The Return of Sherlock Holmes (Doyle)
Short summary
England, early 1890s. London, previously mourning Sherlock Holmes's apparent death, faced puzzling crimes requiring his unique talents. Watson recounted Holmes's dramatic reappearance, alive after surviving Moriarty's deadly attack at Reichenbach Falls. Holmes promptly resumed solving complex mysteries, with Watson by his side once again.
Among notable cases, Holmes uncovered Colonel Sebastian Moran's guilt in a baffling locked-room murder, discovered hidden secrets involving greed and revenge in the 'Norwood Builder' affair, and decrypted sinister drawings in 'The Dancing Men' case, tragically unable to prevent his client's death. Holmes also intervened in the perilous plight of a solitary cyclist, revealing an elaborate inheritance fraud, and exposed family intrigues in 'The Priory School,' solving an abduction and murder.
Holmes unraveled the mysterious stabbing of a brutal captain known as Black Peter, capturing the true culprit. In the daring burglary of a ruthless blackmailer, Charles Augustus Milverton, Holmes chose moral justice over law, stating:
There are certain crimes which the law cannot touch, and which therefore, to some extent, justify private revenge. My sympathies are with the criminals rather than with the victim...
Further adventures involved tracing a stolen pearl hidden inside plaster busts, uncovering academic dishonesty among university students, and solving crimes concerning betrayal, espionage, and family secrets. Holmes concluded by averting an international crisis through the recovery of a stolen letter, reinforcing his remarkable powers of deduction and justice.
Detailed summary by adventures
The Adventure of the Empty House
In the spring of 1894, London was shocked by the murder of the Honorable Ronald Adair, who was found shot in a locked room with no weapon present. Dr. Watson, deeply interested in crime since Holmes's disappearance, attempted to solve the case using his friend's methods but with limited success. While visiting the crime scene at Park Lane, Watson bumped into an elderly, deformed book collector, knocking down his books. Later, this collector visited Watson at his home, apologizing for his earlier rudeness.
As Watson turned to look at his bookshelf, the collector transformed into Sherlock Holmes, who had been presumed dead. Watson fainted from shock. Upon recovering, Holmes apologized for his dramatic reappearance and explained that he had survived the encounter with Professor Moriarty at the Reichenbach Falls by using baritsu, a Japanese system of wrestling. Holmes had faked his death to lure out Moriarty's associates, spending the intervening years traveling through Tibet, Persia, and France.
I stood up and examined the rocky wall behind me. In your picturesque account of the matter, which I read with great interest some months later, you assert that the wall was sheer. That was not literally true.
Holmes revealed his plan to catch Colonel Sebastian Moran, Moriarty's chief of staff, whom he believed responsible for Adair's murder. That night, Holmes and Watson hid in an empty house opposite Baker Street, where Holmes had placed a wax bust of himself in his window as bait. When Moran arrived and aimed an air-gun at the bust, Holmes and Watson captured him. Holmes explained that Moran had killed Adair, who had discovered him cheating at cards. With Moran's arrest, Holmes could safely return to solving London's complex crimes.
The Adventure of the Norwood Builder
Holmes expressed his boredom with London's lack of interesting criminal cases since Professor Moriarty's death. A frantic young solicitor named John Hector McFarlane burst into their rooms, claiming to be the most unfortunate man in London. He was suspected of murdering Jonas Oldacre, a builder from Lower Norwood. McFarlane explained that Oldacre had unexpectedly made him the beneficiary of his will, then invited him to his house to review documents. The next morning, Oldacre was missing, his house showed signs of a struggle, and McFarlane's walking stick was found bloodstained.
From the point of view of the criminal expert, London has become a singularly uninteresting city since the death of the late lamented Professor Moriarty.
Inspector Lestrade arrived to arrest McFarlane, convinced of his guilt. Holmes investigated but initially found the evidence against McFarlane overwhelming. The next day, Lestrade summoned Holmes to show him a bloody thumbprint on the wall matching McFarlane's, seemingly confirming his guilt. Holmes, however, claimed the print wasn't there the previous day and led a search of the house, eventually revealing Oldacre hiding in a secret room. Oldacre had faked his death to frame McFarlane out of revenge against McFarlane's mother, who had rejected him years ago. Holmes had deduced the plot by noticing inconsistencies in the evidence and discovering that Oldacre had been making payments to someone under an alias.
