Doyle, Arthur Conan -- Story (1891-09), “A Case of Identity” [Holmes], The Strand Magazine, Vol. 2, No. 3

Dave — Thu, 08 Oct 2026 22:10:40 +0000

This is the Dundas separation case, and, as it happens, I was engaged in clearing up some small points in connection with it. The husband was a teetotaler, there was no other woman, and the conduct complained of was that he had drifted into the habit of winding up every meal by taking out his false teeth and hurling them at his wife, which, you will allow, is not an action likely to occur to the imagination of the average story-teller.

Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930) British writer and physician
Story (1891-09), “A Case of Identity” [Holmes], The Strand Magazine, Vol. 2, No. 3

After Watson has complained about domestic cases always (at least in the newspaper) having to do with infidelity, drunkenness, and beatings.

Collected in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, No. 3 (1892).

WIST Quotations

Doyle, Arthur Conan -- Story (1891-09), “A Case of Identity” [Holmes], The Strand Magazine, Vol. 2, No. 3