Holmes wasn't famous from the start. After having decided to become a private detective -thanks to the unfortunate Mr Trevor, he experimented long period without any case to solve. But there came a former knowledge from the College, Reginald Musgrave, a noble name from an ancient aristocratic family. Two members of his staff disappeared, without any motive or hint of an explanation.
Brunton, the Butler, has served the family for twenty years. He would be perfect but for a small weakness: he is a Don Juan. Recently he had an affair with Rachel Howells, a maid, before leaving her for a younger one.
All this could be managed. However, on a sleepless night, Mr Musgrave surprised Brunton searching through family belongings. Very upset, he granted him one week to leave, being free to find a pretext of his choice.
The day after, the butler disappeared. His belongings were still in his room. Miss Howells was seen having crises of distress, then also disappeared. All attempts to find one of them failed.
Sherlock ask to see the paper Brunton was reading. It's an ancient ritual that each son of the family learns when he comes to man's age. A sort of poesy, maybe...
source: see below
Here we have one of the first cases of a young detective.
He isn't yet fully confident in his deductions. He isn't arrogant yet. But some features of his methods are already present:
- He checks every fact by himself, ask to see any element.
- He place himself in the mind of the potential crook.
- He leads the search himself, and obviously enjoy it.
And maybe the most important:
- Better than anyone, he is able to make connections between details, to draw a pattern and jump to the right conclusion.
Epic and romantic, the Musgrave ritual dives into British History. It ends with the recovery of a national treasure.
Source: Portrait of Charles as Prince of Wales after Daniel Mytens, c. 1623, Wikipedia
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