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stephensmithuk · 10 months

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The Veiled Lodger

Published in 1927 (and therefore only entering the public domain in the US this year), this is our first story from The Case-book of Sherlock Holmes, the fifth and final volume of the Holmes short stories.

It is also the penultimate published tale in the canon. It is also the shortest.

"The politician, the lighthouse and the trained cormorant" sounds like the ending of a Kenan and Kel episode.

Brixton is under three miles from the centre of London. In 1888, it became home to the first street in the UK lit by electricity, which was called Electric Avenue. That's where the song comes from.

Brixton became a predominantly Afro-Carribean community after the war as many of the passengers from Empire Windrush were temporarily housed in the Clapham South deep level shelter; the nearest Labour Exchange was in Brixton and they subsequently found accommodation in the local area.

Milkmen were delivering daily milk deliveries to houses from c.1860 as the railways allowed for it to be delivered still fresh from the countryside. Milk floats were among the first electric vehicles as they were a lot quieter for nighttime deliveries.

The use of lions in circuses is still a thing in some cases, sadly, although public opinion has progressively moved against it.

Allahabad is now the Indian city of Prayagraj, the judicial capital of the state of Uttar Pradesh.

Sadly, I guess the poor lion was shot.

A discussion on Victorian attitudes to domestic violence can be found here. Had Eugenia Ronder been able to afford it, she would be have been able to obtain a divorce for adultery and cruelty at this time.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) was found in 1824 and has successfully lobbied over the decades for changes to UK law regarding animal treatment. The RSPCA brings private prosecutions, as any citizen can, against those who engage in cruelty to animals. It also has uniformed inspectors; these do not have police powers but work closely with the police.

Attitudes towards suicide progressively changed over the Victorian era, but it was still illegal. The practice of burying those who had killed themselves at a crossroads with a stake through their heart was banned in 1823, but it was commonplace for those who had killed themselves to be denied a full Christian burial, ending up in an unmarked grave. Church of England law on the matter wasn't changed until 2015, by which point the restriction was widely being ignored anyway.

There seems to be no specific prohibition in the 1896 Post Office Guide against sending prussic acid, aka hydrogen cyanide, in the post, but it is now definitely banned.

#letters from watson #veil #the veiled lodger #sherlock holmes #history #factoids #literature #oh here it goes

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skyriderwednesday · 10 months

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Things Sherlock Holmes sits like:

"a strange, lank bird"

"some strange Buddha"

#sherlock holmes #letters from watson #the veiled lodger #the bird quote isn't specifically a sitting position but it's the closest i could get off the top of my head

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mariana-oconnor · 10 months

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The Veiled Lodger pt 2

Team Lion represent!

Poor lion deserved none of this.

Then, having reassured her, we followed her up the straight, badly-carpeted staircase and were shown into the room of the mysterious lodger.

Wow, Watson. You weren't satisfied with insulting her last time, now you're insulting her interior decor?

From keeping beasts in a cage, the woman seemed, by some retribution of Fate, to have become herself a beast in a cage.

Watson is also on Team Lion!

Long years of inaction had coarsened the lines of her figure, but at some period it must have been beautiful, and was still full and voluptuous. A thick dark veil covered her face, but it was cut off close at her upper lip, and disclosed a perfectly-shaped mouth and a delicately-rounded chin. I could well conceive that she had indeed been a very remarkable woman.

And then he's getting horny on main again, because he is Watson and we all know Watson has three settings with descriptions of people: horny, disgusted, and animal references.

"Because the fate of someone else depended upon it. I know that he was a very worthless being, and yet I would not have his destruction upon my conscience. We had been so close—so close!"

She was either having an affair or she has a secret relative. My money is on affair.

The woman rose and took from a drawer the photograph of a man. He was clearly a professional acrobat, a man of magnificent physique, taken with his huge arms folded across his swollen chest and a smile breaking from under his heavy moustache—the self-satisfied smile of the man of many conquests.

Oh yeah, Watson is in horny setting atm. But also judgy. You cannot tell how many 'conquests' a man has had from his smile, Watson. I refuse to believe it.

"That is Leonardo," she said.

Leonardo???!

Although, from the description, maybe it's closer to this version:

It was a dreadful face—a human pig, or rather a human wild boar, for it was formidable in its bestiality. One could imagine that vile mouth champing and foaming in its rage, and one could conceive those small, vicious eyes darting pure malignancy as they looked forth upon the world, Ruffian, bully, beast—it was all written on that heavy-jowled face.

