ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE: A CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION

CONTENTS

1. Introduction 2. About the Author-Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 3. The Adventure of the Dying Detective Characters of the Story Plot, Theme and Setting of the Story Socio-Legal analysis of the Story Overall Analysis 4. The Adventure of the Wisteria Lodge Characters of the Story Plot, Theme and Setting of the Story Socio-legal analysis of the story Overall Analysis 5. Conclusion 6. Bibliography

1|Page

ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE: A CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION

INTRODUCTION

The larger crimes are apt to be the simpler, for the bigger the crime, the more obvious, as a rule, is the motive. Arthur Conan Doyle

Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to adopt almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve difficult cases. Holmes, who first appeared in publication in 1887, was featured in four novels and 56 short stories. The first novel, A Study in Scarlet, appeared in Beeton's Christmas Annual in 1887 and the second, The Sign of the Four, in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine in 1890. The character grew tremendously in popularity with the first series of short stories in Strand Magazine, beginning with A Scandal in Bohemiain 1891; further series of short stories and two novels published in serial form appeared between then and 1927. The stories cover a period from around 1880 up to 1914. All but four stories are narrated by Holmes's friend and biographer, Dr. John H. Watson; two are narrated by Holmes himself ("The Blanched Soldier" and "The Lion's Mane") and two others are written in the third person ("The Mazarin Stone" and "His Last Bow"). In two stories ("The Musgrave Ritual" and "The Gloria Scott"), Holmes tells Watson the main story from his memories, while Watson becomes the narrator of the frame story. The first and fourth novels, A Study in Scarlet and The Valley of Fear, each include a long interval of omniscient narration recounting events unknown to either Holmes or Watson. Doyle said that the character of Sherlock Holmes was inspired by Dr. Joseph Bell, for whom Doyle had worked as a clerk at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. Like Holmes, Bell was noted for drawing large conclusions from the smallest observations. Sir Henry Littlejohn, Lecturer on Forensic Medicine and Public Health at the Royal College of Surgeons, is also cited as a source for Holmes. Littlejohn served as Police Surgeon and Medical Officer of Health of Edinburgh, providing for Doyle a link between medical investigation and the detection of crime. Holmes shares the majority of his professional years with his good friend and chronicler Dr. John H. Watson, who lives with Holmes for some time before his marriage in 1887, and again after his wife's death; his residence is maintained by his landlady, Mrs. Hudson. In "His Last Bow", Holmes has retired to a small farm on the Sussex Downs in 1903 1904, as chronicled by Watson in his preface to the series of stories entitled "His Last Bow." It is here that he has taken up the hobby of beekeeping as his primary occupation, eventually producing a "Practical Handbook of Bee Culture, with some Observations upon the Segregation of the Queen". The story features Holmes and Watson coming out of retirement one last time to aid the war effort. Only
2|Page

ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE: A CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION one adventure, "The Adventure of the Lion's Mane", which is narrated by Holmes as he pursues the case as a civilian, takes place during the detective's retirement. The details of his death are not known. In "A Case of Identity", published in September 1891, the detective remarks to Watson: "It is a curious thing that a typewriter has really as much individuality as a man's handwriting." This story appeared three years before any document examiner wrote about typewriter identification, according to David Crown, who headed the CIA's Questioned Document Laboratory in Washington DC for 15 years. Who then was the inspiration for this forensic Sherlock Holmes? Early biographies of Doyle give that credit to Joseph Bell, a physician and professor of medicine at Edinburgh University in Scotland, who employed the young author as his out-patient clerk at the Royal Infirmary. This seems simplistic, however. Certainly, Bell was renowned for diagnosing the afflictions of many patients at the infirmary by mere observation. As a sort of parlour trick, he often also deduced that person's occupation and place of residence. Yet Bell was a medical detective, as were two other Edinburgh faculty members whose quirks. Doyle incorporated into the character of the fictional detective. Holmes was a forensic detective and ranged far beyond medical evidence in his investigations. The true inspiration for Sherlock Holmes can be detected in this passage from "The Blanched Soldier", in which the detective describes his scientific method: "The process starts upon the supposition that when you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. It may be that several explanations remain, in which case one tries test after test until one or other of them has a convincing amount of support." These words might equally well have come from a forensic scientist today. More to the point, they are almost certainly the views of Arthur Conan Doyle, the real model for the forensic Sherlock Holmes.

