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ANSWERS TO THE STORY MEMENTO QUIZ:

1. Persian slipper                                 e. The Empty House

The story for this meeting was The Empty House and the Persian slipper was mentioned in that story. The actual quote--Watson's classic description of Holmes as a roommate--was actually from The Musgrave Ritual. If you matched 1-B, you'd be right but you'd be in trouble, because you need B for another item.

2. Vatican cameos                               d. The Hound of the Baskervilles

This is the kind of little obscure factoid that always pops up in a Sherlockian quiz--The Vatican Cameos wasn't a real case, it was just mentioned in The Hound of the Baskervilles. Unfortunately, the quote doesn't give a clue about the Hound... but the cameos are nice, aren't they?

3. Black-and-white ivory box               a. The Dying Detective

A dramatic picture indeed, as Holmes rises up from his "deathbed" to tell Watson to quit rummaging through the stuff on his mantelpiece.

4. Emerald tie-pin                                 g. The Bruce-Partington Plans

Now there's a freebie to make up for the Vatican cameos--the "certain gracious lady" was Queen Victoria, of course.

5. Masonic breast-pin                           k. The Red-Headed League

For this one you have to know that Jabez Wilson had red hair--I love the way Holmes deduces things about people, don't you?

6. Black pearl                                       j. The Six Napoleons

This one was pretty easy too, since the quote mentioned Napoleon.

7. Countess's jewel                               f. The Blue Carbuncle

We know the jewel is blue, but a dermatologist might get confused about a carbuncle. By the way, this is the only Christmas story in the Canon.

8. Tiny hypodermic syringe                   c. The Missing Three-Quarter

We know Holmes has a little problem with cocaine--but this quote is fun because he uses the syringe for something else. Pompey is "something between a beagle and a foxhound... a staunch hound on a scent."

9. Pocket-compass                              b. The Musgrave Ritual

Stepping off the points of a compass following directions from a Ritual could only mean that this is the Musgrave quote.

10. Magnifying lens                               i. The Norwood Builder

Of course Holmes uses his magnifying lens a lot, but this quote was interesting because although they'd just learned about fingerprints someone had already figured out how to fake one.

11. Ichneumon                                      h. The Crooked Man

I don't think you'd get this one without a picture... ichneumon is another name for the Egyptian mongoose (Herpestes ichneumon). The story behind this horrid little item is that Ben bought it in an antique shop in Amsterdam and carried it around until he got to England where he brought it to a breakfast of British dermatologists who learned more about Sherlock Holmes that morning than they might have wanted to know. Here you can see the typical response to Teddy at the Sir James Saunders Society meeting in Washington DC. (left to right, Barbara Craine, Kenneth Johnson, Mary Maden.)