Dr. John Watson
@watsonandholmes.games
My name is John Watson, or Dr. John as Sherlock Holmes likes to call me. Working on my next publication, Watson & Holmes: A Murder on Nob Hill. https://watsonandholmes.games #sherlockholmes #gaming #gamedev #indiedev #visualnovel #visualnoveldev
My American publisher (why are they always American?) insists I tell you about his Dev Blog. It sounds like something that would ooze from a wound, and perhaps it is! He says it's the chronicle of our chronicles. I shall let you decide in any case with this link he provided. davidbethune.com/blog
March 27, 2025 at 5:25 PM
My American publisher (why are they always American?) insists I tell you about his Dev Blog. It sounds like something that would ooze from a wound, and perhaps it is! He says it's the chronicle of our chronicles. I shall let you decide in any case with this link he provided. davidbethune.com/blog
This strange newspaper was found inside a shop near the harbor. It seems to refer to the invention of the telephone which Alexander Graham Bell presented at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia that year. Sherry says Edison invented the phone and sold it to Bell because it wasn't interesting.
March 23, 2025 at 6:24 PM
This strange newspaper was found inside a shop near the harbor. It seems to refer to the invention of the telephone which Alexander Graham Bell presented at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia that year. Sherry says Edison invented the phone and sold it to Bell because it wasn't interesting.
One of the bars in the neighborhood, I can't recall the name or even if it had a name, opened out to the street, its cacophony serving to attract rather than repel its patronage. It was clear that men of different social class sought different styles of entertainment, a factor in our investigation.
March 20, 2025 at 6:05 PM
One of the bars in the neighborhood, I can't recall the name or even if it had a name, opened out to the street, its cacophony serving to attract rather than repel its patronage. It was clear that men of different social class sought different styles of entertainment, a factor in our investigation.
The Belle Epoch dance hall was located South of Market, in the most unseemly part of town. It stood out with its garish lighting and feigned attempt at architecture. When we pulled up in a hired carriage, Holmes quipped that the establishment had "clearly ceased to be *belle* in some prior epoch."
March 18, 2025 at 2:37 PM
The Belle Epoch dance hall was located South of Market, in the most unseemly part of town. It stood out with its garish lighting and feigned attempt at architecture. When we pulled up in a hired carriage, Holmes quipped that the establishment had "clearly ceased to be *belle* in some prior epoch."
Madam Lin, owner of the Golden Crane Apothecary, spent her days at the cultural crossroads of San Francisco, Dupont Avenue. Its many Chinese medicine shops not only served the established immigrant population but were also popular with Americans, like Ambrose Aurion, the victim in this crime.
March 17, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Madam Lin, owner of the Golden Crane Apothecary, spent her days at the cultural crossroads of San Francisco, Dupont Avenue. Its many Chinese medicine shops not only served the established immigrant population but were also popular with Americans, like Ambrose Aurion, the victim in this crime.
The gold rush economy of San Francisco attracted people from all over America and across the world, including Zofia Zielińska from Poland who went by the monniker Butterfly. As proprietor of the Belle Epoch Dance Hall, her establishment hosted gentlemen of every social class, many of them upstairs.
February 27, 2025 at 7:59 PM
The gold rush economy of San Francisco attracted people from all over America and across the world, including Zofia Zielińska from Poland who went by the monniker Butterfly. As proprietor of the Belle Epoch Dance Hall, her establishment hosted gentlemen of every social class, many of them upstairs.
Ever the expert in all things even when he's wrong, Sherry didn't hesitate to express displeasure, dare I say outright hostility at anyone who plied him with lies or obfuscation... and there were many who made the attempt. A shocking rebuke from him was often just the thing to pry them open.
February 23, 2025 at 11:56 PM
Ever the expert in all things even when he's wrong, Sherry didn't hesitate to express displeasure, dare I say outright hostility at anyone who plied him with lies or obfuscation... and there were many who made the attempt. A shocking rebuke from him was often just the thing to pry them open.
Our gracious host, Cerbus Aurion, arranged the Presidential Suite for us at the Palace Hotel, which was lovely but offered little respite. Every moment it seemed there was some new inspiration from Holmes that demanded our immediate attention back in the street, sometimes to places we'd just been!
February 22, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Our gracious host, Cerbus Aurion, arranged the Presidential Suite for us at the Palace Hotel, which was lovely but offered little respite. Every moment it seemed there was some new inspiration from Holmes that demanded our immediate attention back in the street, sometimes to places we'd just been!
