Sherlock Shakespeare

We had the pleasant experience yesterday of running into a friend of ours, a young woman who teaches literature to sixth graders. One of her 11 year-old pupils had written a mystery story starring a detective named Sherlock Shakespeare, who lives and works in the year 2199. Around that year, it seems, Sherlock Shakespeare makes all the money he really needs and decides to take a vacation - specifically, he and a friend go on a Disney cruise. But there is a murder on deck and Sherlock Shakespeare must interrupt his holiday to solve it. SPOILER ALERT!!!! The murder weapon is an iPhone. I mention all this because I immediately decided to steal the story, in whole or in part - at the very least, the name Sherlock Shakespeare. To what purpose? I'm not sure. BUT. Last night at dinner I brought up the tale of Sherlock Shakespeare and Wesley Stace laid claim to it on the spot. "You can't," I said. "That's mine, I stole it." To which Stace replied, "And now I'm stealing it from you." But I got up early and put it here, where it will stand as a monument for all eternity thanks to the powers of the "internet," marking myself forever as the primary and rightful thief.