlow; (Messenger)
Date: September - December, 1887
Locations: 221B, Baker Street; Watson's Surgery; Baker Street; Bournemouth; Peachview Cottage; Bournemouth Station; The Shetlands; Unst
Story: The masked Bohemian nobleman Count Wilhelm von Ormstein arrives at Baker Street
. He is contending for the office of Moderator of the state of Bohemia agains his cousin Baron Sigismond von Ormstein. Sigismond has threatened to obtain and publish embarrassing childhood photos of the Count from their childhood nanny, Miss Barlow. Holmes and Watson call on Nanny Barlow disguised in Little Lord Fauntleroy costumes. The outcome leads to their retreat to the Shetland Islands.

"The Case of the Bearded Baritone" (2002)
Included in:
The Case of the Parson's Parrot and Other Stories (S.M. Ghatak)
Story Type:
Parody
Canonical Characters: Sherlock Holmes; Dr Watson; Mrs Hudson

Other Characters: Marcus Aurelius Fettucini; Amyas Butterworth; Opera House Audience; (Chapman; Qadir Khan; Colonel Sir Edmont Garnham; Pathans; Peshawar Police; Baker Street Neighbours)
Date:
November, 1893
Locations: 221B, Baker Street; Covent Garden Opera House; Euston Station
Story: Opera singer Signor Fettucini falls into the Baker Street rooms.
his voice is kaput but his mangers are insisting that he sings at Covent Garden that night. He asks Holmes to save his reputation.

"The Case of the Bibulous Bulldog Owner" (2002)
Included in:
The Case of the Parson's Parrot and Other Stories (S.M. Ghatak)
Story Type:
Parody
Canonical Characters: Sherlock Holmes; Dr Watson; Mrs Hudson; (Billy)

Other Characters: Adair-Jonathan Sidney Adair; Sir Cathcart Ashleigh-Bowen, Bart; First-Class Train Passengers; Trap Driver; (Lady Ashleigh-Bowen; Ramzak General; Ramzak Officers; Ramzak Troops; Waziris; Venetia Gilmour; Reverend Gilmour; Lady Susan Huntington; Lord Huntington; Captain Audrey Beaumont)

Locations: 221B, Baker Street; Baker Street; Hampshire; Much Sepington; Railway Station; The Rookery
Story: After Holmes has played the fiddle for several hours, Adair falls into the Baker Street rooms. His fiancée, Venetia Gilmour, has tripped over his bulldog, Bulstrode, and refuses now to remain under the same roof as the animal. Holmes, disguised as a gipsy, and Watson disguised as a bulldog. travel to Much Sepington to save the marriage.
"The Case of the Dancing Noblemen" (2002)
Included in:
The Case of the Parson's Parrot and Other Stories (S.M. Ghatak)
Story Type:
Parody
Canonical Characters: Sherlock Holmes; Dr Watson; Mrs Hudson

Other Characters: Lord Nordec; Sir Jasper Burgess; (Big Mac; Major Abner Pugh; Pathans; Ebenezer Pilchard; Big Mac's Neighbour; Mr Abercombie; Roland, Seigneur de Nordieux)

Locations: 221B, Baker Street; Watson's Surgery; Gloucestershire; Market Nordec; The Pig and Whistle; Burgess Hall
Story: Lord Nordec is being blackmailed into giving up his role as leader of the dance at the annual flower dance at Nordec Towers.
Holmes concocts a plan to lure the blackmailer into having his injured leg forcibly cured.
"The Case of the Devil's Spawn" (2002)
Included in:
The Case of the Parson's Parrot and Other Stories (S.M. Ghatak)
Story Type:
Parody
Canonical Characters: Sherlock Holmes; Dr Watson; Billy
Other Characters: Benito Seraphini; Londoners; Cabby; (Donaldson; Cousin Francesco; Sicilian Banditti; Pathan Elders; Major Archibald Holloway; Faqr-ud-Din; Pathan Dancers; Abdul Gafoor Khan)
Date:
November, 1887
Locations: 221B, Baker Street; Soho; Seraphini's Trattoria; Hyde Park
Story: Soho restaurateur Seraphini consults Holmes when his rstaurant becomes infested with mice so savage that they attack the cats he has bought to catch them. Holmes decides to lure the mice out with his fiddle.

"The Case of the Lame Centre-Forward" (2002)
Included in:
The Case of the Parson's Parrot and Other Stories (S.M. Ghatak)
Story Type:
Parody
Canonical Characters: Sherlock Holmes; Dr Watson; Billy; (Inspector Lestrade)

Other Characters: Colonel Richard de Graffe Harvey; Bagshaw's Hall Porter; Football Supporters; Football Players; Referee; (Gerald Byrne; Byrne's Friends; Mr Bagshaw; Major Jim Blake; Lance-Naik Dost Mohammad; Chitral Barrack NCO; Garrison Football Team; Yusuf Ali)
Date:
February, 1889
Locations: 221B, Baker Street; Baker Street; Bagshaw's Private Hotel; Buckinghamshire; Marlow; The Goat and Gherkin; Football Field; Aylesbury; The Jolly Musketeers
Story: Colonel Harvey consults Holmes when Gerald Byrne the Marlow centre-forward goes missing.
They track him down, but discover that he has a broken leg. Holmes decides that Watson will play in his place.

"The Case of the Moving Scarecrows" (2002)
Included in:
The Case of the Parson's Parrot and Other Stories (S.M. Ghatak)
Story Type:
Parody
Canonical Characters: Sherlock Holmes; Dr Watson; Mrs Hudson; Billy
; Inspector Lestrade
Other Characters: Sebastian Glover; Mildred Hamilton; Colonel Jonathan Hamilton; Hamilton's Neighbours; Mr Carruthers; (Count Leonid Petrovsky; Baron Sergei Orloff; Bird-Watchers; Private Doherty; Medical Orderly; Major D'Arcy Metcalfe; Tribesmen)
Date:
Monday in December, 1894
Locations: 221B, Baker Street; Norwood; Glover's Farm; Hamilton's House
Story: Holmes is consulted by Sebastian Glover, a farmer from Norwood, whose scarecrows are being taken down by a local group of birdwatchers.
Holmes decides that he and Watson will take the place of the scarecrows.

"The Case of the Parson's Parrot" (2002)
Included in:
The Case of the Parson's Parrot and Other Stories (S.M. Ghatak)
Story Type:
Parody
Canonical Characters: Sherlock Holmes; Dr Watson; Mrs Hudson

Other Characters: Reverend Joshua Benjamin Parker; Mrs Parker; Curate; Henry; Village Constable; Colonel Sir Alaric Trelawney; (Baron Lothar von Zundapp-Holstein; Major Reginald Carter-Hays; Carter-Hays Men; Afridis; Comtesse de Hautcloque; Comte de Hautcloque; Lady Cynthia Trelawney)
Date:
1894
Locations: 221B, Baker Street; Norfolk; North Walsham North Walsham Station; The Vicarage; Police Lock-up
Story: Parker, the vicar of North Walsham, calls at Baker Street, and after playing an extended version of Sonny Boy on his harmonium, tells them that his parrot, Patrique, has undergone a personality change, refusing to join in with his and his wife's evening hymn singing, preferring to sing Music Hall songs and expressing a desire for buttered rum.

"The Case of the Purloined Bible" (2002)
Included in:
The Case of the Parson's Parrot and Other Stories (S.M. Ghatak)
Story Type:
Parody
Canonical Characters: Sherlock Holmes; Dr Watson; Mrs Hudson; Colonel Moran
; Inspector Lestrade
Other Characters: Reverend Barnaby Adcock, MA; Lestrade's Men; (Binns; Inspector Hugget; Oxford Landlord; Wana Corporal of Servants; Major Almerick Longhurst; Colonel; Captain Asquith; Lieutenant Johnson; Hutchinson; Afridi Elders)
Date: Saturday 23rd April, 1895
Locations: 221B, Baker Street; Oxford
Story: Reverend Adcock, rare book keeper at the Bodleian Library falls into the Baker Street rooms.
The library's Gutenberg Bible has gone missing. Holmes and Watson travel to Oxford, where Holmes deduces that Moran is responsible for the theft.