An Unusual Method of Death, or The Similarity Between Sherdog and Miss Sherlock

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While rereading Sherlock Bones volume 7, I noticed that Case 9, “The Stolen Face”, had a rather unusual method of death. Chapter 6, the final chapter, lays out what happened.

Spoilers throughout this post.

The murderer tries to create the impression the victim committed suicide. He gave the victim sleeping drugs, then placed her on the edge of the water tower on the roof, with a rope around her neck. When she woke up, she fell off the edge, hanging herself, and allowing the murderer to be elsewhere for an alibi when she died.

That’s kind of clever, allowing human nature and gravity to do the real dirty work. This book was published in 2013 in Japan, 2014 in English.

I was reminded of it when I watched Miss Sherlock episode 2, “Sachiko’s Mustache”. In it, the detectives are trying to determine why a valuable painting was defaced. The gallery owner is thought to have committed suicide, but Sherlock discovers that he was drugged, then placed on the edge of the roof. When he wakes up, he falls off, making his death appear to be suicide.

Miss Sherlock (Yûko Takeuchi) silences Sergeant Shibata (Tomoya Nakamura)

Miss Sherlock (Yûko Takeuchi) silences Sergeant Shibata (Tomoya Nakamura)

This episode originally aired in 2018 (and is available with subtitles on HBO Max, highly recommended). I found it an unusual coincidence that two Sherlock Holmes-influenced media stories both used such a clever method of misdirection. Has anyone seen this kind of plot point used in a mystery elsewhere?



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