"The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge"
Short story by Arthur Conan Doyle
1908 illustration by Arthur Twidle in The Strand Magazine
Publication
Publication date1908
SeriesHis Last Bow

"The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge" is one of the fifty-six Sherlock Holmes short stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle. One of eight stories in the volume His Last Bow, it is a lengthy, two-part story consisting of "The Singular Experience of Mr. John Scott Eccles" and "The Tiger of San Pedro", which on original publication in The Strand bore the collective title of "A Reminiscence of Mr. Sherlock Holmes".

Synopsis

Holmes is visited by a John Scott Eccles, who wishes to discuss something "grotesque". No sooner has he arrived at 221B Baker Street than Inspector Gregson also shows up, along with Inspector Baynes of the Surrey Constabulary. They wish a statement from Eccles about the murder of Aloysius Garcia near Esher last night.

Eccles (right) hears of Garcia's death, 1908 illustration by Frederic Dorr Steele in Collier's

Eccles explains that he spent the night at Wisteria Lodge, Garcia's rented house, but when he woke up in the morning, he found that Garcia and his servants had all disappeared, leaving him alone in the house. Eccles mentions that a note, delivered during dinner the previous evening, had caused great consternation to Garcia and may have had some connection with the household's disappearance.

Murillo confining Miss Burnet, 1908 illustration by Arthur Twidle

Holmes' investigation leads him to the Henderson household, whose master has spent time in the tropics, and whose secretary is a dark-skinned foreigner. Holmes believes that the cryptic note came from this household and the writer could only be the house's governess, Miss Burnet, who has not been seen since the night of the murder.

That night, the Hendersons flee by train. Miss Burnet escapes with the help of a former gardener. It is revealed that "Henderson" is in fact Don Juan Murillo, an overthrown dictator from Central America who left a bloody trail behind as he escaped to England. Miss Burnet's real name is Mrs. Victor Durando. Her late husband was San Pedro's ambassador to Britain and a potential political rival to Murillo. Murillo had him recalled and shot so that he would not pose a threat to Murillo's position. Fortunately, Mrs. Durando stayed behind in England and avoided harm herself. She went on to change her name and secure the position as governess to Henderson's children in order to get closer to and spy on him.

Murillo and his secretary give the police the slip in London, and resurface in Madrid under new aliases. However, they are both murdered, and their killers are never caught.

Publication history

"The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge" was first published in the US in Collier's on 15 August 1908, and in the UK in The Strand Magazine in September–October 1908. In the Strand, the story was published in two parts: "The Singular Experience of Mr. John Scott Eccles" and "The Tiger of San Pedro".[1] The story was published with six illustrations by Frederic Dorr Steele in Collier's, and with ten illustrations by Arthur Twidle in the Strand.[2] It was included in the short story collection His Last Bow,[2] which was published in the UK and the US in October 1917.[3]

Adaptations

Film and television

Radio

    References

    Notes
    1. ↑ Smith (2014), p. 165.
    2. 1 2 Cawthorne (2011), p. 139.
    3. ↑ Cawthorne (2011), p. 138.
    4. ↑ Stuart Douglas - www.thiswaydown.org. "Missing Episodes". Btinternet.com. Archived from the original on 21 July 2012. Retrieved 29 May 2011.
    5. ↑ Dickerson (2019), p. 62.
    6. ↑ Dickerson (2019), p. 76.
    7. ↑ Dickerson (2019), p. 89.
    8. ↑ Dickerson (2019), p. 130.
    9. ↑ Dickerson (2019), p. 228.
    10. ↑ De Waal, Ronald Burt (1974). The World Bibliography of Sherlock Holmes. Bramhall House. pp. 391–392. ISBN 0-517-217597.
    11. ↑ Bert Coules. "His Last Bow". The BBC complete audio Sherlock Holmes. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
    12. ↑ Wright, Stewart (30 April 2019). "The Classic Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: Broadcast Log" (PDF). Old-Time Radio. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
    Sources
    • Cawthorne, Nigel (2011). A Brief History of Sherlock Holmes. Running Press. ISBN 978-0762444083.
    • Dickerson, Ian (2019). Sherlock Holmes and His Adventures on American Radio. BearManor Media. ISBN 978-1629335087.
    • Smith, Daniel (2014) [2009]. The Sherlock Holmes Companion: An Elementary Guide (Updated ed.). Aurum Press. ISBN 978-1-78131-404-3.
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