People who haven't read the Sherlock Holmes books most likely have a Hollywood impression of the clues he finds to solve the case.

You'd expect something like:

• A bloody thumbprint on the wall
• Half a boot mark in the ground outside the window
• A dropped cigarette ash
• A spent bullet casing

Sound about right?  Maybe three out of those four will be enough to crack the case?

Sherlock would think, if only!

What made the Sherlock stories so brilliant, and why Arthur Conan Doyle has been so lauded through the years, is that in most cases Sherlock had almost nothing to go on.

How about:

• A crumpled note that turned out to be less than worthless
• A tiny piece of chipped brick on the bridge

That's it.

Still want to play Sherlock Holmes?  With your cool deerstalker hat and magnifying lens?  Well, there are your two clues.

Good luck.

The above is with the great Jeremy Brett playing Holmes in the 1991 TV series The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes.