Sherlock Holmes

Problems: Milverton is a heavy sleeper and his address is public
knowledge, so why has no one tried to kill him before?
(Perhaps they have, and it has been hushed up.) Holmes’
unsavoury fake engagement is never resolved.
Verdict: A not entirely successful attempt to turn Holmes into a
gentleman burglar like Raffles (the creation of Doyle’s brother-
in-law EW Hornung).There is no mystery to speak of, and the
role of Holmes and Watson is marginalised. 2/5
35) The Adventure of the Six Napoleons
UK: The Strand Magazine (May 1904, SP); USA: Collier’s  (30
April 1904, FDS)
The Case: A madman appears to be smashing plaster busts of
Napoleon…
Characters: Inspector Lestrade, Morse Hudson, Horace Harker,
Beppo, Gelder & Co manager, Harding, Josiah Brown,
T H E C A N O N
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Sandeford, Dr Barnicot, Inspector Hill, Pietro Venucci, Lucretia
Venucci, Prince of Calonna.
Locations: 221B Baker Street; picture dealer, Kennington Road;
131 Pitt Street, Kensington; Harding Brothers, Kensington
High Street; empty house, Campden House Road; Gelder &
Co, Church Street, Stepney; unnamed police station; Dr
Barnicot’s practice, Kennington Road; Dr Barnicot’s branch surgery,
Lower Brixton Road; Laburnum Lodge, Laburnum Vale, Chiswick; Lower
Grove Road, Reading; Dacre Hotel, London.
Unrecorded Cases: The dreadful business of the Abernetty family
(brought to Holmes’ notice by the depth to which parsley had
sunk into butter on a hot day), the Conk-Singleton forgery.
Holmes: Fills a lumber-room with old newspapers. His
favourite weapon is a loaded hunting crop! Enjoys attention. Is
financially astute – he buys the last plaster bust at a bargain
price without disclosing its real value.
Quotable Quote: (To Inspector Lestrade) ‘If any little problem
comes your way I shall be happy, if I can, to give you a hint or
two as to its solution.’
Problems: ‘Laburnum Lodge’ becomes ‘Laburnum Villa’. The
hunt for a jewel hidden in an innocuous object is so similar to
The Blue Carbuncle that one wonders why Holmes calls this case
‘absolutely original’. Holmes gets Sandeford to sign over all
rights to him, yet it is the property of neither party.
Verdict: The central concept is a clever one, and it’s interesting
to have a journalist actually being seen in a good light for a
change. The idea of Harker being too traumatised to write the
story of his own robbery is very funny. 4/5
36) The Adventure of the Three Students
UK: The Strand Magazine (June 1904, SP); USA: Collier’s  (24
S H E R L O C K H O L M E S
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September 1904, FDS)
The Case: A Greek examination paper has been copied before an
exam…
Date: 1895.
Characters: Hilton Soames, Bannister, Daulat Ras, Gilchrist,
Miles McLaren, Sir Jabez Gilchrist.
Locations: St Luke’s College, Oxford or Cambridge.
Holmes: Is researching early English charters.
Elementary: Deduces the positions of the papers (because
Soames told him).
Quotable Quote: ‘Let us hear the suspicions. I will look after the
proofs.’
Problems: Half a chapter of Thucydides would not fill three long
slips (of foolscap?). It would be sufficient only to copy the first
and last sentence of the extract, not the whole thing. Soames
couldn’t have got the text proofread before the next day’s
exams.