Steve:

I'm afraid you are getting Charlie Chan and Sherlock Holmes confused.

It is Holmes who has retired to Hawaii assisted by his Number 1 son and the rest of his family.

Charlie Chan fell, struggling with Professor Moriarty, over the Reichenbach Falls in Switzerland, never to be seen again.

Glad to clear up that point of confusion.

Doug

Respectfully, you are mistaken. Charlie survived the struggle at the Reichenbach Falls with his arch foe Doctor Loveless and after a period of wandering through the American West he returned in "The Adventure of the Empty House on Punchbowl Hill" as chronicled by his biographer Bess Marvin. P.S. I like the eternal figure explaination best.

Touche!