The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (Doyle)
Short Summary
London, late 19th century. Dr. Watson chronicled eleven cases investigated by his friend Sherlock Holmes, including the detective's apparent death at Reichenbach Falls.
The cases ranged from investigating a missing racehorse and a Greek interpreter's strange midnight adventure to uncovering naval treaty theft and solving mysterious deaths. Throughout these investigations, Holmes demonstrated his remarkable deductive abilities and unconventional methods. His greatest challenge emerged in his confrontation with Professor Moriarty, a criminal mastermind who orchestrated numerous crimes while maintaining a respectable facade.
He sits motionless, like a spider in the center of its web, but that web has a thousand radiations, and he knows well every quiver of each of them. He does little himself. He only plans.
Holmes discovered that Moriarty was behind a vast criminal network and gathered evidence to bring him to justice. However, Moriarty threatened Holmes, leading to a deadly chase across Europe. The pursuit culminated at Switzerland's Reichenbach Falls, where Holmes and Moriarty engaged in a final confrontation. Both men apparently plunged to their deaths in the waterfall, though only Moriarty's body was found. Watson, who had been called away by a false message just before the struggle, was left to piece together the events from Holmes's farewell note and evidence at the scene.
The collection also revealed aspects of Holmes's early life and career, including his first case involving the death of his college friend's father and his relationship with his more analytically gifted but physically inactive brother Mycroft. These memoirs provided insight into Holmes's development as a detective and his growing friendship with Watson, while showcasing his methods of deduction and his dedication to justice, even at the apparent cost of his own life.
Detailed Chapter-by-Chapter Summary
Silver Blaze
Holmes and Watson traveled to Dartmoor to investigate the disappearance of a famous racehorse, Silver Blaze, and the murder of its trainer, John Straker. The horse had vanished from its stable at King's Pyland, and Straker was found dead in a hollow with a head wound. Inspector Gregory had arrested a suspect, Fitzroy Simpson, but Holmes was unconvinced of his guilt.
Through careful investigation, Holmes discovered that Straker had a secret life, maintaining an expensive mistress under the name Derbyshire. He had planned to lame Silver Blaze with a surgical knife to fix a race and pay his debts. When attempting this at night, Straker accidentally startled the horse, which kicked him in the head, killing him. The horse then ran to a neighboring stable, where trainer Silas Brown found and hid it. Holmes recovered Silver Blaze, which went on to win its race.
The Adventure of the Cardboard Box
Miss Susan Cushing received a package containing two severed human ears preserved in salt. Inspector Lestrade initially suspected medical students who had once lodged with her, but Holmes deduced a more sinister explanation. The ears belonged to Miss Cushing's sister and her sister's lover, both murdered by the sister's jealous husband, James Browner, a ship's steward.
Holmes traced the package to Belfast and eventually caught Browner, who confessed to the murders. He had killed the pair in a jealous rage while at sea, then sent the ears to Sarah Cushing, who had encouraged the affair. The case deeply affected Holmes, who reflected on the senseless nature of such crimes.
What object is served by this circle of misery and violence and fear? It must tend to some end, or else our universe is ruled by chance, which is unthinkable. But what end?
The Yellow Face
Grant Munro consulted Holmes about his wife's strange behavior. She had been secretly visiting a cottage where he had seen a mysterious yellow face at the window. Holmes investigated but initially reached the wrong conclusion. The truth was that Munro's wife Effie had been previously married to a black man in America and had a daughter by him. Fearing prejudice, she had hidden her child's existence from her new husband.
The yellow face was actually a mask worn by the child to hide her race. When the truth was revealed, Munro showed remarkable understanding and acceptance, embracing both his wife and stepdaughter. This was one of the rare cases where Holmes failed to deduce the correct solution, leading him to request that Watson remind him of this case whenever he became overconfident.
The Stockbroker's Clerk
Hall Pycroft sought Holmes's help regarding a suspicious job offer. He had been offered a position at a fake company, the Franco-Midland Hardware Company, with an unusually high salary. Holmes discovered this was a scheme by the Beddington brothers, notorious criminals, to empty a bank's safe while one of them impersonated Pycroft at his legitimate job at Mawson & Williams.
Holmes and Watson arrived just in time to prevent the crime, though one of the brothers had already murdered the bank's watchman. The case demonstrated how criminals could use legitimate business practices as cover for their schemes.
The Gloria Scott
Holmes recounted to Watson his first case, which occurred during his university years. His friend Victor Trevor's father died of shock after receiving a strange message about 'the game' and 'Hudson.' The message turned out to be a coded reference to a dark secret from Trevor senior's past.
