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A Scandal in Bohemia

The Kings Mistake

For Sherlock Holmes, there was on ly o n e w o m an i nth e w o r l d . H e d i d no t love her, because he never lovedw o m e n . But af ter thei r meet ing he never forgot her.Her ñam e was Irene A d l e r.

O n e n igh t i n Ma rc h I v i s it ed my o íd f r i end at hishome in Baker Street. I was m arr i ed by no w , so I d i dno t of ten see h im .

'Com e in , W ats on , ' he sa id . 'S i t d o w n . Fm happy tosee you, because I ' ve go t someth ing to show y ou . W ha tdo y o u th ink of this? It arrived i n the last pos t.' It was alet ter, w i t h no date, ñam e or address. I t said :

' To n i g h t someone wi l l visi t y o u , t o ta lk about somevery secret business . Y ou have he lped o ther im po r ta n tpeople, and you can, we hope, help us . Be in your

ro o m a t 7 .45 p .m. ''Th e paper - w ha t do y ou t h ink about the paper?'

asked Holmes .

t r ied to th ink l ike Holmes. ' I t ' s expensive, so th isperson is r i ch . I t 's s trange paper. '

'Yes , i t ' s not Engl ish . I f you look at i t in the l ight,

you can see tha t i t was made in Boh em ia. A n d aG ermán , I t h ink , w ro t e the l et t e r. A h , here comes ou r

A Scandal in ohemia 5

man no w . ' W e cou ld hear the horses in the street.

'Shall I leave, Holmes?' I asked.' N o , no , I need yo ur he lp . Th i s w i l l be in ter es t ing , '

my f r iend answered . There was a knock a t the door.'Com e in ' ca ll ed Holm es .A ta l l , s t rong man carne in to th e r o o m . He was

wear ing expensive clothes, and a mask over his face.

'You can ca l i me Co un t von K r a m m . I come f romBo he m ia, ' he said . 'M y business i s mo st impor tan t .

Before I tell y ou abou t i t , do yo u agree to keep it asecret?

do, ' we said together.

'A ve ry im po r ta n t person , wh o be longs to a royal

fami ly, has sent me to ask fo r you r he lp, ' he we nt on . ' Iwear a mask because n o b o d y m u s t k n o w w h o t h a tperson is . I must explain ho w im po rt an t th is businessis. I f y ou canno t he lp , there w i l l be d iff icu l ty andt rouble f or one of the most im po rta nt famil ies inEurope - and perhaps a very big scandal . I am t a lk ing

abou t the famous House o f Orms te in , Kings o fBo h emi a . '

k n o w, Yo u r Ma j e s t y, ' s a i d H o l mes . H e qu iet lysmoked his c igaret te .

Th e m an j u mp ed u p f r o m h is chai r. 'What ' he cr ied .'H o w d o y o u k n o w who I am? ' Then he pu l l ed themask off h is face and th rew i t on the g ro u n d . 'You a rer igh t . W h y do I h ide i t? I am the K i n g . I am Wi l h e l m

vo n O r m s t e i n , K i n g of Bohemia. I carne to see you







2 Sherlock Holmes Short Stories

And so I helped Godfrey Norton to marry Irene Adler.

A Scandal in Bohemia 21

" T h a n k G o d " h e s h o u te d . Come here q u i c k l y "" W h y ? " I asked. Com e o n , m a n , w e need y o u " A n dso I he lped Go df re y N o r t o n to ma r ry I r ene Ad le r.T h e y needed a witness , and a servant f ro m the street

w as better t h a n nob ody. '

'So she's ma r r i e d h im W h a t sh a ll w e d o now ? ' Iasked.

' We l l , t o n i g h t , m y dear W a t son , I need your he lp .

W i l l you d o w ha t I ask? W i t h o u t questions?'

'O f course, H o lme s , i f y o u th ink tha t i t' s im p o r t a n t , 'answered.

