"BUT THAT FELLOW DOES PUZZLE ME."

 

"An instant later the tutor returned, bringing with him the student."

Well, it is not exactly in an instant, but the tutor, otherwise known as the clever and funny Rich Krisciunas, has announced he is serving as the John H Watson Society Treasure Hunt master again this August; therefore, the student, me, is coming right along to see what craftiness he has planned for this year's hunt. He always teaches me something I didn't know about the Sherlock Holmes Canon, and invariably does so in an engaging and pleasant way. His quiz-ending ciphers are mind-boggling for a few of us. Rich turns up everywhere--what a gift he is to the Sherlockian community, and especially to the small but loyal Treasure Hunt community.

As I've mentioned before, the first JHWS "Buttons" Don Libey was a dear friend to me, and I've been a supporter of the Treasure Hunt since he created it in 2013. Don was a smart and funny and kind man who managed to accomplish a lot of work.  Rich seems very much like him. I think the two would have liked one another. I'm certainly grateful to have had a friendship with Don, and I'm very grateful to now be friends with Rich. 

I'm not sure my Sherlockian world would have ever grown far from my home group of The Sound of the Baskervilles if it had not been for Don and those early Treasure Hunts. I'm not sure if the SOBs will have a team competing this year but I'm hopeful. I'm also hopeful some of the TH stalwarts return, including Michael Ellis, Steve Mason, Paul Thomas Miller and Brad Keefauver, among others.

Rich posted five warm-up questions this past week. I spent a little time working on them over the weekend.  I enjoyed the process. I've put my answers below; I think they are correct. Only #5 gives me a little worry; the TH style wording makes me think I might have missed something as my answer seems mostly on point but doesn't feel 100% on point.   

Maybe someone will review my answers and let me know how I did.

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1. What object did Watson see on top of a bookcase?

Answer: Bust of Athene

Opposite was a large bookcase, with a marble burst of Athene on the top. --"The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton"

2. Who besides the King of Bohemia had the chest and limbs of a Hercules?

Answer: The pretend Russian Nobleman's companion who visited Dr. Percy Trevelyan

He was an elderly man, thin, demure, and commonplace-by no means the conception one forms of a Russian nobleman.  I was much more struck by the appearance of his companion.  This was a tall young man, surprisingly handsome, with a dark, fierce face, and the limbs and chest of a Hercules. --"The Adventure of the Resident Patient"

3. A store selling maps had the same name as a man arrested by Watson. 

Answer: Stamford's and Stamford

 As Annotated at  The Arthur-Conan-Doyle Encyclopedia: 

«After you left I sent down to Stamford's for the Ordnance map of this portion of the moor, and my spirit has hovered over it all day. »--The Hound of the Baskervilles

«'Stamford's' in the Strand and American versions. The real name was Edward Stanford's, map sellers, 26 Cockspur Street, Charing Cross.»

You remember, Watson, that it was near there that we took Archie Stamford, the forger. --"The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist"

4. What was the make of the car driven by Watson?

 Answer: Ford

The secretary lay back in the cushions of the luxurious limousine, with his thoughts so full of the impending European tragedy that he hardly observed that as his car swung round the village street it nearly passed over a little Ford coming in the opposite direction.

He was just in time to see the lights of a small car come to a halt at the gate.  A passenger sprang out and advanced swiftly towards him, while the chauffeur, a heavily built, elderly man, with a grey moustache, settled down, like one who resigns himself to a long vigil.

The thick-set chauffeur, who had seated himself by the table, pushed forward his glass with some eagerness. 'It is a good wine, Holmes.' 'A remarkable wine, Watson.'-- "His Last Bow"

5. He taught him how to convert stolen property into money.

Answer: Maudsley taught James Ryder

I had a friend once called Maudsley, who went to the bad, and has just been serving his time in Pentonville. One day he had met me, and fell into talk about the ways of thieves and how they could get rid of what they stole. I knew that he would be true to me, for I knew one or two things about him, so I made up my mind to go right on to Kilburn, where he lived, and take him into my confidence. He would show me how to turn the stone into money. -- "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle"