By Stephen Lee with Josh Lee
The Sign of Four is the second Sherlock Holmes novel, and it involves two murders (maybe more), corrupt soldiers, revenge, a chase, and a love story. To fully understand it, we have to go back to the origin of the crime: the robbery of the Agra treasure.
• Jonathan Small was a soldier in India during the Sepoy Mutiny, which occurred in India in 1857 and 1858.
• Small was forced to participate in the robbery by three Sikhs, and they made an oath to share the treasure, which is the “sign of the four” mentioned in the title.
• They were caught and Small was imprisoned on the Andaman Islands.
• Small made a deal with Arthur Morstan and John Sholto that they would get a fifth share if they aided in the four’s escape.
• However, Sholto double-crossed them and returned to England with the treasure.
• Morstan went to England to sort things out, but because of his weak health, had a heart attack and died, at least according to Sholto.
• Small vowed revenge on Sholto and escaped four years later with an islander named Tonga. This news shocked Sholto and caused him to become fatally ill.
• On his deathbed, Sholto told his sons about the treasure, but before he could divulge the location, Small appeared and Sholto died.
• When Bartholomew Sholto found the treasure, Small and Tonga went to Pondicherry Lodge to steal it. Tonga killed Bartholomew in the process.
Sherlock Holmes gets involved indirectly. He is called upon by Mary Morstan, who received a mysterious message from Sholton’s son Thaddeus. He then discovers that Thaddeus’s brother Bartholomew has been killed, quickly deduces that the crime was committed at least in part by Jonathan Small, and helps clear Thaddeus’s name by catching Small.
Sherlock Holmes may be able to keep track of all this in his mind without taking notes, but I could not! We get very detailed accounts from three different witnesses, including one witness who recounts what another witness said. Some details do not fit together, and some of the witnesses are probably not telling the complete truth.
When I investigate real-life crimes, I often make chronological tables that track events by the person who did or observed them. These sometimes help me determine how a crime develops, what witnesses are important, and what actually happened. I thought one might be helpful in explaining the events of the Sign of Four, where Holmes and we learn what happened through three different perspectives.
Here is the story from the perspectives of Mary Morstan, Major John Sholto (and his sons), and Jonathan Small, all before Sherlock Holmes gets involved.
This helps us determine what events must be true, particularly the ones that can be corroborated by outside evidence. Morstan’s disappearance and Sholto’s death are facts that were reported in newspapers (according to Watson and Holmes) and are probably credible.
Small’s account of Sholto’s death matches up with Thaddeus’s, so those accounts are probably true.
Of course, there is one huge claim by a witness that has no corroboration within the story and that suggests that another crime may have occurred. We’ll discuss that next time.
Study in Sherlock: A Holmes Re-Read 