Stories are all in my head so far, but thank you for the idea.

That book was interesting, but I almose wanted to skip the chapters about the murderer and just read the ones about the World's Fair. The murders were gruesome.

You could try googling the library to see if they have put any up of the exhibit. It's very understated.

Okie dokie. Part one of the research folks. I hope it is of interest to a few of you as it sets the original Sherlock Holmes stories into their historical context, with regards to the police and detection. I have centred my research upon London.

The Metropolitan Police - often nowadays shortened to 'The Met'- was formed in 1829 by Sir Robert Peel. It is thought that this is where the term 'Bobbies' came from; 'Peelers' was another nickname popular in Victorian times.

Officers wore navy blue uniforms (as they do today), tailcoats, top hats. They were armed with a truncheon. From 1840 Inspectors were occasionally armed with a firearm, mainly revolvers. In 1870 police officers had to be 5'8" (except the Thames Division-5'7").

By the mid-1800s police patrolled a 'beat'. 1887 Black Maria's or secure vehicles were used to transport prisoners.

In 1875 Great Scotland Yard police offices were opened.

1877 The Turf Fraud Scandal hit the Met with police corruption hitting the headlines and police being imprisoned as a result. The result of thei was the establishment of the CID (Criminal Investigations Department) For a long time detective police officers, plain clothes, wee seen as symptomatic of an I trustee system of surveillance, considered the hallmark of continental, especially French, police forces and something that had no place in England.

1879 Initial rules for dealing with murder cases were established 'the body must not be moved, nor anything about it or in the room or place interfered with, and the public must be excluded.'

(In 1887 the first Conan Doyle Sherlock Holmes story ' A Study in Scarlet' appeared in print.

1890 New Scotland Yard was opened. 1892 dismissals, rank and pay reductions were common and used to keep the men in order.

1894 The Alphonse Bertillon System of identification was adopted, this partially relied upon fingerprinting to identify culprits.

1899 High rates of suicides amongst officers. Their harsh treatment was cited as a reason.

1900 The Belper Report into the best system of identification of possible criminals was published.  As a result of this report the Fingerprint Bureau commences in 1901.