The Boscombe Valley Mystery

Holmes clears a son accused of killing his father beside Boscombe Pool.

The Boscombe Valley Mystery is the fourth of the twelve stories in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle, first published in the Strand Magazine in October 1891.

Quick Facts

Author: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Country: United Kingdom
Language: English
Series: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Genre: Detective fiction short stories
Published in: Strand Magazine
Published: October 1891
Preceded by: A Case of Identity

Facts from the source article.

Background

In Herefordshire, Charles McCarthy is found dead near Boscombe Pool, and his son James is arrested for murder after witnesses saw him follow his father into the woods with a gun. Alice Turner, daughter of the landowner John Turner, believes James is innocent and asks Inspector Lestrade for help, who brings in Holmes.

James says his father called out "Cooee" and that his last words were something about "a rat". By the pool Holmes finds signs of another man and deduces that the killer is left-handed, tall, has a limp and smokes cigars. He tells Watson that Cooee is an Australian cry and that "a rat" was the end of "Ballarat".

John Turner then enters with a limp and confesses that he was a member of the Ballarat Gang, a group of bushrangers in Australia. Charles had tracked him down and threatened to blackmail him, and eventually demanded the marriage of James and Alice. Holmes keeps the confession secret unless it is needed, James is acquitted, and Turner dies seven months later.