# Plot holes in Sherlock Holmes stories (wide open spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 20, 2019, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-holes-in-sherlock-holmes-stories-wide-open-spoilers/843691 "2019-11-20T04:13:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2019, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-holes-in-sherlock-holmes-stories-wide-open-spoilers/843691/1 "2019-11-20T04:13:38Z")
I’ve been rerreading a lot of Holmes lately. Here’s a couple big plot holes. As I mentioned in the thread title, I am spoiling these 100 year old mysteries. 1. The Red Headed League. If the league was specifically set up to get the pawnbroker out of the store, then why would be there be a huge crowd when the pawnbroker went to apply? Remember, the assistant had to tell the pawnbroker what the league was. Also, when the league disbanded, wouldn’t the landlord have noticed such a large crowd of red headed men a few weeks prior? 2. The 5 Orange Pips. Would Holmes really know of the KKK? I’m not sure that would have made the papers in London, plus Holmes went out of his way to not know anything that wasn’t relevant to his work. Also, when the last murder occurred, would it really have made The Times morning edition when he died between 9-10 PM? ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2019, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-holes-in-sherlock-holmes-stories-wide-open-spoilers/843691/2 "2019-11-20T04:46:55Z")
As to #2, Holmes made a point to keep up to date with the activities of criminal organizations, He was also familiar with America (A Study in Scarlett). ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2019, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-holes-in-sherlock-holmes-stories-wide-open-spoilers/843691/3 "2019-11-20T05:30:46Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > 1. The 5 Orange Pips. Would Holmes really know of the KKK? I’m not sure that would have made the papers in London, plus Holmes went out of his way to not know anything that wasn’t relevant to his work. I can’t imagine Arthur Conan Doyle being even marginally aware of anything (excepting medical arcana, that’s what Watson was for) that Holmes wasn’t intensely aware of. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2019, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-holes-in-sherlock-holmes-stories-wide-open-spoilers/843691/4 "2019-11-20T05:31:21Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > 1. The Red Headed League. If the league was specifically set up to get the pawnbroker out of the store, then why would be there be a huge crowd when the pawnbroker went to apply? Remember, the assistant had to tell the pawnbroker what the league was. It was advertised in the newspaper (“The Morning Chronicle of April 27, 1890”) and lots of red-headed people responded (free money? why not!), which presumably made it look more legit to Jabez Wilson. The assistant just made sure he didn’t miss the ad. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2019, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-holes-in-sherlock-holmes-stories-wide-open-spoilers/843691/5 "2019-11-20T12:48:05Z")
Regarding Holmes’ knowledge of the KKK – Holmes might have been unaware of the Copernican System, but he kept up on everything related to crime, so his knowledge of the KKK is completely within his boundaries. as one critic remarked, Doyle seemed to see the United States as “crawling with murderous secret societies”. It started with a Mormon group in the very first Sherlock Holmes story, _A Study in Scarlet_ (probably inspired by he Danites, but not named as such), goes on to the KKK in _Orange Pips_, a Chicago crime group in _Dancing Men_, and “The Scowrers” (obviously based on the Molly Maguires) in _The Valley of Fear_. Holmes also joined an Irish criminal group in _His Last Bow[_. He also faced off against The Mafia in _The Six Napoleons_, which I find surprising – who else was writing about the Mafia in the late 19th century? But Holmes’ Mafia group was based in London, not America. I’ve probably missed several instances. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2019, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-holes-in-sherlock-holmes-stories-wide-open-spoilers/843691/6 "2019-11-20T14:17:37Z")
Most obvious was “The Speckled Band.” The snake is drawn back to its owner by “a low, clear whistle.” But snakes have no ears and cannot hear the pitch of a whistle. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2019, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-holes-in-sherlock-holmes-stories-wide-open-spoilers/843691/7 "2019-11-20T14:31:16Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > It was advertised in the newspaper (“The Morning Chronicle of April 27, 1890”) and lots of red-headed people responded (free money? why not!), which presumably made it look more legit to Jabez Wilson. The assistant just made sure he didn’t miss the ad. A modern version of the story would call the mob of redheads a flash crowd. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2019, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-holes-in-sherlock-holmes-stories-wide-open-spoilers/843691/8 "2019-11-20T14:52:47Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Regarding Holmes’ knowledge of the KKK – Holmes might have been unaware of the Copernican System, but he kept up on everything related to crime, so his knowledge of the KKK is completely within his boundaries. Speaking of which, I’m not so sure Holmes actually was unaware of the Copernican System. He may have been yanking Watson’s chain. