Baker Street Elementary – Nonsensical

by I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere May 31, 2026

“systematized common sense” [BLAN]

In "The Blanched Soldier," we find a quote from Sherlock Holmes that makes it clear that his way of thinking — as impressive and strange as it is to the reader — is second nature to him:

“By cunning questions and ejaculations of wonder he could elevate my simple art, which is but systematized common sense, into a prodigy.”

Systematized common sense? Well, if one has taken the trouble to memorize data about crimes past and to observe what others don't, it might be systematized.

More often than not, we see Scotland Yard inspectors calling their approach "common sense" when it is more like systematized ignorance.

For example, in The Valley of Fear, Inspector MacDonald challenges Holmes's theory about an outside killer, declaring:

“It's clean against common sense!”

His argument was that no rational man would choose a noisy shotgun as the weapon for a murder he needed to commit quietly and escape cleanly.

And in The Sign of Four, Inspector Athelney Jones (who famously called the detective "Mr. Sherlock Holmes the theorist") uses the phrase twice while trying to theorize about the crime at Pondicherry Lodge, first dismissing the steps on the window sill:

“Well, well, if it was fastened the steps could have nothing to do with the matter. That’s common sense. Man might have died in a fit; but then the jewels are missing. Ha! I have a theory. These flashes come upon me at times.—Just step outside, sergeant, and you, Mr. Sholto. Your friend can remain.—What do you think of this, Holmes? Sholto was, on his own confession, with his brother last night. The brother died in a fit, on which Sholto walked off with the treasure. How’s that?”
“On which the dead man very considerately got up and locked the door on the inside.”
“Hum! There’s a flaw there. Let us apply common sense to the matter.”

Oh, poor Athelney Jones...

Let's see if they're teaching common sense at Baker Street Elementary...

Baker Street Elementary follows the original adventures of Sherlock Holmes and , as they and their friends work through the issues of elementary school in . An archive of all previous episodes can be viewed at the Baker Street Elementary website.