45 Edgar W. Smith speculates, “[E]ven as Watson was sitting . . . in Von Bork’s parlour on that fateful August 2nd, with the war-clouds looming heavy in the east, he may have had in his breast-pocket at that very moment, ready for mailing, the manuscript of The Valley of Fear—for that long novel out of the past began to run in the Strand just a month later.”
46 That neither Holmes nor Watson was killed in the Great War is evident, for as late as 1926, Holmes apparently wrote and published “The Blanched Soldier” and “The Lion’s Mane,” and Watson continued to write and publish until 1927, when “The Retired Colourman,” “The Veiled Lodger,” and “Shoscombe Old Place” were published. It is unclear whether Dr. Watson had a hand in the publication of The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes, for, in contrast to His Last Bow, the Preface is written by Arthur Conan Doyle.
PREFACE1
IFEAR THAT MR. Sherlock Holmes may become like one of those popular tenors who, having outlived their time, are still tempted to make repeated farewell bows to their indulgent audiences.2 This must cease and he must go the way of all flesh, material or imaginary. One likes to think that there is some fantastic limbo for the children of imagination, some strange, impossible place where the beaux of Fielding may still make love to the belles of Richardson, where Scott’s heroes still may strut, Dickens’s delightful Cockneys still raise a laugh, and Thackeray’s worldlings continue to carry on their reprehensible careers. Perhaps in some humble corner of such a Valhalla, Sherlock and his Watson may for a time find a place, while some more astute sleuth with some even less astute comrade may fill the stage which they have vacated.
His career has been a long one—though it is possible to exaggerate it; decrepit gentlemen who approach me and declare that his adventures formed the reading of their boyhood do not meet the response from me which they seem to expect. One is not anxious to have one’s personal dates handled so unkindly. As a matter of cold fact Holmes made his début in A Study in Scarlet and in The Sign of Four, two small booklets which appeared between 1887 and 1889. It was in 1891 that “A Scandal in Bohemia,” the first of the long series of short stories, appeared in The Strand Magazine. The public seemed appreciative and desirous of more, so that from that date, thirty-six years ago, they have been produced in a broken series which now contains no fewer than fifty-six stories, republished in The Adventures, The Memoirs, The Return, and His Last Bow, and there remain these twelve published during the last few years which are here produced under the title of The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes. He began his adventures in the very heart of the later Victorian Era, carried it through the all-too-short reign of Edward, and has managed to hold his own little niche even in these feverish days. Thus it would be true to say that those who first read of him, as young men, have lived to see their own grown-up children following the same adventures in the same magazine. It is a striking example of the patience and loyalty of the British public.
I had fully determined at the conclusion of The Memoirs to bring Holmes to an end, as I felt that my literary energies should not be directed too much into one channel. That pale, clear-cut face and loose-limbed figure were taking up an undue share of my imagination. I did the deed, but, fortunately, no coroner had pronounced upon the remains, and so, after a long interval, it was not difficult for me to respond to the flattering demand and to explain my rash act away. I have never regretted it, for I have not in actual practice found that these lighter sketches have prevented me from exploring and finding my limitations in such varied branches of literature as history, poetry, historical novels, psychic research, and the drama. Had Holmes never existed I could not have done more, though he may perhaps have stood a little in the way of the recognition of my more serious literary work.
And so, reader, farewell to Sherlock Holmes! I thank you for your past constancy, and can but hope that some return has been made in the shape of that distraction from the worries of life and stimulating change of thought which can only be found in the fairy kingdom of romance.
ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
1 The Preface first appeared in slightly altered form in the Strand Magazine in March 1927.
2 Conan Doyle may have thought here of William Gillette, who, in 1923, appeared in a revival of the play Sherlock Holmes as the Master himself, a role Gillette originated in 1899. Gillette went on to reprise the rôle in America again in 1928 and finally in a “farewell tour” that began in 1929 and ended only in 1932.