The Adventure of the Dancing Men
Holmes was engaged in a chemical experiment when he suddenly deduced Watson's financial decisions, leaving his friend astonished. Shortly after, Mr. Hilton Cubitt from Norfolk consulted Holmes about strange drawings of dancing men that were terrorizing his wife, Elsie. Cubitt explained that Elsie, an American with a mysterious past she refused to discuss, had received a letter from America and had been living in fear ever since. The dancing men symbols began appearing on windowsills and a sundial, each occurrence causing Elsie great distress.
It's getting on my nerves, this business, Mr. Holmes. It's bad enough to feel that you are surrounded by unseen, unknown folk, who have some kind of design upon you, but when... it becomes as much as flesh and blood can endure.
Holmes advised Cubitt to gather more examples of the dancing men and information about strangers in the area. Two weeks later, Cubitt returned with more drawings and reported seeing the man who drew them, though Elsie had prevented him from confronting the stranger. Holmes analyzed the drawings and realized they were a substitution cipher. After receiving another message, Holmes became alarmed and rushed to Norfolk, only to discover that Hilton Cubitt had been killed and Elsie critically wounded in an apparent murder-suicide.
Holmes deciphered the messages and identified Abe Slaney, an American criminal and Elsie's former suitor, as the culprit. Elsie had fled America to escape Slaney and her criminal past. Holmes set a trap by sending a message in the dancing men code, luring Slaney to the house where he was arrested. Elsie recovered and explained that she had shot herself after Slaney killed her husband. Holmes's decryption of the dancing men code had solved the case and brought the murderer to justice.
The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist
Miss Violet Smith consulted Holmes about a mysterious cyclist who followed her every Saturday as she bicycled from her employer's house to the train station. Violet, a music teacher, had been hired by Mr. Carruthers to teach his daughter after he and Mr. Woodley had approached her, claiming to be friends of her late uncle in South Africa. Woodley had made unwanted advances toward Violet, leading to a fight between him and Carruthers. The mysterious cyclist always disappeared near Charlington Hall, which had recently been let to a Mr. Williamson.
It is part of the settled order of Nature that such a girl should have followers, but for choice not on bicycles in lonely country roads. Some secretive lover, beyond all doubt.
Holmes sent Watson to investigate, but his observations were incomplete. After receiving a letter from Violet stating she was leaving her position, Holmes and Watson rushed to ensure her safety. They discovered she had been abducted by Woodley and a disreputable clergyman who had performed a forced marriage ceremony. The mysterious cyclist revealed himself as Bob Carruthers, who loved Violet and had been following her to protect her. Holmes explained that Carruthers, Woodley, and Williamson had conspired to marry Violet and claim her inheritance, but Carruthers had fallen in love with her and tried to protect her from Woodley. The marriage was declared invalid, Woodley and Williamson were imprisoned, and Violet inherited her fortune and married her fiancé, Cyril Morton.
The Adventure of the Priory School
Dr. Thorneycroft Huxtable, headmaster of the prestigious Priory School, collapsed from exhaustion in Holmes's sitting room. When he recovered, he explained that Lord Saltire, the ten-year-old son of the Duke of Holdernesse, had disappeared from the school along with Heidegger, a German master. Holmes questioned Huxtable about the boy's relationships and learned that Lord Saltire had received a letter from his father on the day of his disappearance. The boy's sympathies lay with his estranged mother.
Holmes, Watson, and Huxtable traveled to the Priory School, where they met the Duke of Holdernesse and his secretary, James Wilder. The Duke offered a reward of £6,000 for the recovery of his son. Holmes examined the boy's room and the surrounding area, finding little evidence until a boy's cap was discovered in the possession of gypsies. This led Holmes to focus his search on the Lower Gill Moor, where he and Watson found bicycle tracks. Following these tracks, they discovered Heidegger's body, revealing he had been murdered.