Trevor had been a convict on the prison ship Gloria Scott, which had been taken over by prisoners in a planned mutiny. He and a few others had escaped the subsequent explosion of the ship, changed their identities, and built new lives. Hudson, a former crew member who knew the truth, had been blackmailing Trevor. When Hudson threatened to expose everything, Trevor's associate Beddoes sent the coded message warning of their exposure, leading to Trevor's fatal shock.
The Musgrave Ritual
Holmes shared another early case involving Reginald Musgrave and his family's strange traditional ritual. Musgrave's butler, Brunton, had mysteriously disappeared after being caught studying the ritual text. Holmes solved the mystery by decoding the ritual, which was actually a set of instructions leading to the hiding place of an ancient crown of the Stuart kings.
Brunton had discovered the crown's location but died of suffocation while trying to retrieve it, trapped in a cellar when his accomplice Rachel Howells, a maid he had jilted, removed the support holding up the heavy flagstone above him. Rachel disappeared, presumably having thrown the ancient crown into a mere on the property.
The Reigate Squires
While recovering from exhaustion at a friend's estate in Reigate, Holmes became involved in investigating two local burglaries and a murder. He discovered that the Acton burglary and the murder of a coachman at the Cunningham estate were connected. Through careful analysis of handwriting and other clues, Holmes revealed that the young and old Cunninghams were the criminals, attempting to prevent the coachman from exposing their earlier crime.
The Crooked Man
Colonel James Barclay died of apoplexy after a violent argument with his wife Nancy. Suspicion fell on Mrs. Barclay when she was found unconscious near his body, but Holmes uncovered a deeper story. Henry Wood, a soldier thought dead for thirty years, had returned. He had been Mrs. Barclay's first love, betrayed by Barclay and left for dead in Indian territory.
Wood survived but was crippled. His sudden appearance and revelation of Barclay's treachery caused the Colonel to die of shock. The case demonstrated how past sins could return to haunt their perpetrators.
The Resident Patient
Dr. Percy Trevelyan's unusual arrangement with a 'resident patient,' Mr. Blessington, turned sinister when Blessington showed signs of terror following a break-in. Holmes discovered that Blessington was actually Sutton, a bank robber who had testified against his accomplices years before. The supposed break-in was actually a reconnaissance by his former associates, who later returned to execute their revenge, staging Blessington's death as a suicide.
The Greek Interpreter
This case introduced Holmes's brother Mycroft, who brought him a case involving Mr. Melas, a Greek interpreter. Melas had been forcibly recruited to translate for a Greek captive being coerced into signing away his property. Holmes and Mycroft attempted to rescue the captive and his sister, but arrived too late to prevent their murder by the criminals, Harold Latimer and Wilson Kemp.
To the logician all things should be seen exactly as they are... When I say that Mycroft has better powers of observation than I, you may take it that I am speaking the exact and literal truth.
Percy Phelps, a Foreign Office clerk and former schoolmate of Watson, sought Holmes's help in recovering a stolen naval treaty. The document had disappeared while Phelps was working late, and the stress of its loss caused him to suffer brain fever. Holmes discovered that Joseph Harrison, the brother of Phelps's fiancée, had stolen the treaty, hoping to sell it. Holmes recovered the document from its hiding place under the floorboards, preventing a potential diplomatic crisis.
The Final Problem
Holmes revealed to Watson the existence of Professor Moriarty, a criminal mastermind behind much of London's organized crime. After months of investigation, Holmes was ready to bring down Moriarty's entire organization. However, Moriarty confronted Holmes, warning him to withdraw or face the consequences.
If I could beat that man, if I could free society of him, I should feel that my own career had reached its summit... But I could not rest while such a man walked the streets of London unchallenged.
Refusing to back down, Holmes fled to the continent with Watson to escape assassination attempts. At the Reichenbach Falls in Switzerland, Holmes sent Watson back to their hotel with a fabricated message. Upon returning, Watson found signs of a violent struggle at the falls and a note from Holmes explaining that he had recognized the message as false but went to meet Moriarty for a final confrontation.
Both Holmes and Moriarty apparently fell to their deaths in the struggle at the falls. Watson returned to London alone, devastated by the loss of his friend. The police later arrested most of Moriarty's gang, though without their leader's conviction. Watson wrote this account to defend Holmes's memory against those who tried to discredit him and to record the circumstances of the great detective's death.