THE ADVENTURE OF THE ILLUSTRIOUS CLIENT1
This final collection of short adventures, entitled The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes, consists of twelve stories published from 1921 through 1927 in the Strand Magazine. Curiously, it contains a preface by Arthur Conan Doyle, and doubt has been raised as to whether Dr. Watson wrote all of the stories credited to him in the volume. There are suggestions that some of the stories were penned by Watson’s wife or cousin; some may even have been written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle! “The Illustrious Client” is a tale of the mature Holmes, set in 1902. Holmes is physically attacked in the case, but as in “The Six Napoleons,” he uses the power of the press to fool the villain. Although Holmes calls upon Watson to disguise himself as a connoisseur of Chinese pottery, scholars point out that Holmes’s plan makes little sense. The case opens with another example of Holmes’s “reverse snobbery” in his dealings with the foppish Sir James Damery, and the contrast is startling when we later meet “Porky” Shinwell Johnson, an “underworld” operative of Holmes’s.
IT CAN’T HURT now,” was Mr. Sherlock Holmes’s comment when, for the tenth time in as many years, I asked his leave to reveal the following narrative. So it was that at last I obtained permission to put on record what was, in some ways, the supreme moment of my friend’s career.
Both Holmes and I had a weakness for the Turkish Bath.2 It was over a smoke in the pleasant lassitude of the drying-room that I have found him less reticent and more human than anywhere else. On the upper floor of the Northumberland Avenue establishment there is an isolated corner where two couches lie side by side, and it was on these that we lay upon September 3, 1902, the day when my narrative begins. I had asked him whether anything was stirring, and for answer he had shot his long, thin, nervous arm out of the sheets which enveloped him and had drawn an envelope from the inside pocket of the coat which hung beside him.
“It may be some fussy, self-important fool, it may be a matter of life or death,” said he as he handed me the note.” I know no more than this message tells me.”
It was from the Carlton Club,3 and dated the evening before. This is what I read:
Sir James Damery presents his compliments to Mr. Sherlock Holmes and will call upon him at 4:30 to-morrow. Sir James begs to say that the matter upon which he desires to consult Mr. Holmes is very delicate and also very important. He trusts, therefore, that Mr. Holmes will make every effort to grant this interview, and that he will confirm it over the telephone to the Carlton Club.4
“I need not say that I have confirmed it, Watson,” said Holmes, as I returned the paper. “Do you know anything of this man Damery?”
“Only that this name is a household word in Society.”
“Well, I can tell you a little more than that. He has rather a reputation for arranging delicate matters which are to be kept out of the papers. You may remember his negotiations with Sir George Lewis5 over the Hammerford Will case. He is a man of the world with a natural turn for diplomacy. I am bound, therefore, to hope that it is not a false scent and that he has some real need for our assistance.”
“Our?”
“Well, if you will be so good, Watson.”
“I shall be honoured.”
“Then you have the hour—four-thirty. Until then we can put the matter out of our heads.”
Sherlock Holmes shot his long, thin, nervous arm out of the sheets and drew an envelope from the inside pocket of the coat which hung beside him.
Howard Elcock, Strand Magazine, 1925
I was living in my own rooms in
Queen Anne Street6 at the time, but I was round at Baker Street before the time named. Sharp to the half-hour, Colonel Sir James Damery was announced. It is hardly necessary to describe him, for many will remember that large, bluff, honest personality, that broad, clean-shaven face, above all, that pleasant, mellow voice. Frankness shone from his grey Irish eyes, and good humour played round his mobile, smiling lips. His lucent top-hat, his dark frock-coat, indeed, every detail, from the pearl pin in the black satin cravat to the lavender spats over the varnished shoes, spoke of the meticulous care in dress for which he was famous. The big, masterful aristocrat dominated the little room.
“Of course, I was prepared to find Dr. Watson,” he remarked, with a courteous bow. “His collaboration may be very necessary, for we are dealing on this occasion, Mr. Holmes, with a man to whom violence is familiar and who will, literally, stick at nothing. I should say that there is no more dangerous man in Europe.”