A photographer friend here in London was evaluating his most recently acquired camera in a street near his studio and captured this portrait of me quite spontaneously when I stopped in to chat. I do think it flatters my visage but I dare say I've put on a stone since we visited America.
February 21, 2025 at 12:09 AM
A photographer friend here in London was evaluating his most recently acquired camera in a street near his studio and captured this portrait of me quite spontaneously when I stopped in to chat. I do think it flatters my visage but I dare say I've put on a stone since we visited America.
The Hall of Records in New City Hall was a stop on our investigation that I'll never forget. The whole plaza, still under construction when we got there, displayed an architectural largesse that was certainly unique if somewhat impractical, like a cake that's lovely outside but cut into odd pieces.
February 19, 2025 at 11:12 PM
The Hall of Records in New City Hall was a stop on our investigation that I'll never forget. The whole plaza, still under construction when we got there, displayed an architectural largesse that was certainly unique if somewhat impractical, like a cake that's lovely outside but cut into odd pieces.
The Central Pacific Railroad, builders of this end of the Transcontinental, had a ticket and baggage office at the street level of the Palace Hotel. While surely convenient for passengers, I suspect it had more to do with the hotel's role as the de facto meeting spot for all of the City's elite.
February 18, 2025 at 9:41 PM
The Central Pacific Railroad, builders of this end of the Transcontinental, had a ticket and baggage office at the street level of the Palace Hotel. While surely convenient for passengers, I suspect it had more to do with the hotel's role as the de facto meeting spot for all of the City's elite.
Holmes's archive contained this 1869 newspaper photo of the completed Transcontinental Railroad, a first for the United States. Two locomotives met in Utah, one coming from New York and one from San Francisco. The lightning bolt appears symbolic and added by an illustrator, to my eye.
February 16, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Holmes's archive contained this 1869 newspaper photo of the completed Transcontinental Railroad, a first for the United States. Two locomotives met in Utah, one coming from New York and one from San Francisco. The lightning bolt appears symbolic and added by an illustrator, to my eye.
We had occasion to visit the Bank of California building, called "The Handsomest Structure on the Coast." It was the domain of William Chapman Ralston who nearly emptied its vaults on his dream of building the Palace Hotel, where we stayed. The bank narrowly recovered from his spending spree.
February 13, 2025 at 7:36 PM
We had occasion to visit the Bank of California building, called "The Handsomest Structure on the Coast." It was the domain of William Chapman Ralston who nearly emptied its vaults on his dream of building the Palace Hotel, where we stayed. The bank narrowly recovered from his spending spree.
Although our business in San Francisco only involved one of the four founding families, the "nobs" of Nob Hill, their ostentatious mansions were unavoidable. This one belongs to the Mark Hopkins, co-founder of the Central Pacific Railroad which owned this Western end of the Transcontinental.
February 8, 2025 at 9:30 PM
Although our business in San Francisco only involved one of the four founding families, the "nobs" of Nob Hill, their ostentatious mansions were unavoidable. This one belongs to the Mark Hopkins, co-founder of the Central Pacific Railroad which owned this Western end of the Transcontinental.
In San Francisco, the police laboratory was incorporated into the opulent City Hall building, also used for galas and public events. It was during one of these that Holmes insisted we barge in and use the lab post-haste on some evidence collected from the street. The gala guests were not amused.
February 7, 2025 at 11:05 PM
In San Francisco, the police laboratory was incorporated into the opulent City Hall building, also used for galas and public events. It was during one of these that Holmes insisted we barge in and use the lab post-haste on some evidence collected from the street. The gala guests were not amused.
Dear Reader, my American publisher has revealed a bit more about the phantasmagorical storytelling device of his that will be used to convey our California adventure to you. If he's to be believed, it contains tinted photographs like the ones in souvenir postcards or framed in London studios.
February 6, 2025 at 6:38 PM
Dear Reader, my American publisher has revealed a bit more about the phantasmagorical storytelling device of his that will be used to convey our California adventure to you. If he's to be believed, it contains tinted photographs like the ones in souvenir postcards or framed in London studios.
Holmes pointed out that the word insular (for isolated) comes from the Latin word "insulare" for island. When pressed on how that applied to San Francisco, he said its compact geography created strong boundaries between different neighborhood cultures, like the underworld South of Market.