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2019, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-holes-in-sherlock-holmes-stories-wide-open-spoilers/843691/9 "2019-11-20T15:06:54Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Most obvious was “The Speckled Band.” The snake is drawn back to its owner by “a low, clear whistle.” But snakes have no ears and cannot hear the pitch of a whistle. Ooh, that’s a good one. A clear, scientific fact that Doyle didn’t adequately research (hmm, was “snake charmer music”, where the sound of a flute hypnotizes the snake, just considered common knowledge?). My contribution: (I read so many Sherlock stories as a kid that I have no idea which one it was) There was a river of blood running out from under a door. When opened, they crossed the room to a stabbed body under the window. I remember thinking “How much blood did that guy have to make a river across the room and under the door?” And there are a number of instances where Holmes will see one clue and say “Aha! I now know he was murdered, how the murder occurred, and who did it!” ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2019, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-holes-in-sherlock-holmes-stories-wide-open-spoilers/843691/10 "2019-11-20T15:08:31Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Speaking of which, I’m not so sure Holmes actually was unaware of the Copernican System. He may have been yanking Watson’s chain. I’ve wondered about that as well. Holmes’s stated reason for not knowing the Copernican System is that he doesn’t want to clutter up his “brain attic” with information that isn’t relevant to his work of crime-solving. And yet he’s been perfectly willing to devote considerable brain attic space to learning how to play the violin, which hardly seems like vital crime-solving knowledge. Holmes knows more than he’s willing to let on. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2019, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-holes-in-sherlock-holmes-stories-wide-open-spoilers/843691/11 "2019-11-20T16:01:09Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Most obvious was “The Speckled Band.” The snake is drawn back to its owner by “a low, clear whistle.” But snakes have no ears and cannot hear the pitch of a whistle. Roylett also fed the snake on milk, which of course snakes don’t eat and can’t digest. And there is no such thing as an Indian Swamp Adder. (Roylett should instead have fed his fictional snake on Giant Rats from Sumatra.;)) The story also depends on the two step-daughters being so unobservant that they don’t notice (or at least don’t put any significance on the facts) that the ventilator in the bedroom goes to the next room (rather than outside, as it should to be of any use), the bell-pull is a dummy, and the bed is bolted to the floor. The story was included on our reading list in high school. Although it’s regarded as one of the greatest Sherlock Holmes stories, my English teacher used it as a glaring example of bad writing. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2019, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-holes-in-sherlock-holmes-stories-wide-open-spoilers/843691/12 "2019-11-20T16:02:16Z")
One would think that even if Holmes did have such an odd hole in his knowledge, he would have remedied that in order to read and understand Moriarty’s paper “On the Dynamics of an Asteroid.” ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2019, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-holes-in-sherlock-holmes-stories-wide-open-spoilers/843691/13 "2019-11-20T17:10:57Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Most obvious was “The Speckled Band.” The snake is drawn back to its owner by “a low, clear whistle.” But snakes have no ears and cannot hear the pitch of a whistle. Actually, to me the most obvious is _The Adventure of the Creeping Man_, in which a man is injected with serum from lemurs in an attempt at rejuvenation, and ends acting like a lemur. Right > **[The Adventure of the Creeping Man](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adventure_of_the_Creeping_Man)** > > "The Adventure of the Creeping Man" (1923) is one of 12 Sherlock Holmes short stories by Arthur Conan Doyle collected in The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes (1927). The story was first published in The Strand Magazine in the United Kingdom and Hearst's International in the United States in March 1923. Watson states at the beginning of the story that this case was among the last that Holmes investigated before retiring to Sussex in 1903. > A man named Trevor Bennett, the personal secretary of one P... ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2019, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-holes-in-sherlock-holmes-stories-wide-open-spoilers/843691/14 "2019-11-20T17:20:56Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Actually, to me the most obvious is _The Adventure of the Creeping Man_, in which a man is injected with serum from lemurs in an attempt at rejuvenation, and ends acting like a lemur. Right > > [The Adventure of the Creeping Man - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adventure_of_the_Creeping_Man) Leading to the inevitable crossover with Zoboomafoo ([Zoboomafoo - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoboomafoo)) ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2019, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-holes-in-sherlock-holmes-stories-wide-open-spoilers/843691/15 "2019-11-20T17:59:44Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Ooh, that’s a good one. A clear, scientific fact that Doyle didn’t adequately research (hmm, was “snake charmer music”, where the sound of a flute hypnotizes the snake, just considered common knowledge?). It was common knowledge, but what’s not commonly known is that the snake is not listening to the music, but rather following the motions of the flautist. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2019, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-holes-in-sherlock-holmes-stories-wide-open-spoilers/843691/16 "2019-11-20T18:19:05Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > I’ve been rerreading a lot of Holmes lately. > > Here’s a couple big plot holes. As I mentioned in the thread title, I am spoiling these 100 year old mysteries. > > 1. The Red Headed League. If the league was specifically set up to get the pawnbroker out of the store, then why would be there be a huge crowd when the pawnbroker went to apply? Remember, the assistant had to tell the pawnbroker what the league was. Also, when the league disbanded, wouldn’t the landlord have noticed such a large crowd of red headed men a few weeks prior? Besides the ad attracting people, it’s certainly possible that the assistant went out and hired a crowd, in order to sell the con a bit more (after all, he wanted the pawnbroker to feel like there was a lot of competition, so he’d value the job enough to keep showing up). ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2019, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-holes-in-sherlock-holmes-stories-wide-open-spoilers/843691/17 "2019-11-20T18:52:41Z")
I believe there were a couple of stories where Holmes deduced the sex and even the character of a person based on their handwriting. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2019, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-holes-in-sherlock-holmes-stories-wide-open-spoilers/843691/18 "2019-11-20T19:30:47Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Actually, to me the most obvious is _The Adventure of the Creeping Man_, in which a man is injected with serum from lemurs in an attempt at rejuvenation, and ends acting like a lemur. Right Nitpick: langur, which is a kind of monkey, rather than lemur. Such “monkey-gland” treatments, including transplantation, were in vogue during the 1920s, when the story was written. Although the idea that this would result in simian behavior was parodied in cartoons, I don’t know that anyone ever proposed it seriously. ---
**Author:** ![Rough\_Draft](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/76d3ee/32.png) [@Rough\_Draft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rough_Draft)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2019, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-holes-in-sherlock-holmes-stories-wide-open-spoilers/843691/19 "2019-11-20T21:25:49Z")
This post isn’t really about plot holes; I just like discussions about Arthur Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes. It’s interesting to note that Conan Doyle liked the plot gimmick in _The Red-Headed League_ so much that he used it at least twice more in later stories (_The Adventure of the Three Garridebs_ and _The Adventure of the Stockbroker’s Clerk_). Also, it’s well known that Conan Doyle grew very weary of creating mysteries for Holmes to solve. It seems to me that in later years he took advantage of more liberal ideas about what was allowed in published fiction in the 1920s (as opposed to 30 years earlier) and sometimes relied on lurid plot elements to make a story enjoyable. _The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger_ and _The Adventure of the Cardboard Box_ come to mind. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2019, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-holes-in-sherlock-holmes-stories-wide-open-spoilers/843691/20 "2019-11-20T21:37:54Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > 1. The 5 Orange Pips. Would Holmes really know of the KKK? I’m not sure that would have made the papers in London, If Doyle knew of it, then it’s reasonable for Holmes to have known of it. > [@](#): > > plus Holmes went out of his way to not know anything that wasn’t relevant to his work. As others have said, it’s a criminal organization, so not irrelevant to his work. > [@](#): > > Also, when the last murder occurred, would it really have made The Times morning edition when he died between 9-10 PM? Newspapers used to publish several times a day, especially in big cities. I don’t know exactly how the publishing schedule would have worked, but it’s not unreasonable for such a thing to happen. I know that in the 1990s, if a murder happened before midnight, there was plenty of time to get it into the next morning’s edition. It just depends whether a reporter was in the right place and time to find out about it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plot-holes-in-sherlock-holmes-stories-wide-open-spoilers/843691.md?page=2)