Holmes and Watson unravel a mystery so exotic it stretches to the very ends of the British Empire
After months without a case, the worldâs greatest detective is aimless, his only stimulation the daily injection of his drug of choice. âWhich is it to-day?â asks a disapproving Watsonââmorphine or cocaine?â For a mind as finely tuned as Holmesâs, the dull routine of existence will not suffice.
Thankfully for Holmesâs health and Watsonâs anxiety levels, a beautiful young woman soon calls at 221B Baker Street. Ten years ago, Mary Morstanâs father, a captain of the 34th Bombay Infantry, disappeared from a London hotel. Four years thereafter, Mary began to receive large, lustrous pearls in the mailâone per year, always delivered on May 4. Now, six pearls later, Mary is finally about to meet her anonymous benefactor and asks Holmes and Watson to accompany her for safetyâs sake. The crime they uncoverâin which a royal treasure, a diabolical double cross, and a man-eating crocodile all play a partâis one of the most thrilling tales Arthur Conan Doyle ever wrote, and a crucial chapter in the Sherlock Holmes saga.