Summary “The Empty House” by Doyle


Three years have passed since the death of Sherlock Holmes. In London, under very mysterious circumstances, the young Count Ronald Adair was killed. Ronald was a fan of the card game and was in several clubs. A month and a half before his death, Ronald paired with Colonel Moran won a large sum.

On that fateful evening he again played with Colonel Moran, but lost a little. Arriving home, Ronald locked himself in his room, where the window was open. Mother and sister were not at home. When they returned and knocked on Ronald, no one responded. Breaking the door, they saw that the young man was dead – his head was shot. On the table lay money and a sheet with the calculation of card wins and losses. No traces were found, no one heard the shot. They could shoot through the window, but it goes to a crowded street, and the killer could not remain unnoticed. The young man had no enemies, and the money and valuables that were in the room remained untouched.

With the help

of the theory of his friend, the great detective Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson tries to solve the riddle. Walking in the park, he accidentally pushes a hunched old man holding several books. Watson helps the old man to pick up the books, but he angrily mutters something to him in return. At home, he finds the same old man who came to apologize for his rudeness. In amazement, Dr. Watson sees that the old man is none other than his friend Sherlock Holmes.

Left alone at the waterfall, Sherlock Holmes met with Professor Moriarty. Using the methods of struggle “baritsu”, the great detective won the duel, having pushed the professor into the abyss. Knowing that next to the accomplices of the professor, Holmes hid, imitating his doom. All this time he was hiding, but returned to investigate the murder of Count Adler.

Holmes leads Watson to an empty house in front of his apartment on Baker Street. Watson sees a man sitting in a chair in the chair, whose outlines resemble a great detective. Holmes reveals the secret: it’s a wax figure made to order. So that there is no doubt that this is a living person,

the mistress of Mrs. Hudson’s apartment periodically changes her position imperceptibly.

A man steals into the house, opens a window and shoots a wax figure from a gun. With the help of Watson and the police, Holmes neutralizes the perpetrator. The prisoner is Colonel Moran, the right hand of the late Professor Moriarty, the owner of a unique silent gun, from which Ronald Adler was shot. Playing in a pair with Moran, the young man discovered that Moran is a sharper. To blame the colonel publicly, Ronald did not dare, and, most likely, threatened him with exposure alone.

The police lead the colonel, who whispers with hatred all the time: “Devil! Sly devil!”.


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Summary “The Empty House” by Doyle