Animal imagery and disgust. Watson's really pulling out all the stops for this one. I like how Mrs Ronder is just 'compare, contrast' right up front, instead of actually explaining anything. This is a show and tell presentation.

"He tied me down and lashed me with his riding-whip when I complained."

What is it with these abusive spouses and beating their wives with riding crops? That's the sort of thing you only do after extensive discussion and clear, informed consent.

Welp, Team Lion is currently winning.

"We planned that he should die."

Oh, it was premeditated. Good for you.

"We made a club—Leonardo made it—and in the leaden head he fastened five long steel nails, the points outwards, with just such a spread as the lion's paw. This was to give my husband his death-blow, and yet to leave the evidence that it was the lion which we would loose who had done the deed."

Look, look, look, look. I am fine with killing the evil, abusive husband. Two thumbs up. Could not be more onboard with this plan. But blaming the lion. You couldn't have come up with a plan that didn't involve a poor animal being implicated and (presumably) put down because of it?

Come up with a different way of killing him and just give each other alibis. Don't blame the poor lion.

"Its hot, filthy breath had already poisoned me and I was hardly conscious of pain."

I... don't think lions have poison breath. Like I've never met one in real life, but I feel like I might have heard about that if it's true. And I especially don't think their breath is bad enough that you can't feel the pain from having your face eaten off. Not that I've ever experienced that either. I think it might have been the shock.

"When I came to myself, and saw myself in the mirror, I cursed that lion—oh, how I cursed him!—-not because he had torn away my beauty, but because he had not torn away my life."

I mean, understandable, but also you did keep him trapped in a cage, force him to perform for crowds and then frame him for murder, which I assume he was killed for. Like... you may have deserved just a leeeeettle bit of mauling. Karmically. Perhaps.

Then Holmes stretched out his long arm and patted her hand with such a show of sympathy as I had seldom known him to exhibit. "Poor girl!" he said. "Poor girl! The ways of Fate are indeed hard to understand. If there is not some compensation hereafter, then the world is a cruel jest."

I don't know why Watson is so determined to tell us that Holmes rarely shows sympathy when he shows sympathy in almost every other story. He shows sympathy to the characters who deserve sympathy.

And Eugenia here does deserve it, although it was a dick move to frame the lion. Her life has pretty much sucked. Can't blame her for trying to get out of it.

"Your life is not your own," he said. "Keep your hands off it."

Well, my last sentence was not supposed to be foreshadowing.

Holmes is not here for that Romeo and Juliet bullshit. (Not that this is about Leonardo dying, but still)

Although if she's already dying, would this be considered closer to euthanasia?

But she implies the reason she wants to do it is because of her face. I'm glad that Holmes is having none of that. The attitudes here towards her scarring are just all over horrendous. But I'm so glad this story ends with her choosing not to do it, because the message of 'if you are a woman who has lost her beauty and become disfigured your life is not worth living' would have been a horrible one. Glad they avoided that ending.

That was... short, and very messy. I'm glad she got out of the abusive situation, but I wish she'd actually been able to do something with her life rather than shut herself in her rooms forever to hide from the world. I'm also sad the lion had to die for her freedom.

Just very sad all over, this one.

#Letters from Watson #Sherlock Holmes #The Veiled Lodger #long post #The lion's fate was never confirmed so I choose to believe he was released into some sort of wildlife sanctuary #where he had a long and pleasant life #suicide mention

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intj-greenwords · 9 months

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Watson wielding his story of the politician, the lighthouse and the trained cormorant like a weapon

#letters from watson #the veiled lodger #lx reads sherlock holmes

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no-side-us · 10 months

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Letters From Watson Liveblog - Aug. 23

The Veiled Lodger, Part 2 of 2

The description of this place isn't great, so I don't know what Mrs. Merrilow is doing with the money Mrs. Ronder is paying her if not keeping up with maintenance and the like. She's old I guess, but all I'm saying is Mrs. Hudson would never. Speaking of, it would have been neat to have her feature in this story, what with her and Mrs. Merrilow both being landladies with peculiar tenants.

I wonder if she's like, a big fan, or someone who follows his work fairly passively. Like, how upset and happy was she when Holmes died and subsequently came back? Either way, she knows him well enough to know he won't always go to the police with information.

I get why she might've been upset with Leonardo for running away, but to be fair to him, it was a lion! And he did come back with some help. Although based on what she says he also never came to see after what happened, but still, I think he reacted pretty appropriately.

I like that Holmes can't help but ask a question about the murder weapon. I bet if he was involved at the time, he would have been able to differentiate an actual lion attack and the blow that killed Ronder because he wrote a monograph or something on large feline injuries.

I understand why Watson decided to write this one. Holmes may not have had an opportunity to display his powers and intelligence, but he did stop a woman from killing herself, which is worthy enough a story to tell, I think.

Part 1 - Part 2

#letters from watson #the veiled lodger #sherlock holmes #john h watson #eugenia ronder #mrs merrilow #ronders #leonardo the strongman #griggs the clown #mr edmunds #arthur conan doyle #liveblogging sherlock holmes

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thefisherqueen · 9 months

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I'm reading Letters from Watson's The Veiled Lodger today on this cloudy, quiet saturday morning. I'm so ready for the coming autumn! Give me rain, cold, long dark evenings to cuddle up in blankets and just do quiet things by myself. But I'll have to wait a while, it'll be sunny and warm again next week here in the Netherlands

When one considers that Mr. Sherlock Holmes was in active practice for twenty-three years Wish I could retire after only 23 years. I'd be halfway there already

There is the long row of year-books which fill a shelf, and there are the dispatch-cases filled with documents, a perfect quarry for the student, not only of crime, but of the social and official scandals of the late Victorian era. My librarian and social historian and archivist heart is fluttering at this

I deprecate, however, in the strongest way the attempts which have been made lately to get at and to destroy these papers. The source of these outrages is known, and if they are repeated I have Mr. Holmes's authority for saying that the whole story concerning the politician, the lighthouse and the trained cormorant will be given to the public. There is at least one reader who will understand. A very politely worded threat. Tread carefully, unknown citizen, I don't think that Watson will take kindly to any kind of danger regarding his dear Holmes. I do want to read about those buglary attempts, though. And certainly about the trained cormorant

But the most terrible human tragedies were often involved in these cases which brought him the fewest personal opportunities, and it is one of these which I now desire to record. So I'll need to prepare for a tragedy today? *grabs some tissues*

an elderly, motherly woman of the buxom landlady type What does that mean? *googles buxom landlady* Oh. Pretty much the only results are literal porn videos and erotic fiction novels. Not what I expected. Did Watson really just call her the victorian equavalent to a milf?

"This is Mrs. Merrilow, of South Brixton," said my friend, with a wave of the hand. "Mrs. Merrilow does not object to tobacco, Watson, if you wish to indulge your filthy habits. I hope Watson told Holmes to shut his nicotine stained mouth after this

Mrs. Merrilow has an interesting story to tell which may well lead to further developments in which your presence may be useful." "Anything I can do——" It's probably just a result of me looking up 'buxom', but this reads like the start of a porn script. Fucking hilarious

You say that Mrs. Ronder has been your lodger for seven years and that you have only once seen her face." "And I wish to God I had not!" said Mrs. Merrilow. "It was, I understand, terribly mutilated." Now that switches the mood around really quickly. Who did what to this poor lady's face

She seems to be wasting away. And there's something terrible on her mind. 'Murder!' she cries. 'Murder!' And once I heard her, 'You cruel beast! You monster!' she cried. It was in the night, and it fair rang through the house and sent the shivers through me. So I went to her in the morning. 'Mrs. Ronder,' I says, 'if you have anything that is troubling your soul, there's the clergy,' I says, 'and there's the police. Between them you should get some help.' 'For God's sake, not the police!' says she, 'and the clergy can't change what is past. And yet,' she says, 'it would ease my mind if someone knew the truth before I died.' I will really need those tissues, won't I? I like that women go to Holmes with their troubles, probably having heard from other women that he will be sympathetic and respectful and willing to help

Our visitor had no sooner waddled out of the room—no other verb can describe Mrs. Merrilow's method of progression Very, very unnecessairy addition, Watson

For a few minutes there was a constant swish of the leaves, and then with a grunt of satisfaction he came upon what he sought. So excited was he that he did not rise, but sat upon the floor like some strange Buddha, with crossed legs, the huge books all round him, and one open upon his knees. Holmes has the best poses

The caravan had halted for the night at Abbas Parva, which is a small village in Berkshire England really has the funniest place names

