Date: June 1891

Detective On the Case: Sherlock Holmes

Details: Serving as the third of Sherlock Holmes' recorded adventures, it follows him and Watson as they aide a King of Bohemia. He had recently been in an affair with American actress Irene Adler, the case being that the latter was in possession of a photo of their affair she threatens to use to ruin the King's arranged marriage. Holmes is tasked with finding this photo, which he does by going undercover to her wedding with a man by the name of Norton and entering her inner circle.

Culprit: As was stated, the culprit in this case was Irene Adler. However, what is interesting is how the case is resolved, not with violence or some dark scheme nearly coming to fruition, but with a clever trick. Holmes does so by faking a fire and tricking Adler into revealing where the photo was. Despite this, Adler is revealed to have retreated to America with her husband the next day, yet had left a letter promising not to ruin the King, out of respect.

Analysis: One major takeaway from this encounter is what it says of the aristocracy and their penchant for having hidden affairs threaten their reputation. As it turns out, hidden affairs were a commonality in British high society and a pressing issue under the eyes of the law (Dismore 2022). As for another takeaway, we learn that many of the crooks in these cases were not just monsters, motivated purely by greed, or even simplistic individuals. Some of them, as shown with Mrs. Adler, had much more reasonable motivations such as simply wanting to escape with another man. Along with that, sometimes crimes don't need to end in blood or arrests, but the two parties can acknowledge each other's cleverness and go on their separate ways. Even after this entire conundrum, the King still maintains his own respect for her:

"What a woman—oh, what a woman!" cried the King of Bohemia, when [they] had all three read this epistle. "Did I not tell you how quick and resolute she was? Would she not have made an admirable queen? Is it not a pity that she was not on my level?" (Doyle 1891)

Additional News on the Case Here:

https://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/32/the-adventures-of-sherlock-holmes/345/adventure-1-a-scandal-in-bohemia/

Date: July 1892

Detective On the Case: Dick Donovan

The Case: In this case, as the title may suggest, a Jeweled Skull had been stolen. Colonel Maurice Odell was the one to go to Donovan's office and request his aide. The skull in question was a priceless Indian relic from the ancestor of the Rajah of Mooltan, and stolen. It was stolen in a mysterious manner with no signs of having been broken into and the chamber itself was only accessible with a single key. In order to hide from any potential suspects, Donovan went under the guise of a visiting reverend. The suspects in this case had been Odell's servants who he described as being "trust itself", and his estranged son, Ronald. After searching the premises for a possible hidden passageway, Donovan eventually followed Ronald to a club the latter frequented.

Resolution: Eventually, Donovan traced Ronald down to a hidden club beside a graveyard where him and a dozen others had engaged in drug-fueled benders below the public eye. Unfortunately, Ronald himself was found dead not long afterwards from an apparent overdose, with Donovan suspecting he took his own life to avoid the humiliation. 

Analysis: What we can learn from this as future criminal investigators is how the intense fascination with the exotic had driven many of the people of Britain mad. Instead of valuing India for its people and culture, they valued the nation only for its physical goods and resources. In addition, they had alienated these cultures so much that Donovan suspected the son would rather take his own life rather than be associated with them. Even worse, the boy's father was relatively relieved at the retrieval of the twelve thousand pound cup even after hearing of his son's death, further showing the dangers of materialism. The motto of the society Donovan found encapsulates their zealous philosophy:

"To dream is to live! Dream on, for to awake is to die!" (Donovan 1894)

Additional News from the Case Here: (Pg. 70)

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015056049276&view=1up&seq=7

Date: July 1893

Detective On the Case: Loveday Brooke

The Case: In this case, a young woman by the name of Lucie Cunier had disappeared, with her portrait vanishing as well, hindering the search. She was the assistant to the mother of a Major in the British Army, Mrs. Druce. The Major's suspicions lie with the individuals from the Turkish Bank, the Cassimis. The first part of Detective Brooke's investigation led to her laying low during one of the major's gatherings to listen in on possible suspects. At the party she meets Lady Gwynne and Dullah-Veih, a Turkish Princess. 

