I’ll be uploading rankings of Sherlock Holmes stories from my new book, Wherever Fact May Lead Me: A Ranking of the Sherlock Holmes Stories, every day till we reach the best story. After that, I’ll share my ranking of the best villains in the Holmes canon. You can find the rankings on my website, and you can buy a copy of the book on Amazon.
Ranking the Sherlock Holmes Stories
51. The Adventure of the Veiled Lodger (February 1927, Case-Book)
A story in the Holmes canon that is unique only in that Holmes does nothing in the way to solve it. Holmes does no theorizing, nor any detective work, so he cannot be held accountable for interpreting, correctly or not, the answer to the riddle of how the circus master’s death came to pass, or how the circus master’s wife was so grievously injured. Watson hazards a guess (a reasonable one), and then they apply to the lady herself for the matter’s elucidation. She explains everything, and the rather unlively story comes to a end. Holmes’ contribution is that he dissuades the poor sufferer from committing suicide with prussic acid, and thus he saves another life.
Perhaps the most noteworthy aspect of The Veiled Lodger is in the particulars of its opening statements: Conan Doyle reaffirms his commitment to confidentiality. Here we can see how the medical life of Conan Doyle communes with his literary life. The Hippocratic Oath—a cardinal rule, an almost sacred law amongst ethical physicians—was in place during Victorian times, and Holmes’ and Watson’s adherence to it is admirable. They promise strict confidentiality to their clients, as doctors ought, and this promise is not breached when prised upon even by statesmen, whose influence perhaps carried greater weight in stratified Victorian society than it does in modern times. Only, Watson and Holmes assure us, when affected parties are lost to the grave (and their relatives lie free from possible injury), or when clients’ consent is given, may secretive and potentially damaging affairs be made public. At the beginning of The Veiled Lodger, Watson writes to those parties who are writing “agonized letters.” Watson declares that “no confidence will be abused” and that these parties “have nothing to fear.” Indeed, he is quite sincere in this pledge, and Doyle’s stories are, subtly but markedly, much better for it.
