Victorian 221b

Yes, I like the way you break this down on so many character levels. I do suspect that Holmes's choice to present himself and his business that way had multiple levels: sentimental, strategic, bohemian, and principled - in hopes of not intimidating away clients who'd think they couldn't afford him, and as a way of twitting any well-heeled visitors who were normally too proud to walk upstairs to someone's small first floor parlor and sit down amid the chemical apparatus and the jackknife in the mantel and the criminal relics occasionally turning up in unexpected places :) What did Neil Gibson or the Prime Minister or the Illustrious Client's representative think of it all? What did it mean to Kitty Winters, or to poor Dr. Trevelyan, who'd gotten himself into such a mess because he didn't think he'd ever make it if he tried to work from a house like this? It's fun to think about :)