Sherlock Holmes Murder Most Foul
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Authors: Gordon Punter
Sherlock Holmes
Murder Most Foul
The Family
Born in England and raised in west London, Gordon Punter, a self-taught film-maker, has spent the past thirty years, principally in the Middle East, employed as a Media Production Director, writing, producing and directing video commercials, documentaries and corporate programs.
An avid reader of history, in particular, true crime, he took early retirement three years ago to concentrate on writing.
Sherlock Holmes - Murder Most Foul
is his debut novel. Currently researching and writing his third novel, he presently lives in Qatar with his Canadian wife, Cindy, whom he has been married to for twenty-three years.
OLYMPIA PAPERBACK EDITION
Copyright ©
Gordon Punter 2015
The right of Gordon Punter to be identified as author of
this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All Rights Reserved
No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication
may be made without written permission.
No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced,
copied or transmitted save with the written permission of the publisher,
or in accordance with the provisions
of the Copyright Act 1956 (as amended).
Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to
this publication may be liable to criminal
prosecution and civil claims for damage.
A CIP catalogue record for this title is
available from the British Library.
ISBN: 978-1-84897-558-3
(Olympia Publishers is part of Ashwell Publishing Ltd)
This is a work of fiction.
Names, characters, places and incidents originate from the writer’s imagination.
Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Published in 2015
Olympia Publishers
60 Cannon Street
London
EC4N 6NP
Printed in Great Britain
In memory of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
(1859–1930)
The lower classes of England, particularly those inhabitants of the East End of London, known as cockneys to the middle-class, distort, mispronounce and use words or phrases incorrectly whilst speaking. They habitually drop letters from words, so a statement such as below:
Harry has a horrible habit of hanging his hat in the hall.
Will, when spoken, appear written like this:
“’Arry ’as a ’orrible ’abit o’ ’angin’ ’is ’at in the ’all.”
Cockney rhyming slang, which originates from the East End, is a form of speech where two or three words replace a particular common word, but nonetheless rhyme with that word. Such as:
Butcher’s hook = look
Apples and pears = stairs
Loaf of bread = head
Adam and Eve = believe
Boracic lint = skint (no money)
However, in many cases, the two or three replacement words are reduced to one word, as in:
Butcher’s = look – “Let’s take a butcher’s.”
Apples = stairs – “I’m off up the apples.”
Loaf = head – “Use your loaf, Joe.”
Boracic = skint – “I’m boracic. Ain’t got no money.”
An abundance of non-rhyming slang words and phrases are also used by both the male and female populace, with no holds barred by either gender when it comes to making reference to anatomical organs, or licentious pleasures.
John Thomas = penis
Plums = testicles
Knee-trembler = sexual intercourse in public, standing position
Shilling head = fellatio
Back scuttle = anal intercourse
Lead in the pencil = able to achieve an erection
No lead in the pencil = unable to achieve an erection
For the discerning reader, an explanation of the various slang words and phrases, periodically spoken by some of the characters in the following story, are to be found at the back of the book.
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Currency of the day.
The British one pound note, or its equivalent, the sovereign coin, comprises of twenty shillings, and each shilling comprises of twelve pennies.
Farthing = ¼ of a penny
Ha’pence = ½ of a penny
Thru’pence = 3 pennies
Sixpence (also called a ‘tanner’) = 6 pennies
Shilling (also called a ‘bob’) = 12 pennies
Florin = 2 shillings
Half-crown = 2 shillings 6 pennies
Double florin = 4 shillings
Crown = 5 shillings
Half-sovereign = 10 shillings
Sovereign (also called a ‘quid’) = 20 shillings
Guinea (also called a ‘yellow-boy’) = 21 shillings
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When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains,
however improbable, must be the truth.
--Sherlock Holmes