5. The Vermeer Is A Fake
This deduction is on this list for a completely different reason. It is just completely random and no 'normal' person could ever solve it. This just underlies the brilliance of Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock is called in, as part of Moriarty's game, to investigate a body that has washed up on the shore of the Thames. After a short investigation of the body Sherlock states that the lost Vermeer painting that has been found in London is a fake. This deduction seems completely ridiculous as it is such a random conclusion to come to from the corpse of a, seemingly unrelated, dead man. However, once Sherlock explains it does begin to make sense. The man has ticket stubs in his pocket from the National Gallery. This tells Sherlock that he works there as he did not have full tickets. Sherlock knows of an assassin that has been in the area and this convinces him that the man had found out something that he shouldn't have done.7 This is the opposite end of the spectrum as this deduction is far from simple. However, it is still equally brilliant and deserving of a place on this list.