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
3. The Adventure of the Abbey Grange (September 1904, Return)
“The game is afoot.” With these words that have echoed for a century, and with the less-often repeated descriptions preceding it, i.e.: “It was a bitterly cold and frosty morning” and “The candle in his hand shone on his eager, stooping face” one of the greatest stories in the Holmes canon begins. The Adventure of the Abbey Grange is most notable, of course, for Holmes’ having to return to the scene of the crime, by his climbing on to the fireplace mantel to examine the bellrope, by his vexation over the beeswax in the wine glasses, and, finally, by his and Watson’s ad hoc trial of Captain Croker. Yet Abbey Grange is also notable for its little details: the blackthorn cudgel that Sir Eustace carries, the ingenuity of the story so quickly concocted by Croker and the maid, and for the clever trick of throwing the silver into the icy pond where the swan resides. Finally, the story is remarkable for its appropriate administration of justice: sure, swift, and popular: vox populi, vox Dei.
Sir Eustace Brackenstall is a hound, and though he has not traditionally been catalogued as a villain like Moriarty or Colonel Sebastian Moran, he is as bad as they are. This is a man who drenches a dog in petroleum and sets it on fire; this is a man who beats his wife, calls her names, and stabs her with hat pins; this is a man who throws decanters at the maid. This is the sort of man, with his title and his wealth, who was protected by contemporary British law and culture more than anyone save a peer of the realm or the Archbishop of Canterbury. Sir Eustace could act with impunity, and he did, abusing his household and his station. With this context firmly in mind, Holmes waits outside Scotland Yard with his brows furrowed, thinking the situation carefully over, before deciding that he wants more information before prosecuting Croker. Therefore, Holmes meets with Captain Croker, and he asks the captain to tell his story. Holmes tests Croker, finds his character rings true to the standards of good morality, and then sets him free. As to Croker’s conduct, I feel the same about it as Squire Trelawny, of Treasure Island, felt when he spoke to Mr. Dance about the death of the pirate, Pew: “And as for riding down that black, atrocious miscreant, I regard it as an act of virtue, sir, like stamping on a cockroach.” Good riddance to a bad egg.
The story reaches, perhaps, its pinnacle when Holmes steps off the train for Chiselhurst and pulls Watson after him. Holmes says that the case feels wrong, all wrong, and that he cannot bear to leave it in the condition that it’s in. He says that he fears that the British jury have not yet reached the “pitch of intelligence” necessary to side with his theories over Lestrade’s facts. He says that, if only he had examined the case de novo, without being influenced by the lady’s story, then he would have never come to the conclusion that the lady’s story was true. And, after a scintillating investigation, Holmes returns to Lady Brackenstall with one of his most dramatic pronouncements, “No, no, Lady Brackenstall, it is no use. You may have heard of any little reputation which I possess. I will stake it all on the fact that your story is an absolute fabrication.” The maid calls Holmes “impudent,” surely out of line for her station, and Holmes does not deign to answer her, for he knows that the truth is on his side. When the lady of the house still refuses to be forthcoming, Holmes takes matters into his own hands, visits the shipping office, and sends for Croker.
Thus between lowborn sailors and highborn blackguards, quick deception and careful illumination, swift retribution and extrajudicial justice, exhilarating exposition and invigorating dialogue, The Adventure of the Abbey Grange nestles down, like slowly sinking bees-wing, in the top tier of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Holmes stories.
