### Instruction: What are the best Sherlock Holmes short stories?
### Response: While "best" can be subjective, the author of the Sherlock Holmes series, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, selected his own list of 12 short stories that he thought were the best. His list was this: 
1. The Speckled Band
2. The Red-Headed League
3. The Dancing Men
4. The Final Problem
5. A Scandal in Bohemia
6. The Empty House
7. The Five Orange Pips
8. The Second Stain
9. The Devil’s Foot
10. The Priory School
11. The Musgrave Ritual
12. The Reigate Squires