Valley of fear

This crucial and multi-dimensional character (to whom we will refer as Douglas for the sake of clarity) could really be considered three different characters contained in one man. Introduced at the beginning of the story as John Douglas, this man appears to be a faceless victim, simply the object of Holmes’ investigation. Towards the end of Part I, however, Douglas is revealed to be very much alive, and he commences to share his history, which comprises nearly the entirety of Part II.