The Adventure of the Naval Treaty”, one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is one of 12 stories in the cycle collected as The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. It was first published in The Strand Magazine in the United Kingdom in October and November 1893, and in Harper’s Weekly in the United States on 14 and 21 October 1893.
Doyle ranked “The Adventure of the Naval Treaty” 19th in a list of his 19 favourite Sherlock Holmes stories.
The Memoires of Sherlock Holmes | Conan Doyle | detective stories | Sherlock Holmes | mysteries | Crime fiction | Murder mystery | Victorian detective | Psychological thriller | Short stories
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Plot
Percy Phelps, a young Foreign Office employee from Woking, sends a letter to Dr. Watson, a former schoolfellow of his. Phelps indicates something has caused him a nine-week attack of “brain fever”; now that he has recovered, he begs Watson to bring Holmes to his aid. Holmes views the letter, and deduces that it was dictated to, and written by, a woman. He accompanies Watson to Briarbrae, Phelps’ house. There, they are greeted by Joseph Harrison, the brother of Phelps’ fiancée Annie (the author of the letter). Joseph shows them in to see Phelps, who is still recovering from his long illness and being nursed by Annie.
Phelps lays the case before Holmes. Two months earlier, his uncle and superior in the Foreign Office, Lord Holdhurst, had ordered him to copy an important naval treaty between England and Italy. The treaty was to be kept secret, for many foreign governments would want to read it. Phelps told no one of this assignment, and waited until the building was empty except for Tangey, the commissionaire, and his wife, who did the charring. Phelps then copied the papers as quickly as he could but it soon became apparent the task would take most of the night.
Phelps rang the bell for some coffee. Mrs. Tangey took the order to her husband; much later, Phelps came downstairs to investigate why he had not received his coffee, and found Tangey had fallen asleep. The bell to Phelps’ office rang; realizing someone was in the room, Phelps dashed back upstairs and found the naval treaty gone. There were no hiding places, and no one could have passed Phelps on the front stair, so the thief must have come and gone by the back stair. Phelps, a constable, and Inspector Forbes of Scotland Yard frantically searched for the thief without success. Phelps had a nervous breakdown, and was escorted back to Briarbrae. As Joseph’s bedroom was best suited for a sickroom, Joseph had been forced out of it by the doctor. Percy has remained there and nursed by Annie by day and a hired nurse by night…..
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