Classic Sherlock Holmes fanworks exchange

Title: The Adventure of the Devil’s Snare
Recipient: sanspatronymic
Author: [redacted]
Rating: Teen/PG-13
Characters: Sherlock Holmes, John Watson, John Openshaw; mentions of Mary Watson and Mrs Hudson
Relationships: John Watson/Mary Watson (at the time of the case); Sherlock Holmes/John Watson (unspecified later time)
Warnings: References to atrocities committed in the American Civil War and Reconstruction eras; canon-typical violence; canon references; Victorian-era racial terminology and attitudes; a more-or-less verbatim quote from The Five Orange Pips reworked into the story as a ‘resource’
Summary: “Of all the mixture of half-truths, gross oversimplifications, and farrago of lies I have sent him over the years, the Adventure of the Five Orange Pips stands out as one of the most extraordinary taradiddles that ever masqueraded as a truthful account.”
Word Count: 7,625
Author’s Notes: As you might guess from the above, The Adventure of the Five Orange Pips never made sense to me as written. I’ve taken your prompt of “a fondness for 'deleted scene' type works (ie, something that would fit nicely into a hole left in a canon story)” as inspiration and…well, pretty thoroughly rewritten the entire thing. I hope it pleases you!
Special thanks to: [redacted] for the beta
Disclaimer: The original story and characters belong to Doyle; all mistakes are my own.


(  Doctor Doyle – my editor and publisher, insofar as he takes public credit as the ‘author’ for my work … )