Holmes shrugged his shoulders.
“I have hitherto confined my investigations to this world,” said he. “In a modest way I have combated evil, but to take on the Father of Evil himself would, perhaps, be too ambitious a task.”
This bit tickles me so much like. Holmes’ skepticism about the supernatural tends to be exaggerated, that it cannot exist rather than that too much is ascribed to it, but the way he puts it here is so funny. Like “well if it is the Devil what do you expect me to do about it? exorcise him with my magnifying glass?”
(of course this is just catnip for every writer ever to want to throw him into SO many supernatural situations regardless) (myself not excluded)
Holmes: And so, if immortal vampires were real, they’d have long grown suspicions in their hometown. The people would be so well prepared that the vampires would grow hungry and terribly weak. It’s always “ the Vampyre of Corinth”, “The Moura vampyre…”. If I were a hungry undead, I would be constantly on the move. Yet, you never hear tales of vampires travelling to new hunting grounds. If vampires were real, they’d be migratory.
Dracula: Yes, quite right.
Holmes: That said, if vampires were real I cannot fathom how deeply embarrassing it must be that they can only enter houses with an invitation. Congratulations, you’re outdone by any toddler tall enough to reach a doorknob.
Dracula: