The Adventure of the Norwood Builder
Encyclopedia
"The Adventure of the Norwood Builder", one of the 56 short Sherlock Holmes
stories written by British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
, is the second tale from The Return of Sherlock Holmes
. The story was first published in Strand Magazine
in 1903 with original illustrations by Sidney Paget
.
and Dr. Watson are visited by "the unhappy John Hector McFarlane", a young lawyer from Blackheath
who has been accused of murdering one of his clients, a builder called Jonas Oldacre. McFarlane explains to Holmes that Oldacre had come to his office only the day before and asked him to draw up his will in legally appropriate terms. McFarlane saw to his surprise that Oldacre was making him the sole beneficiary, and heir to a considerable bequest at that. McFarlane could not imagine why, although Oldacre claimed that it was due to a prior relationship with McFarlane's mother giving him reliable knowledge that McFarlane could be trusted and a lack of any biological relatives for him to leave a bequest to.
This business took McFarlane to Oldacre's house in Norwood
where some documents had to be examined for legal purposes. These were kept in the safe where the murder allegedly took place. McFarlane left quite late and stayed at a local inn. He read about the murder in the newspaper the next morning on the train. The paper said quite clearly that the police were looking for him.
The evidence against young Mr. McFarlane is quite damning. His stick has been found in Mr. Oldacre's room, and a fire was extinguished just outside in which a pile of dry timber burnt to ashes, complete with the smell of burnt flesh. It seems more than likely that McFarlane did the crime, especially as it is known that he was there at about that time.
Inspector Lestrade
does quite a bit of gloating in this story, for it seems that he is on the right track and Holmes is not. Holmes begins his own investigation into the matter by going to Blackheath, which puzzles Lestrade, who had expected him to go first to Norwood. Although he acquires some useful information in both places, he must admit that he can see no other explanation for what has happened to Mr. Oldacre than the official one propounded by Lestrade.
McFarlane's mother, Holmes finds out, was once engaged to Oldacre years earlier, but then later wanted nothing to do with the man once she found out how cruel he was—he had let a cat loose in a bird sanctuary.
Upon examining the handwritten will given McFarlane by Oldacre, Holmes reckons they were written in a very haphazard fashion, as if the writer didn't really care what he was writing. The alternation between legible handwriting
and incomprehensible squiggles suggests to Holmes that the "will" was written hurriedly on a train, with the legible writing representing stops at stations. All Holmes can offer as an alternative are general theories, while Lestrade parries with the knowledge that none of the papers were taken, and that only McFarlane, if Oldacre were murdered, would not have any reason to take the papers.
It also emerges that Oldacre's financial dealings have been a bit odd. Several cheque
s for substantial amounts, and for unknown reasons, have recently been made out to a Mr. Cornelius.
The discovery by Holmes of Mr. Oldacre's trouser buttons in the fire ashes does nothing to help exonerate McFarlane, but Holmes is convinced that Mr. Oldacre's housekeeper is withholding information. Holmes's powers of observation tell him that the housekeeper's expression suggests this. He is sure that she holds the key to the mystery, and he is right, but he will not need her to solve the case.
Lestrade's gloating reaches a peak when a bloody thumbprint is found at Oldacre's house. He is sure it is enough to put McFarlane's neck in the noose. It matches the accused's thumb exactly. However, it makes Holmes quite sure that something very devious is afoot: Holmes examined that part of the house only a day earlier, and is quite sure that the thumbprint was not there then, and McFarlane has been in police custody since his arrest at Holmes's Baker Street rooms. So, someone is attempting a deception.
Once again, Holmes astonishes Lestrade with his unorthodox methods, which in this case involve setting a fire in one room of the house with a little straw (with a man standing by with a bucket of water) and having three of his constable
s shout "fire". Lestrade, and Watson too, are also quite astonished at what happens next: the very much still living Mr. Oldacre emerges from a hidden chamber at the end of a hallway—where Holmes has deduced it must be—and runs to escape the fire. He is seized, protesting.
The dénouement reveals that it was a revenge campaign against the woman who rejected him years ago, young Mr. McFarlane's mother. Pathetically, Oldacre tries to pass off his actions as a practical joke, but he is taken into custody. Holmes lightly chuffs his rival for neglecting Blackheath, where he acquired the key information.