He was the rival of Wombwell, and of Sanger, one of the greatest showmen of his day. There is evidence, however, that he took to drink, and that both he and his show were on the down grade at the time of the great tragedy. A case of abuse in the world of show business, then

"They had among their exhibits a very fine North African lion. Sahara King was its name *does some reasearch* I learnt a new Thing. Apperently lions used to be quite common in north Africa. Since the 60's the local population is considered extinct in the wild. I guess, then, that it was the lion who attacked this woman

There was no other point of interest in the evidence, save that the woman in a delirium of agony kept screaming, 'Coward! Coward!' as she was carried back to the van in which they lived. Now that is curious. Did mr. Ronder assault the lion in some way, maybe, upon which it turned against them?

"I should think the whole camp was crying out by then. As to the other points, I think I could suggest a solution." "I should be glad to consider it." I think it is the first time so far that Watson comes up with his own theory? Keep doing that my dear :)

I fear I lied to him. Perhaps it would have been wiser had I told the truth." "It is usually wiser to tell the truth. But why did you lie to him?" "Because the fate of someone else depended upon it. I know that he was a very worthless being, and yet I would not have his destruction upon my conscience. We had been so close—so close!" Is she talking about her husband, which would make not much sense as he was already dead, or about someone else?

"You compliment me, madam. At the same time, I am a responsible person. I do not promise you that when you have spoken I may not myself think it my duty to refer the case to the police." Refreshing honesty from Holmes here

Reading is the only pleasure which Fate has left me, and I miss little which passes in the world. :(

"Those two pictures will help you, gentlemen, to understand the story. I think I know where this is going. Did ms. Ronder have an extramarrial affair with the strongman?

When I became a woman this man loved me, if such lust as his can be called love, and in an evil moment I became his wife. From that day I was in hell, and he the devil who tormented me. Husband was an abusive asshole

"Then Leonardo came more and more into my life. You see what he was like. I know now the poor spirit that was hidden in that splendid body, but compared to my husband he seemed like the Angel Gabriel. He pitied me and helped me, till at last our intimacy turned to love—deep, deep, passionate love, such love as I had dreamed of but never hoped to feel. So they did have an affair. But he was abusive, too. This is a very sad story

One night my cries brought Leonardo to the door of our van. We were near tragedy that night, and soon my lover and I understood that it could not be avoided. My husband was not fit to live. We planned that he should die. Murder! And then, after, the strongman also attempted to murder her? Oh, no, I think the lion was seen mauling her face. Something clearly went wrong

Leonardo could have saved me. If he had rushed forward and struck the beast with his club he might have cowed it. But the man lost his nerve. I heard him shout in his terror, and then I saw him turn and fly. That explains the shouting of 'coward!' Can't really blame the strongman for freaking out, though, that's a natural reaction

Its hot, filthy breath had already poisoned me and I was hardly conscious of pain. I think that was the adrealine, madam

When I came to myself, and saw myself in the mirror, I cursed that lion—oh, how I cursed him!—-not because he had torn away my beauty, but because he had not torn away my life. I had but one desire, Mr. Holmes, and I had enough money to gratify it. It was that I should cover myself so that my poor face should be seen by none, and that I should dwell where none whom I had ever known should find me. That was all that was left to me to do—and that is what I have done. A poor wounded beast that has crawled into its hole to die—that is the end of Eugenia Ronder." Very tragic. Cruel world, making her feel like she like she had to cover her face and hide away. The misogyny of it all. Is it really the worst thing that can happen to a woman, to get visible scars and deformities? Are our appearances really our whole worth? Men with scars are at least considered heroes. Women are just 'ugly'

But what of this man Leonardo?" "I never saw him or heard from him again. Perhaps I have been wrong to feel so bitterly against him. He might as soon have loved one of the freaks whom we carried round the country as the thing which the lion had left. She speaks with such loathing of herself. Horrible of Leonardo to abandon her

"Your life is not your own," he said. "Keep your hands off it." "What use is it to anyone?" "How can you tell? The example of patient suffering is in itself the most precious of all lessons to an impatient world." I will not cry I will not cry

Holmes held up his hand in a gesture of pity and protest What would that look like? I can't picture it

