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NEW EPISODE: The Crown Diamond & The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone (1921). Two gems for you (well, not quite). Chat about: variety shows; the Stoll-Norwood films; the Baron Gruner connection; and dodgy gramophones. bit.ly/DODoyle; bit.ly/DOD077sn

30/8/26, 8:43 am2 reposts11 likes

Aleksandr Mazo

@moriartybook.com

Really enjoyed your comparison of the play and the story. If the one-act Sherlock really dates from 1912, Moran was still Doyle's villain of choice two decades after Reichenbach. I wonder whether he became Sylvius partly because readers had last seen Moran taken into custody in The Empty House.

Doings of Doyle

@doingsofdoyle.com

Glad you enjoyed it. Suspect that Sylvius is substituted for Moran because ACD seems to be (surprisingly) concerned about series continuity at this point. Hadn’t bothered him all that much before but by 1920 maybe he had a more acute sense of the world he had created.

Aleksandr Mazo

@moriartybook.com

That fits The Illustrious Client, published a few years later but set in 1902, where Holmes speaks of “the living Colonel Sebastian Moran”. ACD keeps him alive but offstage. Thanks for the reply, and for a great episode.