The Adventure of the Dying Detective

By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Dr. Watson is called to 221b Baker Street to check on Holmes, who is apparently dying of a rare Asian disease contracted while he was on a case. Watson is shocked, having heard nothing about his friend’s illness. Mrs. Hudson says that he has neither eaten nor drunk anything in three days. Upon arriving, Watson finds Holmes in his bed looking very ill and gaunt indeed, and Holmes proceeds to make several odd demands of Watson. He is not to come near Holmes, for the illness is highly contagious. He will seek no help save from the man whom Holmes names. He will wait until six o’clock before Holmes names him. When Watson objects and tries to leave for help, Holmes musters enough strength to leap out of bed, and lock the door, taking the key. So, Watson is forced to wait. Holmes seems delirious at times.
Watson examines several objects in Holmes’s room while he waits. Holmes has a fit when Watson touches one item, a little black and white ivory box with a sliding lid. Holmes orders him to put it down, explaining that he does not like his things touched.
At six o’clock, Holmes tells Watson to turn the gaslight on, but only half-full. He then tells him to fetch Mr. Culverton Smith of 13 Lower Burke Street. Oddly, he also tells Watson to be sure that he and Smith return to Baker Street separately. Smith is not a doctor but is supposedly an expert on the illness that ails Holmes. Also, Holmes explains that Smith does not particularly like him, for Holmes once cast the suspicion for Smith's nephew’s murder on him…
(Excerpt from Wikipedia)

• Language: English
• Publisher: Otbebookpublishing
• Release date: Dec 27, 2015
• ISBN: 9783956760709

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Arthur Conan Doyle was a British writer and physician. He is the creator of the Sherlock Holmes character, writing his debut appearance in A Study in Scarlet. Doyle wrote notable books in the fantasy and science fiction genres, as well as plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction, and historical novels.

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The Adventure of the Dying Detective

By

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

The Adventure of the Dying Detective

Mrs. Hudson, the landlady of Sherlock Holmes, was a long-suffering woman. Not only was her first-floor flat invaded at all hours by throngs of singular and often undesirable characters but her remarkable lodger showed an eccentricity and irregularity in his life which must have sorely tried her patience. His incredible untidiness, his addiction to music at strange hours, his occasional revolver practice within doors, his weird and often malodorous scientific experiments, and the atmosphere of violence and danger which hung around him made him the very worst tenant in London. On the other hand, his payments were princely. I have no doubt that the house might have been purchased at the price which Holmes paid for his rooms during the years that I was with him.

The landlady stood in the deepest awe of him and never dared to interfere with him, however outrageous his proceedings might seem. She was fond of him, too, for he had a remarkable gentleness and courtesy in his dealings with women. He disliked and distrusted the sex, but he was always a chivalrous opponent. Knowing how genuine was her regard for him, I listened earnestly to her story when she came to my rooms in the second year of my married life and told me of the sad condition to which my poor friend was reduced.

He's dying, Dr. Watson, said she. "For three days he has been sinking, and I doubt if he will last the day. He would not let me get a doctor. This morning when I saw his

Reviews for The Adventure of the Dying Detective

[john257hopper · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Another of the less well known short stories featuring the Great Detective. This is a really powerful one, with Holmes convincing everyone he is dying of a tropical disease, in order to entrap a murderer. Genuinely suspenseful and original in the canon.

[cbl_tn · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

When Mrs. Hudson sends for Dr. Watson, telling him that there’s no time to lose if he wants to save his friend Sherlock Holmes’s life, Watson rushes to his friend’s aid. He finds a very weak Holmes, who won’t let Watson examine him but insists that Watson call in a specialist in exotic diseases. A deeply hurt Watson does as his friend requests, summoning the man named to Holmes’s bedside. It seems this man and Holmes had crossed paths before. From his deathbed, Holmes solves another case.I like this story because of how well it depicts Watson’s devotion to Holmes, and how much Holmes trusts the loyal Watson.