is a perfectly trivial one,” (he jerked his thumb in the direction of the old hat), “but there are points in connection with it which are not entirely devoid of interest, and even of instruction.”I seated myself in his armchair, and warmed my hands before his crackling fire, for a sharp frost had set in, and the windows were thick with the ice crystals. “I suppose,” I remarked, “that, homely as it looks, this thing has some deadly story link onto it that it is the clue which will guide you in the solution of some mystery, and the punishment of some criminal.”“No, no. No crime,” said Sherlock Holmes, laughingly. “Only one of those whimsical little incidents which will happen when you have four million human beings all jostling each other within the space of a few square miles. Amid the action and reaction of so dense a swarm of humanity, every possible combination of events may be expected to take place, and many a little problem will be presented which may be striking and bizarre without being criminal. We have already had experience of such.”“So much so,” I remarked, “that of the last six cases which I have added to my notes, three have been entirely free of any legal crime.”“Precisely. You allude to my attempt to recover the Irene Adler papers, to the singular case of Miss Mary Sutherland, and to the adventures of the man with the twisted lip. Well, I have no doubt that the small matter will fall into the same innocent category. You know Peterson, the commissionaire?”“Yes.”“It is to him that this trophy belongs.”“It is his hat.”“No, no; he found it. Its owner is unknown. I beg that you will look upon it, not as a battered bullycock, but as an intellectual problem. And first as to how it came here. It arrived upon Christmas morning, in company with the good fat goose, which I have no doubt, is roasting at this moment in front of Peterson’s fire.”“My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other people don’t know.”Case Information
Date:The second morning after Christmas.
Duration:3 Days
Crime:Theft of the Blue Carbuncle, very valuable gem, not yet 20 years old, found in the banks of the Amoy River in Southern China, normally red in color. “Having a sinister history of two murders, a suicide and several robberies.”
Client:Commissionaire Peterson,found the goose with the Blue Carbuncle hidden in it.Received 1000-pound reward
Victim:Countess of Morcar, from whom Blue Carbuncle was stolen.
Crime Scene:Hotel Cosmopolitan, where Countess of Morcar was staying and the Blue Carbuncle was stolen. “The bureau had been forced open, and that the small morocco casket in which, as it afterwards transpired, the Countess was accustomed to keeping the jewel, was lying empty upon the dressing-table.”
Criminals:James (Jem) Ryder, upper-attendant at the hotel, and brother of Mrs. Oakshott. A little rat-faced fellow. Tried using an alias, John Robinson, with Holmes.Catherine Cusack, maid to the Countess.
Punishment:None. “I am not retained by the police to supply their deficiencies.”
Official Police:Inspector Bradstreet, B division.
Characters:Mr. Henry Baker, a tallish man. A large man with rounded shoulders, a massive head, broad, intelligent face, and pointed beard of grizzled brown. May have worked at the British Museum, was assaulted by a gang of roughs, losing both his hat and goose, in which Ryder had hidden the Blue Carbuncle.John Horner, a plumber, 26, falsely accused of the theft and could receive seven years penal servitude.Mr. Windigate, landlord of the Alpha Inn.Mr. Breckinridge, proprietor at Covent Garden Market, who the Alpha Inn purchased their geese from. Horsey-looking man, with sharp face and trim side-whiskers.Bill, a small boy, Breckinridge’s assistant.
Others Mentioned:Mrs. Hudson.Mrs. (Maggie) Oakshott, 117 Brixton Road, an egg & poultry supplier. Supplied Breckenridge his geese. James Ryder’s sister, Ryder hid the Blue Carbuncle in one of her geese by having it swallow it.Maudsley, old friend of Ryder living in Kilburn, had served time at Pentonville, he was to sell the Blue Carbuncle.
Locations:Baker Street.Alpha Inn, pub near the museum. Henry Baker was a member of the goose club.Covent Garden Market, where Breckinridge had a large stall that sold the goose.
