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The Adventure of the Retired Colourman
The Complete Sherlock Holmes
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The Complete Sherlock Holmes - The Adventure of the Retired Colourman
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The Adventure of the Retired Colourman (The Case-book of Sherlock Holmes)
Discussion Questions
1) What was it that piqued Holmes’ interest in a case he previously thought was “absurdly simple?”
2) Why do you think Mr. Amberley would fabricate a limp?
3) What was Mr. Amberley’s reasoning for sending a false telegram to a man he knew wouldn’t be able to explain its existence? Was he being foolish, brazen, or something else?
4) Holmes says about Mr. Amberley, “Like all misers, he was a jealous man, and his jealousy became a frantic mania.” Based on this assessment of Mr. Amberly’s character, do you think Dr. Ernest and Mrs. Amberley would have met the same fate even if they weren’t having an affair?
5) Did you ever suspect that Mr. Amberley may have been involved in the disappearance of his wife and her lover? When and why?
6) Mr. Amberley took several steps to cover his tracks that resulted in others coming close to the truth. Do you think he was being cocky?
This was a chiller with suspicions falling on the miserly old man straight from the start. Experience has shown us that the disappearance of a wife/husband etc. has often led to suspicious remains being found buried under a concrete patio etc. in the garden, so the outcome was no real surprise.
The young doctor paid a terrible price for his games of chess and attentions towards the young wife.
https://gazetteer.sherlock-holmes.org...
Agreed, the plot wasn't much of a surprise here, though ghoulish indeed. It was enjoyable though watching poor Watson being sent to the end of the line with a miserly murderer just to get him out of the way.I thought a master touch would have been to have Mr Amberley actually attend the theatre without his wife, while she and her lover were dying in the room. That would have been even more ghoulish. Of course, as a miser, the real clue was that Mr Amberley bought theatre tickets at all!
The Adventure of the Retired Colourman (The Case-book of Sherlock Holmes)
Availability The Case-book of Sherlock Holmes: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/69700
Background Information
"The Adventure of the Retired Colourman", 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.
Publication History
"The Adventure of the Retired Colourman" was first published in the US in Liberty in December 1926. It was published in the UK in The Strand Magazine in January 1927. The story was published with four illustrations by Frederic Dorr Steele in Liberty, and with five illustrations by Frank Wiles in the Strand. It was included in The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes.
A Short Summary
"The Adventure of the Retired Colourman" is a classic Sherlock Holmes story where Dr. Watson is tasked with investigating the case of Josiah Amberley, a retired colourman, who claims his wife and her lover have disappeared with his money. Holmes, initially too busy with another case, sends Watson to observe, and Watson, despite his awareness of the case's complexity, gathers clues about Amberley's actions and suspicions. The story unfolds as Holmes, using his deductive reasoning, reveals (view spoiler)[ Amberley's elaborate scheme and uncovers the truth: he murdered his wife and her lover, hiding their bodies in a secret gas chamber in his house. (hide spoiler)]