The Sign of the Four (2)

Sherlockian Way of Thinking

Case Overview

A Mysterious Client at Baker Street

It is 1888, and a fog drifts lazily over Baker Street. At 221B, Holmes and Watson are interrupted by the arrival of a young woman, nervous yet dignified—Mary Morstan. She explains that her father, Captain Arthur Morstan, vanished without a trace ten years earlier. For six years now, a single lustrous pearl has arrived for her each year, delivered by an anonymous hand. Most recently, a letter—cryptic and unsigned—has summoned her to a meeting.

Holmes and Watson are interrupted by arrival of a young woman, nervous yet dignified—Mary Morstan.

“I did not dare to go alone,” she confesses, her voice tinged with apprehension. And so she turns to Holmes, whose eyes gleam with interest.

Holmes, examining the letter, notes its peculiar phrasing and handwriting. “There is more here than sentiment,” he remarks coolly. “This invitation may conceal darker motives.” He agrees to accompany her. Thus begins a pursuit that will lead from the drawing rooms of London to the swirling currents of the Thames.

The Hidden Treasure

Their journey introduces them to Thaddeus Sholto, the eccentric son of Major John Sholto. In his cluttered chambers, filled with curiosities from the East, Thaddeus pours out the family’s secret. His father, he reveals, had once served with Captain Morstan in India and had come into possession of a vast fortune—the Agra treasure. Yet Major Sholto died suddenly, the secret of the treasure choking in his throat, leaving only guilt and fear behind.

As a gesture of penance, Thaddeus had been sending Mary the pearls. Now, his brother Bartholomew has uncovered the hoard. “You must come with me,” Thaddeus urges Mary, “to claim what is rightfully yours.”

A Locked Room and the Sign of Four

Bartholomew is found dead in his laboratory. his face frozen in a grotesque rictus of pain.

But when they arrive at Bartholomew’s house in Norwood, the promise of fortune turns to horror. Bartholomew is found dead in his laboratory, his face frozen in a grotesque rictus of pain, no wound upon him, the room locked from within.

Holmes kneels beside the body, inhaling faintly. “A poisoned dart,” he pronounces, “fired by a blowpipe.” On the table lies a scrap of paper bearing a chilling message: “The Sign of Four.” This, Holmes realizes, is no random crime, but a vendetta rooted in long-forgotten wrongs.

Pursuit on the Thames

Holmes sets London itself to work. The Baker Street Irregulars—those sharp-eyed street urchins who serve as his invisible scouts—comb the docks and wharves. Their efforts bear fruit: Jonathan Small, a man with a wooden leg, aided by a native accomplice from the Andaman Islands named Tonga, has fled with the treasure.

The climax unfolds in a furious boat chase down the Thames, lantern light flashing upon black water. Holmes, Watson, and Inspector Athelney Jones give pursuit. Tonga, armed with his poisoned darts, is shot and killed; Small is taken alive.

But the Agra treasure, the glittering prize at the heart of the story, is gone—flung into the river by Small himself.

The Hidden Truths

The Agra treasure, promised to him and his three confederates, was stolen by Major Sholto.

Under questioning, Small recounts his tale with grim satisfaction. Once a soldier in India, he had been imprisoned for murder during the chaos of the Sepoy Rebellion. The Agra treasure, promised to him and his three confederates, was stolen by Major Sholto. For years, Small nurtured his hatred, vowing that Sholto’s family would never enjoy what had been denied him.

“Justice or vengeance,” Small declares, “call it what you will—I have had my share.”

Loss and Love

Though the treasure is lost forever in the Thames, the story does not end in despair. For Watson, the disappearance of that wealth is strangely liberating. No longer does he feel that Mary Morstan’s inheritance will stand as a barrier between them. In the quiet aftermath, he proposes—and Mary, with relief and affection, accepts.

Holmes, observing their joy with a faint smile, remains the detached logician. “The romance is yours, Watson,” he remarks dryly. “My business is with the facts.”

Thus, The Sign of Four closes not with the triumph of fortune, but with something more enduring: the triumph of human choice, love, and loyalty—even amidst the shadows of imperial greed and betrayal.