cimorene

i've always thought the title, and the plot-point it refers to, were particularly clever here: it's one of the more memorable of the short stories. it's not a terribly outstanding episode, but it's fun to watch: it starts a bit tense, loosens up, then gallops fast-paced through the middle. there's another lull before the ending. no scene-by-scene ...i will mention the remarkable progression in the middle. holmes is on his way out (and the case at a standstill) when watson reads in the newspaper that someone suspected to be concerned with the case--one of several sneaky sorts who would pilfer important papers and sell them--had turned up murdered. he dashes back into the room. the paper. holmes and watson strolling, and lestrade (!!! omg, lestrade. every ep he's in he's better.) appears and, with every charmingly transparent attempt at nonchalance, drops hints about how cool the case is, and how easily he has it in hand, but does desire holmes to just look at something. holmes (much more successfully) pretends nonchalance; they three take a cab over and are given the account of events, and shown the curious fact that the bloodstain on the carpet doesn't match the location of the identical stain on the floor, which meant the rug had been moved--why?

ahhhh.

holmes says suddenly, apparently with a change of subject, that lestrade is to question the police guard outside carefully. 'away from us, we'll wait here!' says holmes. he urges that he question the man very carefully, claim to know someone has been in the room and tell him etc etc etc. then as soon as lestrade is gone, h.'s indolent pose vanishes. 'watson!' he says, 'the table!' watson bodily lifts it to the side; holmes drags back the carpet in a moment and is crawling (and writhing rather) all over the floor, scrabbling with fingertips while watson watches out the window. when w. says 'he's coming!' h. has just found the trapdoor in the floor. he pops it open and thrusts in his hand. he says, 'empty!' and they make a mad scramble, toss the rug down and the table on top and the two of them shuffle at a comically fast pace around the edge of it, straightening the wrinkles with their feet. (there's some v/ nice camerawork in these.)

and of course there's the end--where he sort of uses sleight-of-hand to slip the recovered letter back into the dispatch case. only his assurance and aplomb could possibly carry it off; that and the fact that the government official to whom the case belongs is really not incredibly sharp. he smokes a cigarette in a controlled manner, almost post-coital, i like to fancy. and when they leave the building he suddenly, on the terrace, gives a startling leap of joy.

high points: searching under the rug.
low points: the flashbacks might be a bit slow.