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sherlock60This week we are reading The Adventure of Black Peter. It carries the themes of high seas mysteries and harmed innocent families.
Our story opens with Watson teasing the reader with many tales which he cannot divulge without betraying secrets of high society, but we are assured that Holmes has hit his stride in his career and has no shortage of interesting cases which also give him plenty of time to devote to furthering his field.
One such is that of Black Peter -- Holmes has not yet been called upon to solve the case, but the method of the murder (a harpoon) has intrigued him enough that he has spent the last week since the announcement of the inquest deducing how the murder was done. Hopkins we see here is still in training, but eagerly looks to Holmes for help and accepts it even when Holmes is critical of him.
Two important clues stand out: a book and a tobacco pouch. The pouch is assumed to belong to the dead man, Black Peter, as it bears his initials, but no pipe was found and we are told he smoked little. The book writes out information for the stock exchange, but Holmes believes it has little to do with the murder.
An evening at the hut Black Peter slept in shows that someone has been trying to gain entrance to it and they catch the man who owned the book -- his father had left ten years ago to return with some securities that had been stolen by his partner to restore his family's name and give back to creditors; he never returned. The young man had gone to see Black Peter to determine what had become of his father, assuming that Black Peter was aboard the ship that had rescued his father's small boat. Hopkins assumes that this is the murderer and arrests him, but as Holmes points out, the man does not have the strength to have struck another with a harpoon. He is nevertheless arrested and Watson and Holmes return to Baker Street.
Holmes of course has been doing his own inquiries and laying trails for the murderer. A quick look into those who had served under Black Peter show that only three shared his initials and only one of them was in London. A quick trap laid out and they catch another old sailor. One who did serve under Black Peter and had the strength to kill a man with a harpoon. He remembered when the man had been brought on the boat, but more had also seen Black Peter murder him for the securities. The sailor had wanted to try a bit of blackmail to get some money to retire on, but when Black Peter had realized his intent, he tried to murder him in turn. Harpoon met old sailor.
This was a case that I'm sure was beloved -- no pirates, but it does involve adventure on the high seas. It does carry a whiff of shocking intrigue that I believe the Victorians loved. We have however two families tied up in this who have been harmed. The first of course being Black Peter's family (and I contrast this with an earlier tale where a man who beat his wife was not the subject of such intense scrutiny) and then the young man who was only looking to find the securities to at least restore some honor to family. I hope that both of them found peace after this.
Thoughts?
Our story opens with Watson teasing the reader with many tales which he cannot divulge without betraying secrets of high society, but we are assured that Holmes has hit his stride in his career and has no shortage of interesting cases which also give him plenty of time to devote to furthering his field.
One such is that of Black Peter -- Holmes has not yet been called upon to solve the case, but the method of the murder (a harpoon) has intrigued him enough that he has spent the last week since the announcement of the inquest deducing how the murder was done. Hopkins we see here is still in training, but eagerly looks to Holmes for help and accepts it even when Holmes is critical of him.
Two important clues stand out: a book and a tobacco pouch. The pouch is assumed to belong to the dead man, Black Peter, as it bears his initials, but no pipe was found and we are told he smoked little. The book writes out information for the stock exchange, but Holmes believes it has little to do with the murder.
An evening at the hut Black Peter slept in shows that someone has been trying to gain entrance to it and they catch the man who owned the book -- his father had left ten years ago to return with some securities that had been stolen by his partner to restore his family's name and give back to creditors; he never returned. The young man had gone to see Black Peter to determine what had become of his father, assuming that Black Peter was aboard the ship that had rescued his father's small boat. Hopkins assumes that this is the murderer and arrests him, but as Holmes points out, the man does not have the strength to have struck another with a harpoon. He is nevertheless arrested and Watson and Holmes return to Baker Street.
Holmes of course has been doing his own inquiries and laying trails for the murderer. A quick look into those who had served under Black Peter show that only three shared his initials and only one of them was in London. A quick trap laid out and they catch another old sailor. One who did serve under Black Peter and had the strength to kill a man with a harpoon. He remembered when the man had been brought on the boat, but more had also seen Black Peter murder him for the securities. The sailor had wanted to try a bit of blackmail to get some money to retire on, but when Black Peter had realized his intent, he tried to murder him in turn. Harpoon met old sailor.
This was a case that I'm sure was beloved -- no pirates, but it does involve adventure on the high seas. It does carry a whiff of shocking intrigue that I believe the Victorians loved. We have however two families tied up in this who have been harmed. The first of course being Black Peter's family (and I contrast this with an earlier tale where a man who beat his wife was not the subject of such intense scrutiny) and then the young man who was only looking to find the securities to at least restore some honor to family. I hope that both of them found peace after this.
Thoughts?
