"The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge” is a Sherlock Holmes short story from The Sherlock Holmes collection His Last Bow. According to The Annotated Sherlock Holmes, it was Holmes’ 28th case chronologically.
A respectable British gentleman, Mr. Eccles, employs Holmes to discover the meaning of an unusual encounter. Eccles was visiting the home of a new acquaintance and as arranged in advance spent the night. In the morning the house was abandoned without a trace by the master and all servants. Shortly after Eccles begins to recount the evening, the police arrive to question him. His acquaintance was found dead that morning and a note on the deceased revealed the previous evening’s plans, leading them to Holmes’ client.
From there, the police follow one theory, while Holmes follows his own. In spite of this divergence, Holmes notes, with rare admiration, the powers of observation of Inspector Baynes, a new Holmes character.
And for once, the police are not utterly inept. Baynes is surreptitiously on the same scent as Holmes, but uses a false public investigation as misdirection to lull the real culprit into a false sense of security.
And the game is afoot.
Dr. Watson is not very enthusiastic about the case.
But there was something in the ice-cold reasoning of Holmes which made it impossible to shrink from any adventure which he might recommend. One knew that thus, and only thus, could a solution be found. I clasped his hand in silence, and the die was cast.
And for those of you counting, that makes two allusions to Shakespeare!
It is a fun adventure with creepy specters, bizarre clues, and still more misdirection. And as I’ve hinted, a very rare occurrence in the Sherlock Holmes canon: a police detective very nearly the equal of the great Sherlock Holmes.
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