The Smartest of the Yarders

"The ever promising Detective Inspector Clawes, you must have come with something important to bring you out in such a gale..."

While Basil of Baker Street never professed a great deal of respect for the Scotland Yard's detectives or their methods, he was sought out by them in his capacity as a "consulting detective," and had extensive and repeated dealings with the many officers. He, however, was not retained by the police to supply for their deficiencies, but Basil has recently begun to relax in these attitudes when he met a bright newcomer to the Metropolitan Police.

Born in a British colony of the tropical South Pacific islands of New Zealand, Detective Inspector Clawes was born a gentleman — the son of an Irish forensic professor at the Otago Medical School, University of Otago, who was a pioneer in new scientific field of "scholarly pathology" (or what is later known as "forensics") and his wife, a retired "professional beauty" (who was both an actress and dancer). Along with his identical twin brother, he entered medical school, but dropped out to care for his beloved mother when turned catatonic. He had a falling out with his father when he annulled his marriage with his stupor-induced wife to wed a woman half his age. His twin brother continued his medical studies, but Clawes felt it best to enter into civil service to help support the family more immediately and found a niché as a criminal investigator.

Detective Inspector Clawes, the rising star of Scotland Yard, had become the youngest of twenty-nine inspectors of the "Met." Basil has high hopes for his career, describing him as "the smartest of the Yarders." He is a practitioner of deduction and reasoning, applying his own medical knowledge, scientific experience, and logic methodology in his own cases. He professes the admiration and respect of a pupil for the scientific methods of Basil of Baker Street, who considers him a kind of protégé, but Basil is often critical of Clawes' abilities to apply them. Of a probing, endlessly curious mind, Clawes is intelligent, industrious, and well-grounded, possessing a charisma, wonder, eagerness, and boyish whimsicality. Clawes is a kind of a Kiwi Beau Brummell, often seen well-dressed, carrying multi-purpose walking-stick in one hand and a field evidence suitcase in his other. Despite his endearing exterior, he hides a great sadness and deep insecurities within him, caring for a catatonic mother who can neither embrace him, see him, speak to him, hear him, or is even aware of him, which has labeled him as bit of a "mama's boy." Due to his tropical nature, he has a natural love for the sun and sea, and has a strong dislike for winter weather, or perhaps English weather in general. He is also a rose hobbyist and an accomplished pianist.

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I've had this character for about two years now, so it's high time I show him off publicly. The character is inspired by Inspector Stanley Hopkins of Scotland Yard and Inspector Baynes of the Surrey Constabulary from the Sacred Writings. His name came from my own (unintentional) misspelling of an Eve Titus character from the first Basil of Baker Street novel, Constable Clewes, and it just stuck! Clawes is represents Basil if he joined the official police. They have similar intellects, but his personality is practically the opposite of Basil's. He's making way for a new breed of criminologist — the "modern-day" forensic investigator, bring the Holmesian method to the official police force, à la CSI: Baker Street! (Listen to his adorable Kiwi accent HERE.)

Inspiration - Inspector Hopkins (GOLD, BLAC, ABBE), Inspector Baynes (WIST) | Models - Craig Parker

Medium - Photoshop, 4B graphite.

Detective Inspector Clawes © Diane N. Tran.