From goodpenmanship: Sherlock Holmes advances forensic science with a new innovation.


"Listen to this, Holmes." It was the morning of April 3rd, 189-, and Holmes and I had enjoyed a quiet morning at Baker Street. There was little to occupy us, as Holmes had no case and I had no obligations until I was to meet Colonel Thurston for billiards in the afternoon. As was my habit, I had begun to peruse the morning paper, paying particular interest to anything that might provide Holmes with mental stimulation and thus escape the onset of the "black moods" that often plagued him in lieu of work. "Mrs. Raymond Steele of Bagshot Row has been arrested for the murder of her husband. Mr. Steele was found dead last week, his head having been smashed in by a terrible blow from behind. The primary evidence against Mrs. Steele is the large reddish stain found on her apron, and the testimony of her neighbors that she and Mr. Steele were not altogether happy in their marriage. Through painstaking examination of the crime scene, Mr. Lestrade of Scotland Yard was able to determine that the victim had been struck with a short club or rolling pin; a rolling pin fitting this description and stained with red was recovered from Mrs. Steele's kitchen, which was thereupon followed by her arrest."

Holmes glanced up from the beaker which he held, an expression of languid amusement on his face. "Is that all of the police's evidence, Watson? A reddish stain upon an apron and a rolling pin? I would be ashamed to hang a woman's life by such a slender thread as that. It is just as likely that prior to her husband's unfortunate death she was baking a cranberry tart."

"But how could you prove such a thing?" I asked. "Surely if Mr. Steele was struck with a heavy object in the shape of a rolling pin, and just such a rolling pin is discovered in the possession of his estranged wife and stained with red, we must assume it to be blood?"

"Watson, my dear fellow," Holmes chided softly. "Surely you have not forgotten the circumstances of our first encounter. It would be simplicity itself to test this sample using the re-agent I discovered. If hemoglobin is indeed present, as Mr. Lestrade assumes, then it is very likely that Mrs. Steele is guilty of her husband's murder. Yet if it is not, then the murderer is still very much at large." He rose to his feet, setting his chemicals aside. "It is our duty, Watson, to prevent a possible miscarriage of justice. Fetch me the box marked 're-agent,' if you please, and we will be on our way to Scotland Yard."