Sherlock Holmes - Detective Skills Quiz

Answer: Physiology

The murder was committed with a long harpoon drawn from the wall. Holmes deduced that John Hopley Neligan was too weak to have used it and inflicted a wound upon the dead man that the tip of the harpoon had gone through his body and came out of the other end.

Answer: Trigonometry

Holmes used trigonometric calculations to find the exact location of the lost treasure of the Musgraves. The calculations depended on the positions of two old trees, the oak and the elm, in the courtyard.

Answer: Graphology

Holmes was able to deduce correctly that the Cunninghams, both father and son, had colluded to kill the coachman William by figuring out that both of them had written the note which was sent to the victim. Each had written the alternate word in the message.(Graphology is the study of handwriting).

Answer: Foot prints

Holmes analysed the footprints near the Boscombe pool, where the murder was committed, to trace the footprint of the murderer. He was able to even find the murder weapon from the scene by using the footprint evidence.

Answer: Toxicology

The miscreant in this adventure is the creature called Cyanea capillata which is a very poisonous stinger. Its stings caused the deaths of Fitzroy McPherson and his dog.

Answer: Finger prints

The finger print on the wall which appeared on the day after the crime helped Holmes to figure out that the alleged dead person was indeed the culprit. Holmes had verified that such a print was not there on the day before! This, with an observation that the top corridor of the building is shorter than the other corridors, helped him to locate the criminal.

Answer: Medicine

The professor, who had the peculiar affliction, was a victim of an artificial serum made from Langur, which gave him the behaviour of an ape. Holmes was able to solve it with the help of his knowledge of medicine.

Answer: History

Holmes was able to figure out that the Ku Klux Klan was behind the death of John Openshaw by his knowledge of the terror organization's history and their role in the politics of North America.

Answer: Genetics

Holmes deduced that Jephro Rucastle was given to violent behaviour by observing the actions of his son, whose favorite hobby was killing cockroaches. He used his knowledge of genetics in making this deduction.

Answer: Typography

Holmes analyzed the sample typwritten messages sent by the suitor of Miss Mary Sutherland, Mr. Hosmer Angel. He was able to correctly identify that certain characteristics of typing in these letters matched similar ones in the message sent by the lady's step father. Since Holmes was certain that no two typewriters in the world could produce such similarity in typing, he made the correct conclusion that the lady's stepfather himself was playing a double role as her suitor! (The study of typing & typewriters is called typography).