Wednesday, September 18, 2019

"I Guess We Can Call the Mystery Unravelled!"

THE FOLLOWING bit of nonsense, one of a legion of Sherlock Holmes spoofs, does make at least one noteworthy point about ACD's Holmes/Watson duo, namely how Sherlock didn't always employ his vaunted deductive prowess to find a solution to the crime . . .

"The Mystery of the Missing Shirt."
By A. E. Swoyer (?-?).
"(With abject apologies to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.)"
First appearance: The Black Cat, October 1911.
Short short story (5 pages).
Online at Hathi Trust (HERE) and Archive.org (HERE).

     "The real brainy criminal has learned that it is easier and more genteel to start a bank than to break into one; while the monetary results are the same."

The solemn task of every Great Detective is to bring together the various clue threads into a fabric which elucidates the mystery; some Great Detectives, however, just aren't that good at knitting . . .

Resource:
- FictionMags credits Alfred Edward Swoyer with 10 stories (1911-16), with today's story being his second sale. Apart from that, we know nothing else about him.
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