The Adventure of the Red Circle

The Adventure of the Red Circle, one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is one of eight stories in the cycle collected as "His Last Bow".

ynopsis

Mrs. Warren, a landlady, comes to 221B Baker Street with some questions about her lodger. A youngish, heavily bearded man, who spoke good English although with a foreign accent, came to her ten days ago and offered her double the rent that she had asked on the condition that he get the room on his own terms. He went out the first night that he was there, and came back after midnight when the rest of the household had gone to bed. Since then, Mrs. Warren has not seen him, nor has her husband or their servant girl. The lodger insisted on having the "Daily Gazette" every morning, and sometimes requested other things. All requests were printed, in single words, on a slip of paper left on a chair outside the room, where meals were also left.

Mrs. Warren has brought some spent matches and a cigarette end from her lodger, hoping that Holmes can read something from them. It is clear that the cigarette has been smoked without a holder, which is quite unusual for a man with whiskers. He also eats very little, and never receives visitors or messages.

After the landlady leaves, Holmes remarks to Dr. Watson that it seems likely that the person in Mrs. Warren’s house is not the bearded man who made the arrangements. The evidence lies not only in the cigarette, but in the fact that the lodger’s knowledge of English is not quite as good as the bearded man’s (he wrote MATCH as one of his requests, for instance, not MATCHES), and in the fact that his “return” on the first night was very late so that no-one would see him. He has also taken great pains to make sure that no-one has seen him since.

Holmes suspects that messages are being sent to the lodger, perhaps in the "Daily Gazette’s" agony column. He finds them: “Will find some sure means of communication. Meanwhile, this column. G.” (only two days after the lodger’s arrival), “Am making successful arrangements. Patience and prudence. The clouds will pass. G.” (three days later), and “The path is clearing. If I find chance signal message remember code agreed–one A, two B, and so on. You will hear soon. G.” (yesterday). Holmes needs only wait one day for a very useful message: “High red house with white stone facings. Third floor. Second window left. After dusk. G.” Holmes decides that it is time to reconnoitre Mrs. Warren’s neighbourhood.

Just then, however, the landlady arrives complaining that her husband was kidnapped by some men that morning, and taken by cab to Hampstead Heath where he was unceremoniously cast onto the roadway. He never got a clear look at his kidnappers or their cab. Holmes realizes that the ruffians mistook Mr. Warren for the lodger, and dumped him after they realized their mistake.

Holmes and Watson go to Mrs. Warren’s house just before lunchtime, hoping to catch a glimpse of the lodger as he takes his lunch from the chair. Before going in, Holmes observes that the lodger’s window commands a good view down Howe Street, and at the other end is a house matching the one mentioned in the agony column.

In Mrs. Warren’s house, Holmes and Watson hide in a boxroom and, using a mirror, see the lodger as she fetches her lunch. Yes, it is a woman. Clearly she has been printing her requests to hide that fact. It is equally clear that she and her bearded confederate, likely a lover or husband, are in some kind of danger and are seeking refuge. From the lodger’s horror at suspecting a trick at lunchtime, and the exceptional precautions that have been taken to ensure secrecy, it must be a matter of life and death.

That evening, Holmes and Watson are on hand to see the lodger’s confederate’s lantern signals. The first message says “Attenta, attenta, attenta!” (Beware, beware, beware!”). It becomes clear that they are Italian, and from the “–a” ending that the message is meant for a woman. The signaller then flashes “Pericolo” (“Danger”) and then “Peri—”

Realizing that the signaller has been interrupted, Holmes and Watson rush to the house and are surprised to meet Inspector Gregson and a Pinkerton detective from the United States named Leverton. They are lying in wait for Giuseppe Gorgiano, a vicious killer of whose infamy Holmes is well aware. The house has only one door and they know that he is inside. Gregson and Leverton have been unaware of the signalled messages. Gregson says that three men have come out of the house, but none was Gorgiano, who is a giant. One, however, matched the description of the man who made the arrangements at Mrs. Warren’s.

Going into the house and to the room where the signalling came from, Holmes, Watson, Gregson, and Leverton discover a grisly scene. The giant Gorgiano has been killed, apparently in a fight. The bearded man is undoubtedly the killer. The lady arriving at the door shortly afterwards is a surprise to everyone but Holmes. He has called for her by signalling “Vieni” (“Come”) out the window.

Her name is Emilia Lucca, and her confederate is Gennaro, her husband. The men are rather taken aback by her obvious joy at this ghastly sight. Yes, the Luccas were seeking refuge from danger in the form of Giuseppe Gorgiano, who was out to kill Gennaro for betraying the Red Circle, a secret criminal organization that he had got himself involved in as a younger man. He and his wife fled Italy and went to New York to escape the Red Circle, but Gorgiano, another member, discovered Gennaro there, and contrived to oblige him to murder a good friend, a man who got him started in business in the USA.

Gennaro had no intention of doing such a thing, and even warned his friend of the Red Circle’s orders. The police were also informed. The Luccas then fled to England where Gorgiano tracked Gennaro down. He died in the ensuing fight, however.

Gregson feels compelled to take Emilia down to the station, and the same fate probably awaits Gennaro, but it seems likely that there will be no charges.

Commentary

Sherlock doesn't consider that there are alphabets with the letters ordered in a different way. He's very lucky, because the alphabet of the Neapolitan dialect contains the same letters as the English alphabet. He would have made a mistake if Gennaro had used the Italian alphabet that does not contain the letters J or K.

Text in Wikisource