"Somewhere in the vaults of the bank of Cox and Co., at Charing Cross, there is a travel-worn and battered tin dispatch-box with my name, John H. Watson, M.D., painted upon the lid. It is crammed with papers, nearly all of which are records of cases to illustrate the curious problems which Mr. Sherlock Holmes has at various times to examine."

Thursday, January 11, 2018

Sherlock Holmes and the Wood Green Empire Mystery (1985)

Sherlock Holmes investigates the real life death of magician Chung Ling Soo on-stage at the Wood Green Empire Theater in March 1918.

Was it murder, suicide (the most cold blooded ever), or an accident? The Wood Green coroner brought in a verdict of "death by misadventure." But Sherlock Holmes (lured from his bee-keeping retirement), knew better. Yet for certain reasons he did not divulge his findings, save to his faithful "Boswell," Doctor John Watson. 
In March 1918, a Chinese conjurer, Chung Ling Soo, advertised that he would catch bullets in his teeth on the stage of London's Wood Green Empire. Despite having performed the feat a hundred times, he was fatally wounded in front of several hundred people, dying within hours. 
Far from being an Oriental, he was discovered to be an American: William Ellsworth Robinson, who had filled press and public alike for all but twenty years with his Mongolian disguise. His "wife," the tiny "Suee Seen," also proved to be an American, and there had been domestic problems. 
The story presents a practical solution to a bizarre real-life mystery that in more than sixty years has never been resolved.

Title: Sherlock Holmes and the Wood Green Empire Mystery
Author: W. Lane
Year: 1985
Publisher: Magico Magazine
Purchase: Amazon (U.S.) | Amazon (UK)

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