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
36. The Adventure of the Stock-Broker’s Clerk (March 1893, Memoirs)
They say that when it rains, it pours, and this maxim applies not only to salt but to Mr. Hall Pycroft, the down-on-his-luck clerk who, after glimpsing a ray of professional hope, finds his name besmirched, his clerkship taken by a criminal, and his prospects muddied in The Adventure of the Stock-Broker’s Clerk. As in The Red-Headed League, Holmes’ client is kept from his workplace while completing a mundane task, although, in The Clerk’s case, Mr. Pycroft is clever enough to begin to peer through the veil of deception to determine that something’s seriously awry. Since it is the distinctive gold tooth that ultimately gives the brothers away, one wonders why the two brothers (who are the villains in this mystery) did not, in fact, appear separately to Mr. Pycroft. If the first brother were to “hire” Pycroft, then the second could appear in Birmingham, ostensibly as the office manager, while the first went ahead to Pycroft’s new station at Mawson’s. One also wonders how, exactly, the two brothers learned of Pycroft’s appointment, but there could be a ready explanation for this that is simply never provided by Doyle. One of the criminal brothers might, for example, have a friend within Mawson’s who apprised the criminals, unwittingly or otherwise, of Pycroft’s hiring.
These little peccadillos notwithstanding, the story remains enjoyable, even if its solution is mostly foreseeable. There is nothing foreseeable, however, about the attempted suicide at the tail end of the story; the Beddington brother who has escaped the clutches of the police excuses himself into the next room, and he makes the grave decision to hang himself. With his feet kicking on the walls, and the rubber of his noose digging into his neck, Holmes, Watson, and Pycroft are only just in time to save him, even if they are only saving him for the hangman’s noose.
The case is one of those that Holmes solves instantly, and, in fact, he and Watson spend only moments in Birmingham before springing into action. Holmes, we may gather, has solved the case either nearly or completely while upon the train, and he is only missing the details that the newspaper article, which tells of Beddington’s brother’s capture, supplies. As regards this solidly written tale, readers can hope for better days for come for Mr. Hall Pycroft whose hopes were dashed by the misfortune visited upon him in The Adventure of the Stock-Broker’s Clerk.
