The adventure of the devils foot

   Dr. Watson has taken Holmes to the countryside so that he can rest and recover his strength after some hard work. However they have no such luck as they are approached by a vicar and a man who has been lodging with him Mr. Mortimer Tregennis. Mortimer had gone the previous night to meet his siblings. He had left their house at quarter past ten. That morning however, he was going on his regular walk he met a doctor who had been called urgently to Motimers’ siblings house. When they reached there, they found that his sister was dead and both of his brothers had gone insane. All his siblings occupied the same chairs that they were in the previous night when Mortimer had left and that was close to their bedtime so it is deduced that this happened a short while after Mortimer had left. There had been a dispute among the siblings over property some time back but it had been resolved and they were now on friendly terms.

  Holmes visits the house where the incident happened. He finds out that although the blinds of the sitting room were open, the window was closed. A fire had been burnt in the room. When the doctor had come the first time to check Mortimer’s siblings, he had nearly fainted; that was how stuffy and nauseous the room was. Holmes doesn’t discover any footmarks outside the house though Mortimer says that he and one of his brothers saw some movement in the bushes the previous night.

   Later , Holmes is visited by Dr. Leon Sterndale , a well known explorer who asks him if he has any clues the case to which Holmes replies in the negative. When he leaves, Holmes follows him. The next morning, Mortimer is found dead in his room. Holmes investigates and discovers two things. A lamp was burning in the room even though it was daytime and there was gravel on the window. It is the same gravel that he has seen around Sterndale’s house. There was some powder  over the lamp which Holmes collects (Holmes is conducting this investigation independently so he doesn’t tell of his findings to anyone except Watson )

  Back in their cottage, Holmes tells Watson that he believes that this powder has been responsible for all these happenings. In order to test it, they burn the powder in a lamp similar to the manner in which it had been done in Mortimer’s room.They find themselves having the same symptoms that the victims of murder and insanity had ( a look of horror on their faces and mental imbalance) .They leave the room and go outside to take some fresh air and sunlight to recover. While they are thus outside, Mr. Sterndale whom Holmes had called to the cottage arrives. Holmes accuses him of murder. Sterndale refuses the charge initially but when Holmes threatens further action, he confesses . Mortimer had killed his sister and made his brothers insane using a certain powder of African origin. Sterndale had brought this powder from Africa and it was from him that Mortimer came to know about it and its effects. Mortimer had stolen some of it and used it in the fire in the Treginnis’ sitting room that night just before leaving. This powder (called the devils foot) produces the effect of either killing the person or driving him or her crazy. So Mortimer’s sister died due to its effects while her brothers became insane. Mortimer did this as after his siblings became insane or died he would become the owner of the entire family property.

   Sterndale was in love with Mortimer’s sister but couldn’t marry her as he was finding it difficult to divorce his first wife who had left her. When he came to know about the murder of this woman whom he loved, grief and anger drove him to seek revenge. He took gravel from around his house and threw it at the window to call Mortimer who let Sterndale in through the same window. Once inside, Sterndale put some of the devils foot powder over the lamp which he then ignited. Then, threatening to shoot him with a gun he forced Mortimer to stay in the room until the fumes had their effect and Mortimer perished. Sterndale believed that justice wouldn’t be done in the case so he decided to avenge his lovers death himself.  

   Holmes has sympathy for Sterndale and lets him go.

 The adventure of the engineers thumb( a short story by Sherlock Holmes)

A patient arrives at Dr. Watsons clinic and asks for treatment of his injured hand.His thumb has been cut off . Dr. Watson treats the injury and asks this man, whose name is Hatherley, as to how he was hurt. Hatherley says that someone tried to kill him and eventually cut of his thumb but he adds that he doesn’t believe that justice will be done in the case. Dr. Watson advises him to take the case to Sherlock Holmes the famous detective, and they go together. At Holmes’ place, the client who is a hydraulic engineer by profession , narrates the following tale. 

