The Cardboard Box - a Sherlock Holmes short story

"The Cardboard Box" is a Sherlock Holmes short story also known as “The Adventure of the Cardboard Box” in The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes collection. According to The Annotated Sherlock Holmes, it was Holmes 25th case chronologically.

 

The last several cases I read were a bit weak in demonstrating Holmes’ extraordinary powers of observation and deduction. The Cardboard Box was more on par. It is a rather grisly case, as Dr. Watson hints at in the opening paragraph.

 

It’s a double murder, with human remains sent via post, to an unassuming spinster. Through inspections of the remains, and observation of the recipient, Holmes is able to deduce the motive, means, and identity of the culprit.

 

However, my favorite part of this adventure, was a superb reference to the writings of Edgar Allan Poe. I nearly stood and cheered. You may have heard that Poe invented the detective story. You may have read on this blog, that Sherlock Holmes, is modeled after Poe’s detective C. Auguste Dupin. Apart from Dupin being French, and Holmes English, the similarities are obvious to any reader. Dupin and Holmes both observe seemingly insignificant details and make logical inferences to the amazement of their friends and foes. Both have a straight man: an unnamed narrator for Dupin; Dr. Watson, of course, for Holmes.

 

And although Dupin is clearly the archetype detective, I was not aware that Arthur Conan Doyle ever acknowledged such…until I read “The Cardboard Box”. In the beginning of the story Sherlock and Dr. Watson are found relaxing, smoking, reading in Holmes’ flat, as they so often are, when suddenly and with no apparent prompt, Holmes vocally concurs with Watson’s private thoughts of the moment. Watson is amazed and Holmes uses the occasion to remind Watson how they had disagreed over the plausibility of Poe’s detective (Doyle names Poe, but not Dupin), and his ability to seemingly read thoughts by observing slight outward expressions and mannerisms – a method demonstrated by Dupin in Poe’s stories. Holmes proves to Watson, that Poe’s fictional detective is not so inconceivable as Watson had apparently argued.

 

Bravo Sir Arthur!

 

I believe this was a brilliant subtle homage to Poe.

 

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