Letter From: Miss Violet Hunter
Regarding: Mary Jane

Dear Members of the Dark Lantern League,

Permit me the opportunity to set the record straight regarding the unfortunate Mary Jane, about whom everyone is gossiping. As it happens, Mary Jane and I were once employed in the same household. Mary Jane is neither clumsy, nor careless. Nor did she damage Dr. Watson's footwear, as Mr. Holmes "deduced". Indeed, the poor girl suffered the injustice of being dismissed for a blunder she did not commit. Perhaps if Sherlock Holmes had interpreted the clues a bit more carefully, he might have discovered the real facts of the "boot-slitting" incident.

I must credit Mrs. Watson, however, for not giving Mary Jane a bad reference in spite of her belief that Mary Jane was the culprit. I shudder to think of the consequences had Mrs. Watson chosen to be less kind. I am happy to relate that Mary Jane has found another position as maid, and for another doctor as well. This one lives in Brook Street. It seems he suddenly inherited a great deal of money and was able to hire a large staff of servants.

As to the matter of the boots, Dr. Watson had taken a walk in the country a day before Mary Jane was given her notice. It was a rather wet day and the roads were extremely muddy--not a particularly good day for a country walk. But as Mr. Holmes was wont to tell the doctor, "you see, but you do not observe." So it was that Dr. Watson saw a rake lying across his path, but he did not observe where he stepped and proceeded to step down on the tines of the rake. As he did so, the handle of the rake shot up and hit the poor doctor on the right side of his head. In addition to scoring the instep of his boot, the injury left a rather large bump on the side of his head, (which created a noticeable bulge in his top hat when he wore it.)

Obviously, this situation would cause considerable embarrassment if the truth were to be known. Therefore Dr. Watson blamed the cut shoe on the innocent Mary Jane, thus getting her fired, and he allowed Sherlock Holmes to spin his theories as to the meaning of the clues he had observed.

I only happen to know this little morsel of information, because Mary Jane and I write to one another occasionally. And as Dr. Watson is a mutual acquaintance of ours, she merely mentioned the incident wondering if I'd had any similar experiences with him. I could not say that I had, but I've read many of his writings. I shall say no more than that.

Yours very faithfully,
Violet Hunter