Sherlock Holmes

Locations: Turkish baths; Northumberland Avenue; Watson’s
rooms, Queen Anne Street; 221B Baker Street; Simpson’s,The
Strand; London Library, St James’s Square; Carlton Club;
Splügen Pass, Austria; Vernon Lodge, near Kingston; 104 Berkeley
Square; outside the Café Royal, Regent Street; Glasshouse Street,W1;
369 Half Moon Street,W1.
Unrecorded Cases: Sir George Lewis and the Hammerford Will
case,Wainwright.
Watson: Is not living with Holmes in 1902.
Quotable Quote: ‘I am not often eloquent. I use my head, not my
heart.’
Problems: Holmes takes his jacket into the Turkish bath. Why
was he not prosecuted for burglary or at least as an accomplice
to the vitriol throwing?
Observations: Holmes’ single-stick skill mentioned in A Study in
Scarlet is finally seen in practice here.Although the titular client
is not revealed, clues suggest it might have been Edward VII.
The happiest years of Doyle’s childhood were spent at a cottage
called Liberton Bank, owned by Mary Burton. Her nephew’s
father John Hill Burton worked in the Scottish prison service
S H E R L O C K H O L M E S
• 98 •

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and was the inspiration for Dr Hill Barton. Holmes refers to
‘my old friend’ Charlie Peace, a notorious Sheffield murderer
who was hanged in 1879.
Verdict: More than a hint of sex and violence punctuates this
singularly sordid narrative, one in which the law can be broken
with impunity providing your client is prestigious enough. 3/5
55) The Adventure of the Three Gables
UK: The Strand Magazine (October 1926, HKE); USA: Liberty
Magazine (18 September 1926, FDS)
The Case: An elderly woman is offered a huge sum to sell her
house and all its contents…
Characters: Steve Dixie, Mary Maberley, Susan, Mary, Inspector,
Isadora Klein, footman, Perkins, Barney Stockdale, Spencer John,
Mortimer Maberley, Douglas Maberley, Sutro, Captain Ferguson,
Haines-Johnson, Langdale Pike, Klein, Duke of Lomond.
Locations: 221B Baker Street;The Three Gables, Harrow Weald;
Isadora Klein’s corner house, Grosvenor Square; Scotland Yard;
Holborn Bar, Holborn; Bull Ring, Birmingham.
Quotable Quote: ‘Of course, when people bury treasure nowa-
days they do it in the Post Office bank.’
Problems: For someone who is normally so charming to women,
Holmes behaves pretty poorly to Susan.As Douglas’ trunks were
still on view in the hall, isn’t it more likely that Haines-Johnson
would have seen them and attempted to break in? Why doesn’t
Holmes just look in the trunks when he sees them? And why
didn’t he stay the night if he thought Mrs Maberley was at risk?
Observations: A house (now demolished) called ‘Three Gables’
existed in Biddenham, Bedford, built by Charles Edward
Mallows (1864–1915). Paregoric was a tincture of opium used
for the relief of pain.
T H E C A N O N
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Verdict: Words and phrases which today have racist overtones
are unbecoming of Holmes (especially as he had shown such
tolerance in the earlier The Yellow  Face) and coupled with the
weak plot, they make this one of the poorest narratives in the
canon. 1/5
56) The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier
UK: The Strand Magazine (November 1926, HKE); USA: Liberty
(16 October 1926, FDS)
The Case: A soldier in the Boer War has mysteriously
vanished…