'La te r, w e ' l l go to Br iony Lodge . I r ene Adle r, o rI r e n e N o r t o n , w i l l a r r ive hom e a t seven o'clock, andshe w i l l ask me to go into the house. You mus t w a i t

outside near th e s i t t i ng - r oom w in d o w , a nd w he n i topens, wa tch me ins ide . When I ho ld up my hand ,t h r o w th i s th in g in t o the ro om and shout "F i re " '

too k the sma l l th in g ou t o f h i s ha nd . 'Wh a t i s i t ,Holmes? ' I asked.

' I t ' s a smoke-s t ick . Th e ro om w i l l very quickly be

f u l l o f smoke. Af te r tha t , w a i t fo r me a t the córne r o fthe street.'

'R igh t , r i l d o w ha t yo u w a n t , ' I s a id .



3

Fire

Th a t even ing Holm es aga in wo re d i f fe ren t c lothes , anda large , black h at . But i t was n ot just the clothes tha twere diffe ren t . H e changed his face his ha ir -every th ing . He was a d i f f e ren t man .

W e wa lked toge the r to Se rpen t ine Ave nue . Ou ts idethe house there were a lot of people who weres m o k i n g , laughing and t a l k i n g . H o lme s a n d I w a lk e dup and d o w n in f r on t of the house .

' Yo u see ,' sa id H olm es to me, i t h i n k she doesn'tw a n t he r new husband to see the photograph . But

wh ere is it? A t her bank? N o . Wo m e n l i k e t o keep

i m p o r t a n t thing s themselves. I ' m sure it 's in her hou se. '

'Bu t the King 's men t r ied t o find i t ' I sa id .'Y es, bu t they d i d n ' t kn ow w h e r e t o l oo k ' s a id

H o lme s .

' B u t h o w w i l l you kn ow ? ' I a sked .

w o n ' t look . She ' l l show m e . She ' l l have to . 'Just then a tax i a r r ived . One of the men in the street

ran to open the doo r, then anothe r m an pushed h im .O the r me n w e r e also push ing and shout ing , and a fight

began. I rene N o r t o n was in the m iddle o f i t , bu tSher lock Holmes ran to he lp her. Then suddenly he fell

to t he g r o un d , w i t h b l o o d r u n n i n g d o wn h is face. IreneN o r t o n hur r ied to her f ro n t do or, bu t she looked back.


Then Holmes fell to the ground with blood runningdown his face.

' H o w k i n d o f h i m to he lp me I s the po or man h ur t? 'she called.

'He ' s dead , ' c r ied some voices.

' N o , he 's only h u r t , ' c r ied others .

'B r i n g h im in t o the s i t t in g- roo m , ' she sa id .Some people carr ied Holmes into the house . I waited

outside the w i n d o w and wa tched . I saw how beaut i fu lIrene N o r t o n was. Then Holmes put up his hand, and It h r e w the smoke-s t ick in to the ro om . Imm edia te ly the

people in the street and in the house a l l began to shout'F i re ' ve ry l oud ly. T h e house w as fu l l of smoke. I



4 Sberlock Holmes Short Stories

w a l k e d away, and ten minutes la te r Holmes carne t o

meet me.' We l l done , W a t so n , ' h e s a id .'Have you go t the photograph? ' I a sked .

k n ow w here i t i s . She show ed m e , ' he a nsw ered .

'But w hy d id she show you? '' I t ' s easy, he sa id , and laughed . 'You saw a l l those

people in the street? I pa id them to help us . I t wasn ' t area l fight a nd the b lood w a sn ' t r e a l. W he n p e op leshou t " F i r e " , a w om a n r uns to th e mo s t imp o r t a n t

A young man hurried past us and said: Good night,M r Sherlock Holmes.


t h i n g in her house , he r baby , her g o l d , o r . . . ap h o t o g r a p h . M r s N o r t o n r a n t o find h e r pho tog r a ph ,w h i c h is in a cup board in the s i t t i n g - ro o m. I saw i t . But

d i d n o t ta k e i t . To m o r r o w w e w i l l go to her house

w i t h th e K i n g . W e ' l l go ve ry ea r ly, be fore she gets up .T h e K i n g h imse l f can take the photograph f r o m thec u p b o a r d . A n d th e n w e ' l l go . '