Two days later, when I called upon my friend, he pointed with some pride to a small blue bottle upon his mantelpiece. I picked it up. There was a red poison label. A pleasant almondy odour rose when I opened it. "Prussic acid?" said I. "Exactly. It came by post. 'I send you my temptation. I will follow your advice.' That was the message. I think, Watson, we can guess the name of the brave woman who sent it." She didn't! I'm so relieved. I need to believe she keeps in touch with Watson and Holmes and someday feels free to go outside unveiled

I made it without crying. Well, that was certainly a different kind of story than most of the other ones. Quite beautiful, though, it evoked some deep thoughts. I loved the ending

#letters from watson #sherlock holmes #the veiled lodger

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teaspoonnebula · 10 months

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#letters from watson #sherlock holmes #Veiled lodger

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dathen · 10 months

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Oh my god the salt and the DRAMA of this intro. It’s not every day we get Watson THREATENING HIS READERS. Readers who, apparently, have tried to break into their apartment to destroy Holmes’ files. INFUCKINGCREDIBLE I am OBSESSED

#the veiled lodger #letters from watson

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gregorovitch-adler · 3 months

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I love Watson.

#the veiled lodger #sherlock holmes #john watson #acd canon #bisexual watson #this story is so beautiful and one of the few stories I actually like from The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes #poor Eugenia Ronder #but Holmes asks her to not commit suicide at the end #and she listens to him #and Watson and Holmes are so good together in this one (as always)#the casebook of sherlock holmes

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the-american-writer-from-narnia · 30 days

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Me, getting ready to watch The Last Vampyre: This can’t be as bad as they say-

Me, at the end of it: Okay, it was.

#granada holmes #the baby died #I sat flabbergasted for five minutes #and the servant lady treated Jackie so cruelly and no one did anything #they had the wife saving her instead of the baby #although the implied vampire guy reminded me of Curse of Blackmoor Manor #and he was interesting #I forgot his name #poor Jackie #that one was an odd adaptation #I liked the noble bachelor though #even if it did combine it and the veiled lodger

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skyriderwednesday · 10 months

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I can honestly say I want to know 'the whole story concerning the politician, the lighthouse, and the trained cormorant' more than literally any other of the untold cases in the entire canon. How does one train a cormorant? What did they train it to do? How does the politician fit into it?

#sherlock holmes #letters from watson #the veiled lodger

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mariana-oconnor · 10 months

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The Veiled Lodger pt 1

Sorry I'm late to this one. Last night I had to bake a cake and it went wrong and then I had to try to rescue it and that went wrong so I had to try and rescue it in a different way and by that time it was past my bedtime and I am old and need sleep. Also, don't trust recipes. They lie.

Not that you really needed to know any of that, but yeah, blame the cake.

ANYWAY, back to the actual purpose for me gathering you all here today.

Which I assume is going to involve a lodger who wears a veil, but don't quote me on that.

When one considers that Mr. Sherlock Holmes was in active practice for twenty-three years, and that during seventeen of these I was allowed to co-operate with him and to keep notes of his doings

Alright, I assume we cut out the years when he was 'dead'... They started working together in 1881, so he stopped work in 1900? (was he gone two years or three, I forget. 1900/1901). That's not a particularly long career. Must be nice to be able to retire that early and still have enough money to have Watson as a kept man.

I don't know why I am bothering to try and work this out... time means nothing here.

I may say that the writers of agonized letters, who beg that the honour of their families or the reputation of famous forbears may not be touched, have nothing to fear. The discretion and high sense of professional honour which have always distinguished my friend are still at work in the choice of these memoirs, and no confidence will be abused.

Really, Watson, we've had this talk before. Some of your cases can't be difficult to work out for people who are connected to them, even if you change the names.

...well, I for one hope that whoever that is tries again. I want to know what that cormorant was trained to do. And why it's so scandalous. But it's fun to see a direct threat in here.

But the most terrible human tragedies were often involved in these cases which brought him the fewest personal opportunities, and it is one of these which I now desire to record.

So this is going to be tragic and Holmes isn't going to do a lot. Got it.

And we've finally left 1895 to jump to 1896.

When I arrived, I found him seated in a smoke-laden atmosphere, with an elderly, motherly woman of the buxom landlady type in the corresponding chair in front of him.

The what type? Elderly, motherly, and buxom. Does he mean landlady as in at a pub? I assume not because this is about a lodger. But still, this entire description is giving massive Nanny Ogg vibes. I hope she's as cool as Nanny Ogg.

"Mrs. Merrilow does not object to tobacco, Watson, if you wish to indulge your filthy habits."

