{"id":4319,"date":"2014-06-01T17:32:34","date_gmt":"2014-06-01T23:32:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/myparticularfriend.com\/?p=4319"},"modified":"2014-06-01T17:32:34","modified_gmt":"2014-06-01T23:32:34","slug":"smacking-holmes-upside-the-head-an-analysis-of-silver-blaze","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/myparticularfriend.com\/?p=4319","title":{"rendered":"Smacking Holmes upside the head; an analysis of Silver Blaze"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/4\/4f\/Strand_paget.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"291\" height=\"278\" \/><strong>Somedays you just want to smack Sherlock Holmes\u00a0upside the head<\/strong>. Certainly that was my feeling after re-reading\u00a0<em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.gutenberg.org\/files\/834\/834-h\/834-h.htm#link2H_4_0001\">Silver Blaze<\/a><\/em>, the first story in the <em>Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes<\/em>. Although the story is a favorite of mine and many others, a deeper reading of it reveals some troubling choices by the great detective.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, I have wanted to smack Holmes several times when reading\u00a0the Canon, most notably when he sends\u00a0<span style=\"color: #252525;\">John Openshaw to his death in <em>Five Orange Pips<\/em>. My motivation to give Holmes a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.urbandictionary.com\/define.php?term=Gibbs-slap\">Gibbs-slap<\/a> in SILV, however, is quite different from\u00a0the reason he deserves it in FIVE. But as usual, I first have to give a synopsis of the story. <a href=\"http:\/\/myparticularfriend.com\/?p=4319&amp;page=2\">Feel free to skip<\/a> if you know the story already. You may prefer the <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Silver_Blaze\" target=\"_blank\">detailed plot summary at wikipedia<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"660\" height=\"372\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/cwshqe4OhNQ?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Holmes finally travels to Dartmoor <strong>TWO DAYS<\/strong>\u00a0after he is asked by Inspector Gregory and Colonel Ross\u00a0to investigate the disappearance of Ross\u2019 horse, Silver Blaze, favored to win the upcoming Wessex Cup, and the murder of the horse\u2019s trainer, John Straker. He tells Watson he was reluctant to go because:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cThe fact is that I could not believe it possible that the most remarkable horse in England could long remain concealed, especially in so sparsely inhabited a place as the north of Dartmoor.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Holmes admits this was a blunder (first smack), especially as the horse has not been found and the police have arrested a racing tout,\u00a0Fitzroy Simpson, of whose guilt Holmes has doubts. And so Holmes and Watson are racing to King\u2019s Pyland, Ross\u2019 stables, in Dartmoor. Holmes even remarks on the speed of their train:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cWe are going well,\u201d said he, looking out the window and glancing at his watch. \u201cOur rate at present is fifty-three and a half miles an hour.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have not observed the quarter-mile posts,\u201d said I.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNor have I. But the telegraph posts upon this line are sixty yards apart, and the calculation is a simple one.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Here Holmes deserves a second Gibbs-slap for showing off. He then relates the case to Watson and for the edification of the reader. Someone had drugged the curried mutton given to the stable boy who\u00a0kept watch on the horse (Colonel Ross had worried someone would want to nobble the race favorite). The stable boy\u00a0had been found insensible the next morning, the horse had been taken and later the body of trainer John Straker was found. He\u2019d been savagely beaten and there was a long cut upon his\u00a0thigh. He may have fought off his attacker with a small knife he still clutched, for\u00a0his hand and the knife were bloody.<\/p>\n<p>The tout, Simpson, had been seen the previous night at King\u2019s Pyland. He had tried to bribe the stable boy for inside information, but the boy instead went\u00a0to fetch the dog. Simpson, however, had fled upon the boy&#8217;s return. A maid, who\u2019d earlier been\u00a0accosted by Simpson and\u00a0who had gone to tell Straker of their visitor, saw the man looking through the window through which she had earlier given the stable boy his dinner. This led to the suspicion that he had administered the powdered opium that later incapacitated the boy. It was further suspected that Simpson, who was seen carrying a heavy walking stick (a Penang lawyer) killed the trainer with the stick. Simpson\u2019s cravat was also found besides the trainer\u2019s body.<\/p>\n<p>This seems damning, but Holmes has doubts. He later asks Gregory if Simpson had a duplicate key to the stables (to let the horse out), where he obtained the opium, why he simply did not nobble\u00a0the horse in the stables and\u00a0how could he know where to hide the horse. Gregory explains away these objections, most importantly the fact that Simpson showed no injury, despite the evidence\u00a0of the bloody knife\u00a0in Straker\u2019s hand. Watson had earlier supposed to Holmes the possibility that Straker had inflicted the long cut\u00a0upon himself during the struggle with his attacker, a supposition Holmes found likely.