Sherlock Holmes, the detective to whom crime has no secrets, is Britain's greatest mystery these days.
For the last 150 years, everyone considered Mr Holmes to be the most famous detective at least in the world of fiction, certainly.
Now, a survey has shown that for more than half of the Britons, the detective of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories is real.
If a real-life investigator had to unravel the crime of deceived Britain, Steward Quentin “Holmes” would be the first name in the list of suspects.
The man who plays Sherlock Holmes at the 221b Baker Street, the Sherlock Holmes house museum, probably helped to make up the minds of many.
Dressed in holmesian costume, he awaits visitors in the sitting room to unveil the details of his most entangled cases.
The space and the character are loyal copy of the books' descriptions and guests are often carried away by the scene.
"People often ask me if I am the real one", he says. "They want to know that long ago I lived here. I say I don't live at all but I am supposed to have been here from 1881 to 1904”.
Holmes in Fleet Street
Before playing Holmes in the museum, Quentin was already using the name of the sleuth.
"When I decided to become a journalist a friend of mine said we should have a nome de plume", he recalls."I thought about Sherlock Holmes immediately. Then, I became the Holmes and he became the Watson of Fleet Street".
Quentin was given the role of Holmes while he was writing a piece on the opening of the museum.“I was doing the interview with the owners when they said they need a Holmes. I answered: you've just found one”.
Three years later, Quentin 'Holmes' was joined by Barret 'Watson'.With his new partner he left the museum sometimes to ride the streets of London in a Victorian hansom cab.
“Once, when we went to Buckingham Palace", he says. "The changing of the guard was taking place and all the tourists stopped photographing it and started taking pictures of us. People said: 'Oh this is fantastic! Holmes and Watson in person'".
The secret of Holmes' success
The British are not the only ones deceived. Letters addressed to the detective Sherlock Holmes arrive at the 221b Baker Street from all over the world.
A businessman in America wrote: "I am sorry to trouble you but I am trying to contact Mr Sherlock Holmes who I believe used to be at your address. If you have the address of Mr. Holmes, could you please note it overleaf and return it to me".
For Quentin 'Holmes', Conan Doyle's writing is what makes people believe Sherlock Holmes did really exist.
“Sherlock Holmes was a man who could sit in an armchair and solve his cases, just by thinking about it. What attracts people is that everybody think they could do the same thing. That is the secret of Sherlock Holmes”, he said.
