Sep 2008

Court dress

Holmes’s eyes fixed themselves upon one of them, and following his gaze I saw the picture of a regal and stately lady in Court dress, with a high diamond tiara upon her noble head.
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Portiere

We were in Milverton’s study, and a portiere at the farther side showed the entrance to his bedroom.
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Sherlock Holmes - Character Illustrations

As Holmes turned up the lamp the light fell upon a card on the table. He glanced at it, and then, with an ejaculation of disgust, threw it on the floor. Read More...

Sherlock Holmes - Sayings

“You must play your cards as best you can when such a stake is on the table.” Read More...

Holmes and Watson - Burglars

With our black silk face-coverings, which turned us into two of the most truculent figures in London, we stole up to the silent, gloomy house.

Sherlock Holmes - Escott

“I am a plumber with a rising business, Escott, by name.” Read More...

Holmes' burgling kit

He took a neat little leather case out of a drawer, and opening it he exhibited a number of shining instruments. “This is a first-class, up-to-date burgling kit, with nickel-plated jemmy, diamond-tipped glass-cutter, adaptable keys, and every modern improvement which the march of civilization demands.”

Visiting card left at 221b Baker Street, London

CHARLES AUGUSTUS MILVERTON,
Appledore Towers,
Hampstead.
Agent.
Will call at 6:30 — C. A. M.

Appledore Towers, Hampstead, London

Home of Charles Augustus Milverton.
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Impecunious young squire

Letters written by the Lady Eva Blackwell to an impecunious young squire in the country, with which Charles Augustus Milverton intended to blackmail her.

Milverton's nocturnal visitor

A tall, slim, dark woman, a veil over her face, a mantle drawn round her chin. Her breath came quick and fast, and every inch of the lithe figure was quivering with strong emotion. Read More...

Agatha, Milverton's housemaid

Sherlock Holmes became engaged to Agatha in order to gain information regarding the workings of the household of Charles Augustus Milverton.

Colonel Dorking

One of the former victims of Charles Augustus Milverton. Engaged to the Honourable Miss Miles.

Honourable Miss Miles

One of the former victims of Charles Augustus Milverton. Engaged to Colonel Dorking.

Earl of Dovercourt

Engaged to the Lady Eva Blackwell.

Lady Eva Blackwell

The most beautiful debutante of last season.
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Charles Augustus Milverton

Charles Augustus Milverton was a man of fifty, with a large, intellectual head, a round, plump, hairless face, a perpetual frozen smile, and two keen gray eyes, which gleamed brightly from behind broad, gold-rimmed glasses. There was something of Mr. Pickwick’s benevolence in his appearance, marred only by the insincerity of the fixed smile and by the hard glitter of those restless and penetrating eyes. His voice was as smooth and suave as his countenance, as he advanced with a plump little hand extended, murmuring his regret for having missed us at his first visit.

Ribston Pippin

The first who entered was a little Ribston pippin of a man, with ruddy cheeks and fluffy white side-whiskers.
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The Weald

Alighting at the small wayside station, we drove for some miles through the remains of widespread woods, which were once part of that great forest which for so long held the Saxon invaders at bay — the impenetrable “weald,” for sixty years the bulwark of Britain. Vast sections of it have been cleared, for this is the seat of the first iron-works of the country, and the trees have been felled to smelt the ore. Now the richer fields of the North have absorbed the trade, and nothing save these ravaged groves and great scars in the earth show the work of the past.
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Sherlock Holmes - Deductions

“Was the blood-stain above or below?”
“On the side next the boards.”
“Which proves, of course, that the book was dropped after the crime was committed.”
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Sherlock Holmes - Character Illustrations

Holmes, however, like all great artists, lived for his art’s sake, and, save in the case of the Duke of Holdernesse, I have seldom known him claim any large reward for his inestimable services. So unworldly was he — or so capricious — that he frequently refused his help to the powerful and wealthy where the problem made no appeal to his sympathies, while he would devote weeks of most intense application to the affairs of some humble client whose case presented those strange and dramatic qualities which appealed to his imagination and challenged his ingenuity. Read More...

Sherlock Holmes - Sayings

“There can be no question, my dear Watson, of the value of exercise before breakfast.” Read More...

Sherlock Holmes - Captain Basil

The fact that several rough-looking men called during that time and inquired for Captain Basil made me understand that Holmes was working somewhere under one of the numerous disguises and names with which he concealed his own formidable identity. He had at least five small refuges in different parts of London, in which he was able to change his personality.

Tobacco pouch

It was of coarse sealskin — the straight-haired skin, with a leather thong to bind it. Inside was ‘P. C.’ on the flap. There was half an ounce of strong ship’s tobacco in it.

Notebook

A drab-covered notebook. The outside was rough and worn, the leaves discoloured. On the first page were written the initials “J. H. N.” and the date “1883.”

Sheath knife

“A sheath-knife, still in its sheath. It lay at the feet of the dead man. Mrs. Carey has identified it as being her husband’s property.”

Tin Box

Tin box containing the securities which Neligan Snr. hoped to sell and thereby repay his creditors.
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Harpoon

One was the harpoon with which the deed was committed. It had been snatched down from a rack on the wall. Two others remained there, and there was a vacant place for the third. On the stock was engraved ‘SS. Sea Unicorn, Dundee.’

Telelgram to Stanley Hopkins

‘Inspector Stanley Hopkins, 46 Lord Street, Brixton. Come breakfast to-morrow at nine-thirty. Important. Wire if unable to come. — Sherlock Holmes.’

Telegram from Sherlock Holmes

‘Sumner, Shipping Agent, Ratcliff Highway. Send three men on, to arrive ten to-morrow morning. — Basil.’

Telegram from Stanley Hopkins

“Ah, Hopkins, I got your wire last night, and I have been expecting you.”

Wilson, the notorious canary-trainer

The arrest of Wilson, the notorious canary-trainer, which removed a plague-spot from the East End of London.

Sudden death of Cardinal Tosca

His ((Sherlock Holmes) famous investigation of the suden death of Cardinal Tosca - an inquiry which was carried out by him at the express desire of His Holiness the Pope.

Priory School

Previous story in the ‘Return’.
“Like all great artists, lived for his art’s sake, and, save in the case of the Duke of Holdernesse, I have seldom known him claim any large reward for his inestimable services.” (Dr John Watson)

Tunbridge Wells, Kent

Patrick Cairns walked ten miles to Tunbridge Wells to catch a train for London.
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Shetland Lights

“Only one man knew what had happened to him, and that was me, for, with my own eyes, I saw the skipper tip up his heels and put him over the rail in the middle watch of a dark night, two days before we sighted the Shetland Lights.” (Patrick Cairns)
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Sumner Shipping Agent, Ratcliff Highway, London

The shipping agent through which Sherlock Holmes found Patrick Cairns.
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Brambletye Hotel, Forest Row, Sussex

Where rooms had been booked for Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson during their stay in Sussex.
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Outhouse where Peter Carey was killed

Nearer the road, and surrounded on three sides by bushes, was a small outhouse, one window and the door facing in our direction. The outhouse was the simplest of dwellings, wooden-walled, shingle-roofed, one window beside the door and one on the farther side.

SS Sea Unicorn, Dundee

Peter Carey was Captain of this Ship. Read More...

Woodman's Lee, Nr. Forest Row, Sussex

Home of Captain Peter Carey.
In a clearing upon the green slope of a hill, stood a long, low, stone house, approached by a curving drive running through the fields.
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Slater

“You remember that a stonemason, named Slater, walking from Forest Row about one o’clock in the morning — two days before the murder — stopped as he passed the grounds and looked at the square of light still shining among the trees. He swears that the shadow of a man’s head turned sideways was clearly visible on the blind, and that this shadow was certainly not that of Peter Carey.” (Stanley Hopkins)

Daughter of Peter Carey

A pale, fair-haired girl, whose eyes blazed defiantly at us as she told us that she was glad that her father was dead, and that she blessed the hand which had struck him down.

Mrs Peter Carey

A haggard, gray-haired woman, the widow of the murdered man, whose gaunt and deep-lined face, with the furtive look of terror in the depths of her red-rimmed eyes, told of the years of hardship and ill-usage which she had endured.

Patrick Cairns

A fierce bull-dog face was framed in a tangle of hair and beard, and two bold, dark eyes gleamed behind the cover of thick, tufted, overhung eyebrows. He saluted and stood sailor-fashion, turning his cap round in his hands.

John Hopley Neligan

The nocturnal visitor was a young man, frail and thin, with a black moustache, which intensified the deadly pallor of his face. He could not have been much above twenty years of age. I have never seen any human being who appeared to be in such a pitiable fright, for his teeth were visibly chattering, and he was shaking in every limb. He was dressed like a gentleman, in Norfolk jacket and knickerbockers, with a cloth cap upon his head.
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Captain Peter Carey

“He was born in ’45 — fifty years of age. He was a most daring and successful seal and whale fisher. In 1883 he commanded the steam sealer Sea Unicorn, of Dundee. He had then had several successful voyages in succession, and in the following year, 1884, he retired.” Read More...

