A Sherlock Holmes mystery When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth Created by Tom Duggett for Film & Society at SBC, 2011

Death by Superstition Sherlock Holmes Apprentice Case File Death by Superstition Contents 2 x 1 x twitter feed 3 x iPad screengrabs 1 x attachment

From: To: Subject: help Date: Mon, 9 May To Sherlock Holmes, My name is Jane Downing. I work for the metropolitan police, and my colleague Lestrade gave me your contact details. I am writing to you because I need your help to find out what really happened to my husband, Jack, who was found dead at our home last week. He drowned in the garden pond at the side of the house. He'd no reason to kill himself: our life was happy and we were hoping to have a baby soon. The police first thought of murder and the investigation focused on one person in particular. But when it turned out that he had a perfect alibi – hundreds of miles away at the time of the murder – and when I told them that Jack couldn’t swim, the police decided that Jack’s death must just have been a tragic accident. It’s true that there are no signs of a struggle. But I am still convinced that somebody murdered Jack, and I need your help to prove it. I don’t like using . I don’t know who else has Jack’s account details. Tweet me at the second pun you think of. 1

twitter feed

iPad grab 1

iPad grab 2

iPad grab 3

From: To: Subject: downing case Date: Fri, 13 May attachments – certificate1.jpg Dear Sherlock, My green ladder theory is going nowhere. I asked the gardener, Mr Oakes, if there was such a ladder at the house, and he said no. In fact, Jack Downing had specifically asked him to get rid of all ladders at the property since his father fell from one and hurt himself shortly before his death last May. I searched the property again as you requested, including the rubbish bins. Nothing of interest, except an empty box for a bottle of whisky, with a Royal Mail postage certificate stuck to it. A message is scrawled in the ‘official use’ box. I checked the reference numbers with the Post Office. They match a parcel sent from Edinburgh, Scotland, by a Mr. Keith Downing. Our Keith Downing, surely. But it’s not a crime to send your brother a bottle of whisky, is it! 2

attachments – certificate1.jpg