| abstract | - Sherlock Holmes is an eccentric private detective who consults with Scotland Yard in London. He lives at 221B Baker Street with Mrs Hudson and his partner Dr Watson . His archenemy is Professor Moriarty. Sherlock possesses brilliant skills in deductive reasoning and case-solving. Holmes is a thinker and an observer; his notable ability to notice and draw deductions from seemingly trivial details is unrivaled and his main tool for solving the crimes he investigates. However, his unusual and somewhat anti-social personality has led to many in the official police force distrusting and disliking him, especially Inspector Lestrade. Holmes alternates between days or weeks of listless lassitude and similar periods of intense engagement with a challenging case or with his hobby, experimental chemistry. Holmes was tend to heavily smoke a papyrus cigarettes, and mostly when it suited his purposes he lie to the police, conceal evidence, and burgle, things that make Inspector Lestrade to hate him. In Victorian England, such actions were not necessarily considered vices as long as they were done by a gentleman for noble purposes, such as preserving a woman's honor or a family's reputation. Holmes does have an ego that sometimes seems to border on arrogance; however, his arrogance is usually deserved. He seems to enjoy baffling the police inspectors with his superior deductions. Holmes is usually quite content to allow the police to take the credit for his work, with Watson being the only one to broadcast his own roles in the case, although he enjoys receiving praise from personal friends and those who take a serious interest in his work. Certainly, in the course of his career Holmes had worked for both the most powerful monarchs and governments of Europe (including his own) and various wealthy aristocrats and industrialists, and also been consulted by impoverished pawnbrokers and humble governesses on the lower rungs of society. Holmes is generally quite fearless. He dispassionately surveys horrific, brutal crime scenes; he does not allow superstition or grotesque situations to make him afraid; and he intrepidly confronts violent murderers. He is generally unfazed by threats from his criminal enemies, and indeed Holmes himself remarks that it is the danger of his profession that has attracted him to it. Holmes does have capacities for human emotion and friendship. He has a remarkable capacity to gently soothe and reassure people suffering from extreme distress, a talent which comes in handy when dealing with both male and female clients who arrive at Baker Street suffering from extreme fear or nervousness. He also has a close personal friendship with Watson. Over time, Holmes' relations with the official Scotland Yard detectives goes from cold disdain to a strong respect. Both Watson and Holmes are continual tobacco users, including cigarettes, cigars, and pipes, though this was not an uncommon habit during this era. Holmes is an expert at identifying tobacco-ash residues, having penned a monograph on the subject.
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