As for Mr. Cornelius, the recipient of so much of Oldacre's munificence, Holmes deduces that it is likely an alias used by Oldacre, and that he has been leading a double life with the eventual goal of shedding his Oldacre identity so that he can start a new life. "Mr. Cornelius" bank account will be seized by Oldacre's creditors. Oldacre swears revenge against Holmes, who serenely dismisses the villain's threats.
lived in Norwood
, and included some local details into the story. For example, McFarlane spends the night in The Anerley Arms, a pub which still exists today.
It is one of the few Holmes stories in which a fingerprint
provides a good clue to the nature of the problem.
This is likely one of the first cases that Holmes takes on after re-establishing his detective agency, as the story opens with him and Watson discussing how dull London has become since the death of Professor Moriarty, before a panicking McFarlane bursts in on them.
At the start of the story, Watson mentions two unrecorded cases that Holmes investigated around the same time as this story:
The Granada TV version with Jeremy Brett
was rather faithful to the original story - except while the original story had Oldacre burning a dead rabbit with his clothes, in the TV adaptation a tramp was killed by Oldacre and burned to frame McFarlane. The TV show depicts Mrs. McFarlane as a recent widow, while in the story Mr. McFarlane is alive but not seen. Watson is shown tracing the payments made to Cornelius while in the book it was Holmes who gleans this fact. Also, when Lestrade comes to Holmes' rooms to arrest McFarlane the TV version has Holmes warning the young man that whatever he says may be used in evidence against him. In the book it is Lestrade who, as the arresting officer, provides the mandatory warning. The TV version does contain one glaring error. When Holmes produces the tooth of a "Great White Shark", it is clear that the tooth is completely the wrong shape. The tooth used is smooth, elongated and curved, with a roughly oval cross section. The tooth of a white shark is triangular and serated, with a flatter cross section.
An important element within the plot of this story was devised by Bertram Fletcher Robinson
(1870–1907). Prior to the publication of this story on 31 October 1903, Robinson had also acted as 'assistant plot producer' to The Hound of the Baskervilles
(1901).
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
stories written by British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Arthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle DL was a Scottish physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, generally considered a milestone in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger...
, is the second tale from The Return of Sherlock Holmes
The Return of Sherlock Holmes
The Return of Sherlock Holmes is a collection of 13 Sherlock Holmes stories, originally published in 1903-1904, by Arthur Conan Doyle.-History:...
. The story was first published in Strand Magazine
Strand Magazine
The Strand Magazine was a monthly magazine composed of fictional stories and factual articles founded by George Newnes. It was first published in the United Kingdom from January 1891 to March 1950 running to 711 issues, though the first issue was on sale well before Christmas 1890.Its immediate...
in 1903 with original illustrations by Sidney Paget
Sidney Paget
Sidney Edward Paget was a British illustrator of the Victorian era, best known for his illustrations that accompanied Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories in The Strand magazine.- Life :...
.
Synopsis
Sherlock HolmesSherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
and Dr. Watson are visited by "the unhappy John Hector McFarlane", a young lawyer from Blackheath
Blackheath, London
Blackheath is a district of South London, England. It is named from the large open public grassland which separates it from Greenwich to the north and Lewisham to the west...
who has been accused of murdering one of his clients, a builder called Jonas Oldacre. McFarlane explains to Holmes that Oldacre had come to his office only the day before and asked him to draw up his will in legally appropriate terms. McFarlane saw to his surprise that Oldacre was making him the sole beneficiary, and heir to a considerable bequest at that. McFarlane could not imagine why, although Oldacre claimed that it was due to a prior relationship with McFarlane's mother giving him reliable knowledge that McFarlane could be trusted and a lack of any biological relatives for him to leave a bequest to.
This business took McFarlane to Oldacre's house in Norwood
South Norwood
South Norwood is an urban town and in south London, England, in the London Borough of Croydon. It is a suburban development 7.8 miles south-east of Charing Cross. South Norwood is an electoral with a resident population in 2001 of just over 14,000...
where some documents had to be examined for legal purposes. These were kept in the safe where the murder allegedly took place. McFarlane left quite late and stayed at a local inn. He read about the murder in the newspaper the next morning on the train. The paper said quite clearly that the police were looking for him.
