A week later

By Enrico Solito
Translated by Margareth Jewell

The conference in Milan and Florence of Uno Studio in Holmes, entitled "A week later" and dedicated to our friend Daniele Radacich, concluded a short time ago.

The title of the conference recalls the famous events at the Reichenbach Falls. Holmes was given up for dead on the 4th of May 1891, having plunged into the falls of Reichenbach, near Meiringen in Switzerland, clinging to his mortal enemy Professor Moriarty. Three years later he reappeared in London and to the astonished Watson declared that in reality he had freed himself with a clever baritsu move; had then decided to pretend he had died, escaped into the darkness and… "a week later I found myself in Florence".

Firstly, regarding administrative matters: Gianluca Salvatori was elected new President, replacing Enrico Solito whose appointment expired and who now takes his place in the Olympus of past Presidents. Enrico will continue (for now) as editor of the Strand; he will take on the role in full on the 6th of January, birthday of Sherlock Holmes.

The conference was undoubtedly a great success and among the most important of this type of events to be held in Italy to date. In Rome last year, it is true, we had 25,000 people attend our conference in a month, but in terms of the quality of lectures, our foreign guests and the media coverage, this year’s event was exceptional.

I must thank on one hand the detective bookshop in Milan and on the other the Municipality of Sesto Fiorentino. By way of appreciation we weren’t able to induct Tecla Dozio as an honorary member, as he already is one, but the Mayor of Sesto, Andrea Barducci, and Mauro Niccoli of Promopoint, now flaunt our pin on their breasts.

Jane and Philip Weller, of The Franco-Midland Hardware Company, were with us: they are two people with a true and profound knowledge of Holmes – they are perhaps the greatest authorities in the world. I was very moved when they complimented us and awarded us the "3 continents" prize for the most active society in the world.

Thierry de St Johannis, a true Parisian with distant Florentine origins, also honoured us with his presence. In an entirely serious way – and supported by a huge quantity of evidence – he claimed firstly that Holmes was of French origin and then that he was a descendant of Niccolò Paganini.

I am obliged not to divulge the contents of the speeches, which you can read in this book. It is enough for you to know that we have identified the path taken by Holmes that night in the Swiss mountains, the exact train he took, what he did in Milan and Bologna and that, beyond any doubt, he came to Sesto Fiorentino near Florence on the 12th May. Also, that the "Great Hiatus Italian Theory", originally proposed at Prato in 1996 by Giovanni Cappellini, has been confirmed in new and even more intriguing ways. And there is more: Franco Eugeni discussed the Binomial Theory, doubting that Moriarty was really a diplomat; Graziano Braschi went sifting through papers in the Gabinetto Viessseux, the large library reserved for foreigners passing through Florence, and visited by Dostoievsky and so it seems, by Holmes.

And while Mario Spezi was recounting many dark episodes of Florentine crime, challenging us by asking if Sherlock Holmes could have solved the casse, we were delightfully interrupted by the music of a single violin. It was Ilaria Lanzoni playing for us, and she immediately received an honorary membership to the society.

However, not only were the lectures fascinating: the entertainment ranged from "Per Irene", repeated in Milan after first appearing at Prato in 1996, to the theatre show with Cavallero at Sesto in the evening, again at Villa S. Lorenzo, which was staged after 10 hours of conferences with only one break for lunch. It was a true marathon. But our efforts were rewarded: by spending the evening with the "Irregulars" trying to steal wallets, vainly pursued by the furious men of the Yard.

In the morning we had to travel to Florence, and we all made it, for the inauguration of a superb plaque – almost a sculpture – created for us by Pino Allamprese. It can be found in the historic Corsellini pipe shop in Via Ghibellina in Florence: it was unveiled in front of us all by Jane Weller and Sonie de St Johannis.

This is the first such plaque to be installed in Italy and it has the text of Holmes’ phrase in EMPT in which he mentions Florence. It was in that shop that Holmes, displaced and a fugitive, was warmly welcomed under the banner of the brotherhood of pipe smokers.

The Mayor of Sesto, who is literally crazy and I would say almost converted, had promised us a surprise. Well, on the Sunday morning at the station when we all left together for Florence, there was a lively farewell involving a good deal of flag-waving. After thanking us and saying goodbye, the Mayor said quite seriously that as we had demonstrated Holmes had been at that very spot, he would invite us back to the inauguration of a bust of Holmes