The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

The story opens with Watson and his wife having breakfast when they are interrupted by a telegram sent by Holmes. The detective is about to leave for Boscombe Valley as he has been hired to exonerate a young man accused of patricide. Holmes is requesting Watson’s assistance in the case.

Watson’s wife encourages him to agree to the invitation and he is soon packed and ready for an adventure. While the two men are on the train, Holmes explains the situation to his friend. A wealthy landowner, John Turner, who made his money in Australia, has provided a farm, free of charge, to another man from Australia, Charles McCarthy. Both are widowers and McCarthy has a son, James, while Turner has a daughter, Alice. One day while in the forest, McCarthy and his son fight. Sometime later, the young man comes running out of the trees covered in blood seeking help. When people follow, they find McCarthy’s dead body. The police conclude that the young man killed his father. Turner’s daughter, however, who is in love with James, is convinced of his innocence and appeals to Holmes for help.

The two friends are met at the train station by detective Lestrade of Scotland yard, “a lean, ferret-like man, furtive and sly-looking” (73). The policeman is convinced of the young man’s guilt and scoffs at Holmes’s suggestion that there is another criminal at large. After talking to James in person, the detective concludes that the young man is innocent as he was visiting his secret wife, a tavern server. The argument stemmed from the father’s desire for James to marry Alice and the young man’s knowledge that his previous marriage precludes him from doing so, even if he is in love with Alice.

Afterward, Holmes carefully examines the crime scene. He invites Turner to the hotel and confronts him with the truth. Holmes deduced that the landowner is the murderer. It turns out that while in Australia, Turner used to be a thief who made his wealth robbing a gold convoy and killing everyone, except the coachman, McCarthy. Turner returns to England and establishes himself as a respected landowner with his ill-gotten money. However, years later, McCarthy sees and recognizes Turner and begins blackmailing him. Alice would be devastated to learn of her father’s past, so he concedes to all demands until the day McCarthy demands his son marry Alice. While trying to resolve the issue during a meeting in the forest, Turner kills McCarthy in a fit of rage. The detective decides not to inform the police as Turner is terminally ill. The landowner writes a signed confession to be used as a last resort. However, with Holmes’s help, James is cleared without the truth coming to light, and the two young people decide to get married.