Showing results for "The Adventure of the Dancing Men" in Classics

The Adventure of the Dancing Men, a Sherlock Holmes story written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is one of 13 stories in the cycle published as The Return of Sherlock Holmes in 1905. Doyle ranked The Adventure of the Dancing Men third in his list of his twelve favorite Holmes stories. This is one of only two Sherlock Holmes short stories where Holmes' client dies after seeking his help. The other is The Five Orange Pips, part of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. The original title was The Dancing Men, when it was published as a short story in The Strand Magazine in December 1903.

A Norfolk country squire from a reputable family hires Holmes to help him learn who has been sending him weird encoded messages, in the form of dancing stick figures, that are disturbing his wife. Upon collecting enough of the messages, Holmes cracks the code. He returns to Norfolk to present his findings only to find that his client has been met with tragedy. Using forensic science and his inimitable powers of deduction, Holmes is able to assist the Norfolk authorities and identify the criminal.

Hilton Cubitt visits Sherlock Holmes to show him a sheet of paper with a weird sequence of drawn figures. When these odd messages began to arrive at Cubitt’s house, fear and panic overwhelmed his wife Elsie. She is afraid her past is catching up with her, but she refuses to reveal anything about it. Holmes is tasked with decipher the messages and find out who is sending them.