Originally Posted by
Chives
Assumed. Holmes was a bit of a rover who had organized bands of information trawlers, (the baker street irregulars) a decent relationship with the police department, (to the point where he's okay with them taking credit for his cases) and friends who thought of him memorably and positively after their first meetings. (Watson is recommended to Holmes by a third party) In addition, Doyle was very precise and would have said so directly if his character had poor social skills.
Holmes is as much a victim of being rewritten by the public as Batman.