3|Page

ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE: A CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION

ABOUT THE AUTHOR- SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE

Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 7 July 1930) was a Scottish physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, generally considered a milestone in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger. He was a prolific writer whose other works include science fiction stories, plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction and historical novels. Arthur Conan Doyle was born on 22 May 1859 at 11 Picardy Place, Edinburgh, Scotland. His father, Charles Altamont Doyle, was English of Irish descent, and his mother, born Mary Foley, was Irish. They married in 1855. In 1864 the family dispersed due to Charles's growing alcoholism and the children were temporarily housed across Edinburgh. In 1867, the family came together again and lived in the squalid tenement flats at 3 Sciennes Place. Supported by wealthy uncles, Conan Doyle was sent to the Roman Catholic Jesuit preparatory school Hodder Place, Stonyhurst, at the age of nine (18681870). He then went on to Stonyhurst College until 1875. From 1875 to 1876 he was educated at the Jesuit schoolStella Matutina in Feldkirch, Austria. From 1876 to 1881 he studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh, including a period working in the town of Aston (now a district of Birmingham) and in Sheffield, as well as in Shropshire at Ruyton-XI-Towns. While studying, Conan Doyle began writing short stories. His earliest extant fiction, "The Haunted Grange of Goresthorpe", was unsuccessfully submitted to Blackwood's Magazine. His first published piece "The Mystery of Sasassa Valley", a story set in South Africa, was printed in Chambers's Edinburgh Journal on 6 September 1879. Later that month, on 20 September, he published his first non-fictional article, "Gelsemium as a Poison" in theBritish Medical Journal.
4|Page

ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE: A CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION Following his term at university, he was employed as a doctor on the Greenland whaler the Hope of Peterhead in 1880 and after his graduation, as a ship's surgeon on the SSMayumba during a voyage to the West African coast in 1881. He completed his doctorate on the subject of tabes dorsalis in 1885. Doyle's father died in 1893, in the Crichton Royal, Dumfries, after many years of psychiatric illness. Doyle struggled to find a publisher for his work. His first significant piece, A Study in Scarlet, was taken by Ward Lock & Co on 20 November 1886, giving Doyle 25 for all rights to the story. The piece appeared later that year in the Beeton's Christmas Annual and received good reviews in The Scotsman and the Glasgow Herald. The story featured the first appearance of Watson and Sherlock Holmes, partially modelled after his former university teacher Joseph Bell. Conan Doyle wrote to him, "It is most certainly to you that I owe Sherlock Holmes... Round the centre of deduction and inference and observation which I have heard you inculcate I have tried to build up a man." Robert Louis Stevenson was able, even in faraway Samoa, to recognise the strong similarity between Joseph Bell and Sherlock Holmes: "My compliments on your very ingenious and very interesting adventures of Sherlock Holmes. ... Can this be my old friend Joe Bell?" Other authors sometimes suggest additional influencesfor instance, the famous Edgar Allan Poe character C. Auguste Dupin. In 1885 Conan Doyle married Louisa (or Louise) Hawkins, known as 'Touie', the sister of one of his patients. She suffered from tuberculosis and died on 4 July 1906. The next year he married Jean Elizabeth Leckie, whom he had first met and fallen in love with in 1897. He had maintained a platonic relationship with Jean while his first wife was still alive, out of loyalty to her. Jean died in London on 27 June 1940. He was awarded Knight Bachelor (1902) and Archie Goodwin Award (2005). Conan Doyle was found clutching his chest in the hall of Windlesham, his house in Crowborough, East Sussex, on 7 July 1930. He died of a heart attack at the age of 71. His last words were directed toward his wife: "You are wonderful." They were buried outside the churchyard fence, in unconsecrated ground. Until the late twentieth century, the cross-topped gravestone bore no inscription. The graveyard has since been extended and Conan Doyle's remains lie among other newer graves. Carved wooden tablets to his memory and to the memory of his wife are held privately and are inaccessible to the public. That inscription reads, "Blade straight / Steel true / Arthur Conan Doyle / Born May 22nd 1859 / Passed On 7th July 1930." The epitaph on his gravestone in the churchyard reads, in part: "Steel true/Blade straight/Arthur Conan Doyle/Knight/Patriot, Physician, and man of letters".

