England’s Gratitude to Evans
Killer Evans in The Adventure of The Three Garridebs believes that he did the whole of England a favour by murdering Prescott, a very proficient counterfeiter. He believes that the court had been harsh in sentencing him for five years while they should have given him a medal for eradicating a counterfeiter who could have destroyed the economy of England. What’s ironical that a lot of people from intelligence departments, like the CID, who should have actually disapproved the murder of a human being agreed with him and would have awarded him the medal but the court sentenced him again.
Suspicious Paint Fumes
Josh Amberley, in The Adventure of The Retired Colourman, murdered his wife and her lover by suffocating them with gas in an enclosed room and hid their bodies. To hide the proof of his deed he starts painting the exact room, so that the fumes from the paint would mask the fumes of the gas and no one would suspect of him doing anything. However, it is from the paint that Holmes could surmise that something was suspicious about this man. Holmes had initially believed this man as he felt strong hatred for his wife and depicted that in his words which Holmes took as truth. But, he finds it strange that a man whose wife eloped with another man and left him penniless would paint his house and this is what leads him to truth.
Godfrey's Seclusion
Godfrey Emsworth in The Adventure of The Blanched Soldier, unknowingly, had spent a night in leper hospital when he was wounded and on a mission. He starts having symptoms on his return to London and dreading society ousting him and his family, starts living in seclusion. Out of the same concern, he is unable to go to different doctors and get a second opinion. However, Holmes brings a specialist when he visits Godfrey who pronounces that Godfrey has a different skin infection which is neither contagious or life-threatening. Thus, ironically, its Godfrey’s fear of being pushed out of society that stops him from looking for the right treatment.
Eugenia’s Fate
Eugenia in The Adventure of The Veiled Lodger, after years of abuse from her husband, decides to help Leonardo, her lover, in murdering her husband. She helps him in murdering him, suffers mutilation and protects him from the police but her deserts her as she is not beautiful anymore. Ironically, the man whom Eugenia chooses to protect, deserts her because of her disfigurement.
Presbury’s Elixir of Life
Professor Presbury in The Adventure of The Creeping Man, in a bid to get young and stronger, resorts to an unusual drug. The drug made by a Lowenstein, was said to provide longevity and juvenescence. However, the drug was made from ingredients extracted from a langur, a tropical monkey. This resulted in a change in Professor’s habits and mannerisms. His temper grew, he began to perform eccentricities like a monkey and even provoked a dog to bite him almost fatally.