Resolution: After looking through the missing woman's chamber, she leads the Major to a church Cunier frequented only to find her right in the middle of her marriage to a man named Pierre Lebrun. As it turns out, this was a conspiracy from Gwynne, Mrs. Druce, and Madame Celine in order to escape the rivalry of the Major and Mr. Cassimi. Along with that, Cassimi might have been plotting to murder the Major to get him out of the way. Loveday's final ploy was to have the Major announce her status and trigger whoever the foe was to raise their guard. While Casimmi was actually nonchalant, Lady Gwynnne and the major's mother grew nervous. 

Analysis: As one can tell from this case file, intrigue was about not only within London but across the economy of the British Empire. There were those willing to backstab their own family, tear apart marriages, and conspire out of spite. However, as was shown through Loveday's analysis, she was very quick to turn these secret plots on their heads by drawing her bluff and quickly forcing these actors into unveiling their schemes. At the end, the Major was able to save Lucie, and he concludes with this thought of the scheme he escaped:

"I shall be glad, if you have the opportunity, if you will make people understand that I only moved in the matter at all out of–of mere kindness to a young and friendless foreigner." (Pirkis 1893)

Additional News from the Case Here:

https://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/pirkis/brooke/brooke.html

Date: Early 1891

Detective On the Case: Jerry Stokes

The Case: In this case, the victim was the woman Mrs. Ogilvy, who had been found killed via rat poison. Even more dire, her own husband was the prime suspect, a fact that Stokes had called into question thoroughly on his own instinct. 

Culprit: Despite the eagerness of the courts, the jurors, and even their medical practitioner in asserting that it was her spouse that took her life, all were mistaken. It was only through Stokes bargaining with the courts himself that he was able to delay Mr. Ogilvy's execution for just long enough to truly solve the case. It was a letter written by Stokes to the court demanding mercy for the man that led to the true poisoner, Dr. Wade, to step forward out of sheer guilt.

Analysis: What cases such as this one show are simply how easily corrupted the institution of capital punishment can be. Here, we saw how an innocent man was a mere half-hour away from the rope. This work is also reflective of a rising objection from political scientists and the general populace towards the idea of capital punishment, who brought up the question of the prisoner's rights (Bridges 2022). Stokes himself would see this as a stark example of the injustice of this practice as and it was his words that capture this case the best:

"If the law can string up an innocent man like this, and no appeal, except for the exertions of the public executioner, why, I've begun to doubt the expediency, so to speak, of capital punishment." (Allen 1891)

Additional News from the Case Here: (Pg. 299)

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015010465485&view=1up&seq=7 

Date: June 1894

Detective On the Case: Martin Hewitt

The Case: This case began when Detective Hewitt was approached by Vernon Lloyd, servant of Sir James Norris, who reported on stolen Jewelry from his estate of Lenton Croft. Upon arriving at the area he learn that the military Colonel Heath and his wife were victims of the robbery last year, the true mystery coming from how swiftly the jewels were stolen without a trace of force being used. The next figure involved was from a woman named Mrs. Armitage, and the third the sister-in-law of Sir James himself. 

Culprit: After examining the premises to find an unnaturally quiet parrot, a match in the place of the stolen jewel, one of the windows that left few witnesses as well as examining several other rooms, Hewitt deduced the culprit as none other than Lloyd himself. As they learn, Lloyd had meticulously trained the parrot to be a thief and steal the items without suspicion. This had explained why some other gems were left behind despite their greater value.

Analysis: This case shows us simply how crafty many of these criminals were willing to be in conducting their thefts. Any tool, any red herring, and any means of entering would eventually be discovered by these thieves. While it may seem like a bizarre tactic to a modern detective or even the average officer in Hewitt's day, parrots possessing these skills were in truth far from uncommon with proper training (Matthews 2015). Along with that, it subsequently shows, through the cleverness of Hewitt, how important it ts to have an eye for detail and a wide range of knowledge. Perhaps this summation from the sleuth captures this:

"That the whole scheme was strange mattered not at all. Robberies presenting such unaccountable features must have been effected by strange means of one sort or another. There was no improbability. " (Morrison 1894)

Additional News on the Case Here:

https://www.worlds-best-detective-crime-and-murder-mystery-books.com/hewittlentoncroft.html