Sherlock Holmes became a detective in 1877, four
years before I met him. At first he enjoyed every
case, but soon he began to find the work easy. Ten
years later he was famous, but he was unhappy and
bored.
'The modern criminal is so painfully slow and stupid,'
he often said. 'I need an interesting case, Watson,
one which will make me think. Are there no clever
thieves or murderers in the world these days?'
It is dangerous for a very intelligent man like Holmes
to become bored. Some days he grew violent and
once he shot several bullets into the walls of his room.
He also began to use cocaine.
Does my reader know about cocaine, I wonder?
Perhaps it is no longer used in the world of 1976. It is a
useful medicine, and doctors rightly give it to patients
who are in pain. But Holmes had no disease of the
body. He used cocaine as a drug, because he
enjoyed it. It made the long days seem more
exciting. Soon he needed it every day, and could
not live without it.
I told him to stop, but he only laughed at me. 'My
dear fellow, I wish I could! Only bring me an
interesting case, a difficult problem, and I shall forget
my cocaine!'