Holiday read: The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes

This story is cleverly written because you try to second guess where it is going and then the twist takes you by surprise and of course only Holmes is the one who sees it coming.

Highlights fromThe Stockbroker’s Clerk
A man is made redundant from a clerk’s position at a stock broking firm and then after almost running out of money gets a lucky break and gets employed at a reputable company in the City. Just before he is about to start his job someone comes round and tells him not to take the job because he comes highly recommended and they want to offer him more than double the salary. A £100 note is handed over and the young man can not quite believe it so accepts the position helping run a hardware importing company in Birmingham.

But after several days of just going through the Paris phone book looking for suppliers he becomes suspicious and calls on Sherlock Holmes who travels up to Birmingham to visit his odd employer. As Holmes and Watson wait in a room the employer tries to hang himself and then directs them to read the paper. It reveals that his brother taking the identity of the clerk had started at the City form and used his position to kill the watchman and rob the safe but he had been caught. All becomes clear and the police are sent for to arrest the other brother.

More tomorrow…