Chapter 9

Oh yeah and I still don't know what or who the sign of the four is.

In this chapter, we see that Holmes gets very impatient when a case develops no further. He was waiting all day for a response from his Baker Street Division of the Detective Police Force. This is what Watson noticed, he noticed that Holmes would zone out and wander around the house looking for answers:
"He would hardly reply to my questions and busied himself all the evening in an abtruse chemical analysis which involved much heating of retorts and distilling of vapours, ending at lastt in a smell which fairly drove me out of the apartment. Up to the small hours of the morning I could hear the clinking of his test-tubes which told me that he was still engaged in his malodorous experiment," (130).
Holmes finally decides that he'll go out and look for answers on his own. He had placed an ad that gave a reward to anyone who knew information about Mordecai Smith who owned a boat called tthe Aurora and helped transport the man with the wooden leg somewhere.

In addition, Holmes is a sexist. He doesn't trust women. Watson was going to visit Miss Morstan and tell her of their new discoveries, but Holmes replies, "I would not tell them too much. Women are never to be entirely trusted-not the best of them." So maybe this is why he's never had a steady relationship with a woman?

In this chapter we also see that Watson begins to re-evaluate his colleague. He believes Holmes might be wrong this time. He says:
"Could there be, I wondered, some radical flaw in my companion's reasoning? Might he not be suffering from some huge self-deception? Was it not possible that his nimble and speculative mind had built up this wild theory upon faulty premises? I had never known him to be wrong, and yet the keenest reasoner may occasionally deceived. He was likely, I thought, to fall into error through the over-refinement of his logic-his preference for a subtle and bizarre explanation when a plainer and more commonplace one lay ready to his hand. Yet, on the other hand, I had myself seen the evidence, and I had heard the reasons for his deductions. When I looked back on the long chain of curious cirumstances, many of them trivial in themselves but all tending in the same direction, I could not disguise from myself that even if Holmes's explanation were incorrect the true theory must be equally outré and startling," (132).
I guess Watson is starting to maybe doubt Holmes's accuracy now since the last case was solved almost instantly once Holmes had the right evidence.

Furthermore, more of Holmes's character is revealed. He does like to joke around because he was disguised as a grumpy and old sailor and he visited Watson while Holmes was out. Athelney Jones of Scotland Yard visited Watson and they kept the sailor in the house because the sailor had demanded that he see Holmes at once. Watson and Jones chat while the sailor sat a few feet away from them and then he took off the disguise and Watson and Jones were stunned and surprised. Holmes invites Jones to dinner and it shows that instead of always directing orders and being impatient, he can be humble and hospitable. Holmes says that Watson has "never yet recognized my merits as a housekeeper," (134).

Chapters 8

So Holmes and Watson continue following Toby as he traces the scent of the man with the wooden leg. Holmes and Watson prepared their weapons in case they had to come face to face with any opposition. This shows that even Holmes is not afraid to use force. So I guess he has that competitive edge maybe from his early boxing days. I'd actually like to find out more about his boxing career, if I can. Then, Toby leads them to an intersection and "began to run backward and forward with one ear cocked and the other drooping, the very picture of canine indecision. Then he waddled round in circles, looking up to us from time to time, as if to ask for sympathy in his embarassment."
As usual, Holmes shows his impatience by replying, "What the deuce is the matter with the dog?" growled Holmes. "They surely would not take a cab or go off in a balloon." I just thought this part was funny because it wasn't the dog's fault if it smells something else that is more appealing than what Holmes was after. Furthermore, Toby chooses one path and leads them to a barrel covered in creosote, which was on the hankerchief that Holmes had Toby smell. They had to back track and follow the other path. *Creosote is a tarlike substance used in chimneys.
As usual, Holmes goes to his Baker Street Division of the detective police force and Holmes has already figured out who was the accomplice who helped the man with the wooden leg. He's found out that it is a person of South American descent, from the Andaman Islands. They're supposed to be monsterlike and use poisoned arrows as their main weapons.

What I don't get is why Holmes can figure this all out even with his specialized deductive reasoning. He only needs a few facts and he has the mystery all solved. Plus he is a drug addict, so it doesn't make much sense. He shouldn't be getting smarter, he should be losing tons of brain cells and becoming less intelligent. If Holmes was a real person, I'd wouldn't like him. I don't know how Watson can stand his personality type.