5|Page

ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE: A CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION

THE ADVENTURE OF THE DYING DETECTIVE

"The Adventure of the Dying Detective", in some editions simply titled "The Dying Detective", is one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Together with seven other stories, it is collected as His Last Bow.

CHARACTERS OF THE STORY Mr. Sherlock Holmes Mr. John F. Watson Mrs. Hudson Mr. Culverton Smith Inspector Morton

PLOT, THEME AND SETTING OF THE STORY At the outset of the story Mrs Hudson, landlady to Sherlock Holmes, comes to visit Doctor Watson and tells him that Holmes is dying. Watson goes to Baker Street with Mrs Hudson and on the way she informs him that Holmes has been working on a case in Rotherhithe and believes he contracted his illness there. For the three previous days he has taken neither food nor water. Holmes would not allow Mrs Hudson to get a doctor but that morning he had finally relented and told her to get Watson. Watson is horrified at the wasted appearance of his friend who seems to be dying from an intense fever. Holmes insists that Watson keeps his distance for fear of infecting him and forbids him from going for help until two hours have passed. Holmes tells Watson that he wishes him to go and request help from a specific specialist, Mr. Culverton Smith. Holmes explains that Culverton Smith owns a plantation in Sumatra. An outbreak of the disease Holmes believes he has occurred there, giving Smith some expertise in the pathology. Smith is not well disposed towards Holmes because the detective suspected him of being concerned in the death of his nephew Victor Savage. Holmes urges Watson to plead with Smith until he agrees to come. Holmes also says that Watson must not come back with Culverton Smith but should excuse himself and return straight away to Baker Street. Watson does as he is asked and when he returns to Baker Street he is surprised that all traces of delirium have left his friend. Holmes then baffles Watson by insisting that he hide behind the bed rather than let Culverton Smith know he is present. Smith arrives and Watson overhears him confess the murder of Victor Savage. Smith purposefully infected his nephew with the deadly Sumatran fever. Smith also tells Holmes that he sent him an unusual box by post. Smith had rigged the box in order to infect Holmes with the disease via a spring within it.
6|Page

ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE: A CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION Holmes asks Culverton Smith to turn up the gas and moments later Inspector Morton enters the room to arrest Smith. Turning up the gas was the pre arranged signal between the Inspector and Holmes. Holmes explains to Watson that he does not have the Sumatran fever but he had fasted from both food and water for three days in order to add realism to his pretence of sickness. Holmes had then used some make-up in order to convince Mrs Hudson so that she in turn would convince Watson. Watson would perhaps have otherwise been unconvincing in his appeal to Smith. Holmes received the deadly box from Smith but had observed that it was rigged with a sharp pin. Not only did Holmes avoid being assassinated by Smith but he managed to gather proof that the man was responsible for the death of his nephew Victor Savage.