<\/p>\n<p>Gregory agrees this is now his theory as well, and the two detectives agree that the lack of injury to Simpson is damning. It is a curious incident of British justice indeed if the lack of evidence connecting one to a fatal beating should be construed as evidence pointing to involvement in that\u00a0crime.<\/p>\n<p>When they arrive in Dartmoor, Holmes <strong>does not<\/strong> examine Straker\u2019s body, but does ask questions of Colonel Ross\u00a0and\u00a0investigates the contents of the dead man\u2019s pockets:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cThere was a box of vestas, two inches of tallow candle, an A D P brier-root pipe, a pouch of seal-skin with half an ounce of long-cut Cavendish, a silver watch with a gold chain, five sovereigns in gold, an aluminum pencil-case, a few papers, and an ivory-handled knife with a very delicate, inflexible blade marked Weiss &amp; Co., London.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is a very singular knife,\u201d said Holmes, lifting it up and examining it minutely. \u201cI presume, as I see blood-stains upon it, that it is the one which was found in the dead man\u2019s grasp. Watson, this knife is surely in your line?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is what we call a cataract knife,\u201d said I.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI thought so. A very delicate blade devised for very delicate work. A strange thing for a man to carry with him upon a rough expedition, especially as it would not shut in his pocket.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe tip was guarded by a disk of cork which we found beside his body,\u201d said the Inspector. \u201cHis wife tells us that the knife had lain upon the dressing-table, and that he had picked it up as he left the room. It was a poor weapon, but perhaps the best that he could lay his hands on at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVery possible. How about these papers?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThree of them are receipted hay-dealers\u2019 accounts. One of them is a letter of instructions from Colonel Ross. This other is a milliner\u2019s account for thirty-seven pounds fifteen made out by Madame Lesurier, of Bond Street, to William Derbyshire. Mrs. Straker tells us that Derbyshire was a friend of her husband\u2019s and that occasionally his letters were addressed here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMadam Derbyshire had somewhat expensive tastes,\u201d remarked Holmes, glancing down the account. \u201cTwenty-two guineas is rather heavy for a single costume. However there appears to be nothing more to learn, and we may now go down to the scene of the crime.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Next, Holmes asks Mrs Straker if he hadn\u2019t met her at a garden party wearing \u201ca costume of dove-colored silk with ostrich-feather trimming.\u201d Mrs Straker denies owning\u00a0such a dress.<\/p>\n<p>Then Holmes\u00a0examines where Straker\u2019s body was found and does his crawling around on all fours-magnifying glass thing. Holmes behavior begins to get on Ross\u2019 nerves. He needs to know whether to remove his horse from the race, but Holmes advises him to let Silver Blaze\u2019s name stand.<\/p>\n<p>Holmes and Watson leave Gregory and Ross and armed with a copy of one of the horse\u2019s shoes (supplied by Gregory), they follow the horse\u2019s\u00a0trail away from the murder spot. The\u00a0trail\u00a0leads to Mapleton, the home of Silver Blaze\u2019s chief rival Desborough, owned by Lord Backwater and managed by\u00a0Silas Brown.\u00a0Holmes has a private conversation with Brown, who is visibly shaken afterward. Watson learns from Holmes that Brown has been keeping the horse, having found the horse wandering after Straker was killed.<\/p>\n<p>Holmes and Watson then return to King\u2019s Pyland, where Holmes tells\u00a0Ross that he has\u00a0\u201cevery hope, however, that your horse will start upon Tuesday, and I beg that you will have your jockey in readiness.\u201d He does not divulge where the horse is, however, or who killed Straker.<\/p>\n<p><strong>FOUR DAYS LATER<\/strong> Holmes and Watson return to Winchester for the race. Ross is beside himself because he still has no horse and so is very surprised when an unfamiliar horse wearing his colors is led past him to the starting gate. The horse wins the race and Holmes reveals that the winner is actually Silver Blaze, the white\u00a0patch on his forehead and\u00a0his\u00a0mottled off-foreleg disguised by dye. He also reveals that\u00a0Silver Blaze is the murderer of Straker, but it was self defense. Straker had meant to nobble the horse by nicking a tendon with the delicate knife, inducing a temporary lameness, but the horse, perhaps sensing something untoward was afoot, struck Straker and killed him.<\/p>\n<p>Imagine\u2014for four days Holmes let Ross worry about his horse, all because \u201cthe Colonel\u2019s manner has been just a trifle cavalier to me.