Another murder

Chapters 4-7
So, Miss Morstan, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson visit the mysterious man named, Thaddeus Sholto. His father was Major Sholto and Thaddeus and his twin brother have found a treasure left behind by their father. It was supposed to be split amongst Major Sholto and Captain Morstan, but Morstan died because of the dispute over the treasure. I think he collapsed of a heart attack and fell and cut his head on the treasure chest. Thaddeus was forced to hide his body and him and his brother saw someone observing them outside the window(i think). Yeah, this part was confusing. So, Thaddeus take the visitors to see his brother. When they get there, Thaddeus's brother was already dead. He got poisoned. There was a letter on his chest with the phrase, "Sign of Four," written on it. Miss Morstan was supposed to claim her share of the treasure, but the treasure was stolen after Thaddeus's brother was murdered.

Holmes used to be a boxer, which really surprised me. He fought against the guard at the door of Thaddeus's brother's estate. Is there where he gets his attitude from? Maybe he was a champion or something?

At the scene of the murder, Holmes gets to work. He apparently already solved the mystery by looking around. He answered, "it clears every instant. I only require a few missing links to have an entirely connected case." There's that conceited attitude of his. He gets to work immediately and notices that there is a footprint at the window. He concludes that there were two people involved. One was a child and another was a man with a wooden leg. The child got in through the roof and help the old man into the house. I would like to comment on the relationship between Watson and Holmes here. Despite Holmes being the person that he is, he still has the highest respect for Dr. Watson. Having shown Watson how he draws inferences, in this case, Holmes urges Watson to use the deductive reasoning strategy. I feel that Watson has become the student and Holmes is the teacher. Holmes guides Watson along and tries to make Watson analyze a bit of the situation. For example, Holmes says, "How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth? We know that he did not come through the door, the window, or the chimney. We also know that he could not have been concealed in the room, as there is no concealment possible. When, then, did he come?" (111). In addition, Holmes also relies on Watson for his medical knowledge. He asked Watson about the thorn that killed Thaddeus's brother.

Holmes even gets down and dirty and climbs onto the roof to retrace the murderer's steps. He finds that the man with the wooden leg stepped into a chemical because the room was a lab, basically. Holmes calls upon the dog, Toby, to trace the scent. So Holmes needs help sometimes.

Also, Watson seems to have fallen for Miss Morstan because he held her hand when they found out that Thaddeus was killed and he even escorted her home.

The Sign of Four

Thanks Saanchi!
So...the 2nd book starts off with Holmes showing us that he is a crack addict. His wrist and forearm were "all dotted and scarred with innumberable puncture-marks," (89). Holmes finds it "so transcendently stimulating and clarifying to the mind that its secondary action is a matter of small moment," (89). Holmes is a thinker. When he is given a problem to solve, he is in his "own proper atmosphere," (90). He uses cocaine to basically keep his brain sharp. Holmes "cannot live without brainwork," (93). Holmes explains his reason for using cocaine in the following passage:
"My mind rebels at stagnation. Give me problems, give me work, give me the most abstruse cryptogram, or the most intricate analysis, and I am in my own proper atmosphere. I can dispense then with artificial stimulants. But I abhor the dull routine of existence. I crave for mental exaltation. That is why I have chosen my own particular profession, or rather created it, for I am the only one in the world," (90).

The story begins when a young lady named Miss Morstan comes to Holmes's and Watson's house. She wants them to escort her because she received a letter from a mysterious person who told her to go to the Lyceum Theatre. Her father went to fight in India and when he came back to visit Miss Morstan, he disappeared. She knows that her father's only friend is Major Sholto. Sholto also died.

Indeed Holmes is very work-oriented. Dr. Watson was the only one who noticed how attractive Miss Morstan was. Holmes didn't care at all. Holmes simply replies that he didn't observe. And apparently Holmes has had an affair with a woman before whose case he had to solve. She was hanged for poisoning three little children for their insurance money. As Watson says, Holmes is "really are[an] automaton-a calculating machine," (96).
Holmes, Watson and Miss Morstan head to the theatre and board a cab to a house where they are brought to see someone, a sahib.