Whodunit 100 Years Ago? Elementary, My Dear. . .

--Some people may not have a clue to what a special year this is for fans of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle--but it’s really no mystery. Today, Britain begins an international celebration of the 100th anniversary of Conan Doyle’s fictional sleuth, Sherlock Holmes. “He is still incredibly popular,” said Capt. William Michell, secretary of the 800-member Sherlock Holmes Society in Britain. At 9:30 p.m., 180 members of the society will raise their glasses in the members’ dining room of the House of Commons, in a toast “to the immortal memory of Sherlock Holmes.” The dinner is held annually, but Michell said that tonight’s is “very special because it’s the centenary year.” Among the guests will be Dame Jean Conan Doyle, 73, Sir Arthur’s only surviving offspring. Two days later, the Baker Street Irregulars will toast Holmes in New York. The Japanese Holmesians are planning to have a party in February; a pageant is set for May in Switzerland and other events are planned in Australia and elsewhere.

--Robert McFarlane doesn’t want his customers to stew over the food, so the owner of the The Trading Post restaurant in Glasgow, Scotland, cooked up a way to head off complaints: Diners are handed a chef’s hat, a recipe book and the raw ingredients for their meal and told to cook it themselves. McFarlane said he owns a chain of pubs and discos, so he could afford to experiment. “The customers were a bit surprised at first, but now they think it’s fun,” he said.

--Police in India have agreed to stop trying to evict Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh from his headquarters commune, officials said. Police reportedly fashioned a deal to allow Rajneesh to remain temporarily at the settlement at Pune, about 75 miles east of Bombay, as long as there is no “obscene behavior” or liquor consumption in the commune or outside it. Rajneesh’s followers said that their guru came to the headquarters of the Rajneesh Foundation to rest, and his stay would not be permanent. In November, 1985, Rajneesh was forced to abandon his commune in Oregon and fleet of more than 90 Rolls-Royce limousines, after he pleaded no contest to charges of violating U.S. immigration laws by arranging fake marriages for foreign disciples. He paid a $400,000 fine. Rajneesh returned to Pune on Sunday, and Police Commissioner Bhaskar Misar immediately issued an order barring him from Pune as a threat to the public peace.