  Hatherley was apprenticed to a firm for seven years. After this, he set up a consultancy business of his own but he got little work and so he was idle most of the time. Only the day before, a German man named Mr. Stark walked into his office and asked him if he could come to his place in the country to fix a hydraulic machine. He told Hatherley that they had discovered something called fullers earth (something precious) in a place in the country that they had recently purchased. They were extracting it with the help of a hydraulic machine but as the machine was having some problems, they needed an engineer to come and fix it. He was ready to pay a very big amount for a single visit( 50 Guineas) if Hatherley was ready to come that very night. Hatherley had his suspicions about the man and thought that this was dark business but he agreed to this offer because the fees was high. As agreed between the two, Hatherley reached the appointed train station(Eyford station) and found that Stark had come to receive him in a single horse carriage. 

   At this point, Holmes interrupted Hatherley and asks if that one horse looked fresh or worn out to which the engineer replies that it looked fresh. Hatherley then continues his story. On the journey, Hatherley couldn’t see anything outside because the windows were made of frost glass but he judged from the speed of the horse and the time it took to reach the place that they must have covered 10 or 12 miles in the carriage . On reaching the place, Hatherley was ushered into a large house with multiple floors. He was asked to wait in a room initially. There , a beautiful woman came  to him and advises him to leave the place as that would save his life. Hatherley politely refused to do so as he was yet to do his job and receive his payment.  He also felt that this woman could be a monomaniac. 

  After the lady  departed, the German man returned and takes Hatherley to inspect the machine. Hatherley , after checking it, offered his suggestions. However, he started doubting whether Stark’s story of the machine being used to extract fuller earth was true. He also found some metal in the machine. When he expresses this to his client, the German who had forewarned him earlier that this visit should be kept a secret and also to avoid asking questions not related to his work, became  angry. He tried to kill the engineer by crushing him in the machine itself. Hatherley though managed to escape and found the lady who had warned him. She tried to guide him to safety but  Stark arrived and attacked him again. Hatherley tried to escape through the window but he was trying to jump, the other tried to murder him but only succeeded in cutting off his thumb. After getting outside the house, Hatherley ran for his life but being exhausted and wounded, he collapsed and fainted. The next morning, he found himself lying close to the station and wonders who brought him there. He catches a train back to London.

   Holmes, Watson , Hatherley and an inspector now reach Eyford station. When each of the others tries to guess in which direction the Germans place might be, Holmes deduces that the place must be very close to the station because the horse looked fresh when it started on the journey back the day of Hatherleys professional visit. So it could not have travelled a long way on the way to the station ! The group also learn that a building close to the station has caught fire. When they reach this building, Hatherley confirms that this is indeed the house that he was brought to a couple of days back. Holmes surmises that when Stark tried to crush Hatherley in the machine, the walls of the machine which were made of wood might have caught fire from the lamp which Hatherley was holding at the time. The fire must have then spread. Footmarks also reveal that the injured engineer was brought to the place near the station by the woman and an Englishman who was the Germans manager and  whom Hatherley had met the day before, before his machine inspection. These two might have persuaded the violent Stark to spare his life. These people were counterfeiters who were minting fake coins. Holmes and his group come to know that the gang left after the house caught fire with their counterfeit money. They were seen by a peasant that morning but manage to escape and are never caught. 

  Holmes later produces an old newspaper article from a year ago which tells of a missing hydraulic engineer hinting that Stark might have asked another engineer previously to advise him about his machine and ended up killing him. 

 The adventure of the Speckled band (short story by Sherlock Holmes)

A woman named Helen Stoner comes to Sherlock Holmes and tells him of the situation she finds herself in and asks him to guide her. She lives with her stepfather Dr. Roylott who had married Helens mother in India. Helen and her sister Julia were twins who were only two years old at the time of her mothers remarriage.According to her mothers will, she had bequeathed 1000 pounds a year to Dr. Roylott entirely while the daughters resided with him.However, when each daughter married, she was to have 250 pounds a year from the 1000 pounds that her father now got.

  When Julia was about to get married, she had told Helen about the strange sound of whistling that she used to hear during the night.Helen then tells Holmes of the arrangement of their house. Dr. Roylott, Julia and Helen had bedrooms in a straight line with the the stepfathers room on one side, Julias in the middle and Helens on the other side. All the bedrooms opened out into the same corridor. That fatal night two years ago when Julia died, she had screamed and rushed out of her room. Hearing her sister, Helen too came out. Julia seemed stunned, was unable to keep her balance ,collapsed onto the floor and died in Helens arms. Her last words were ‘the speckled band’. No injury marks were found on Julias body and Helen assumed that her sister died of pure shock. 