Did you have to phrase it like that, Holmes. I mean, you're not wrong, but now I've thought of Nanny Ogg my brain is primed for a certain amount of innuendo.

"You say that Mrs. Ronder has been your lodger for seven years and that you have only once seen her face." "And I wish to God I had not!" said Mrs. Merrilow. "It was, I understand, terribly mutilated."

Rude. Okay. Nowhere near as cool as Gytha Ogg.

"Our milkman got a glimpse of her once peeping out of the upper window, and he dropped his tin and the milk all over the front garden."

I mean, looking up and seeing a face staring at you through a window when you don't know anyone's there is a classic horror movie jump scare. Maybe he just dropped his milk because he didn't realise he was being watched, not because of her face. Or maybe just everyone in this story is terrible.

"No, sir, but she gave hard cash, and plenty of it. A quarter's rent right down on the table in advance and no arguing about terms. In these times a poor woman like me can't afford to turn down a chance like that."

Oh no, the classic 'here, have so much money you won't question anything' ploy. Just this time from a woman. Little bit sus. Where did that money come from? I'd ask who she's hiding from, but at this point it might as well be everyone given how rude Mrs Merrilow is being about her face.

"Her health, Mr. Holmes. She seems to be wasting away. And there's something terrible on her mind. 'Murder!' she cries. 'Murder!' And once I heard her, 'You cruel beast! You monster!' she cried."

If the scarring on her face is as extensive as indicated, then some nightmares really are to be expected. I doubt she came about it in a way that wasn't traumatic.

Our visitor had no sooner waddled out of the room—no other verb can describe Mrs. Merrilow's method of progression.

Really Watson? No other word? She, at least, is going to know who you're talking about and she clearly reads your stories because that's why she turned up in Baker Street. You could absolutely have used another word.

...unless she dies over the course of this story. In which case I guess you can say whatever you want and she'll never know.

"Perhaps you would care to read the papers?" "Could you not give me the points?"

Lol. Watson does not want to go through all the reading right now, Holmes.

"They had among their exhibits a very fine North African lion. Sahara King was its name, and it was the habit, both of Ronder and his wife, to give exhibitions inside its cage."

Oh no. Poor lion. I kind of hope it got out and attacked them. Just a little bit. But then that wouldn't explain the 'murder' bit.

"It was deposed at the inquest that there had been some signs that the lion was dangerous, but, as usual, familiarity begat contempt, and no notice was taken of the fact."

The imprisoned wild animal was dangerous? What? No way!

I fully support this lion in whatever it chooses to do about this.

"Ronder lay, with the back of his head crushed in and deep claw-marks across his scalp, some ten yards from the cage, which was open. Close to the door of the cage lay Mrs. Ronder, upon her back, with the creature squatting and snarling above her".

The lion is innocent in all of this. It's been framed. Even if it did do a bit of mauling, it's still innocent. And I bet it was killed for it.

"Look at it from the lion's point of view."

Oh, believe me, I am.

"Well, if his skull was smashed in you would hardly expect to hear from him again."

Fair point, Holmes, fair point.

A third person, then. Which would explain the 'murder' and the 'coward' if they ran away and left her to be mauled.

"And why should it attack them savagely when it was in the habit of playing with them, and doing tricks with them inside the cage?"

You literally just said it had previously shown signs of being dangerous, Holmes.

"Edmunds told me that in his cups he was horrible. A huge bully of a man, he cursed and slashed at everyone who came in his way. I expect those cries about a monster, of which our visitor has spoken, were nocturnal reminiscences of the dear departed."

Not feeling a lot of sympathy for anyone involved in this disaster. Although it sucks that Mrs Ronder is now being treated like shit because of her scars. It's not like anyone knows how she got them. People are dumb.

Also, justice for the lion! He didn't deserve any of this.

So someone killed the husband by bashing in his skull, then somehow managed to make it look like the lion did it and ran off while Mrs Ronder was being attacked? Maybe she was having an affair with someone in the show? And her lover just peaced out when the lion started rampaging - honestly, fair. I too would probably run from a rampaging lion. Though I never intend to be that close to one. Whatever they did to enrage the lion was definitely a dick move, though.

Lion is currently the best character in this story.

But Holmes and Watson have to stop for some partridge right now. We'll have to wait until they've finished before we find out what really happened.

#Letters from Watson #Sherlock Holmes #The Veiled Lodger #long post

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