Arthur Conan Doyle

…The detective's companion, with the trained eye of a medical man, clearly recognised that whatever the law and the fashion of the day said, this was a destructive indulgence that was doing his friend no good at all.…

…The author himself was, by various accounts, asked what his famous creation would have made of it, as though the character were a consultant one might actually hire.…

…It is worth noting, too, that the author himself was careful to keep his creation well clear of the actual tragedy.…