EtcEtc: Litvinenko, Ipswich murders and Sherlock Holmes
The Russian connection is deepening in le' affair Litvinenko, an ex-KGB spy who was murdered by administering Polonium 200, which destroys and genetically modifies the cells in your bodies. Scotland Yard is making energetic enquiries, as far as Germany and Moscow.And now hot on heels comes the news, that there is a serial killer on the move in the dark alleys of Ipswich, prowling on its prostitutes and killing them in the most grisly manner. Yesterday the BBC telecast news that 3 more bodies have been found in Ipswich.
Ah, the romance of dark and dangerous crime! Time to dig out your Sherlock Holmes.
One can't but help wonder, how the great master would have dealt with these crimes. He was never in love with sensational crime. He was more upto the challenge of crime that was "singular" and "mentally stimulating".More than once Holmes had lamented the demise of the intelligent criminal, when he was forced to lie low, and take to cocaine to keep himself stimulated. He would probably have been far more interested in 'The Strange affair at Ipswich', more than the comparatively straightforward case of ' The Adventure of poisoned spy', which the Lestrades of Scotland Yard, are more than qualified to solve using their routine police techniques.
No Ipswich it would have been for sure, unless of course, the request to attend to the affair had come from "the highest levels of Government". Watson would then have been summoned with a "meet me at Paddington at half past 8, tomorrow morning, Watson"!
I have been such a huge fan of Holmes that in the good old (or rather bad old) days of Doordarshan, I used to stay up very late in the night, to watch the Sherlock Holmes series being telecast at an unearthly hour. Doordarshan also telecast the well known Holmes series starring Jeremy Brett. I loved this Holmes far more.
The last time I was in London on a business trip, I made it a point to visit Baker street and the famed Sherlock Holmes Museum. Every Holmes fan should visit this at least once. The attention to detail is truly exemplary and one can almost feeel the presence of Holmes, lurking in the corners. After checking out Holmes and Watson's bedroom, I went to their joint living room and stood near the window and imagined how London must have looked then.
I could almost hear the sound of horse carriages in the street below and the melancholy tune of Holmes violin in the background...
