Affordable Housing Institute : US

[Continued from yesterday's Part 1b and the preceding Part 1a.]

 

Not entirely devoid of interest 

 

“You are engaged,” said I; “perhaps I interrupt you.”
“Not at all. I am glad to have a friend with whom I can discuss my results. The matter is a perfectly trivial one”–he jerked his thumb in the direction of the old hat–“but there are points in connection with it which are not entirely devoid of interest and even of instruction.”

The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle

 

Continuing my modest monograph on the consultancy attributes of the Compleat Consultant, my friend Sherlock Holmes, the world’s foremost consulting housing finance detective, we have seen that he can be both sympathetic and severe with his clients.  Holmes was no less severe and demanding of himself.

 

A11.     Will do what it takes to achieve the greater goal

 

If the cause required it, Holmes risked injury and death

 

Not only would Holmes take risks and exhaust every possible avenue, he also was willing to undertake the simplest, most tedious, or most personally embarrassing tasks if they furthered the client’s goal of solving the mystery:

 

“You’ll be interested to hear that I’m engaged.”
“My dear fellow! I congrat– –”

“To Milverton’s housemaid.”

“Good heavens, Holmes!”
“I wanted information, Watson.”
“Surely you have gone too far?”
“It was a most necessary step. I am a plumber with a rising business, Escott, by name. I have walked out with her each evening, and I have talked with her. Good heavens, those talks! However, I have got all I wanted. I know Milverton’s house as I know the palm of my hand.”
“But the girl, Holmes?”
He shrugged his shoulders.
“You can’t help it, my dear Watson. You must play your cards as best you can when such a stake is on the table. However, I rejoice to say that I have a hated rival, who will certainly cut me out the instant that my back is turned.”

The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton

 

 

A plumber with a rising business, Escott by name

 

Though personally a loner, a man without profane desires and sparing with praise, Holmes nevertheless inspired by example.  His commitment to his clients being so total, his absorption in his work ethic so great, that those around him found themselves rising to his standard, starting with myself:

 

“ Well, really, this is a very pretty little mystery! What do you intend to do, Miss Morstan?”
“That is exactly what I want to ask you.”
“Then we shall most certainly go–you and I and–yes, why Dr. Watson is the very man. Your correspondent says two friends. He and I have worked together before.”
“But would he come?” she asked with something appealing in her voice and expression.
“I shall be proud and happy,” said I fervently, “if I can be of any service.”

Chapter 2, The Sign of the Four

 

Readers know with what happy event my commitment was rewarded.

 

Once or twice Holmes used me, as he used himself and others, both for my labor and for my credulity, as when he sent me to Dartmoor and Baskerville Hall as his agent on the spot, while he secreted himself on the great Grimpen Mire:

 

 “Come out,” said he, “and please be careful with the revolver.”

 

“Please be careful with the revolver.”

 

I was astonished, and not a little peeved:

 

“Well, I am glad from my heart that you are here, for indeed the responsibility and the mystery were both becoming too much for my nerves. But how in the name of wonder did you come here, and what have you been doing? I thought that you were in Baker Street working out that case of blackmailing.”
“That was what I wished you to think.”
“But why keep me in the dark?”
I was still rather raw over the deception which had been practised upon me, but the warmth of Holmes’s praise drove my anger from my mind. I felt also in my heart that he was right in what he said and that it was really best for our purpose that I should not have known that he was upon the moor.

The Hound of the Baskervilles, Chapter 12

 

A12.     Does not exceed his brief

 

The converse of Holmes’s commitment to his client’s objectives was his readiness, one might even say merciful disposition, not to proceed beyond his remit:

 

“Once or twice in my career I feel that I have done more real harm by my discovery of the criminal than ever he had done by his crime. I have learned caution now, and I had rather play tricks with the law of England than with my own conscience. Let us know a little more before we act.”

The Adventure of the Abbey Grange

 

To be sure, Holmes’s discretion was also a form of threat; if the person on whom he applied pressure cooperated, no harm might come to her. 

 

He drew a small piece of cardboard from his pocket. It was the face of a woman cut out of a portrait.

 

“I thought it might be useful.”

 

“I have carried this because I thought it might be useful,” said he. “The policeman has recognized it.”
She gave a gasp, and her head dropped back in the chair.
“Come, Lady Hilda. You have the letter. The matter may still be adjusted. I have no desire to bring trouble to you. My duty ends when I have returned the lost letter to your husband. Take my advice and be frank with me. It is your only chance.”

The Adventure of the Second Stain

 

The consultant also prepares for contingencies, since when a matter reaches its head, one needs multiple action options:

 

Holmes rose and sat down at the table with his pen in his hand and a bundle of paper before him. “Just tell us the truth,” he said. “I shall jot down the facts. You will sign it, and Watson here can witness it. Then I could produce your confession at the last extremity to save young McCarthy. I promise you that I shall not use it unless it is absolutely needed.”

The Boscombe Valley Mystery

 

“Farewell, then,” said the old man solemnly. “Your own deathbeds, when they come, will be the easier for the thought of the peace which you have given to mine.”

 

A13.     Is comfortable with value-based billing

 

While Holmes would occasionally take on assignments pro bono, or assist the police out of civic duty, he had the ascetic’s gleam for substantial recompense if the payor was wealthy and the matter urgent and critical.

 

“You would not think £1000 apiece an excessive sum for them?”
“I would pay ten.”
“That would be unnecessary. Three thousand will cover the matter. And there is a little reward, I fancy. Have you your check-book? Here is a pen. Better make it out for £4000.”
“You have it!” he gasped. “I am saved! I am saved!”
The reaction of joy was as passionate as his grief had been, and he hugged his recovered gems to his bosom.
The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet

 

While Holmes would occasionally take on assignments pro bono, or assist the police out of civic duty, he had the ascetic’s gleam for substantial recompense if the payor was wealthy and the matter urgent and critical.

 

 

Holmes opened the case, and moistening his finger he passed it along the shoe. A thin film of recent mud was left upon his skin.
“Thank you,” said he, as he replaced the glass. “It is the second most interesting object that I have seen in the North.”
“And the first?”
Holmes folded up his check and placed it carefully in his notebook. “I am a poor man,” said he, as he patted it affectionately, and thrust it into the depths of his inner pocket.

The Adventure of The Priory School

 

From Holmes, I learned much about how to relate to and deal with customers, lessons I applied to my own medical practice.  Now I shall turn to the services and activities he provided once on the case.

 

It is paramount to examine all the evidence

 

[Continued on May 26 in Part 2a.]

 

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