\u201d At any time, Ross might have decided to scratch his horse from the race. Why he didn\u2019t remains a mystery to me (unless I indulge in sinister speculation). Truly, Holmes deserves a smack upside the head for putting the colonel through this anguish, even if this story does show some of the detective\u2019s finest examples of ratiocination.<br \/>\n<!--nextpage--><br \/>\n<strong><a name=\"resume\"><\/a>The dog in the night-time<\/strong><br \/>\nLet\u2019s look first at one of the most famous exchanges in the Canon.\u00a0Before Holmes leaves King\u2019s Pyland (and after he has told\u00a0Ross his hopes the\u00a0horse will run), he asks a stable boy if anything amiss has happened to\u00a0Ross\u2019 sheep. The boy mentions that several sheep have gone lame; Holmes remarks on this to the inspector.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cYou consider that to be important?\u201d he [Gregory] asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cExceedingly so.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIs there any point to which you would wish to draw my attention?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo the curious incident of the dog in the night-time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe dog did nothing in the night-time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat was the curious incident,\u201d remarked Sherlock Holmes.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>We later learn from Holmes that the fact the dog did not bark indicated it knew the person who had come to take the horse away. That person was Straker, of course, who Holmes explained had been leading a double life. The receipts found on Straker\u00a0were his and indicated he\u2019d bought expensive clothes for a woman not his wife, a fact confirmed when Holmes showed Straker\u2019s photograph to the milliner\u00a0in London. Holmes theorizes that Straker\u00a0needed money and planned to lame the horse and presumably bet against it, but he needed to practice first on the sheep.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Two curious incidents<\/strong><br \/>\nThis exchange is a brilliant example of Holmes noticing the absence of a thing. Fellow Sherlockian Larry Feldman brought to my attention this has a name: <a href=\"http:\/\/branemrys.blogspot.com\/2011\/08\/sherlockismus.html\">Sherlockismus, coined by Ronald Knox<\/a>. (I suppose this makes up for finding Simpson more guilty by the lack of evidence agains him.) But I must mention there are actually two curious incidents regarding the dog during the night-time. The first is when Simpson arrives to gain information from the stable boy. There is no mention in the story about this stranger\u2019s\u00a0arrival causing the dog to bark.<\/p>\n<p>Simpson arrived after nine p.m. on a dark night, first accosting the maid on her way \u00a0to deliver\u00a0the stable boy his curried mutton, and again as she hands the boy his food. She had found him sitting at a table awaiting his dinner and not investigating why the dog is barking. In other words, the dog is doing nothing\u00a0and so the later incident of the doing nothing must be discounted.<\/p>\n<p>There are <strong>other curious incidents<\/strong> as well. When Holmes asks Ross of Straker: \u201cHe has been in your service some years, Colonel Ross?\u201d The colonel responds: \u201cI have always found him an excellent servant.\u201d I would point out he is not answering the question asked and in fact the answer seems somewhat defensive.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Another curious incident:<\/strong>\u00a0Far from removing Silver Blaze from the race, Colonel Ross\u00a0removes his other horse, Bayard: \u201cWe scratched our other one, and put all hopes on your word [that Silver Blaze would race].\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Curious incident three:<\/strong> Holmes criticizes Inspector Gregory for lacking imagination, but Gregory actually displays an almost criminal lack of imagination. They found Straker\u2019s body in a muddy hollow with evidence of the horse being present. He then tells Holmes:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u201cI am afraid that there are no more tracks,\u201d said the Inspector. \u201cI have examined the ground very carefully for a hundred yards in each direction.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Holmes and Watson, however, find hoof prints outside this radius, which seems quite logical. Unless Gregory has so much imagination that he thought the horse sprouted wings and flew away, it seems\u00a0to me he should have reasoned that if I continue looking, I will find the horse\u2019s prints.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Curious incident four:<\/strong> Holmes fails to examine Straker\u2019s body. He asks Gregory:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cStraker was brought back here, I presume?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes; he lies upstairs [at Straker\u2019s home near the stables]. The inquest is to-morrow.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>I should think that with Holmes intimate knowledge of the effects of pre- and post-mortem injuries (I direct you to the harpoon-wielding Holmes in <em>Black Peter<\/em>), he should have been able to distinguish between wounds left by the knob of a cane and those left by the hoof prints of a horse.