“The Whereabouts of Sherlock Holmes,” by Columbia playwright Ceille Baird Welch will premiere in the Richland County Public Library’s Bostick Auditorium at 3 pm, October 18.

Ceille Baird Welch as Irene Adler known to followers of Sherlock Holmes as “The Woman.” Welch plays dual roles as Adler and her husband, Godfrey Norton, in the production of “The Whereabouts of Sherlock Holmes.” The audience will be introduced to Columbia’s Hansom Wheels, a society devoted to serious study of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s world–famous detective.

In a dramatized reading, Jim Welch is a TV reporter during that period of assumption of Sherlock Holmes’ untimely death. Responding to a recent flurry of rumors, the overzealous Welch examines characters from the great sleuth’s life, taking to task:

Does any one of them know whatever really happened to Sherlock Holmes?

Ceille Baird Welch as Godfrey Norton, husband of “The Woman” Irene Adler in the production of “The Whereabouts of Sherlock Holmes” at the RCPL main library Bostick Auditorium October 18, 3 pm. Are we complacent to assume that the famous detective, by the villainous hand of Professor Moriarty, lies drowned at the bottom of the Falls of Reichenbach in the Swiss Alps? Or might he simply have gone underground? Retired, perhaps?

Or could it be that the ever–pragmatic Holmes, the most analytical and unromantic literary figure of all time, has weakened at last and finally taken up with a woman?

With Phil Dematteis in the role of Dr. John Watson, David Cranford as Scotland Yard’s Tobias Gregson, and the author in the dual roles of lawyer Godfrey Norton and the mysterious Irene Adier, the contralto from New Jersey, this one act play promises to intrigue Holmes’ novice and enthusiast, alike.

A highlight of the Sunday afternoon program will be the presentation of an old time radio drama, “The Musgrave Ritual,” adapted from Doyle by Ceille Baird Welch, with advice from Holmes scholar and actor John Wrisley.

Legendary television personality Joe Pinner (WIS–TV) will star as Sherlock Holmes, Phil Dematteis will play Dr. Watson, and South Carolina’s weatherman Jim Gandy (WLTX–TV ) will play Sir Reginald Musgrave. The adaptation will feature Kathy Newman as Rachael Howells and Holmes scholar, member of the prestigious invitation–only Baker Street Irregulars, Dr. Bob Robinson, in a cameo appearance as Richard Brunton. Musicians Dan and Betty Orta will create a 1940s background and old time sound effects.

By way of a toast to The Woman, Irene Adier, the chanting of the Musgrave Ritual, and the reverential reading of the poem “221 B Baker Street,” Billy and Alida Rawl will provide the flavor of an actual Hansom Wheels meeting.

On hand, will be a display of old time radios and Sherlockian memorabilia, available reading materials by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, informat ion regarding membership in The Hansom Wheels, and an update on the “Hounds Project.”

The Hounds Project, sponsored by The Hansom Wheels, is a scholastic offering for middle school honor students to encourage the higher order thinking that Holmes called analysis and deduction. The project is led by Myrtle Robinson of Columbia and Dr. Twyla Tutten of North Augusta.

The Sunday afternoon production at The Richland County Public Library, 1431 Assembly Street, is free.

Ceille Baird Welch and Jim Welch are RCPL Literary Residents and members of The Hansom Wheels, an official scion of The Baker Street Irregulars.