Sherlock Holmes and the Remaining Improbable

From his rural cottage, Holmes no longer provokes Scotland Yard’s envy or his landlady’s impatience, but neither is he content with the study of bees. August 1920 finds him filling out entry papers at a nearly defunct psychiatric clinic on the Normandy coast. England has declared his cocaine use illegal and he aims to quit entirely. Confronted by a question as to his treatment goal, Holmes hesitates, aware that his real goal far exceeds the capacity of any clinic. His scribbled response, “n...