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Curious incident five<\/strong>: Holmes leaves Silver Blaze with Silas Brown. Brown had found the horse wandering on the moor. He had first thought to return it to King\u2019s Pyland, but thought better of it and decided to disguise the horse and keep it at his stables. Watson asks Holmes:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cBut are you not afraid to leave the horse in his power now, since he has every interest in injuring it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy dear fellow, he [Silas Brown] will guard it as the apple of his eye. He knows that his only hope of mercy is to produce it safe.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>It seems to me very irresponsible to leave Silver Blaze with Brown. It is in Brown\u2019s best interests to either kill and dispose of the horse or to set it free. What proof has Holmes, other than the trail of hoof prints that he is withholding from Inspector Gregory and Colonel Ross?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Curious incident six<\/strong>: How is the Jockey Club to overlook that Ross ran another horse in place of Silver Blaze and then revealed that it was actually Silver Blaze in disguise? I cannot help think this shows intent to defraud and should I have betted against Silver Blaze, I would have protested. (Mike Newman, at a recent meeting of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.dwnp.com\" target=\"_blank\">The Neglected Patients of Doctor Watson<\/a>,\u00a0wondered whether Lord Backwater ever asked his manager why they have an extra horse they\u2019re transporting to Winchester for the Wessex Cup.)<br \/>\n<!--nextpage--><br \/>\n<strong>The real genius of the story<\/strong><br \/>\nLet me return, however, to the real\u00a0evidence\u2019s of Holmes\u2019 genius in the case\u2014not the much ballyhooed dog in the night-time.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cIt was the first link in my chain of reasoning. Powdered opium is by no means tasteless. The flavor is not disagreeable, but it is perceptible. Were it mixed with any ordinary dish the eater would undoubtedly detect it, and would probably eat no more. A curry was exactly the medium which would disguise this taste. By no possible supposition could this stranger, Fitzroy Simpson, have caused curry to be served in the trainer\u2019s family that night, and it is surely too monstrous a coincidence to suppose that he happened to come along with powdered opium upon the very night when a dish happened to be served which would disguise the flavor. That is unthinkable. Therefore Simpson becomes eliminated from the case, and our attention centers upon Straker and his wife, the only two people who could have chosen curried mutton for supper that night.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>That\u2019s brilliant!<\/p>\n<p>I must also admire Holmes\u2019 logic in determining where he might find the horse:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The horse is a very gregarious creature. If left to himself his instincts would have been either to return to King\u2019s Pyland or go over to Mapleton. Why should he run wild upon the moor? He would surely have been seen by now. And why should gypsies kidnap him? These people always clear out when they hear of trouble, for they do not wish to be pestered by the police. They could not hope to sell such a horse. They would run a great risk and gain nothing by taking him. Surely that is clear.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere is he, then?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have already said that he must have gone to King\u2019s Pyland or to Mapleton. He is not at King\u2019s Pyland. Therefore he is at Mapleton.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The horse is either at A or B and since he is not at A, he must be at B, Holmes essentially says. He had earlier criticized Inspector Gregory, whom he called an\u00a0extremely competent officer, for not having a good imagination.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cSee the value of imagination,\u201d said Holmes. \u201cIt is the one quality which Gregory lacks. We imagined what might have happened, acted upon the supposition, and find ourselves justified. Let us proceed.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>That, of course, is Holmes genius. To see what others fail to see and to\u00a0make connections that others cannot envision. I also appreciate that he\u2019s the only person who says the obvious: that\u00a0no sane person would think the delicate knife a proper weapon when confronting\u00a0a horse thief.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4325\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4325\" style=\"width: 750px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"4325\" data-permalink=\"http:\/\/myparticularfriend.com\/?attachment_id=4325\" data-orig-file=\"http:\/\/myparticularfriend.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/cataract-knife1.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"750,55\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"cataract-knife\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"http:\/\/myparticularfriend.