“I have had several opponents to whom that flattering term has been applied,” said Holmes, with a smile. “Don’t you smoke? Then you will excuse me if I light my pipe.7 If your man is more dangerous than the late Professor Moriarty, or than the living8 Colonel Sebastian Moran, then he is indeed worth meeting. May I ask his name?”
“Have you ever heard of Baron Gruner?”
“You mean the Austrian murderer?”
Colonel Damery threw up his kid-gloved hands with a laugh. “There is no getting past you, Mr. Holmes! Wonderful! So you have already sized him up as a murderer?”
“It is my business to follow the details of Continental crime. Who could possibly have read what happened at Prague and have any doubts as to the man’s guilt! It was a purely technical legal point and the suspicious death of a witness that saved him! I am as sure that he killed his wife when the so-called ‘accident’ happened in the Splügen Pass9 as if I had seen him do it.10 I knew, also, that he had come to England and had a presentiment that sooner or later he would find me some work to do. Well, what has Baron Gruner been up to? I presume it is not this old tragedy which has come up again?”
Colonel Damery threw up his kid-gloved hands with a laugh.“There is no getting past you, Mr. Holmes! Wonderful!”
Howard Elcock, Strand Magazine, 1925
“No, it is more serious than that. To revenge crime is important, but to prevent it is more so. It is a terrible thing, Mr. Holmes, to see a dreadful event, an atrocious situation, preparing itself before your eyes, to clearly understand whither it will lead and yet to be utterly unable to avert it. Can a human being be placed in a more trying position?”
“Perhaps not.”
“Then you will sympathize with the client in whose interests I am acting.”
“I did not understand that you were merely an intermediary. Who is the principal?”
“Mr. Holmes, I must beg you not to press that question. It is important that I should be able to assure him that his honoured name has been in no way dragged into the matter. His motives are, to the last degree, honourable and chivalrous, but he prefers to remain unknown. I need not say that your fees will be assured and that you will be given a perfectly free hand. Surely the actual name of your client is immaterial?”
“I am sorry,” said Holmes. “I am accustomed to have mystery at one end of my cases, but to have it at both ends is too confusing. I fear, Sir James, that I must decline to act.”
Our visitor was greatly disturbed. His large, sensitive face was darkened with emotion and disappointment.
“You hardly realize the effect of your own action, Mr. Holmes,” said he. “You place me in a most serious dilemma, for I am perfectly certain that you would be proud to take over the case if I could give you the facts, and yet a promise forbids me from revealing them all. May I, at least, lay all that I can before you?”
“By all means, so long as it is understood that I commit myself to nothing.”
“That is understood. In the first place, you have no doubt heard of General de Merville?”
“De Merville of Khyber fame?11 Yes, I have heard of him.”
“He has a daughter, Violet de Merville, young, rich, beautiful, accomplished, a wonder-woman in every way. It is this daughter, this lovely, innocent girl, whom we are endeavouring to save from the clutches of a fiend.”
“Baron Gruner has some hold over her, then?”
“The strongest of all holds where a woman is concerned—the hold of love. The fellow is, as you may have heard, extraordinarily handsome, with a most fascinating manner, a gentle voice, and that air of romance and mystery which means so much to a woman. He is said to have the whole sex at his mercy and to have made ample use of the fact.”
“But how came such a man to meet a lady of the standing of Miss Violet de Merville?”
“It was on a Mediterranean yachting voyage. The company, though select, paid their own passages.12 No doubt the promoters hardly realized the Baron’s true character until it was too late. The villain attached himself to the lady, and with such effect that he has completely and absolutely won her heart. To say that she loves him hardly expresses it. She dotes upon him, she is obsessed by him. Outside of him there is nothing on earth. She will not hear one word against him. Everything has been done to cure her of her madness, but in vain. To sum up, she proposes to marry him next month. As she is of age and has a will of iron, it is hard to know how to prevent her.”
