The Adventure of the Abbey Grange

Holmes nearly hoodwinked
Watson has written that he has not publicized all of Holmes’ adventure—some were never solved, some were too mundane and some were scandalous—and a very few were failures, as this adventure almost became. And I think that’s what makes this story so entertaining. It’s so easy to imagine a Holmes chaffing for adventure and dashing to Kent with Watson, only to be disappointed that the case was so pedestrian. He barely, by Holmes’ standards, examines the crime scene—or else he would have noticed the bloodstain on the chair to which the lady was bound.

The reader—even a first-time reader—knows there is more to this story. After all, Lady Brackenstall’s lengthy character assassination of her husband makes her a prime suspect: “Can you imagine what it means for a sensitive and high-spirited woman to be tied to him for day and night? It is a sacrilege, a crime, a villainy to hold that such a marriage is binding. I say that these monstrous laws of yours will bring a curse upon the land—God will not let such wickedness endure.”

And Holmes leaves the case in the hands of Inspector Hopkins and almost consigns it to the list of unpublished stories.

Or was he hoodwinked?
One of the disturbing aspects of this adventure, however, is the possibility that Holmes was hoodwinked and that this story belongs as one of his failures. Let’s look at Captain Crocker’s statement:

“She had screamed when he struck her, and that brought old Theresa down from the room above. There was a bottle of wine on the sideboard, and I opened it and poured a little between Mary’s lips, for she was half dead with shock. Then I took a drop myself. Theresa was as cool as ice, and it was her plot as much as mine. We must make it appear that burglars had done the thing. Theresa kept on repeating our story to her mistress, while I swarmed up and cut the rope of the bell. Then I lashed her in her chair, and frayed out the end of the rope to make it look natural, else they would wonder how in the world a burglar could have got up there to cut it. Then I gathered up a few plates and pots of silver, to carry out the idea of the robbery, and there I left them, with orders to give the alarm when I had a quarter of an hour’s start. I dropped the silver into the pond, and made off for Sydenham, feeling that for once in my life I had done a real good night’s work. And that’s the truth and the whole truth, Mr. Holmes, if it costs me my neck.”

Crocker’s story convinces Holmes and Watson because it is an admission of guilt, but it is also consistent with a planned assassination of Sir Eustace. As I mentioned, Lady Brackenstall does a very good job of character assassination and then arouses Holmes’ sympathy to an extent I found surprising.

“I shall be glad when you can arrange matters. It is horrible to me to think of him still lying there.” She shuddered and buried her face in her hands. As she did so, the loose gown fell back from her forearms. Holmes uttered an exclamation.

“You have other injuries, madam! What is this?” Two vivid red spots stood out on one of the white, round limbs. She hastily covered it.

“It is nothing. It has no connection with this hideous business to-night. If you and your friend will sit down, I will tell you all I can.”

Holmes seems quite distressed at this dramatic reveal of the lady’s injuries, which the maid later explains as the result of Sir Eustace stabbing her with a hat pin. But my suspicious mind wonders whether these pin pricks were self inflicted. Even Holmes later admits that he was influenced when he tells Watson: “The lady’s charming personality must not be permitted to warp our judgment.”

And I begin to think their scheme seems quite elaborate and rather too well planned for a spur-of-the-moment invention.

Now it’s possible that even if the death of Sir Eustace was planned, some might call it justified. Any dog lover would say so and truthfully the divorce laws at the time effectively trapped Lady Brackenstall in an unhappy marriage, but I think the case should still be decided by a jury.

Of course I want to believe that Holmes and Watson were able to correctly judge Crocker, but I also like the idea that once again, Holmes has been bested by a woman…or two women.