Sherlock Holmes Murder Most Foul

by Gordon Punter

  [420] Wot yer drivin’ at, Inspector? = what do you mean Inspector

  [421] Peddling her wares = sexual service for money

  [422] Benefit of the doubt – will not judge a person until the facts are known

  [423] Ten yards = one yard equals three feet, ten yards is thirty feet

  [424] Cock and Bull = nonsense, rubbish

  [425] Ring true = be accepted as the truth

  [426] Blade = knife

  [427] Botany Bay = place in eastern Australia where the explorer, Captain James Cook first landed in 1770, now a British penal colony

  [428] Robinson Crusoe = fictitious character who was stranded on a remote tropical island for twenty-eight years.

  Chapter 16: Retribution

  [429] Marston hearse = designed and built by John Marston & Co, Bradford Street, Birmingham

  [430] Friesian horses = breed of horse, predominantly black in colour

  [431] Westminster Abbey = where English Monarchs are crowned and buried

  [432] Portland stone = importand limestone rock used for masonary and architecture, obtained from the Isle of Portland, Dorset

  [433] I’ll ’ave his guts fer garters = severe punishment for a transgression

  [434] Cornish granite = hard, tough stone from Cornwall

  [435] ‘Oratio Nelson = Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson commanded the British fleet which defeated a combined French and Spanish fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, during which he was mortally wounded and died

  [436] Quid pro quo = equal exchange

  [437] Scare the livin’daylights out o’ me = extremely frightened or alarmed

  [438] Prick my conscience = a sense of guilt

  [439] Turn a blind eye = deliberately ignore a person, particularly if he or she is doing wrong

  [440] Kali = Hindu goddess associated with eternal energy

  [441] Thugee = Indian religious cult whose members engaged in the multiple murder and robbery of travellers

  [442] Thurible = religious metal container in which incense is burned

  [443] Chance would be a fine fing = something you would like to see happen is probably never going to happen

  [444] I should bleedin’ coco = uttered sarcastically and means, I do not think so

  Chapter 17: The Curtain Falls

  [445] Hardly a feather in your cap = hardly a laudable success

  [446] I will bite my tongue = remain silent

  [447] Coutts & Co = bank

  [448] Edgware Road = just around the corner from Praed Street, Paddington, London.

  [449] Cuckolded = husband who is duped by his adulterous wife

  [450] Bordeaux = city and region in the west of France, renowned for its wines

  [451] Ferrule = protective metal cap fixed to the end of a walking stick

  [452] Ode to Joy = latter part of the ninth symphony composed by Ludwig van Beethoven

  [453] Clarke’s Yard, Poplar = some two miles from Whitechapel and situated just off the south-side of Poplar High Street, between Simpson’s Row and Harrow Lane, near West India (import) Dock

  [454] Bounder = derogatory term for person who is held in low esteem

  [455] A new broom sweeps clean = newly appointed leader who brings fresh ideas and new personnel into an organisation or business

  [456] Hold my tongue = remain silent

  [457] Bit of a pickle = awkward situation

  [458] Out in the cold = neglected, ignored or forgotten

  [459] Pony and trap = a light two-wheeled vehicle pulled by a horse or pony

  [460] Reading = some forty miles west of London

  [461] Dropsy = swelling of the skin tissues caused by the accumulation of excess water in the body

  [462] Yer kindness is sum enough = your kindness is payment enough

  [463] Put two and two together = draw an accurate conclusion from existing evidence or an indication

  [464] Far From the Madding Crowd = title of a book written by Dorset born novelist Thomas Hardy and published in 1874

  Chapter 18: Abdication

  [465] Cornish pasty = sealed pastry shell containing seasoned meat and vegetables, especially potatoes

  [466] The die is cast = an irrevocable decision has been made

  [467] Cox and Company = bank

  [468] Kid gloves = made of fine kid (young goat) leather

  [469] Waterloo station = railway terminus located near the southern bank of the River Thames. Originally known as Waterloo Bridge Station, it officially became Waterloo Station two years ago in 1886