   Two years later in the present time, Helen is about to get married. She has recently been asked to move to Julias room- the middle room in which the death occurred because repairs have been started on the side of Helens room .She herself hears a whistling sound herself at night. That is why she immediately came to consult detective Holmes. On further questioning, Helen reveals that her stepfather often beats her.

 Holmes asks Miss Stoner if he and Dr. Watson may visit their Stoke Moran house later that very day to which she agrees. After she has left, Dr. Roylott himself barges into Holmes’ office and threatens him with consequences if he takes up the case.

  When Holmes inspects the bedrooms of Miss Stoners house at Stoke Moran , he finds that there is a small ventilator(a window) high up between the bedroom of Roylott and the middle bedroom where Julia had died and where Helen now sleeps. There is also a rope hanging in the middle bedroom which is apparently an alarm for help but it is a dummy in reality. These changes were made in Julias room only a few days before her death . Wild animals – a cheetah and a baboon are also seen in the garden. Roylott had brought these from India. In Roylotts own bedroom, Holmes discovers an iron safe and a wooden chair against the bed. He also finds a saucer of milk and a dogs lash.

 Holmes then tells Miss Stoner to do exactly as he says. He and Watson would take a room in an inn near the house from where Helens bedroom would be visible. At night Helen would retire early to bed making the excuse that she had a headache. Then, when Roylott retired to his bedroom for the night, she would open the window of the middle room, put a lamp there as a signal to Holmes and Watson and move to her own regular bedroom for the night. 

  Things go according to plan. Holmes and Watson enter the middle bedroom through the window. Then they wait until long past midnight. At 3 am they see a light from the direction of the ventilator for a moment. Watson also hears a whistle and then Holmes starts striking repeatedly at the bell pull. After he stops striking, Holmes looks up at the ventilator and a loud scream is heard. Holmes and Watson then enter Roylotts bedroom where they find him dead. It is here that they see the ‘speckled band” which Julia had mentioned just before her death. It is a swamp adder; a poisonous snake which the cruel stepfather had used to kill Julia and then tried to kill Helen as well. When Holmes injured the snake with a stick, the beating roused its temper and the snake turned upon its master , biting it to death. A 

 The Gloria Scott (short story by Sherlock Holmes )

Sherlock Holmes relates to Dr. Watson the tale of his college friend. This was Sherlocks first case.

Just after his education was completed, Sherlock had been invited by his friend Victor Trevor to spend time at Victors family estate. He became acquainted with Victors father too. When Victor told his father about Holmes’ talent as a detective, Mr. Trevor asks him to tell him something about himself that others don’t know. When Sherlock does indeed do so, Mr. Trevor faints. Although he later dismisses his shock as nothing to be concerned about, Holmes starts to feel that his own presence is making his host uncomfortable and  prepares to leave. On the day prior to his departure however, a rough looking sailor barges into the Trevor’s place. Mr. Trevor seems to be afraid of him and gives him a job and lodgings.

   Sherlock returns back to his own home but a few weeks later a letter arrives from Victor asking him to come back and help. On the way from the station to Victor’s estate, Victor describes to Holmes the events of the past few weeks. After Holmes had left, Mr. Trevor seemed incredibly afraid of this seaman whose name was Hudson. Apparently, Hudson was blackmailing Mr. Trevor and was thus taking liberties with his employer. On one occasion after Hudson had talked rudely to Mr. Trevor in the presence of Victor, Victor took the sailor by the shoulder and turned him out of the room. Mr. Trevor asks him to apologise to Hudson for this but Victor refuses. Furious, Hudson leaves the house after threatening them and Mr. Trevor dreads what may happen. A few days later, a letter arrives for Mr. Trevor from an old acquaintance. Its contents appear innocuous to Victor but Mr. Trevor was terrified by it. Holmes decodes the message which shocked Mr. Trevor . The message was ‘The game is up. Hudson has told all. Fly for your life.’ He constructed it by taking every third word of the original message. Mr. Trevor, terrified by this, wrote a long letter to Victor, explaining the situation to him but he did not reveal the  location of it until his dying moments.

