Poor Mrs Whitney, an old friend from Mary, is despaired: her husband, addicted to opium, disappeared for several days. Watson promises to help and leaves to fetch the guy. But in the lair where he knows he will find him, the doctor has the surprise to meet Sherlock Holmes!
Playing his game under a disguise, the detective is enquiring about a man who was last seen here, Mr Neville St Clair. His wife cannot explain what happened to that quiet man, good husband and father.
As she was coming back from an errand, she saw him at a window of a house he had no reason at all to visit; he gestured toward her, obviously under violent emotion, and then disappeared. Mrs St Clair called policemen. The house was searched, and Mr St Clair's clothes were found, stained with some drops of blood. A lascar and a cripple were both presents in the house, but no evidence could be found against them.
Clearly not one of the best stories... The plot is not really subtle (another story of double life and disguise, again). The idea that a beggar could become a rich man with the money collected in the street is simply ridiculous, even for XIXst century. With our modern point of view, it appears offensive and indecent.
The introduction (Watson as a bright knight and Holmes feigning to be an addict) is the best part. It has been brilliantly used as an introduction to 33 HLV.
The introduction (Watson as a bright knight and Holmes feigning to be an addict) is the best part. It has been brilliantly used as an introduction to 33 HLV.
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