"Silver Blaze" Trivia Quiz

Answer: Inspector Gregory

Holmes tells Watson that he had received the telegrams a couple of days earlier, but he didn't act on them because he thought that such a distinct horse would be quickly found. He also told Watson that he considered the inspector to be very competent but that he lacked imagination.

Answer: The horse's trainer

John Straker was a retired jockey who had worked for Colonel Ross for twelve years and was considered to be a good employee. Straker was found dead on the moors on the night that Silver Blaze disappeared, with his head shattered and a cut on his leg.

Answer: He wanted to bribe the stable boy into giving him betting information on the horse.

Simpson admitted to being at the stables on the night in question, but he said he just wanted to get information on the horse's condition for the race. He was mainly a suspect because his cravat was found near John Straker's body. He claimed not to know how it came to be there.

Answer: Curried mutton

Sherlock Holmes told Watson that it was the curried mutton that had made him realize the disappearance of the horse was an inside job. Only John Straker or his wife could have controlled what was served at dinner that evening, and a spicy dish such as a curry was necessary to disguise the taste of the powdered opium that was administered to the stable boy.

Answer: A surgical knife

Straker's wife claimed that the knife belonged to Straker, but it was rather an unusual knife to have. Doctor Watson said that it was the type of knife used for performing delicate surgery. Holmes believed that the knife was the instrument that caused the cut on Straker's leg.

Answer: "Three of them had gone lame."

As Holmes and Watson were about to head back to London, Holmes suddenly questioned the stable boy who was helping them into the carriage. The boy said that he didn't think it was important but three of the sheep had recently gone lame. Holmes was very excited to hear this and suggested that the inspector pay attention to this fact.

Answer: It didn't bark.

The dog had been in the stables along with three stable boys, two who were sleeping and one who'd been drugged, on the night when Silver Blaze had been taken. When Holmes told the inspector to pay attention to the dog's actions, the inspector responded that the dog had done nothing, to which Holmes replied "THAT was the curious incident".

The dog should have barked if a stranger had taken the horse.

Answer: Silver Blaze

Holmes and Dr. Watson met Colonel Ross at the track, and they watched a horse take first place in Silver Blaze's spot. Ross didn't believe it was his horse since it was missing its distinctive coloring, but Holmes assured Ross that it was Silver Blaze; the horse had just been disguised with paint. All the horse needed was a good cleaning.

Answer: John Straker and Silas Brown

John Straker had intended to nick the horse's tendon to make him lame so that he (Straker) could make money on the race. It turned out that Straker was leading a double life and supporting a high-maintenance mistress, something that Sherlock Holmes had discovered because of a dressmaker's bill in Straker's pocket.

But Silver Blaze bolted, and Silas Brown, the trainer from the neighboring stable, found him wandering on the moors. Brown originally started to take the horse back to Colonel Ross but then decided to hide him at his employer's stable until after the race since their horse, Desborough, was considered to be Silver Blaze's main competition.

Answer: The horse

Thinking that Holmes was accusing him, Colonel Ross said that Holmes was making a bad joke. Holmes was actually referring to Silver Blaze, who was standing behind Ross. Holmes said the horse had trampled Straker when Straker was attempting to nick his tendon to make him lame. As Holmes said, Silver Blaze had acted in self-defense.