my dear friend would become famous.
I explained the plan to Holmes. He listened in silence, his pipe in his hand. Then he said, 'Can he write, this friend of yours? Can he tell a true story? Does he understand the difference between facts and lies?'
'I think so,' I said. 'He has just begun to write, but already he is becoming fashionable.'
'Fashionable!' Holmes said coldly. 'How can it interest me that he is fashionable? Can a fashionable writer have a serious interest in the facts of one of my cases?'
I could not reply. Holmes sat silently, looking into the fire. At last he said, 'Well, he may try. Let him do what he can. You may send him your notes on the Hope case, Watson.'
I wrote to ACD the next day, and he began work on the story.
He called it A Study in Scarlet. When it appeared in the shops, I hurried out to buy it, and then sat for hours in a park reading it. The story was excellent - fast -moving, exciting and clever. I ran back to Baker Street. I could not wait to give the book to Holmes.
He looked up quickly as I entered the room.
'You're late, Watson,' he said. 'Were you ashamed to come here with that book in your hand?'
'Ashamed, Holmes?' I cried. 'No! ACD has done well. I see you have read it. Why don't you like it?'
I was soon sorry that I had spoken.
'Like it? It is rubbish, wild and fantastic rubbish. He has been careless with the facts, added all kinds of unnecessary lies, and made the most stupid mistakes.'