Locations Mentioned:Tottenham Court-Road & Goodge Street. Where Henry Baker was accosted by roughs, dropped the goose and his hat.Banks of the Amoy River in Southern China, where the Blue Carbuncle was found about 20 years earlier.117 Brixton Road, Mrs. Oakshott’s egg & poultry supply, raised Henry Baker’s goose.Kilburn, where Maudsley, old friend of Ryder’s, lived.
Evidence & Clues:Mrs. Henry Baker was printed upon a small card, which was tied to the bird’s left leg.Initials “H.B.” legible upon the lining of his hat.
Motive:Money.
Timeline:December 22, the Blue Carbuncle is stolen from the room of Countess of Morcar at Hotel Cosmopolitan.4:00 Christmas morning, Henry Baker is assaulted by a gang of roughs, losing both his hat and the goose in which Ryder had hidden the Blue Carbuncle.1st Day Sunday December 25Christmas morning, Commissionaire Peterson brings a hat and goose that he found to Holmes.2nd day Tuesday December 27Morning, Watson visits Baker Street to wish Holmes compliments of the season.Morning, Holmes and Watson discuss the details about the black felt hat.Morning, Commissionaire Peterson returns to Baker St. to bring the Blue Carbuncle his wife found in the goose.Holmes has Peterson go and place a newspaper ad with an advertising agency about the found hat and goose, hoping that Henry Baker will answer and come to Baker St. to retrieve them.A little after 6:30 p.m., Watson returns to Baker St. Henry Baker arrives responding to the ad to meet.6:45 to 7:00 p.m., Holmes speaks with Baker, returns his hat and a replacement goose, and he leaves. Holmes and Watson put off dinner and decided to follow up on the information they got from Baker, and leave for Alpha Inn.7:00 to 7:30 p.m., Holmes and Watson arrive at the Alpha Inn, speak with Windigate; he tells them Baker’s goose came from Breckinridge in Covent Garden Market.Leaving the Alpha Inn, Holmes and Watson go to Covent Garden Market and are told by Breckinridge his geese are supplied by Mrs. Oakshott, who raised them in town. While they are there, Ryder arrives to find out who Breckinridge had sold the goose to. They have him accompany them on a half-hour trip to Baker Street, where he confesses to conspiring with Catherine Cusack to steal the Blue Carbuncle, hiding it in the goose until his friend Maudsley could help sell it. Begging for mercy, Holmes tells him to leave.
Story Conclusion:“After all, Watson,” said Holmes, reaching up his hand for his clay pipe, “I am not retained by the police to supply their deficiencies. If Horner were in danger it would be another thing, but this fellow will not appear against him, and the case must collapse. I suppose I am committing a felony, but it is just possible that I am saving a soul. This fellow will not go wrong again. He is too terribly frightened. Send him to jail now, and you make him a jail-bird for life. Besides, it is the season of forgiveness. Chance has put in our way a most singular and whimsical problem, and its solution is its own reward. If you will have the goodness to touch the bell, Doctor, we will begin another investigation, in which also a bird will be the chief feature.”
Weather:“a sharp frost had set in, and the windows were thick with the ice crystals.”
Payment:None Mentioned.
Quotes:“Only one of those whimsical little incidents which will happen when you have four million human beings all jostling each other within the space of a few square miles. Amid the action and reaction of so dense a swarm of humanity, every possible combination of events may be expected to take place, and many a little problem will be presented which may be striking and bizarre without being criminal.”“Let us follow it out to the bitter end. Faces to the south, then, and quickly march!”Crime and Detection“Here is my lens. You know my methods.”“On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, however, to reason from what you see. You are too timid in drawing your inferences.”“My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other people don’t know.”Holmes’ Observation of Henry Baker’s Hat“That the man was highly intelligent is of course obvious upon the face of it, and also that he was fairly well-to-do within the last three years, although he has now fallen on evil days. He had foresight, but has less now than formerly, pointing to the moral retrogression, which, when taken with the decline of his fortunes,