"Red Gold" (221b), Holmes Minor October 2019 Monthly Prompt

[gardnerhill]

It broke my heart when the Irregulars grinned – all with gaps in their mouths beyond the usual ones for their ages, or with visibly rotten teeth; they exuded a stable-stench every time they talked to Holmes.

We did our best to see the lads were well-fed and paid decently for their unofficial work. I tended their illnesses and small injuries. But I was a doctor, not a dentist. I pulled the worst teeth but could not replace them.

Then a red-haired pawnbroker crossed our doorstep, and Sherlock Holmes prevented a massive bank robbery. Within the week the grateful manager Mr. Merriweather wired Holmes £200.

"My fees are fixed," Holmes said peevishly, "and I cannot be bought. Had the case been dull I'd have waved it off entirely!"

"It's a reward, not a fee," I chided him. "You saved his bank's reputation as well as their boullion." Gold. Normally in coin form, but sometimes shining from…

The idea struck me.

"Holmes, I have a proposal to disperse that fee."

When he heard my suggestion, my friend agreed immediately.

When most people think of the Red-Headed League they remember an amusing case. But Holmes and I are reminded of that case every time we see the smiling faces of our lads – their strong well-tended teeth augmented by the gold gleam of new biters.

Comments

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Ha! Now those are some shiny smiles! Well done!

[gardnerhill]

And gold teeth would probably give those pauper kids some major status in their neighborhoods.

[smallhobbit]

An excellent use of the reward.

[gardnerhill]

Gold to pay the dentist as well as fill in their missing choppers. Those gold-toothed boys would be the envy of their poverty-stricken neighbourhoods and every kid would want to be one of Sherlock Holmes' "gang."

[scfrankles]

What an inspired series of connections to make - 'smiling' to teeth, to missing teeth, to gold as a reward paying for gold replacements ^__^ Excellent stuff.

And I do love the phrase 'new biters' - great b word to end on ^___^

[gardnerhill]

Dentistry work is expensive - no wonder that so many stereotypes about slumdwellers and hillbillies involve snaggly or missing teeth.

And just imagine what status-symbols those street kids will be among their peers to have those shiny gold teeth for working for Mr. Holmes!

[mightymads]

That's a great continuation! Thank you so much!

[gardnerhill]

I do like to consider the poverty of the Irregulars in a lot of my work, don't I?

[debriswoman]

Inventive and an excellent use for the money:-)

[gardnerhill]

Instantly turning the Irregulars into the coolest kids in the neighborhood!