A Study in Sherlock. Raymond G. Farney
Hope, of St. Louis, Christian and Lucy’s fiancé in Utah. London cabby who murdered Drebber & Stangerson.“There has been murder done, and the murderer was a man. He was more than six foot high, was in the prime of his life, had small feet for his height, wore coarse, square-toed boots and smoked a Trichinopoly cigar. He came here with his victim in a four-wheeler cab, which was drawn by a horse with three old shoes and one new one on his off fore-leg. In all probability the murderer had a florid face, and the finger-nails of his right hand were remarkably long.”Drunk man Constable Rance encountered at the gate of Lauriston Gardens. “He was a long chap, with a red face, the lower part muffled round.”—“A brown coat.”— “I am afraid, Rance, that you will never rise in the force. That head of yours should be used as well as an ornament. You might have gained your sergeant’s stripes last night. The man whom you held in your hands is the man who holds the clue of this mystery, and whom we are seeking.”“I had seldom seen a more powerfully built man; and his dark, sunburned face bore an expression of determination and energy which was as formidable as his personal strength.”“He took no particular notice of him, beyond thinking in his own mind that it was early for a man to be at work. He has an impression that the man was tall, had a reddish face, and was dressed in a long, brownish coat.(in Utah) “He was a tall, savage-looking young fellow mounted on a powerful roan horse, and clad in the rough dress of a hunter, with a long rifle slung over his shoulders.”“In the U.S.A. he had been a scout, and a trapper, a silver explorer, and ranchman.”“It was as well that his prairie training had given Jefferson Hope the ears of lynx.”“They may be darned sharp, but they’re not quite sharp enough to catch a Washoe hunter.”
Punishment:None“A higher Judge had taken the matter in hand, and Jefferson Hope had been summoned before a tribunal where strict justice would be meted out to him. On the very night of his capture the aneurism burst, and he was found in the morning stretched upon the floor of the cell, with a placid smile upon his face, as though he had been able in his dying moments to look back upon a useful life, and on work well done.”
Official Police:Tobias Gregson, Scotland Yard Inspector. “Gregson is the smartest of the Scotland Yarders—he and Lestrade are the pick of a bad lot. They are both quick and energetic, but conventional—shockingly so. They have their knives into one another, too. They are as jealous as a pair of professional beauties. There will be some fun over this case if they are both put upon the scent.”“He knows that I am his superior, and acknowledges it to me; but he would cut his tongue out before he would own it to any third person.”“A tall, white-faced, flexen-haired man.”“‘Arthur Charpentier, sub-lieutenant in Her Majesty’s navy,’ cried Gregson, pompously rubbing his fat hands and inflating his chest.”“‘Well done!’ said Holmes in an encouraging voice. ‘Really, Gregson, you are getting along. We shall make something of you yet.’”Mr. Lestrade, Scotland Yard Inspector. “There was one little sallow, rat-faced, dark-eyed fellow, who was introduced to me as Mr. Lestrade, and who came three or four times in a single week.”“Lestrade is a well-known detective. He got himself into a fog recently over a forgery case and that was what brought him here.”“Lestrade, lean and ferret-like as ever, was standing by the doorway.”“Little man’s eyes sparkled as he spoke, and he was evidently in a state of suppressed exultation at having scored a point against his colleague.”“It was indeed Lestrade, who had ascended the stairs while we were talking, and who now entered the room. The assurance and jauntiness which generally marked his demeanour and dress were, however, wanting. His face was disturbed and troubled, while his clothes were disarranged and untidy. He had evidently come with the intention of consulting with Sherlock Holmes, for on perceiving his colleague he appeared to be embarrassed and put out. He stood in the centre of the room, fumbling nervously with his hat and uncertain what to do. ‘This is a most extraordinary case,’ he said at last, ‘a most incomprehensible affair.’”— “The secretary, Mr. Joseph Stangerson, was murdered at Halliday’s Private Hotel about six o’clock this morning.”“My twenty years’ experience.”5“Gregson is the smartest of the Scotland Yarders—he and Lestrade are the pick of a bad lot. They are both quick and energetic, but conventional—shockingly so. They have their knives into one another, too. They are as jealous as a pair of professional beauties. There will be some fun over this case if they are both put upon the scent.”