Inspector Stanley Hopkins

Our visitor was an exceedingly alert man, thirty years of age, dressed in a quiet tweed suit, but retaining the erect bearing of one who was accustomed to official uniform. I recognized him at once as Stanley Hopkins, a young police inspector, for whose future Holmes had high hopes while he in turn professed the admiration and respect of a pupil for the scientific methods of the famous amateur. Hopkins’s brow was clouded, and he sat down with an air of deep dejection.

Bicycle tyres

“I am familiar with forty-two different impressions left by tyres. This as you perceive, is a Dunlop, with a patch upon the outer cover. Heidegger’s tyres were Palmer’s, leaving longitudinal stripes.
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Other notable pupils at the Priory school

“Lord Leverstoke, the Earl of Blackwater, Sir Cathcart Soames — they all have intrusted their sons to me.” (Thorneycroft Huxtable)

Eton jacket

He had dressed himself fully, before going off, in his usual school suit of black Eton jacket and dark gray trousers.

Huxtable's Sidelights on Horace

“Huxtable’s Sidelights on Horace may possibly recall my name to your memories.” (Thorneycroft Huxtable)
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Rumour in the Globe

“We had tried to keep it out of the papers, but there was some rumor in the Globe last night.” (Thorneycroft Huxtable)

Sherlock Holmes - Deductions

“What Dr. Thorneycroft Huxtable, of the Priory School, near Mackleton, has to do with the matter, and why he comes three days after an event — the state of your chin gives the date — to ask for my humble services.” Read More...

Sherlock Holmes - Character Illustrations

I am aware, Mr. Holmes, that you take a very high line in professional matters, and that you are prepared to work for the work’s sake. Read More...

Sherlock Holmes - Sayings

“It is impossible as I state it, and therefore I must in some respect have stated it wrong.” Read More...

Sherlock Holmes' sprained ankle

As we approached the forbidding and squalid inn, with the sign of a game-cock above the door, Holmes gave a sudden groan, and clutched me by the shoulder to save himself from falling. He had had one of those violent strains of the ankle which leave a man helpless.

Cheque for £12,000

According to Sherlock Holmes the cheque for £12,000 was the first most interesting object that he had seen in the North.

Holmes folded up his cheque and placed it carefully in his notebook. “I am a poor man,” said he, as he patted it affectionately, and thrust it into the depths of his inner pocket.

Horseshoes made to counterfeit the tracks of cows

They are for the use of horses, but they are shaped below with a cloven foot of iron, so as to throw pursuers off the track.

“Can you recall that the tracks were sometimes like that, Watson” — he arranged a number of bread-crumbs in this fashion — : : : : : — “and sometimes like this” — : . : . : . : . — “and occasionally like this” — . ‘ . ‘ . ‘ . ‘ “Can you remember that?” (Sherlock Holmes)

Telegram from Chesterfield police

Telegram from police in Chesterfield to Sherlock Holmes confirming that they had arrested Rueben Hayes.

Telegram from Sherlock Holmes

Telegram sent by Sherlock Holmes to the Chesterfield Police upon which Rueben Hayes was arrested.

Telegram from Thorneycroft Huxtable

Telegram from Thorneycroft Huxtable to the Duke of Holdernesse advising him of the death of Herr Heidegger, the German master.

Abergavenny murder

“The Abergavenny murder is coming up for trial.” (Sherlock Holmes)

Ferrers documents

“I am retained in this case of the Ferrers Documents.” (Sherlock Holmes)

Capital and Counties Bank, Oxford Street, London

“The Capital and Counties Bank, Oxford Street branch are my agents.” (Sherlock Holmes)

Lower Gill Moor

A great rolling moor, Lower Gill Moor, extending for ten miles and sloping gradually upward. Here, at one side of this wilderness, is Holdernesse Hall.

Ragged Shaw

Ragged Shaw, the wood which backed on to the Priory school.

Fighting Cock Inn

Public House owned by Rueben Hayes where Lord Saltire was held prisoner.

Chesterfield

Rueben Hayes fled to Chesterfield and was arrested there on the information of Sherlock Holmes.
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Carlton House Terrace, London

London home of the Duke of Holdernesse.

Carston Castle, Bangor, Wales

Part of the estates of the Duke of Holdernesse.
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Hallamshire

Home of the Duke of Holdernesse. In Anglo-Saxon times, Sheffield was the capital of Hallamshire - the most southerly shire of Northumbria. (In modern terms, Hallamshire nestles in the south corner of the old West Riding, on the boundary of Yorkshire and Derbyshire.)
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Priory School, Mackleton

The Priory School, Mackleton in the north of England.
Without exception the most select preparatory school in England.
  • Preparatory School:
  • A private school that prepares students for college.

Edith, Duchess of Holdernesse

Daughter of Sir Charles Appledore and mother of Lord Saltire. Currently residing in the south of France.

