There's a New (Featured) Detective in Town...

The Dear Holmes “Featured Detective” Program honors one detective per mystery for their clever and well-thought-out solution to the case. To learn how to send in your own solution, visit Dearholmes.com/solve.

Detectives,

The Dear Holmes Team hopes everybody has been able to (safely!) enjoy the arrival of a new season! After receiving an extraordinary amount of assistance from correspondent detectives near and far, we are finally able to announce a Featured Detective for The Benign Banker.

This mystery followed a concerned banker, William Fallon, as he questioned the credibility of a traveling scientist going by the name “Robert Beddoes”. A number of detectives suspected that Mr. Beddoes was obscuring his intentions, if not his identity as well, but few were able to pinpoint his precise motives. Even fewer were able to do so as decisively and expeditiously as our newest Featured Detective, Detective David M., of Charlottesville, VA.

Transparently, The Benign Banker elicited an unbelievable number of thoroughly accurate assessments – Some investigators, like Detective Kittredge L., submitted refreshingly incisive analyses of the case, while more than several submissions recognized Beddoes’ shady mining practices. However, only a select few specifically identified his “salting” scam. Other sharp investigators noted that Beddoes and his associates, Dryden and Pope, shared suspiciously literary names, but again, few were able to provide a comprehensive breakdown of their entire scheme.

Detective David M. not only suspected Beddoes and his associates, but also highlighted the relevance of Beddoes’ gold chain, his attempts at appeasing the locals, and even his donations to Lavenham’s Presbyterian Church. Detective David also submitted a concise follow up to his original entry, taking note of the “smell of blasting powder” and definitively stating that Beddoes salted the mine.

Congratulations from the Dear Holmes Team to Detective David – such a combination of accurate detail and urgent speed would have been critical in the pursuit of Beddoes.

Don’t forget, a reward will soon be arriving at our Featured Detective’s doorstep too!

Want to be next month’s Featured Detective? Mail your solution to 1101 14th St NW, Suite 910, Washington DC 20005, or submit it online at Dearholmes.com/solve.