“Does she know about the Austrian episode?”
“The cunning devil has told her every unsavoury public scandal of his past life, but always in such a way as to make himself out to be an innocent martyr. She absolutely accepts his version and will listen to no other.”
“Dear me! But surely you have inadvertently let out the name of your client? It is no doubt General de Merville.”
Our visitor fidgeted in his chair.
“I could deceive you by saying so, Mr. Holmes, but it would not be true. De Merville is a broken man. The strong soldier has been utterly demoralized by this incident. He has lost the nerve which never failed him on the battlefield and has become a weak, doddering old man, utterly incapable of contending with a brilliant, forceful rascal like this Austrian. My client, however, is an old friend, one who has known the General intimately for many years and taken a paternal interest in this young girl since she wore short frocks. He cannot see this tragedy consummated without some attempt to stop it. There is nothing in which Scotland Yard can act. It was his own suggestion that you should be called in, but it was, as I have said, on the express stipulation that he should not be personally involved in the matter. I have no doubt, Mr. Holmes, with your great powers you could easily trace my client back through me, but I must ask you, as a point of honour, to refrain from doing so, and not to break in upon his incognito.”
Holmes gave a whimsical smile.
“I think I may safely promise that,” said he. “I may add that your problem interests me, and that I shall be prepared to look into it. How shall I keep in touch with you?”
“The Carlton Club will find me. But, in case of emergency, there is a private telephone call, ‘XX.31.’ ”
Holmes noted it down and sat, still smiling, with the open memorandum-book upon his knee.
“The Baron’s present address, please?”
“Vernon Lodge, near Kingston. It is a large house. He has been fortunate in some rather shady speculations and is a rich man, which, naturally, makes him a more dangerous antagonist.”
“Is he at home at present?”
“Yes.”
“Apart from what you have told me, can you give me any further information about the man?”
“He has expensive tastes. He is a horse fancier. For a short time he played polo at Hurlingham,13 but then this Prague affair got noised about and he had to leave. He collects books and pictures. He is a man with a considerable artistic side to his nature. He is, I believe, a recognized authority upon Chinese pottery, and has written a book upon the subject.”
“A complex mind,” said Holme
s.” All great criminals have that. My old friend Charlie Peace14 was a violin virtuoso. Wainwright15 was no mean artist. I could quote many more. Well, Sir James, you will inform your client that I am turning my mind upon Baron Gruner. I can say no more. I have some sources of information of my own, and I dare say we may find some means of opening the matter up.”
Phrenological head of Charles Peace.
The Victorians: A World Built to Last
When our visitor had left us Holmes sat so long in deep thought that it seemed to me that he had forgotten my presence. At last, however, he came briskly back to earth.
“Well, Watson, any views?” he asked.
“I should think you had better see the young lady herself.”
“My dear Watson, if her poor old broken father cannot move her, how shall I, a stranger, prevail? And yet there is something in the suggestion if all else fails. But I think we must begin from a different angle. I rather fancy that Shinwell Johnson might be a help.”
I have not had occasion to mention Shinwell Johnson in these memoirs because I have seldom drawn my cases from the latter phases of my friend’s career. During the first years of the century he became a valuable assistant. Johnson, I grieve to say, made his name first as a very dangerous villain and served two terms at Parkhurst.16 Finally, he repented and allied himself to Holmes, acting as his agent in the huge criminal underworld of London, and obtaining information which often proved to be of vital importance. Had Johnson been a “nark” of the police he would soon have been exposed, but as he dealt with cases which never came directly into the courts, his activities were never realized by his companions. With the glamour of his two convictions upon him, he had the entrée of every night-club, doss-house,17 and gambling-den in the town, and his quick observation and active brain made him an ideal agent for gaining information.18 It was to him that Sherlock Holmes now proposed to turn.
The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Short Stories: The Return of Sherlock Holmes, His Last Bow and The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes (Non-slipcased edition) (Vol. 2) (The Annotated Books) Page 78
