The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge: A Letter from Inspector Baynes

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

Canon Story: The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge
Title: A Letter from Inspector Baynes
Author: thesmallhobbit
Rating: G

I am very sorry to have to report to you that the mulatto cook is now dead.  It would appear that, denied the opportunity to continue with his customary practices, he gave up on life.  He refused all forms of subsistence and seemed to shrink before our eyes.  His death, too, I shall lay at the door of Don Murillo.

Comments

[debriswoman]

Such a sad end for a much misunderstood man:-(

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

You have to feel sorry for the poor man. Did he ever really feel he properly belonged anywhere? The fact he was a "mulatto" may have meant he never fitted in to any group. And he was a "giant" - might have led to problems with his heart perhaps? So, as in your story, if he stopped looking after himself, his health would very quickly fail.

I did feel irritated with the reactions to him that we saw. A police constable goes to pieces and almost considers him a monster because the man was big and had skin of an unusual colour. And Holmes refers to him as a primitive savage. Fetishes, icons, animal sacrifices - they crop in many religions. Being a believer in voodoo doesn't automatically make him unenlightened and superstitious.

I didn't really stop to think what might have become of the cook, the manservant and Signora Durando. I know Baynes wasn't interested in arresting them for conspiracy to murder - it was just Murillo he was after. Were any of the trio involved in the eventual murder..?

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

I really wanted to write something from the cook's viewpoint, but couldn't find the right words, so Baynes had to make do.

re: A Letter from Inspector Baynes

[vaysh]

A heartbreaking letter in all its (60 word) brevity about the fate of a man we know little more than what prejudice allowed us to see in the story. Thinking about a drabble for this week's story, I was immediately drawn to this character as well, and it is a treasure to read you take on him.

Re: A Letter from Inspector Baynes

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

Thank you. It was lovely to see your take on the character too - I had struggled to do him justice.