My presentation at the annual Sherlock Holmes dinner of the Bimetallic Society of Montreal on Saturday, January 22, 2011 – attended by a crowd of over sixty enthusiasts in spite of sub-zero weather – went rather well, even if I say so myself.
I prepared a semi-fictitious story for the occasion, constructed so that I could keep ‘em guessing for a quarter of an hour, until the very last moment. When I finally pulled the ‘rabbit’ out of my ‘hat’ (Holmes’ pipe out of a box) the room dissolved into laughter and enthusiastic clapping.
The venue was elegant, the food good, and the costumes fetching.
I was amazed to learn that there were over 800 active Sherlockian Society branches around the world, (we need another link here) each of which has one member charged with reading the obits. in the London Times daily to make sure no announcement of Sherlock Holmes’ demise has appeared. The Sherlockians hold that Holmes is still alive. Their ‘logical’ argument supporting such a belief goes something like this:
Sherlock Holmes was an important public figure.
The Times automatically publishes an obituary for every such person. 
No such obit has thus far appeared.
Therefore, Sherlock Holmes is still alive – somewhere.
QED – Quod Erat Demonstrandum.
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