   Victor and Sherlock find out about Mr. Trevors letter and read it. They discover that that Mr. Trevor’s real name was James Armitage. He had been caught stealing money from his employer, been convicted and sent to Australia aboard a prison ship-the Gloria Scott. His fellow prisoners, led by the formidable Jack Prendergast, organise an armed takeover of of the ship to regain their freedom. The takeover is successful but Prendergast and a few others insist on murdering the remaining crew to prevent having any witnesses against them later. Mr. Trevor (JA ) and some others are against this so they are given a small boat and some provisions to leave. In the later violence, the Gloria Scott explodes when the stock of gunpowder catches fire. JA and his group of the small boat manage to save the single survivor, Hudson, who is a member of the crew. They are all saved by a larger ship and make their way to Australia as free men. Evans (who sent that coded message to Mr. Trevor )and JA became wealthy men there and come back to England and buy estates.

  It was many years later that the ungrateful Hudson came back to blackmail them but despite his threats and Mr. Trevors fears, Hudson is never of again. Victor goes to work at the Terai tea plantation and establishes a successful career. According  to Holmes, Evans had murdered Hudson and then fled. The authorities believed that Hudson had murdered Evans .

 The Copper Beeches (short story by Sherlock Holmes )

A young woman named Miss Violet Hunter visits Holmes and tells him about her situation and the decision she has to make. Her former employers have left the country. She worked as a maid with them and so she is looking for a new job. She has registered herself with an employment agency . When she had gone there, she found a man who made her a strange job offer. He is ready to pay her two and a half times the usual salary for such a job but he puts a few conditions to her. One of them is that she will have to cut her hair short. Though she initially refuses, she gives in when Mr. Rucastle, her prospective employer increases the salary to 120 pounds from the 100 pound offer earlier. Holmes asks her to contact him through telegram , if she needs his help.

  A couple of weeks later, Holmes receives a message from Miss Hunter, asking him to meet her in Winchester (away from the place in the countryside where she is working as a governess for Mr. Rucastle and his family). She describes the family;Mr. Rucastle lives with his second wife. He has two children- one is Alice from his first wife, a young woman who is of the same age as Miss Violet and who lives in America  and the other is a cruel and badly behaving boy from his second wife. The boy is Miss Violet’s charge. Once in their service, Violet found the service required was light but weird acts  were required of her. She was asked to wear an electric blue dress and sit with her back turned towards an open window. Rucastle would entertain her during this sitting. She became suspicious and using  a piece of a broken mirror to look behind her, observed that a young man with a beard was looking inside at them.

  Further, she discovered that there is a wing inside the house which is  deserted. When Violet tried to explore it, she met Mr. Rucastle who told her that he does photography there and uses it as a dark room. He also forbade Hunter from ever entering the wing and threatened to let a big dog onto her is she did. She also found a tress of hair in one of the drawers . When she compared this with the tress of her own hair that she had cut, she found that they appeared the same.

  Holmes deduces that someone is being held prisoner in the forbidden wing and Miss Hunter has been brought to the Copper Beeches to impersonate that person. The prisoner is probably Alice Rucastle, Mr. Rucastles daughter from his late first wife. As the Rucastle family is expected to go out later that day, Holmes instructs Violet to lock up the other servant (a maid ) inside a room with some excuse. As the maids husband is a drunkard, taking care of him wouldn’t be difficult and then they could free Alice.Violet does as she is told. When Holmes  and Watson arrive at Rucastles house, Violet leads them to the forbidden wing. However they find that Alice’s room is empty. She has been taken away through the skylight.

  The Rucastles’ maid narrates Alice’s story. Rucastle tried to get her to sign in favour of Rucastle her own inheritance from Rucastles’ first wife. When he tried to force her to do so despite her initial refusal, she had an attack of brain fever which resulted in her having to get her hair cut short. Rucastle then tried to keep her fiancee Mr. Fowler away from her by hiring Hunter to impersonate Alice. However, Fowler wasn’t deceived and succeeded in helping Alice to escape from her room. They end up getting married. 

   When Rucastle finds that Alice has escaped, he suspects that Holmes is responsible for it and tries to get the mastiff to attack the detective. However, as the dog has been starved for too long, it ends up attacking its master and Rucastle survives only because Watson shoots the dog in time.