The evidence against young Mr. McFarlane is quite damning. His stick has been found in Mr. Oldacre's room, and a fire was extinguished just outside in which a pile of dry timber burnt to ashes, complete with the smell of burnt flesh. It seems more than likely that McFarlane did the crime, especially as it is known that he was there at about that time.
Inspector Lestrade
Inspector Lestrade
Inspector G. Lestrade is a fictional character, a Scotland Yard detective appearing in several of the Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle. Doyle used the name of a friend from his days at the University of Edinburgh, a Saint Lucian medical student by the name of Joseph Alexandre Lestrade....
does quite a bit of gloating in this story, for it seems that he is on the right track and Holmes is not. Holmes begins his own investigation into the matter by going to Blackheath, which puzzles Lestrade, who had expected him to go first to Norwood. Although he acquires some useful information in both places, he must admit that he can see no other explanation for what has happened to Mr. Oldacre than the official one propounded by Lestrade.
McFarlane's mother, Holmes finds out, was once engaged to Oldacre years earlier, but then later wanted nothing to do with the man once she found out how cruel he was—he had let a cat loose in a bird sanctuary.
Upon examining the handwritten will given McFarlane by Oldacre, Holmes reckons they were written in a very haphazard fashion, as if the writer didn't really care what he was writing. The alternation between legible handwriting
Handwriting
Handwriting is a person's particular & individual style of writing with pen or pencil, which contrasts with "Hand" which is an impersonal and formalised writing style in several historical varieties...
and incomprehensible squiggles suggests to Holmes that the "will" was written hurriedly on a train, with the legible writing representing stops at stations. All Holmes can offer as an alternative are general theories, while Lestrade parries with the knowledge that none of the papers were taken, and that only McFarlane, if Oldacre were murdered, would not have any reason to take the papers.
It also emerges that Oldacre's financial dealings have been a bit odd. Several cheque
Cheque
A cheque is a document/instrument See the negotiable cow—itself a fictional story—for discussions of cheques written on unusual surfaces. that orders a payment of money from a bank account...
s for substantial amounts, and for unknown reasons, have recently been made out to a Mr. Cornelius.
The discovery by Holmes of Mr. Oldacre's trouser buttons in the fire ashes does nothing to help exonerate McFarlane, but Holmes is convinced that Mr. Oldacre's housekeeper is withholding information. Holmes's powers of observation tell him that the housekeeper's expression suggests this. He is sure that she holds the key to the mystery, and he is right, but he will not need her to solve the case.
Lestrade's gloating reaches a peak when a bloody thumbprint is found at Oldacre's house. He is sure it is enough to put McFarlane's neck in the noose. It matches the accused's thumb exactly. However, it makes Holmes quite sure that something very devious is afoot: Holmes examined that part of the house only a day earlier, and is quite sure that the thumbprint was not there then, and McFarlane has been in police custody since his arrest at Holmes's Baker Street rooms. So, someone is attempting a deception.
Once again, Holmes astonishes Lestrade with his unorthodox methods, which in this case involve setting a fire in one room of the house with a little straw (with a man standing by with a bucket of water) and having three of his constable
Constable
A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions.-Etymology:...
s shout "fire". Lestrade, and Watson too, are also quite astonished at what happens next: the very much still living Mr. Oldacre emerges from a hidden chamber at the end of a hallway—where Holmes has deduced it must be—and runs to escape the fire. He is seized, protesting.
The dénouement reveals that it was a revenge campaign against the woman who rejected him years ago, young Mr. McFarlane's mother. Pathetically, Oldacre tries to pass off his actions as a practical joke, but he is taken into custody. Holmes lightly chuffs his rival for neglecting Blackheath, where he acquired the key information.
As for Mr. Cornelius, the recipient of so much of Oldacre's munificence, Holmes deduces that it is likely an alias used by Oldacre, and that he has been leading a double life with the eventual goal of shedding his Oldacre identity so that he can start a new life. "Mr. Cornelius" bank account will be seized by Oldacre's creditors. Oldacre swears revenge against Holmes, who serenely dismisses the villain's threats.