February 3, 2025 at 6:02 PM
Holmes pointed out that the word insular (for isolated) comes from the Latin word "insulare" for island. When pressed on how that applied to San Francisco, he said its compact geography created strong boundaries between different neighborhood cultures, like the underworld South of Market.
I enjoyed the Union Square district with its ingenious cable car turnaround. It was full of fashionable businessmen, merchants, shopkeeps, and gossip to be overheard. Railroad workers could ride the cars for free but seldom did as the tracks didn't serve their work or boarding house locations.
February 3, 2025 at 1:51 AM
I enjoyed the Union Square district with its ingenious cable car turnaround. It was full of fashionable businessmen, merchants, shopkeeps, and gossip to be overheard. Railroad workers could ride the cars for free but seldom did as the tracks didn't serve their work or boarding house locations.
I recall the San Francisco harbor as picturesque and poetic. The lovely Mei-Lin Zhang was in charge of her family's fish market there near the docks. We would come to learn that a second, underground economy was here just under the surface, with corrupt payment schemes in place enforced by thugs.
February 1, 2025 at 3:56 PM
I recall the San Francisco harbor as picturesque and poetic. The lovely Mei-Lin Zhang was in charge of her family's fish market there near the docks. We would come to learn that a second, underground economy was here just under the surface, with corrupt payment schemes in place enforced by thugs.
Sarah Aurion, brother of the murdered Ambrose, aspired to join her parents in the upper crust of San Francisco and emulated her mother in public. But in reality she was a different generation, the first born on this coast. Her knowledge of the City's youth culture proved invaluable, once revealed.
January 30, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Sarah Aurion, brother of the murdered Ambrose, aspired to join her parents in the upper crust of San Francisco and emulated her mother in public. But in reality she was a different generation, the first born on this coast. Her knowledge of the City's youth culture proved invaluable, once revealed.
Aurion's father included this photograph of him with the letter soliciting Sherlock's help. It was certainly a difficult way to begin a case -- lacking a body in situ, as it was. I was anxious to get there to see the corpse myself and learn what the Army medical examiner from Fort Point had to say.
January 29, 2025 at 9:17 PM
Aurion's father included this photograph of him with the letter soliciting Sherlock's help. It was certainly a difficult way to begin a case -- lacking a body in situ, as it was. I was anxious to get there to see the corpse myself and learn what the Army medical examiner from Fort Point had to say.
The food in San Francisco is one of my favorite memories, especially the Celestial Palace restaurant run by William Jin. Our host had arranged a tab at the hotel but everything about this place was more interesting than that tired club. It was the heart of the city with its humours flowing through.
January 27, 2025 at 4:29 PM
The food in San Francisco is one of my favorite memories, especially the Celestial Palace restaurant run by William Jin. Our host had arranged a tab at the hotel but everything about this place was more interesting than that tired club. It was the heart of the city with its humours flowing through.
My American publisher has recounted that we visited 11 locations across 8 San Francisco neighborhoods on our investigation into A Murder on Nob Hill. It's a compact and diverse city for being so small in size... just 7 square miles. Sherlock pointed out that the County of London is 117 miles square.
January 25, 2025 at 7:25 PM
My American publisher has recounted that we visited 11 locations across 8 San Francisco neighborhoods on our investigation into A Murder on Nob Hill. It's a compact and diverse city for being so small in size... just 7 square miles. Sherlock pointed out that the County of London is 117 miles square.
South of Market was a rough neighborhood, dominated by the Central Pacific Railway Yard and the bars and tenement houses that catered to its workers. The victim's father suggested a wealthy business rival might be involved, but Holmes decided we should be here, investigating these men instead.
January 24, 2025 at 3:54 PM
South of Market was a rough neighborhood, dominated by the Central Pacific Railway Yard and the bars and tenement houses that catered to its workers. The victim's father suggested a wealthy business rival might be involved, but Holmes decided we should be here, investigating these men instead.
Holmes shared with me the letter he received from overseas that started our investigation. Cerbus Aurion, father of the murdered man, knew of Sherlock from his brother Mycroft. All of the world's wealthy men seem to be connected -- in ways that fascinate me but don't interest Sherry in the least.
January 23, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Holmes shared with me the letter he received from overseas that started our investigation. Cerbus Aurion, father of the murdered man, knew of Sherlock from his brother Mycroft. All of the world's wealthy men seem to be connected -- in ways that fascinate me but don't interest Sherry in the least.