By Christina Okeson
Herald Writer
The game’s afoot, but the hands of time quickly are spinning, so if you’re planning to visit the Pacific Science Center’s “The International Exhibition of Sherlock Holmes,” you’d better hoof it.
Want to play?
The exhibit is an interactive puzzle-solving experience steeped in science, history and the culture of its time. Learn about the life and times of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the Scottish physician and author of countless “Sherlock Holmes” works, among a multitude of other skills. Discover how he was influenced by his contemporaries, including Edgar Alan Poe. And then weigh in on the innocence or guilt of a man accused of murder.
In the time of the terrifying real-life unsolved crimes of serial killer Jack the Ripper, the public naturally was drawn to a heroic fictional character who could solve the mysteries that seemed to elude police. Holmes played by the book. (No pun intended, I swear.)
In the creation of his master sleuth, Conan Doyle vowed to treat the reader with respect, taking no shortcuts for the purpose of the tale and instead relying upon sound scientific method. He was inspired by the stories of Poe, “Whose detective stories … set the standard for the modern detective story,” according to the exhibit.
So in setting the historical context, the exhibit first immerses you into a world of real ephemera and artifacts, from first editions of Conan Doyle’s publications, newspaper clippings, magazines, medical tools and — oh, yeah — bits of bodies and bones.
I initially was surprised by, then especially fascinated by, a section of preserved human skin bearing several holes. This layman-macabre artifact full of stab and cut wounds was an early forensics tool used to determine the type of weapon involved in crimes.
Equally intriguing was the fractured skull of one Ellen Jones, whose head was bashed in with an ax in 1863. (Some of these artifacts were on loan from the infamous Mutter Museum of Philadelphia, a treasure trove of “anatomical specimens, models, and medical instruments in a 19th-century ‘cabinet museum’ setting.”
(I visited this museum in person several years ago while unfortunately in the sickness phase of my pregnancy. Seeing the artifacts in this new context gave me a whole new perspective as to their significance. Plus, I didn’t feel like I was going to faint this time.)
Some of the speakers in this first room were a bit too soft to hear over the general crowd noise — the first TV was too low, for example, during the visit I made with my husband, son, 16, and daughter, 9 — and though the detail is meticulous, it also can be overwhelming. Give yourself a break and don’t try, as I first did, to read every piece of information before the start of the game portion of the exhibit.
That being said, once you’ve absorbed your fill of knowledge, it’s time to put your newfound education and skills to the test.
Little do you know, but a man has been accused of murder and it’s up to you to determine his guilt or innocence. You’re given a “detective’s notebook” in which you are urged to “Record your observations. Record only facts! Do not theorize without evidence, as nothing is true until proven.”
Thus launches the second stage of the exhibit, a large room called the Underground Station — and it is marvelous. The details are vivid and entertaining. It’s a Victorian-era train station divided into a series of stone arch-opened displays that you must study and document. (With the periodic train whistles sounding, it’s all but impossible not to channel “Harry Potter’s” Platform 9 ¾.)
At six of the stations — Optics & Lens, Botany, Cosmetics, Telegraph, Ballistics and Scotland Yard — you work out a puzzle and stamp your detective book. There’s also a chance to use a newspaper punch and create a rubbing of an article to do a bit of deciphering. I won’t give details, since you should explore these for yourself.
Next you’re escorted into Conan Doyle’s “study,” yet another meticulously curated stop. Details in the living room range from “tea” going cold in the bottom of a cup to a sheath of documents firmly affixed, via knife, to a fireplace mantle. There are desks and bookshelves, and all are loaded with items to explore from models to countless apothecary jars and much, much more.
Your next mission, according to your detective notebook, is a search and find. Locate a bell pull, “Miss Cushing’s Ears,” a bearskin rug and more objects. Read the police report in your notebook, then test your theories along the next stop of the exhibit.
Each of the stamps you collected in the Underground Station represents knowledge and corresponds with such a test. There’s a seedpod at the scene of the crime, and so in the Conservatory, you use the knowledge gained from the Botany stop to determine if it matches any of the plants kept by the suspect.
There’s a blood spatter to examine in the Slaughterhouse. That bullet found at the scene of the crime? Test its trajectory, first studied about in Ballistics, at the Penny Arcade. And, finally, compare an embossing to drag marks the victim’s body left behind in the sand at the River Thames.
As you decide which theory you back for each of the locations in and near the suspect’s home, you punch your book. Once you have made your conclusions, you test this stamped page and find out if your theories were correct.
Was the suspect innocent or guilty?
The exhibit concludes with a display of props from the Sherlock Holmes film starring Robert Downey Jr., “A Game of Shadows.” Along with costumes and other memorabilia, there’s a full-scale replica of a gas-powered automobile from Sherlock’s time.
Once you explore these displays, then you can hit the gift shop.
If you go
“The International Exhibition of Sherlock Holmes”
“Discover how Sherlock Holmes, a scientific expert ahead of his time, used seemingly trivial observations of clues others missed to solve some of his era’s most mysterious crimes. His practices and techniques, created by author Arthur Conan Doyle, changed the way police work was conducted and remain in practice today.”
Through Jan. 8; hours vary
Pacific Science Center
200 Second Ave. N, Seattle
$11.75-$27.75 for non-members
www.pacificsciencecenter.org
There’s also a second game for which you can pick up a form to play. You are required to find eight of Sherlock’s deerstalker hats, write down the letter next to each of them and then unscramble the word. Once you complete this, turn in the sheet to the information desk in Building 1 for a prize.
Note: General admission to the rest of the center is included with the “Sherlock” ticket, but not vice-versa. Make sure to plan to leave plenty of time to visit the museum’s beloved dinosaurs, butterflies and other hands-on exhibits.
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