Villagers of Trumpington assemble!

I don't know if the Sherlock Holmes society of Cleveland, Mrs. Hudson's Lodgers, is still meeting on a regular basis, but if they are, this week offers a singular opportunity. They, along with any other Sherlockians who happen to be in that notable city this week, are missing a bet if they don't form a scion-society-of-the-moment called "the Villagers of Trumpington."

With the Republican national convention in Cleveland to celebrate what is possibly the most Sherlockian presidential ticket in history, why not?

Donald Trump, whose name invokes not only the village of Trumpington from "Missing Three-Quarter" and the "trumpery pendants" of "Lady Frances Carfax," but Inspector MacDonald of The Valley of Fear, is the Republican presidential hopeful.  And his vice-presidential partner? Mike, as in "Mike Scanlan," also of The Valley of Fear, and Pence, as in "a few pence," "twopence," "sixpence," etc., all over the Canon.

Heck, their combined ticket is "Trump-Pence," which sounds like an amount of pocket change a street urchin might save up after their regime takes office . . . because as Donald Trump might say, "I know street urchins, and we're going to make American street urchins competitive with every other country in the world, in any era. Thousands of street urchins on every block!"

And consider this: Enoch J. Drebber of Cleveland, Ohio was the first corpse that Sherlock Holmes ever took Watson on a case to see. And what is Donald Trump's middle initial? "J." just like Enoch J. Drebber! Coincidence? (We'll leave Drebber's "vacant sightless eyes" out of this.)

The first activity of the new temporary Sherlock club called the Villagers of Trumpington can be to find an empty three story house and lay on the floor with a red wax candle, which is about as exciting as watching a political convention.

But I do have a tip, if your cable has on-demand and you quickly find you want to watch something else on TV a little more uplifting -- you can do what I did tonight and watch last week's season-start episode of Penn & Teller: Fool Us that was on CW last Wednesday. The first trick of the episode actually involves reading Sherlock Holmes stories, so if you ever wanted to see actress Alyson Hannigan paging through the Canon . . . and who wouldn't, really . . . it's worth a watch. (You might even find it worth sticking it out to the end for the trick performed in your own home.)

Anyway, I'll be very surprised if "the Villagers of Trumpington" ever becomes an actual Sherlock Holmes club. At least I'm hoping it doesn't . . .