Holmes deduced that the boy had a companion and that they had fled swiftly. The tracks led to the Fighting Cock Inn, where they encountered the suspicious landlord, Reuben Hayes. Holmes noticed what appeared to be cow tracks but no cows. Later, they observed James Wilder leaving the inn in a dogcart. Holmes investigated the inn and found a bicycle with a patched Dunlop tire matching the tracks they had followed.
The next day, Holmes confronted the Duke at Holdernesse Hall, accusing him of involvement in his son's disappearance. Holmes revealed that Lord Saltire was at the Fighting Cock Inn and that Hayes was the murderer of Heidegger. The Duke confessed that James Wilder was his illegitimate son who had orchestrated the kidnapping out of jealousy. Hayes had disguised the horses' hooves with cow shoes to hide their tracks. The Duke agreed to pay the reward, send for Lord Saltire, and sever ties with Wilder, who would be sent to Australia. Holmes donated his portion of the reward to Watson's former school.
The Adventure of Black Peter
Watson reminisced about Holmes's exceptional form in 1895, highlighting the unusual circumstances surrounding Captain Peter Carey's death. Known as Black Peter, Carey was a former seal and whale fisher with a violent temper. Inspector Stanley Hopkins consulted Holmes about the case, explaining that Carey had been found harpooned to the wall of his cabin. A notebook with stock exchange securities listed under the initials "J.H.N." and "C.P.R." was found at the scene, suggesting a motive for the crime.
Holmes, Watson, and Hopkins visited the scene of the crime. Later, they set up an ambush at the cabin and caught John Hopley Neligan, who admitted to searching for logbooks related to his father, a disgraced banker who had disappeared with securities. Neligan explained that he had traced some of his father's securities to Captain Carey and sought to prove his father's innocence. Hopkins arrested Neligan, believing the case was solved.
Holmes, dissatisfied with this solution, placed an advertisement seeking harpooners who had served on Carey's ship. Three men responded, and Holmes identified one, Patrick Cairns, as the true murderer. Cairns confessed to killing Carey in self-defense after Carey attacked him with a knife. He revealed that Carey had murdered Neligan's father at sea for the securities. Holmes instructed Hopkins to release Neligan and return the tin box containing the securities, while he and Watson planned a trip to Norway.
The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton
Holmes and Watson received a visit from Charles Augustus Milverton, whom Holmes described as "the worst man in London." Milverton was a blackmailer who preyed on the secrets of the wealthy, buying compromising letters and using them to extort money. His current victim was Lady Eva Blackwell, engaged to the Earl of Dovercourt. Milverton possessed imprudent letters she had written to a young squire and demanded £7,000 to prevent the marriage from being called off.
Do you feel a creeping, shrinking sensation, Watson, when you stand before the serpents in the Zoo? Well, that's how Milverton impresses me. I've had to do with fifty murderers in my career, but the worst of them never gave me the repulsion which I have for this fellow.
After failing to negotiate with Milverton, Holmes decided to burgle his house to retrieve the letters. Disguised as a workman, he gathered information about Milverton's house in Hampstead and even became engaged to Milverton's housemaid to gain inside knowledge. Holmes convinced Watson to join him in the burglary. They entered Milverton's study and began opening his safe when Milverton himself unexpectedly entered. Hiding behind a curtain, they witnessed a veiled woman confront Milverton. She revealed herself as a former victim whose life he had ruined, then shot and killed him. Holmes seized the opportunity to burn all the compromising letters in the safe before they escaped. The next day, Holmes declined to help Lestrade with the murder investigation, stating his sympathies lay with the criminals. Later, Holmes recognized the murderer in a photograph of a society lady but kept her identity secret.
The Adventure of the Six Napoleons
Lestrade consulted Holmes about a seemingly trivial case involving the destruction of Napoleon busts. Three incidents had occurred: a bust smashed at Morse Hudson's shop, and two busts stolen and destroyed from Dr. Barnicot's residence and surgery. Holmes found the case intriguing, noting that the busts were from the same mold. The next morning, Lestrade summoned Holmes and Watson to Kensington, where Horace Harker, a journalist, reported a murder and the theft of another Napoleon bust. A dead man was found on Harker's doorstep, and the bust was later found shattered nearby.
Holmes investigated the manufacturers and sellers of the busts, learning that six had been made and identifying a former employee named Beppo as a possible suspect. Lestrade revealed that the dead man was Pietro Venucci, a known cutthroat connected to the Mafia. That night, Holmes, Watson, and Lestrade staked out the residence of Josiah Brown, owner of another Napoleon bust. They apprehended Beppo as he broke in and smashed the bust. Holmes then purchased the final bust from Mr. Sandeford and smashed it himself, revealing the black pearl of the Borgias hidden inside.
Holmes explained that Beppo, while working at Gelder & Co., had hidden the stolen pearl in one of the wet plaster busts to avoid detection by the police. After his release from prison, he sought to recover the pearl by destroying the busts one by one. Pietro Venucci, a member of the Mafia seeking the pearl, was killed in a scuffle with Beppo. With the mystery solved and the valuable pearl recovered, Lestrade expressed his admiration for Holmes's deductive abilities.
The Adventure of the Three Students
While residing in a university town in 1895, Holmes was consulted by Mr. Hilton Soames, a tutor at St. Luke's College. Soames explained that the examination for the Fortescue Scholarship was the next day, and the Greek translation paper had been compromised. He had left the proofs on his desk while having tea, and upon returning, found his door ajar and the papers disturbed. Besides the rumpled papers, Soames found pencil shavings, a broken pencil tip, a cut in his red leather writing-table, and a ball of black dough or clay with sawdust specks.
Your fatal habit of looking at everything from the point of view of a story instead of as a scientific exercise has ruined what might have been an instructive and even classical series of demonstrations.
Holmes examined the scene and deduced that the intruder had copied the paper by the window to watch for Soames's return. Three students used the stair: Gilchrist, a fine athlete but poor; Daulat Ras, quiet and methodical; and Miles McLaren, brilliant but dissipated. Holmes questioned Bannister, Soames's servant, who had left the key in the door and appeared nervous. After visiting the students' rooms, Holmes decided to leave, promising to return the next morning.
The next day, Holmes revealed he had solved the mystery. He confronted Gilchrist, who confessed to seeing the papers through the window, entering the room, and copying them. Bannister, formerly butler to Gilchrist's father, had recognized him and helped him hide. Gilchrist, remorseful, had already decided not to take the exam and had accepted a commission in the Rhodesian Police. Holmes commended Bannister's loyalty and encouraged Gilchrist to make a better future for himself.
The Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez
Inspector Stanley Hopkins sought Holmes's help with the murder of Willoughby Smith, secretary to Professor Coram at Yoxley Old Place. Smith had been found stabbed with a sealing-wax knife, uttering with his dying breath, "The professor—it was she." A golden pince-nez was clutched in his hand. The professor, an invalid scholar, claimed ignorance of the crime. Hopkins found no footprints on the garden path but signs of someone walking on the grass border.
Holmes examined the pince-nez and deduced a description of the woman: refined, with a thick nose, close-set eyes, a puckered forehead, and likely short-sighted. At Yoxley Old Place, Holmes reconstructed the events: a woman had entered, tried to open the bureau, Smith interrupted her, and she stabbed him in self-defense. Holmes questioned Professor Coram, observing his heavy smoking and eating habits. After noticing something significant about the cigarette ash, Holmes declared the case solved.
Holmes revealed that the woman had hidden in the professor's room. He pointed to a bookcase, which swung open to reveal a woman covered in dust and cobwebs. She confessed to killing Smith accidentally while seeking to retrieve letters that would free a wrongly convicted comrade, Alexis. She revealed herself as Professor Coram's wife, Anna, a Russian revolutionary betrayed by him. After producing the packet of letters, she died from poison she had taken. Holmes explained his deductions, focusing on the impossibility of the woman leaving without her pince-nez and the cigarette ash that confirmed her movements.
The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter
Holmes and Watson received a telegram from Mr. Cyril Overton about a "terrible misfortune" and a missing rugby player named Godfrey Staunton, indispensable for the upcoming match against Oxford. Overton, a massive young man from Trinity College, Cambridge, explained that Staunton had received a note from a rough-looking man, appeared distressed, and left with him. He hadn't been seen since. Holmes and Watson visited Staunton's room at Bentley's hotel, where Holmes discovered a partial telegram message: "Stand by us for God's sake!" suggesting Staunton and another person were in danger.
Lord Mount-James, Staunton's wealthy but miserly uncle, arrived, expressing concern about his nephew's disappearance but reluctance to spend money on the search. Holmes learned that the telegram had been addressed to Dr. Leslie Armstrong, a prominent medical figure in Cambridge. Armstrong was initially hostile and became furious when Holmes mentioned Staunton, denying any knowledge of his whereabouts. Holmes observed Armstrong's daily carriage rides and attempted to follow him, but Armstrong outmaneuvered him.
Holmes received a telegram from Overton requesting "Pompey from Jeremy Dixon, Trinity College." This turned out to be a tracking dog, which Holmes used to follow Armstrong's carriage to a remote cottage. There, they discovered that Staunton had been with his secretly married wife, who had just died of consumption. Armstrong had been protecting the couple's privacy during this tragic time. Staunton, heir to his uncle's fortune, had kept the marriage secret for fear of being disinherited. Holmes, recognizing the priority of human suffering over sport, left Staunton to his grief.
The Adventure of the Abbey Grange
Holmes awakened Watson early one morning in 1897, summoned by Inspector Stanley Hopkins to Abbey Grange in Kent, where Sir Eustace Brackenstall had been murdered. Lady Brackenstall, a beautiful Australian woman, recounted being tied up by three burglars after discovering them in the dining room. She claimed her husband confronted them and was killed with a poker. Her maid, Theresa Wright, confirmed the story. Holmes, initially losing interest, became intrigued by inconsistencies in the dining room scene, particularly the wine glasses and a bottle with a deeply stained cork.
It's wrong—it's all wrong—I'll swear that it's wrong. And yet the lady's story was complete, the maid's corroboration was sufficient, the detail was fairly exact. What have I to put up against that? Three wineglasses, that is all.
Holmes explained to Watson his suspicions, highlighting inconsistencies in Lady Brackenstall's story. He believed the wine glasses suggested only two people drank, with the dregs poured into a third glass to mislead. Returning to Abbey Grange, Holmes meticulously examined the dining room, focusing on the broken bell-rope and a bloodstain on the chair that contradicted the lady's account. He interviewed Theresa, who revealed Sir Eustace's abusive behavior.
Holmes visited the Adelaide-Southampton shipping office and learned about a first officer named Jack Crocker. Later, Crocker arrived at Baker Street, summoned by Holmes. Crocker confessed to killing Sir Eustace in a fight after finding him abusing Lady Brackenstall, whom Crocker loved. He explained how Theresa had helped stage the burglary. Holmes, believing Crocker's story, staged a mock trial with Watson as the jury and acquitted Crocker, hoping for a just outcome.
The Adventure of the Second Stain
Lord Bellinger, the former Prime Minister, and Trelawney Hope, the Secretary for European Affairs, visited Holmes seeking his help in recovering a stolen letter from a foreign potentate, the publication of which could lead to war. Hope explained that he had kept the letter in a locked despatch-box in his bedroom. He saw it there the previous night, but it was gone the next morning. Neither he nor his wife heard anyone enter the room. The letter's disappearance could trigger a European war due to its inflammatory content.
The whole of Europe is an armed camp. There is a double league which makes a fair balance of military power. Great Britain holds the scales. If Britain were driven into war with one confederacy, it would assure the supremacy of the other.
Holmes learned from Watson's newspaper that Eduardo Lucas, a suspected international spy, had been murdered the previous night. Lady Hilda Trelawney Hope visited Holmes, asking about the missing paper and its consequences, but Holmes refused to divulge details. Holmes investigated Lucas's murder at Godolphin Street, where a peculiar detail emerged: a shifted carpet revealing a second bloodstain. Holmes deduced that the carpet had been moved after the murder and questioned the constable on duty, who admitted to allowing a woman into the room.
Holmes and Watson visited Lady Hilda and confronted her. She confessed to giving the document to Lucas in exchange for a compromising letter she had written before her marriage. She had later retrieved the letter from Lucas's hiding place and returned it to the despatch box. Holmes orchestrated the letter's "discovery" in the box before Trelawney Hope and the Prime Minister arrived, averting a potential international crisis and protecting Lady Hilda's reputation.