Who murdered the Prime Minister’s ‘floozie’? Is it possible that the evil Moriarty didn’t die after all in that tussle with Sherlock Holmes at the Reichenbach Falls, and returned to carry on with his life of crime? Or was there somebody else just as sinister at large? It’s one of those rare cases that was left unresolved but now, on the cusp of retirement, Holmes decides to have one more shot at The Case of the Prime Minister, the Floozie and the Lummock Rock Lighthouse.

There’s something else on Holmes’s mind, too — what has happened to the Satsuma Stone, stolen from the crown of William of Orange in the 17th century, and entrusted to his safekeeping after being discovered recently in Maastricht? Who could have taken it from under his nose? And will the audience get a glimpse of this precious gem?

In Holmes and Watson: The Farewell Tour, staged by the Cherwell Theatre Company at The Mill Arts Centre, Banbury, last Friday, you could almost hear Holmes’s brain whirring as he and his trusty sidekick, Dr Watson, re-enacted that long-forgotten case in an attempt to solve the mystery once and for all, while Holmes was also determined to find the Satsuma Stone. Nobody was safe from suspicion, and even the audience became implicated in these dastardly crimes. Finally, though, it all slotted into place with a most surprising revelation . . .

Stuart Fortey’s hilarious script kept the audience simultaneously laughing and guessing, helped along by some ingenious directing by Nasser Memarzia, and all brilliantly held together by James Snee (Holmes) and Liam Nooney (Watson), who had to play all the other characters as well, and switched deftly from one to another with barely a pause for breath. Fast-paced, witty and intriguing, this was entertainment at its very best.

In a first for the Cherwell Theatre Company, this production is set for a national tour after Christmas. Visit www.cherwelltheatre productions.co.uk for details.