I would have done a better job, actually, if I weren't on painkillers for a tooth problem.

I first read Holmes in a children's edition years ago -- I remember reading "The Five Orange Pips" in bed by flashlight while eating an orange and wondering what "pips" were. The "Red-Headed League", "Sign of Four" and others were in the book, which finally fell apart from use.

Perhaps my brothers and I were attracted to Holmes because of his chemical work at 221B -- we felt a kindred spirit, as we were doing chemical "experiments" (about which the least said the better) in our shared bedroom. It was probably just as well that we couldn't get a salon pistol and Boxer cartridges.

No, I'm not a member of the BSI.