“Holmes glanced at me and raised his eyebrows sardonically. ‘With two such men as yourself and Lestrade upon the ground, there will not be much for a third party to find out,’ he said.”News quote: “We are glad to learn that Mr. Lestrade and Mr. Gregson, of Scotland Yard, are both engaged upon the case, and it is confidently anticipated that these well-known officers will speedily throw light upon the matter.”“I told you that, whatever happened, Lestrade and Gregson would be sure to score.”— “If the man is caught, it will be on account of their exertions; if he escapes, it will be in the spirit of their exertions. It’s heads I win and tails you lose. Whatever they do, they will have followers. Un sot trouve toujours un plus sot qui l’admire.”“It is an open secret that the credit of this smart capture belongs entirely to the well-known Scotland Yard officials, Messrs. Lestrade and Gregson. The man was apprehended, it appears, in the rooms of a certain Mr. Sherlock Holmes, who has himself, as an amateur, shown some talent in the detective line and who, with such instructors, may hope in time to attain to some degree of their skills. It is expected that a testimonial of some sort will be presented to the two officers as a fitting recognition of their services.”John Rance, the Constable who found the body of Drebber.“I am afraid, Rance, that you will never rise in the force. That head of yours should be used as well as an ornament. You might have gained your sergeant’s stripes last night. The man whom you held in your hands is the man who holds the clue of this mystery, and whom we are seeking.”— “The blundering fool! — Just to think of his having such an incomparable bit of good luck, and not taking advantage of it.”Harry Murcher, Constable with the Holland Grove beat that Rance talked with the night of Drebber’s murder.Scotland Yard Inspector, “We were ushered into a small chamber, where a police inspector noted down our prisoner’s name and the names of the men with whose murder he had been charged. The official was a white-faced, unemotional man, who went through his duties in a dull, mechanical way.”
Characters:John Stamford, He introduced Watson to Holmes, and had been Watson’s dresser under him at Bart’s. “In old days Stamford had never been a particular crony of mine.”Commissionaire, “A sergeant, Royal Marine Light Infantry, delivered letter to Baker St. from Tobias Gregson asking Holmes to meet him at Lauriston Gardens.”Baker Street irregulars, “It’s the Baker Street division of the detective police force, a half a dozen of the dirtiest and most ragged street Arabs that ever I clapped my eyes on.” — “Tention!” cried Holmes, in a sharp tone, and the six dirty scoundrels stood in a line like so many disreputable statuettes. “In the future you shall send up Wiggins alone to report, and the rest of you must wait in the street.”— “Here are your wages.” He handed each of them a shilling.— “There’s more work to be gotten out of one of those little beggars than out of a dozen of the force,” Holmes remarked. “The mere sight of an official-looking person seals men’s lips. These youngsters, however, go everywhere and hear everything. They are as sharp as needles, too; all they want is organization.”“I therefore organized my street Arab detective corps, and sent them systematically to every cab proprietor in London until they ferreted out the man that I wanted.”Mrs. Sawyer (male friend of Jefferson Hope in disguise) “My friend volunteered to go and see. I think you’ll own he did it smartly.” Came to Baker St to claim the ring from Holmes’ news ad. “A very old and wrinkled woman hobbled into the apartment. She appeared to be dazzled by the sudden blaze of light, and after dropping a curtsey, she stood blinking at us with her bleared eyes and fumbling in her pocket with nervous, shaky fingers.”—“The old woman faced round and looked keenly at him from her little red-rimmed eyes.”
Others Mentioned:Thomas Carlyle. Watson quotes in conversation with Holmes.Mendelssohn, composer, Watson requested Holmes to play his Lieder.The case of Von Bischoff at Frankfort last year. He would certainly have been hanged had this test been in existence.Then there was Mason of Bradford, and the notorious Muller, and Lefevre of Montpellier, Samson of New Orleans.Edgar Allan Poe and his character Dupin, Watson remarked that Dupin reminds him of Holmes.“I found he had many acquaintances, and those in the most different classes of society.