Sherlock Holmes considered himself as the only unofficial consulting detective, and rightly so.

In point of fact, Holmes worked outside the law.

If he'd be a policeman working for Scotland Yard,

he would certainly not have had the freedom that allowed him to use his unorthodox methods.

This both pleased the police and frustrated them.

Pleased them because he almost invariably let such men as Inspector Lestrade and Inspector Gregson take the public recognition for a case that he had solved, frustrated them because he

could literally work on a case using his own specialised abilities while they had to stay within

prescribed limits.

Yet Holmes did respect the law, for he was in fact an amateur

and felt it best to have a healthy relationship with the professional police.

This encouraged such men as Lestrade and Gregson

to bring various unsolved crimes to him for his solution.

His freedom outside the restraints of the law

allowed him to assume many roles in disguise

and to work with Watson as his accomplice.

Excellent examples of this kind of work

can be found in such original stories as a scandal in Bohemia, the man with the twisted lip, and the illustrious client, to name but a few.

He often broke open safes to get information, set fires to force some action out of an individual, such as Irene Adler, or broke into Holmes in order to gain access

to information that would lead to the solving of the crime.

Any admonitions by the police were soon dropped when Holmes produced the criminal or solved

a crime.

Most of this work was done by Holmes and Watson in London or various other parts of England.

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