Details
Arthur Conan DoyleArthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle DL was a Scottish physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, generally considered a milestone in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger...
lived in Norwood
South Norwood
South Norwood is an urban town and in south London, England, in the London Borough of Croydon. It is a suburban development 7.8 miles south-east of Charing Cross. South Norwood is an electoral with a resident population in 2001 of just over 14,000...
, and included some local details into the story. For example, McFarlane spends the night in The Anerley Arms, a pub which still exists today.
It is one of the few Holmes stories in which a fingerprint
Fingerprint
A fingerprint in its narrow sense is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. In a wider use of the term, fingerprints are the traces of an impression from the friction ridges of any part of a human hand. A print from the foot can also leave an impression of friction ridges...
provides a good clue to the nature of the problem.
This is likely one of the first cases that Holmes takes on after re-establishing his detective agency, as the story opens with him and Watson discussing how dull London has become since the death of Professor Moriarty, before a panicking McFarlane bursts in on them.
At the start of the story, Watson mentions two unrecorded cases that Holmes investigated around the same time as this story:
- "The case of the papers of Ex-President Murillo", which Conan Doyle later wrote as "The Adventure of Wisteria LodgeThe Adventure of Wisteria Lodge"The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge" is one of the fifty-six Sherlock Holmes short stories written by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. One of eight stories in the cycle collected as His Last Bow, it is a lengthy, two-part story consisting of "The Singular Experience of Mr...
". - "The shocking affair of the Dutch steamship Friesland", which loosely inspired the 1945 film Pursuit to AlgiersPursuit to AlgiersPursuit to Algiers is the twelfth film in the Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce series of Sherlock Holmes movies. Elements in the story pay homage to an otherwise unrecorded affair mentioned by Watson at the beginning of The Adventure of the Norwood Builder, notably the steamship Friesland.-Plot:About to...
starring Basil RathboneBasil RathboneSir Basil Rathbone, KBE, MC, Kt was an English actor. He rose to prominence in England as a Shakespearean stage actor and went on to appear in over 70 films, primarily costume dramas, swashbucklers, and, occasionally, horror films...
as Holmes.
The Granada TV version with Jeremy Brett
Jeremy Brett
Jeremy Brett , born Peter Jeremy William Huggins, was an English actor, most famous for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes in four Granada TV series.-Early life:...
was rather faithful to the original story - except while the original story had Oldacre burning a dead rabbit with his clothes, in the TV adaptation a tramp was killed by Oldacre and burned to frame McFarlane. The TV show depicts Mrs. McFarlane as a recent widow, while in the story Mr. McFarlane is alive but not seen. Watson is shown tracing the payments made to Cornelius while in the book it was Holmes who gleans this fact. Also, when Lestrade comes to Holmes' rooms to arrest McFarlane the TV version has Holmes warning the young man that whatever he says may be used in evidence against him. In the book it is Lestrade who, as the arresting officer, provides the mandatory warning. The TV version does contain one glaring error. When Holmes produces the tooth of a "Great White Shark", it is clear that the tooth is completely the wrong shape. The tooth used is smooth, elongated and curved, with a roughly oval cross section. The tooth of a white shark is triangular and serated, with a flatter cross section.
An important element within the plot of this story was devised by Bertram Fletcher Robinson
Bertram Fletcher Robinson
Bertram Fletcher Robinson was an English sportsman, journalist, author and Liberal Unionist Party campaigner. Between 1893 and 1907, he wrote nearly 300 published items including a series of short stories that feature a detective called Addington Peace. However, Robinson is perhaps best remembered...
(1870–1907). Prior to the publication of this story on 31 October 1903, Robinson had also acted as 'assistant plot producer' to The Hound of the Baskervilles
The Hound of the Baskervilles
The Hound of the Baskervilles is the third of four crime novels by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle featuring the detective Sherlock Holmes. Originally serialised in The Strand Magazine from August 1901 to April 1902, it is set largely on Dartmoor in Devon in England's West Country and tells the story of an...
(1901).