Inspector Elizabeth "Beth" Lestrade
You know what a lone wolf she is.
-- Chief Inspector Grayson, "The Adventure of the Deranged Detective"
Ah, but nothing can withstand our Lestrade. She's a force
of nature unto herself.
-- Holmes, "The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire Lot"
Beth Lestrade, a descendant of the Inspector G. Lestrade of
Holmes' day, is living one of her wildest dreams and worst nightmares. As a dedicated
student of detection and Sherlock Holmes, she is in the position of being able to personally
learn from the Master. But as a New Scotland Yard detective and supervising officer
to Holmes, she is going slowly nuts trying to predict what the great detective
will do next!
Lestrade combines the persistence of the police detective (and her ancestor)
with the lone wolf tradition of the American private eye. If there's
an obstacle, she prefers to go straight through it. But though Holmes regularly beats
her to solutions, she's far from stupid. If she wasn't solving cases, she never would
have made Inspector -- and she would have been fired by now, especially given her
wilder escapades! She has plenty of imagination and is not afraid to stand by her own
ideas, even against Holmes. She is also something of a bibliophile; in FALL and DERA, we
saw that in an age of handhelds, she has a bookcase full of books in her flat. Even in
her madness, she avoided setting fire either to her bookcase or Watson's journals --
though both would have made wonderful tinder.
Lestrade's respect for Holmes is immense. She persuaded Sir Evan Hargreaves
to bring Holmes back to life because she believed that only Holmes could defeat
Moriarty, and blackmailed Greyson into accepting Holmes' aid in FALL. She is perfectly
willing to argue with Holmes when she disagrees with him, but she never denigrates
his ideas in front of Greyson or other outsiders. In fact, she even argued
Inspector Fairlie of the Lunar Police (offscreen) into giving Holmes another hearing
in SIGN2. Meanwhile, Lestrade's respect for Watson is perhaps best shown in that she
treats him just like everyone else.
Lestrade's accent clearly marks her as one of the many American or
Canadian emigres in London. Her background is unknown. She appears to have
little personal life, preferring to dedicate her time to investigations (although for
all we know, she could be out partying every night). Holmes and Watson seem to be her
closest associates, though in "The Creeping Man" she attended the wedding of Alice
Murphy, her college friend and roommate, to Professor Presbury, the father of her other
college friend and roommate, Edith Presbury. Lestrade's attitude toward the Irregulars
changed over time. Originally she objected to their presence on cases, but eventually
she came to value them as sources of information (though she still felt they should not
be placed in danger). She is very fond of donuts (MAZA2) and cookies (CREE2).
From Fox's press releases:
Righteous, impetuous and volatile, Beth Lestrade is the
super-cop of the 22nd Century. Her tendency is to react first, ask questions
later, which results in conflict with Holmes and the handling of many cases.
Her philosophy is, "If you let them get away with the little things, they're
not going to stop at the big things." Beth's ancestor was a Scotland Yard
inspector who interacted with Holmes on many occasions, and his bulldog
tenacity was passed on to Beth. She never gives up and always gets what
she is after.
From the poster:
Inspector Elizabeth (Beth) Lestrade
Lestrade is impetuous and volatile, the exact opposite of Holmes. The two
often clash over how to handle cases. Lestrade's ancestor was a Scotland
Yard inspector who worked with Holmes on many cases in the 19th century.
A fierce intensity was passed on to her, so she just never gives up.
Lestrade often locks horns with her New Scotland Yard boss, Chief Inspector
Grayson, who grows impatient with her impulsive ways. Lestrade is Holmes
and Watson's guide to the London of the future, the manners and mores of
the time, and the technology that has changed the face of crime and the
fight against it.
I like Beth Lestrade. As the original Watson's story "The
Adventure of the Noble Bachelor" describes another American woman:
She is what we call in England a tomboy, with a strong nature,
wild and free, unfettered by any sort of traditions. She is impetuous --
volcanic, I was about to say. She is swift in making up her mind and fearless
in carrying out her resolutions...at bottom a noble woman. I believe that
she is capable of heroic self-sacrifice and that anything dishonourable
would be repugnant to her.
More essays:
Whatever Remains, the page which asks the
question whether Beth Lestrade, who always gets what she is after, is
going after Holmes.
Related pages:
Scotland Yard's official
webpage includes useful stuff for fans to know, like the
Rank structure of the Metropolitan Police and
Metfacts.
Back to the Character page
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