Peat Cutter

Who took a note to Dr Huxtable after Holmes and Watson discovered the body of the murdered German master, Herr Heidegger.

Mrs Rueben Hayes

Who was a kindly woman, but entirely under the control of her brutal husband.

Herr Heidegger

He was a tall man, full-bearded, with spectacles, one glass of which had been knocked out. The cause of his death was a frightful blow upon the head, which had crushed in part of his skull. That he could have gone on after receiving such an injury said much for the vitality and courage of the man. He wore shoes, but no socks, and his open coat disclosed a nightshirt beneath it.

Lord Arthur Saltire

Son and heir of the Duke of Holdernesse.

Rueben Hayes

A squat, dark, elderly man was smoking a black clay pipe. We approached the forbidding and squalid inn, with the sign of a game-cock above the door,
Landlord of ‘The Fighting Cock’ Inn and co-abducter of Lord Saltire.

James Wilder

Illegitimate son of the Duke of Holdernesse and co-abducter of Lord Saltire. Read More...

Duke of Holdernesse

He was a tall and stately person, scrupulously dressed, with a drawn, thin face, and a nose which was grotesquely curved and long. His complexion was of a dead pallor, which was more startling by contrast with a long, dwindling beard of vivid red, which flowed down over his white waistcoat, with his watch-chain gleaming through its fringe.
Father of the abducted Lord Saltire. Read More...

Dr Thorneycroft Huxtable M.A., Ph.D., etc.

Founder and principal of the Priory School in the north of England. The Priory is, without exception, the best and most select preparatory school in England. Read More...

Sherlock Holmes - Deductions

 “At least it cannot be your health,” said he, as his keen eyes darted over her: “so ardent a bicyclist must be full of energy.”
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Man on bicycle - Bob Carruthers

He always kept so far from me that I could not clearly see his face, but it was certainly someone whom I did not know. He was dressed in a dark suit with a cloth cap. The only thing about his face that I could clearly see was his dark beard. (Violet Smith)

He raised his bearded face, saw us close to him, and pulled up, springing from his machine. That coal-black beard was in singular contrast to the pallor of his face, and his eyes were as bright as if he had a fever.

Sherlock Holmes - Character Illustrations

My friend, who loved above all things precision and concentration of thought, resented anything which distracted his attention from the matter in hand. And yet without a harshness which was foreign to his nature, it was impossible to refuse to listen to the story of the young and beautiful woman, tall, graceful, and queenly, who presented herself at Baker Street late in the evening, and implored his assistance and advice. Read More...

Telegram from South Africa

Carruthers took a telegram from his pocket.

It was short and concise:

THE OLD MAN IS DEAD.

Another letter from Violet Smith

The Thursday brought us another letter from our client.

“You will not be surprised, Mr. Holmes [said she] to hear that I am leaving Mr. Carruthers’s employment.”

Note from Violet Smith

“Next morning, we had a note from Miss Smith, recounting shortly and accurately the very incidents which I had seen.” (Dr John Watson)

Archie Stamford

It was near there (Farnham) that we took Archie Stamford, the forger.

John Vincent Harden

A very abstruse and complicated problem concerning the peculiar persecution to which John Vincent Harden, the well known tobacco millionaire, had been subjected.

Farnham Railway Station

Violet Smith caught a train from Farnham to London every Saturday forenoon, returning on the following Monday.
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Crooksbury Hill

The high road near Crooksbury Hill on the way to Farnham Station.
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Charlington Heath

The heath was covered with golden patches of flowering gorse, gleaming magnificently in the light of the bright spring sunshine.

Chiltern Grange

Chiltern Grange, Nr. Farnham, Surrey (about six miles from Farnham).
Home of Mr Carruthers and his 10 year old daughter.
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Charlington Hall

House rented by Mr Williamson and Jack Woodley. Read More...

Peter the groom

It was a young fellow about seventeen, dressed like an ostler with leather cords and gaiters. He lay upon his back, his knees drawn up, a terrible cut upon his head. He was insensible, but alive.

Daughter of Mr Carruthers

The child was a dear and Mr Carruthers suggested that I should come and teach music to his only daughter, aged ten.

Mrs Dixon

Housekeeper to Mr Carruthers.

A lady housekeeper, a very respectable, elderly person.

Cyril Morton

An electrical engineer and financée of Violet Smith. Working for the Midland Electrical Company at Coventry.

Ralph Smith

Ralph Smith, an Uncle, who went to Africa twenty-five years ago, and we have never had a word from him since.

He had died some months before in great poverty in Johannesburg.

James Smith

“My father is dead, Mr. Holmes. He was James Smith, who conducted the orchestra at the old Imperial Theatre.” (Violet Smith)
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Mr Williamson

He was a respectable, elderly gentleman. Read More...