The Adventure of the Three Garridebs
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| "The Adventure of the Three Garridebs" | |
|---|---|
| Author | Arthur Conan Doyle |
| Released | 1924 |
| Series | The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes |
| Client(s) | Nathan Garrideb |
| Set in | June 1902 |
| Villain(s) | James Winter, alias Morecroft, alias Killer Evans |
The Adventure of the Three Garridebs, one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is one of 12 stories in the cycle collected as The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes.
[edit] Synopsis
Holmes receives a letter from Nathan Garrideb of 156 Little Ryder Street asking for help in a most peculiar quest. He is looking for another man with his unusual surname, for it will mean a $5,000,000 inheritance for him. He has been approached by another man, John Garrideb of Kansas, who apparently was delighted at finding an Englishman with the surname, as he had had no luck finding other Garridebs in the United States, and he needs to find a third one to fulfil the requirements of a most unusual will.
The American Garrideb comes to see Holmes and Watson at 221B Baker Street, and is apparently not very pleased that Nathan Garrideb has involved a detective. Garrideb, who claims to be a lawyer, spins a ridiculous story to Holmes about an old man that he met in Kansas named Garrideb who longed to find other Garridebs. Within a year of the meeting, the old man died, and bequeathed his $15,000,000 estate to John Garrideb on the proviso that he find two more Garridebs to share it with equally. He came to England to seek out people with the name, having failed to do so in his own country. He has found one other, Nathan, and now needs a third.
Holmes knows right from the moment that John Garrideb enters the room that something devious is afoot. He can tell from Garrideb's clothing that he has been in England some time, not only the matter of months as Garrideb says. Holmes suggests advertising for other Garridebs in the agony columns. Garrideb says that he has done this, but Holmes knows otherwise, for he reads the columns voraciously. Worse still, Holmes tricks Garrideb by mentioning an imaginary acquaintance from Topeka, the late Doctor Lysander Starr, who was the mayor in 1890. Garrideb replies that his name is still honoured, little realizing that Holmes has just made the name up. Holmes decides against confronting Garrideb with this evidence, but certainly mentions the "rigmarole of lies" to Watson once the American visitor has left.
All of this interests Holmes, and he decides to contact Nathan Garrideb to try and figure out what is going on. Upon arrival at Little Ryder Street, Holmes observes Nathan Garrideb's nameplate outside the house. It has obviously been there for years; so Holmes concludes that Garrideb is at least his true surname; he does not believe it is the American's true identity.
Nathan Garrideb is an elderly eccentric who collects everything from ancient coins to old bones. He is thrilled at the prospect of inheriting $5,000,000, but fears that he cannot find the third Garrideb.
Nathan Garrideb's rooms look like a small museum. He is obviously a serious collector, but has nothing of immense value in his collection. Holmes finds out that John Garrideb has never asked any money of Nathan Garrideb, nor has he suggested any course of action. Nathan Garrideb has no reason, it seems, to believe that things are any other way than John Garrideb has put them to him. This puzzles Holmes.
During Holmes's and Watson's visit to Nathan Garrideb, John Garrideb arrives in a most jolly mood. He has apparently found a third Garrideb, as proof of which he shows a newspaper advertisement purportedly placed by this Howard Garrideb of the Birmingham area in the course of his everyday business. Nathan Garrideb declares this discovery "glorious", but Holmes sees instantly that John Garrideb has placed the advertisement himself. The US spelling "plow" is used instead of "plough", and the Americanism "buckboard" is used. There is also a reference to Artesian wells, which are not very common in England, but somewhat more so in Kansas.
Despite Nathan Garrideb's objections — for he is a man who very seldom goes out, much less travels — John Garrideb insists that Nathan go to Birmingham and meet this Howard Garrideb. It has now become clear to Holmes what the "rigmarole of lies" is all about. John Garrideb wants Nathan Garrideb to be out of his rooms for a while so that he can come in and take something, but what is it? This is not at all an elementary case for Holmes, and he is still somewhat puzzled.
The next day, however, brings fresh information. Holmes goes to see his unimaginative rival Inspector Lestrade at Scotland Yard, and is shown a series of photographs. One of these is unmistakably John Garrideb. His true identity is James Winter, alias Morecroft, alias "Killer" Evans, who earned the last nickname for having done time for shooting a man. He escaped the noose owing to mitigating circumstances. The man that he killed was Rodger Prescott, a forger from Chicago whose description matches that of a Mr. Waldron, the former occupant of Nathan Garrideb's current address some six years ago.
Holmes knows now that the case involves not only deceit, but real danger. Nathan Garrideb has now departed for Birmingham after having advised the caretaker to let Holmes and Watson in when they arrive. The latter arrive at Garrideb's address armed with revolvers.
They do not have to wait long before "Killer" Evans shows up. From their hiding place, Holmes and Watson see the criminal move a table aside, pull a carpet back, and use a "jemmy" (nowadays more often called a "jimmy") to open a trapdoor revealing a little cellar. He climbs in, and Holmes and Watson choose this moment to pounce on their man. He hears them coming, and despite seeing two revolvers pointed at him, he reaches for his own gun and fires two shots, striking Watson in the leg. Holmes pistol-whips "Killer" Evans to disarm him.
For once, Holmes shows his human side; he is quite distraught for a short while about Watson's being wounded, but the wound is only superficial.
The little cellar contains a printing press and stacks of counterfeit banknotes, hidden there by Rodger Prescott, the man that "Killer" Evans killed.
James Winter, or "Killer" Evans, goes back to prison. Nathan Garrideb, sadly, ends up in a nursing home, such is the blow of the disappointment that he suffers when his dream collapses, but many CID men are pleased that Prescott's equipment has at last been found, as the master counterfeiter could have wrought untold havoc.
This story seems to have "recycled" the main plot elements of "The Red-Headed League", one of the earliest Holmes stories. In both, Holmes' client is a naive man who seems about to get a windfall due to the bequest of an eccentric American millionaire, and in both Holmes discovers that the millionaire is a fiction concocted by a criminal who wants to lure the client away from his home.
[edit] Trivia
According to Dr. Watson's opening narration, this story is set at "the latter end of June, 1902 ... the same month that Holmes refused a knighthood for services which may perhaps some day be described." Sadly, they never were.
Jeremy Brett was taken ill during the production of the Granada Television adaptation of this story (which was also a conflation of "The Adventure of the Three Garridebs" and "The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone" and transmitted under the latter title) and so Holmes' role in the plot was taken by Mycroft Holmes with Charles Gray called in at short notice to reprise his role as Sherlock's older brother.
