The Naval Treaty – a Sherlock Holmes short story

"The Naval Treaty" is a Sherlock Holmes short story also known as “The Adventure of the Naval Treaty” in The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes collection. According to The Annotated Sherlock Holmes, it was Holmes 24th case chronologically.

This is a case of stolen State Secrets, ruin and shame to their custodian, and grave peril to the British Empire. The government official who has the treaty stolen from under his nose, is an old school chum of Watson’s, who manages to convince his old friend to enlist the services of the World’s Greatest Detective.

 

And all is well.

 

This was a very intriguing case, much better than the last I read, but it still lacked the witty
banter between Holmes and Watson; or Holmes’ deadpan to Watson’s astonishment and oblivion. no quotable excerpts. There were more illustrations than usual, such as the one displayed here, with Holmes to the left, Watson second left, with the victim and his fiancée, all rendered by the preeminent Holmes illustrator Sidney Paget.

 

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, or Dr. Watson if you prefer, did not publish Holmes’ adventures in chronological order. However, The Annotated Sherlock Holmes attempts to put them down in order, based on contextual clues in the stories themselves. This adventure was one that was very revealing to that end, as Watson, identifies it as one of three that “immediately succeeded my marriage…” and he then puts those three in order. It isn’t always this clear, so I’m sure the researchers of this version, appreciated Watson’s details in this instance. 

 

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