Elementary
There’s a knock on your door. Upon opening it, you find yourself facing a man dressed distinctly like Sherlock Holmes. He informs you that he is a detective, and that you are a suspect in the disappearance of a person named John Watson. What happens next?
May 22nd is Sherlock Holmes Day. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes, wrote a total of 56 short stories and four novels about the character, most of which are told from the perspective of Dr. Watson.
Fun fact: Contrary to popular belief, in those stories, Holmes never utters the phrase "Elementary, my dear Watson," though he does occasionally say similar things and use portions of the phrase. He was also not described wearing his iconic deerstalker hat—though that image has become so thoroughly entwined with the character since then that it can be seen in most depictions of him, including a statue at the London Baker Street Station (pictured above).
The Prompt
There's a knock on your door. Upon opening it, you find yourself facing a man dressed distinctly like Sherlock Holmes. He informs you that he is a detective, and that you are a suspect in the disappearance of a person named John Watson. What happens next?
Jess Zafarris is the Executive Director of Marketing & Communications for Gotham Ghostwriters and the former Digital Content Director for Writer’s Digest. Her eight years of experience in digital and print content direction include such roles as editor-in-chief of HOW Design magazine and online content director of HOW and PRINT magazine, as well as writing for the Denver Business Journal, ABC News, and the Memphis Commercial Appeal. She spends much of her spare time researching curious word histories and writing about them at UselessEtymology.com. Follow her at @jesszafarris or @uselessety on Twitter.