W h i l e H o l m e s w a s t a l k i n g , w e w e r e w a l k i n g h ome

tc> Baker Street. W he n we a r r ive d a t my f r iend ' s house ,a you ng man hu r r ie d pas t us , and sa id : 'G oo d n igh t ,M r S he r loc k H o lme s . '

Tve hea rd tha t vo ice be fore , ' sa id Holmes to me . Hel o o k e d d o w n th e street. 'Bu t w h o was i t? '

4

A Photograph

T h e ne x t d a y w e w e n t t o I r e n e N or ton ' s h ouse , w i t h

th e K i n g . A n o íd se rvan t opened the do or. ' M r

Sher lock Ho lme s? ' she a sked , and smi led .Yes, sa id my f r i e n d . He looked ve ry surpr i sed .

'Mrs Irene N o r t o n and her husband lef t England thisr r io rn ing . T h e y w i l l never come back to th i s count ry. '

'W ha t? ' c r i e d H o lme s , his face w h i t e a nd a ng r y.'A n d w ha t a b o u t t he p h o to g r a ph? ' c r i e d t he K i n g .

W e a l l h u r r i e d i n to th e s i t t i n g - r o o m . H o lm e s r a n t othe cup boa rd and opened i t . Ins ide was a ph otog rap h ,



26 Sherlock Holmes Short Stories

not o f I r ene Adle r and the K i n g , bu t o f the beau t i fu lI rene a lone . There w as also a letter for Sherlock

Holmes . We a l l r ead i t toge the r.

M y dear M r Sherlock H o lme s ,Y ou d i d i t v e ry w e l l . I thought tha t i t was a rea l fire,

and tha t you were just a k i n d o íd man. But af ter Iopened the cupboard , I began to t h i n k . I knew about

the famous Sherlock H o l m e s . I k n e w y o u r address,and I knew tha t the K i n g asked y o u t o find thepho tog r a ph . S o I qu i c k ly dressed a s a young mana nd f o l low e d yo u home to Baker Street. I wanted tofind o u t i f you rea l ly were Sherlock Holmes . I sa id' go od n igh t ' t o you ou t side y o u r doo r

M y husband and I have dec ided to leave E n g la n d .Please tell the K i n g tha t I shal l not show thephotograph to anybody. I love my husband and heloves me. A n d he is a be t ter m an th an the K i n g . Buthere i s a d i f f e r e n t pho to g r a ph . A n d th e K i n g cankeep th i s ph oto gr ap h , i f he l ikes .

I r e n e N o r t o n

'W ha t a w o m a n ' c r i e d t he K i n g . ' W h y d i d n ' t I ma r r yher? W h a t a w o m a n '

'A very, very clever w o m a n , ' s a i d Sherlock H o l m e sc o l d l y. ' I a m so r r y , Yo ur M a je s ty, t ha t t h is business

has not finished we l l . '

' N o , no, ' sa id the K i n g . 'She writes that she wi l lnever show the photograph to anybody. I need no th ing

Scandal in Bohemia 27

7 would like just one thing, Your Majesty. This photograph.

more than he r w o r d . There is no danger for me now.H o w c a n I t ha n k you , dear M r H o l m e s? '

w o u l d l ik e just one t h i n g , Yo u r M a je s ty. '

' Te l l me at once what i t is , ' sa id the K i n g .' T h i s p h o t o g r a p h . 'T h e K i n g looked a t h im in surpr i se . Irene s p h o t o -

graph? ' he cr ied. 'But of course. I t is yours . 'A n d so there was no ter r ible scandal in the roya l

fami l ie s o f Europe . And Sherlock H o l m e s s t i l l has the

p h o t o g r a p h o f t h e w o m a n w h o w a s cleverer than hewas .