SOCIO-LEGAL ANALYSIS OF THE STORY In The Adventure of the Dying Detective an esoteric fatal infectious disease called the Tapanuli fever is used as a biological weapon by a criminal named Culverton Smith. Smith cultured the bacteria on gelatin, brought the specimens back to London and infected his nephew, who died within four days. Sherlock Holmes suspected homicide. Culverton Smith then attempts to infect Holmes, but Holmes anticipates and avoids the booby trap. He fakes the illness very cleverly, deceiving even Watson, who describes him with clinical precision! What can be deduced about Tapanuli fever or the black corruption of Formosa? This infectious disease must be prevalent in South-East Asia and should have outbreaks among plantation workers in SumatraIndonesia. It should have a short incubation period and a high case fatality rate. The organism should be easily cultured and transmissible by needlestick injury. Holmes avoids examination by telling Watson that disease is highly contagious by touch. This, it emerges, was only a ruse to prevent Watson from finding out about the faked illness. The disease expert Culverton Smith shakes Holmes and touches him without any concern for his own safety. The candidate infectious disease should also explain the clinical features that Holmes simulated so cleverly. Tapanuli fever should cause fever, anorexia, severe fatigue and sweating. The patient would also have cramping body ache, dyspnoea, cough and a croaking and feeble voice. Lips would have dark crusts and pupils would be dilated. Delirium usually heralds imminent death in this disease. Readers are referred to the definitive report on this matter by Sodeman. Among the possible causes are scrub typhus, anthrax, typhoid fever and primary septicaemic plague. Sodeman rightly remarks that Conan Doyle is unlikely to have selected a commonplace disease such as typhoid fever or anthrax as the deadly Asiatic infection for use in murder. Typhus endemic in South-East Asia, including Sumatra, is an attractive possibility. It is caused by Rickettsia tsutsugamushi transmitted by mites or chiggers. It could account for an earlier reference made by Sherlock Holmes to the giant rat of Sumatra. Holmes was
7|Page

ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE: A CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION involved in the investigation of the ship Matilda Briggs which seems to have carried a cargo of rats from Sumatra. Culverton Smith might have imported these rats. Holmes was probably aware of the role of Sumatran rats as a natural host of the vector for the diseasehence his familiarity with the Tapanuli fever. However, scrub typhus is unlikely to be Tapanuli fever, because rickettsia would be difficult to culture on gelatin. And although it is a serious infection, case fatality is not very high, making it a poor choice as a murder weapon. If B. pseudomallei was indeed the murder weapon, Culverton Smith chose well. Should his victim escape death from acute septicaemic melioidosis, there was always a strong possibility of late relapse or rupture of a visceral abscess. Delayed death from melioidosis has earned it the name of the Vietnamese time bomb. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have identified B. pseudomallei as a potential agent for bioterrorism. Culverton Smith's use of the postal service to deliver the lethal infection has an echo today. Life, sometimes regrettably, does imitate art.

OVERALL ANALYSIS Holmes and Watson are living together. Mrs. Hudson is on duty. Eccles comes to them with the story that he was invited to spend a few days with Garcia. He arrived, had a lousy dinner, went to bed, was awakened by Garcia who asked if he had rung and told it was One A.M. When Eccles awoke next morning, the house was empty and everyone had vanished. He contacted Holmes. Garcia's house and Henderson's house are about a mile apart and separated by a common. Garcia is found murdered in a dark corner of the common. Henderson was formerly an exceedingly cruel despot in Central America. He was finally forced to flee the country by a group of Freedom Fighters of whom Garcia was one. Miss Burnet was Garcia's confederate. Henderson had her husband assassinated. She had obtained a position as governess in Henderson's house. She attempted to send a note to Garcia telling the room where Henderson was to be sleeping. Garcia had Eccles spend the night, lied about the time to him when he looked in at his room, and went to kill Henderson while he slept. Burnet's note had been intercepted, then sent on. As Garcia was crossing the common, he was attacked and murdered by Lucas. The mulatto fled but returned to Wisteria Lodge the next night to get his fetish. His first attempt was unsuccessful so he returned a few nights later to try again. Baynes et al were waiting for him and captured him after a fierce struggle. With the Mulatto arrested and charged with the murder, Henderson and his gang felt free to move about. They were holding Mrs. Burnet prisoner. They decided to flee while they were safe, but were followed by Barnes whom Holmes had hired to watch their house. Miss Burnet broke free at the station, was picked up by Barnes and brought to Holmes. She told Holmes about the freedom fighters, about her husband's assassination and about Henderson's unsavory past.
8|Page

ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE: A CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION Henderson escaped but was murdered six months later in Madrid along with Lucas. Baynes had solved the case too and had arrested the Mulatto so Henderson would feel he was not suspected.

9|Page

ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE: A CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION

THE ADVENTURE OF THE WESTERIA LODGE

"The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge" is one of the fifty-six Sherlock Holmes short stories written by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. One of eight stories in the cycle collected as His Last Bow, it is a lengthy, two-part story consisting of "The Singular Experience of Mr. John Scott Eccles" and "The Tiger of San Pedro", which on original publication in The Strand bore the collective title of "A Reminiscence of Mr. Sherlock Holmes".

CHARACTERS OF THE STORY Mr. Sherlock Holmes Mr. John Watson Mr. John Scott Eccles Mr. Murrilo (The Tiger of San Pedro) Inspector Gregson Inspector Baynes Garcia Ms. Burnet Mr. Warner, the Gardener

PLOT, THEME AND SETTING OF THE STORY Holmes is visited by a perturbed proper English gentleman, John Scott Eccles, who wishes to discuss something grotesque. No sooner has he arrived at 221B Baker Street than Inspector Gregson also shows up, along with Inspector Baynes of the Surrey Constabulary. They wish a statement from Eccles about the murder near Esher last night. A note in the dead mans pocket indicates that Eccles said that he would be at the victims house that night. Eccles is shocked to hear of Aloysius Garcias beating death. Yes, he spent the night at Wisteria Lodge, Garcias rented house, but when he woke up in the morning, he found that Garcia and his servants had all disappeared. He was alone in an empty house. He last remembers seeing Garcia at about one oclock in the morning when he came to Eccless room to ask if he had rung. Eccles met Garcia, a Spaniard, through an acquaintance, and seemed to form an unlikely friendship right away. Garcia invited Eccles to stay at his house for a few days, but when Eccles got there, he could tell that something was amiss. Garcia seemed distracted by something, and the whole mood of the visit seemed quite sombre. Indeed, Garcias mood
10 | P a g e

ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE: A CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION became even darker once his servant handed him a note that evening. Eccles left Wisteria Lodge and inquired about the place at the estate agents, and was surprised to find that the rent on the house had been paid in full. Odder still, no-one at the Spanish Embassy in London had heard of Garcia. Inspector Baynes produces the note that Eccles saw Garcia receive. It reads Our own colours, green and white. Green open, white shut. Main stair, first corridor, seventh right, green baize. Godspeed. D., in a womans handwriting. Could it have been a tryst? Could a jealous husband be behind Garcias death? It emerges that Baynes has deduced that Garcias body had been lying out in the open since one oclock, but Eccles says that this is impossible, as Garcia came to his room about then. Holmes theorizes that Garcia may have tampered with the clocks to get Eccles to bed earlier than he thought it was, and that the whole business of coming to his room and making a point of mentioning that it was one oclock when it was probably much earlier was likely aimed at setting up an alibi, but for what? All that Holmes can deduce is that the murderer lives near Wisteria Lodge, and in a big house. Holmes and Dr. Watson go to Esher to see Wisteria Lodge with Inspector Baynes. The constable guarding the house reports a hair-raising experience. A brutish-looking man the devil himself, thought the constable looked in the window. The constable gave chase, but the intruder got away. Holmes establishes by the footmarks that the constable did not imagine this Inside the house, a number of odd items are to be seen. Something resembling a mummified baby, a bird torn to pieces, a pail of blood, and a platter full of charred bones. Holmes later links these to voodoo, providing an important clue. Suddenly, however, five days after the murder, Holmes is astonished to read in the newspaper that Baynes has arrested someone, Garcias cook, the brutish fellow who had given the constable such a start. He provides little information, though only grunts. Holmes is sure that the cook is not the murderer, and warns Baynes. Baynes, however, declines Holmes's assistance and advice. Holmes spends the next while reconnoitering the local country houses, and finds one of interest, the Henderson household, whose master has obviously spent time in the tropics, and whose servant is a dark-skinned foreigner. Hendersons two girls have an English governess named Burnet. Holmes also learns from a sacked gardener that Henderson is rich, and scared of something, although no-one can say what. Nor can anyone say where he came from. Henderson is also violent. Holmes believes that the cryptic note came from this household, High Gable, and the writer could only be Miss Burnet, who has not been seen since the night of the murder. Holmes decides to go to High Gable, at night, to see whether he can strike at the very heart of the mystery. He does not get the chance. Warner, the sacked gardener, comes in and announces that the Hendersons have fled by train, and tried to take Miss Burnet with them. He, however, wrestled her into a cab and brought her to the inn where Holmes and Watson are staying. She was obviously unwilling to go with Henderson for she had been drugged with opium. Henderson has also been identified, by Inspector Baynes.
11 | P a g e

ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE: A CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION He is Don Juan Murillo, the Tiger of San Pedro, a hated and feared overthrown dictator from Central America. Garcia, who was from San Pedro, not Spain, got himself killed in a revenge plot, it turns out. Miss Burnet was also part of the plot. Yes, she wrote the note, but Murillos secretary caught her doing it, Murillo confined her, and then awaited Garcias move, killing him. Miss Burnets real name is Mrs. Victor Durando. Her late husband was from San Pedro, its ambassador to Britain and a potential political rival to Murillo. Murillo had him recalled and shot so that he could not pose a threat to Murillo's position. Murillo and his companions give the police the slip in London, and resurface in Madrid under new aliases. However, they are both murdered, apparently by Nihilists and their killers are never caught. SOCIO-LEGAL ANALYSIS OF THE STORY The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge begins with Mr. Eccles visit to Holmes and Watson's rooms in Baker Street. He is quite perturbed, and wishes Holmes to investigate the disappearance of a household in Esher, where he was a guest for the evening. The story soon takes a dramatic turn when, with the arrival of the police, we learn that Mr. Eccles host, a man by the name of Mr. Garcia, was murdered in the night. Mr. Eccles, having been the last man to see Mr. Garcia alive, is compelled to tell his strange tale of waking that morning to find the residence of Mr. Garcia completely empty. After several failed enquires, Mr. Eccles then sought out the aid of Sherlock Holmes. Holmes, his actions mirrored by a local inspector, Baynes, is soon able to tie Garcia's death to a once merciless South American dictator known as the Tiger of San Pedro. So begins The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge, and while we have chosen to ignore Watson's dating of the story, the opening paragraph does contain several elements of subtextual interest. Holmes, having received and replied to a telegram, allows the matter to remain in his thoughts. While we have no doubt that Holmes would be capable of reading Watson's thoughts, we see here that Watson is just as capable of reading Holmes'. Since Canon dictates that Watson is not capable of such astonishing displays of deduction, we must therefore suggest that Watson came to his conclusion through his intimate awareness of Holmes. Watson knew the thoughts that occupied Holmes' mind, because, quite simply, Watson knew Holmes. Throughout Canon we have been witness to Watson's study of Holmes, and so it is not surprising to learn that Watson has become, in essence, a Holmesian expert. Holmes reads Watson the telegram he has received, and briefly asks Watson his thoughts on the wording of the telegram. They are not given much time to discuss the case, for in short order their client, Mr. Scott Eccles, arrives. He is barely able to introduce himself before the police arrive on his heels, and it some time before Holmes is able to convince all involved to let Mr. Eccles tell his strange tale. Here, of course, we deviate slightly, for Mr. Eccles' tale is quite interesting in its own right. We are once again privy to a subtextually heavy subplot. It is through this subplot that we are given insight into homosexuality in the Victorian era, and, indeed, into Holmes and Watson's relationship.
12 | P a g e

ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE: A CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION

We speak here, of course, of the relationship between Mr. Eccles and Mr. Garcia. We soon learn that Mr. Eccles has passed the night at Mr. Garcia's house, and that Mr. Garcia was found murdered in the night. This is quite thoughtful of Holmes, and I must confess, quite endearing, too. That Holmes should glance first to Watson, as if to ascertain Watson's mood, is quite remarkable. That, upon spotting Watson's expression, Holmes should immediately give Watson the telegram is incredible. Holmes, it would appear, is quite considerate of Watson's feelings, and this is highly suggestive of a later date, for one can easily imagine that, upon Holmes' return, and with the sudden absence of Mary and Watson's return to Baker Street, the pair rekindled their once tentative romance. Incredible, is it not, that Holmes should consider Watson incapable of deduction. Watson is only too capable, and here he demonstrates this well. That Watson should know, simply by having read various subtle signs, that Holmes was on a hot scent is very indicative of Watson's powers of observation. We cannot fault Holmes too much for his misjudgement, however, for Watson is very selective in what he chooses to observe. In fact, his powers of deduction do not often extend to a case, and that is because, more often than not, Watson has spent the whole of the case studying, examining and observing Holmes. Holmes is his subject, and Watson knows his subject well. We have referred to Watson as a Holmesian expert, and indeed he is, for there is no one else who can claim to know Holmes as intimately as Watson does. Watson would indeed get his wish, for in due time Holmes was able to put the pieces of the case together, save a woman's life, and discover the truth behind the curious incidence at Wisteria Lodge. The story ends back in Baker Street, and while this does not present us with additional subtextual evidence, it is interesting to note that Holmes, when addressing Watson, uses my dear seven times, all within the first half of the story. In fact, the frequency of its use is quite jarring, as most cases witness two or three such uses. This begs the question: Why, in this case above all other cases, did Holmes' continually refer to Watson with such affection? Is it possible that Holmes and Watson had once again established an intimate relationship? Could it be that, with Mary's passing, and Watson's return to Baker Street, Watson had also returned to Holmes' bed?

OVERALL REVIEW
This is the first story in the compilation titled His Last Bow and starts with a brief description of Holmes current Its basically a tale, inexplicably split into two parts, about a nasty dictator who fled from his country taking great wealth with him and goes to hide in England. A gang have been following him trying to seek revenge and some of its members are staying in a nearby house. They enlist the services of a woman whose husband was killed by the dictator and she gains employment in his household as a nanny. Heres where the problems start for me why didnt she just kill him herself as she hated him so much? Why did they wait so long to make the attack? Anyway, the leader of the gang befriends a respectable fellow and arranges 13 | P a g e

ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE: A CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION

for him to stay at his house, changing the times on the clocks so that he can provide an alibi, but the dictator gets wind of the planed attack and kills his would-be murder first. Gosh, it is far too much coming-and-going for a short story.

For once, the police are on the right track, and the promising Inspector Baynes reaches the same conclusion as Holmes. This is a first, a big change from all previous stories. Holmes is able to deliver the crucial witness, the nanny, but still justice cannot be done as the villain escapes. There is a report years later which tells of his eventual murder but the whole thing seems unfinished to me. I just didnt enjoy this one and wanted to know more about the central characters rather than some bonkers dictator. Its a 4 out of 10 Im afraid heres hoping that the rest of His Last Bow scores a little better.