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/cataract-knife1-300x22.jpg\" data-large-file=\"http:\/\/myparticularfriend.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/cataract-knife1.jpg\" class=\"wp-image-4325 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/myparticularfriend.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/cataract-knife1.jpg\" alt=\"cataract-knife\" width=\"750\" height=\"55\" srcset=\"http:\/\/myparticularfriend.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/cataract-knife1.jpg 750w, http:\/\/myparticularfriend.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/cataract-knife1-300x22.jpg 300w, http:\/\/myparticularfriend.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/cataract-knife1-700x51.jpg 700w, http:\/\/myparticularfriend.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/cataract-knife1-332x24.jpg 332w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4325\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A current-day von Graefe cataract knife. This design was contemporary to Holmes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Of course Holmes\u2019\u00a0other genius is in pissing people off. Ross was understandably\u00a0upset by the death of his trainer and the loss of his horse. That he might have been leery\u00a0of Holmes\u2019 antics (Holmes admits to daydreaming at one point) is understandable.<\/p>\n<p>In fact this story really brings home the genius of making Watson female in the CBS television series <em>Elementary<\/em>. Lucy Lui\u2019s Watson would have told Holmes he can\u2019t treat people like that. She would never have allowed him to play\u00a0Ross in that fashion. Sometimes the Watson of the Canon is a little too faithful.<br \/>\n<!--nextpage--><br \/>\n<strong>Sinister interpretations<\/strong><br \/>\nWhat would one of my analyses be without a look at the darker subtext? Is it possible that Holmes\u00a0kept the news of his discovery of Silver Blaze secret so that he might bet on the horse at very favorable odds? Is this the deal he made with Silas Brown?<\/p>\n<p>Even more sinister, did he really keep Colonel Ross in the dark for four days? Or did he collude with the colonel and was that the reason Ross withdrew his other horse from the race?<\/p>\n<p>Did Watson bet on the horse? And is Watson a reliable narrator in this instance?<\/p>\n<p>Of course, one of the problems with sinister speculation is that it begets more speculation. Why did Holmes wait two days before traveling to Dartmoor? Was the great detective\u00a0a party to the plan to nobble Silver Blaze and it went horribly wrong with Straker\u2019s death.<\/p>\n<p>I do not want to think that Holmes would have anything to do with injuring a horse, even if it were to be only a temporary lameness. But neither do I like the idea of a Holmes petty enough to leave Colonel Ross guessing for four days when his horse might show up.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Other sources<\/strong><br \/>\nYou may also want to visit <a href=\"http:\/\/dickens.stanford.edu\/sherlockholmes\/2007\/notes2_1.html\">Discovering Sherlock Holmes: A Community Reading Project from Stanford University<\/a> for annotations to this story.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/goodnightmistersherlockholmes.wordpress.com\/tag\/silver-blaze\/\">Good-night Mister Sherlock Holmes<\/a> has speculation on how Holmes calculated the speed of the train. For more on cataract knives:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Von_Graefe_knife\">http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Von_Graefe_knife<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Somedays you just want to smack Sherlock Holmes\u00a0upside the head. Certainly that was my feeling after re-reading\u00a0Silver Blaze, the first story in the Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. Although the story is a favorite of mine and many others, a deeper reading of it reveals some troubling choices by the great &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Sometimes I want to smack #SherlockHolmes upside the head; an analysis of Silver Blaze http:\/\/wp.me\/p32UJ9-17F","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-video","hentry","category-uncategorized","post_format-post-format-video","column","threecol"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p32UJ9-17F","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/myparticularfriend.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/myparticularfriend.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/myparticularfriend.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/myparticularfriend.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/myparticularfriend.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4319"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"http:\/\/myparticularfriend.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4319\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4333,"href":"http:\/\/myparticularfriend.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4319\/revisions\/4333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/myparticularfriend.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/myparticularfriend.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/myparticularfriend.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}