I'm afraid
Will Baude is mistaken about Sherlock Holmes's death--
none of the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle stories mention Holmes's death (except for "
The Final Problem", where Holmes "dies"--but in
"The Adventure of the Empty House" he reveals that he faked his own death and bummed around Eurasia for three years before coming back to London.) Tradition--at least the tradition of The Game--holds that, as there has been no notice of the death of Sherlock Holmes, we must still regard Holmes as among the living until notified otherwise. And no, nevermind that he must be at least 142 years old by now (taking a later approximation of his birth, see King, 1995)--he's been beekeeping in Sussex for the past ninety years; he has access to royal jelly, and who knows what that stuff can do for you.
Works cited
King, L.R. "The Beekeeper's Apprentice; Or, on the Segregation of the Queen". New York: St. Martin's, 1995.
posted by Maureen at 12:15 AM