14 | P a g e

ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE: A CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION

CONCLUSION

Arthur Conan Doyle's short stories and novellas featuring Sherlock Holmes became enduring classics of the mystery and detective genre. Doyle is credited with refining and developing the formula first realized by Edgar Allan Poe in "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" and "The Purloined Letter." In so doing, he created a form for the detective story that remained enormously popular until World War II and that remained the supreme example of crime fiction throughout the twentieth century. According to John G. Cawelti, this form makes a mythic game of crime; the criminal act becomes a manifestation of potential chaos in the self and society, but the detective asserts reason's power over this element, reassuring the reader of control over the self and safety within the social order. The continuing popularity of Doyle's stories is evidenced by their remaining in print in an abundance of competing editions, the scholarly activity they stimulate, and the proliferation of film and video adaptationsas well as new Holmes tales by other authors. Arthur Conan Doyle wrote the Holmes stories mainly to earn money. He did not think of them as serious works of art and was somewhat dismayed at their success. He had apparently stumbled on a formula that would hold the readers of the new mass-circulation magazines that catered to urban readers educated in the public schools of the late nineteenth century. For much of his professional career he felt ambivalent about his creation. While a Holmes story (or later a play) was sure to bring income, Doyle really wanted to be writing in other, more respectable genres. While his Holmes stories were consciously artful, Doyle thought of them as "mere" fantasies, often privately expressing a disdain for them similar to that which Holmes expresses toward Watson's overly sensationalized narratives of his brilliant cases. Many critics attribute Doyle's success in this series to his conceptions of Holmes, Watson, and their relationship. There are, in fact, central elements of the classic detective formula. Holmes is passionate about solving problems and about little else. For example, the only woman ever to earn much of his respect is Irene Adler, the beautiful songstress of "A Scandal in Bohemia" who outsmarts him when he attempts to steal an incriminating photograph from her. Yet his aloofness from ordinary life does not entirely exempt him from ordinary values. He cares touchingly for Watson and at least adequately for the innocent victims of crimes. He devotes his talents to the cause of justice, and he takes his country's part against all enemies. In contrast, his most dangerous adversaries possess Holmes's skills but use them solely for themselves. The most famous of these is Professor James Moriarty, the Napoleon of crime, who figures in several tales, but most vividly in "The Final Problem."

15 | P a g e

ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE: A CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION Holmes battles crime for two reasons: to preserve order and for the sheer pleasure of solving challenging intellectual problems. Virtually every area of knowledge to which he has applied himself relates to solving crimes. He is credited with writing monographs on codes and ciphers, tattoos, tobacco ashes, marks of trades on hands, typewriters, footprints, the human ear, and many other highly specialized subjects. Among his eccentricities, perhaps only his devotion to the violin and to listening to music are not directly related to his work.

One of the things that is odd about the Sherlock Holmes mystery stories is that they are only partially mystery stories. There is typically a mystery of course, but just as important, at least to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle are the social statements and ideas that he is examining. These can be very interesting and ideas and yet at other times they fall a bit flat. This is typically overcome because of how much I enjoy the character of Sherlock Holmes but in the longer Sherlock Holmes stories, such as the Adventure of Wisteria Lodge the political ideas that they are involved it can drag down the story, and while it is still interesting there is far less Holmes in that part which makes it less what I am trying to read.

16 | P a g e

ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE: A CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION

BIBLIOGRAPHY

The sources referred during this research work include some books and some websites. These sources have proved very helpful in the successful completion of the project and therefore deserve a reference in the project work. These sources are mentioned below-

Books 1. His Last Bow by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. 2. The Adventure of the Westiria Lodge by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. 3. The Adventure of the Dying Detective by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Websites1. www.wikipedia.org 2. www.helium.com 3. www.amazon.com

17 | P a g e

ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE: A CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION

18 | P a g e

ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE: A CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION

19 | P a g e

ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE: A CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION

20 | P a g e

ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE: A CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION

21 | P a g e