The Greek interpreter

Here comes Mycroft at least!

On a quiet day, while chatting about heredity, an astonished Watson learns that Sherlock does have a brother! Having never heard of a family, he had pictured him alone and orphan... Without any further delay, Sherlock takes him to the very discreet Diogene's club.

There he meets a big man, in all meanings of the word. Mycroft sometimes submits a mystery to his brother. Although its deduction power is higher -according to Sherlock's own opinion-, he dislikes investigating outside his quiet room. That's why he may transfer a case to his brother. And actually, there is one today:

Mr Mela, a Greek interpreter, was kidnapped and brought to an unknown location, where he was asked to talk to a Greek prisoner. He was then released, under a threat of dead if he dared to talk to anyone. But the brave man did talk. To the police, first, who didn't take him seriously. And then to his neighbour, Mycroft.

  source : see below

Better forget some weaknesses of the story... Although even more a sociopath than his brother, Mycroft talks to his neighbour and knows him rather well. And how comes he has a neighbour who is not a rich man? Believe it or not, that is precisely this neighbour whose skills are useful to some bad guys. Ok, why not;
Besides, all comes from a naive maid, easily seduced. Not totally stupid though: thanks to her female intuition (says Doyle), she is able to recognize her brother's face despite some plasters. Impressive! Doyle's perception of female intelligence is never astonishing, even with Irene Adler.

Let's forget! Here comes Mycroft at least. Mycroft and his beloved Diogene's club, which he co-founded. Another Holmes, as brilliant as Sherlock, but not so active. A bit lazy, maybe. Or so he pretends to be. Not so much is said about him, but the reader may perceive there will be much more to find out.

source : Portraits of British ladies, 1880, on this page