The few that still doubt that politics breed strange bedfellows would be instantly converted were the story of how Sherlock Holmes single-handedly prevented a bloodbath plotted by a unusual coalition of upholstery-covering embroiderers, those who object to the manual manipulation of tissues, and opponents of island African nations facing French colonial rule come to light; alas, the Case of the Antimacassar, Anti-massage, Anti-Madagascar Anti-massacre will never be told, for alliterative reasons, of course.