 The Blue Carbuncle
PETERSON, a hotel commissionaire, witnesses a street fight in which an
innocent bystander is forced to run, leaving his hat and his Christmas
goose behind. He brings the hat to Holmes, hoping that he can find the
rightful owner. Meanwhile, he decides to cook and eat the goose as otherwise
it will become rotten. As Holmes is making his deductions, Peterson rushes
in - his wife has found the Duchess of Morcar’s blue carbuncle,
a valuable stolen gem, inside the goose. Holmes advertises the hat and
goose in the paper, as lost, and MR HENRY BAKER, the hat’s owner,
arrives. He is upset when Holmes tells him that the goose is eaten, but
as he is satisfied with the replacement goose, he is obviously not the
criminal. He tells Holmes that he bought the goose through a club. Holmes
tracks down the salesman, and manages to get the name of the breeder from
him, but then encounters JAMES RYDER, who is also enquiring about the
geese. Holmes realises that he is the thief. He confesses and explains
himself and how the stone got into the goose. He had stolen the gem, and
taken it to his sister’s house. She kept geese, and he decided to
conceal the stone in one in case he was stopped and searched. However,
he picked up the wrong goose and when he went back the other geese had
been sold. Realising that the man is not dangerous and that the stone
has been recovered, Holmes lets him go with a stern warning. |
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