The Valley of Fear

The Valley of Fear
Dust-jacket illustration for The Valley of Fear
Author(s)	Arthur Conan Doyle
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Series	Sherlock Holmes
Genre(s)	Detective novel
Publisher	George H. Doran Company
Publication date	1915
Media type	Print (Hardback)
ISBN	NA
Preceded by	The Return of Sherlock Holmes
Followed by	His Last Bow

The Valley of Fear is the fourth and final Sherlock Holmes novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It is based on the real-life exploits^{[citation needed]}of the Molly Maguires and Pinkerton agent James McParland. The story was first published in the Strand Magazine between September 1914 and May 1915, and the first book edition was published in New York on 27 February 1915.

Plot

Part I: The Tragedy of Birlstone

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson receive a letter from an informant known by the pseudonym Fred Porlock. Porlock is part of Professor Moriarty's criminal organization. The letter is written in a numeric code, and Holmes realises that the numbers refer to words in a book, by page and column. They decode the letter (finding the book in question to be Whitaker's Almanack), which warns that John Douglas of Birlstone House is about to be murdered.

After they have deciphered the message, Inspector MacDonald of Scotland Yard comes to consult Holmes. MacDonald is astonished when he sees the message, because it has pre-empted his news: a man called John Douglas has indeed been mysteriously killed in Sussex. MacDonald demands to know the true identity of the informant who predicted the crime, but Holmes does not know it, because he promised not to try and find out who 'Porlock' really is. Holmes can only tell MacDonald that the informant works for Professor Moriarty.

MacDonald, Holmes and Watson go to the Birlstone Manor House in Sussex, working with Scotland Yard and beginning their investigation along with Inspector White Mason and other officers from the local police force. At least five people were in the house at the time of the murder. John Douglas, Ivy Douglas (his wife), Ames (a butler), Cecil Barker (a friend) and Mrs Allen (a servant). Cecil Barker is an old friend of Douglas and had been intending to stay at Birlstone House for a few months on holiday. He had met Douglas in America many years before and become his mining partner as well as his friend.

The house is surrounded by a moat that is fed from a nearby stream. The moat is wide but only two or three feet deep, so no one can really swim (or drown) in it. The house has a drawbridge, which is lowered every morning and raised every night. Barker tells the detectives that Douglas locked all of the windows in the house every night, and that he felt safer when the drawbridge was raised. It is concluded that the murderer walked across the drawbridge and hid close to the house before it was raised. The murderer could not have entered the house after 6:30 pm, since at that time the drawbridge was up.

Douglas's body can only be identified by a strange brand on his arm, a circle with a triangle inside it. He has been shot in the head with a sawed-off shotgun, at close range, ruining his face and head. The investigators soon learn from Barker that Douglas' wedding ring is missing. It stayed on the same finger, under the nugget-ring he wore, which was found intact on the body. That means the assassin removed both rings, and stole one while replacing the other. The assassin also left a card reading "VV 341".

They find a footprint imprinted in blood on the window sill, suggesting that the assassin jumped through the window and waded across the moat to freedom, but they can find no tracks, nor has anyone spotted a wet man wandering nearby. A bicycle and bag are also discovered, connected to a man staying at a nearby hotel, whose physical description is similar to that of the victim. However, this man left no trace of his identity at the hotel. After a short while, Holmes discovers that one of Douglas' dumbbells is also missing, suggesting the killer might have taken it. Holmes wants to find the dumbbell, so that afternoon he borrows Watson's large umbrella, sits on the window sill and fishes around in the moat. He finds the dumbbell, which had been used to weigh down a bundle of clothes. He puts it back in the moat where he found it. He then tells MacDonald to write a note to Barker, advising that the moat will be drained to search for evidence. MacDonald says this would be physically impossible, but sends the note nonetheless.

That night, MacDonald, White Mason, Holmes and Watson hide in some bushes near the manor. When everyone goes to bed, they see a light go on in the study where Douglas was killed. Shortly after, they see a man grabbing the bundle from the moat. They charge into the house and into the study, and find Cecil Barker with the bundle. MacDonald accuses him of murdering Douglas, but he denies it. Then Mrs Douglas comes in and says that she is prepared to tell all. She crosses to the fireplace, presses a button, and it opens up. A man steps out, and introduces himself as John Douglas.

Douglas explains that the intruder was the one who was shot. The intruder carried the same brand as Douglas. He says that he became a member of a gang in Vermissa Valley, under a different name. To join this gang, one's arm had to be branded, which explains why Douglas and the intruder had the same brand. This gang member, Ted Baldwin, had come to England to kill Douglas. Douglas had seen Baldwin in the village on the day he broke into the house, and became very scared. When he saw Baldwin in the study, he picked up a hammer to defend himself against Baldwin's initial weapon of a knife. He struck Baldwin on the arm and made him drop the knife, and Baldwin drew the shotgun, which Douglas grabbed hold of to prevent it from being pointed at him. In the ensuing struggle, the gun went off—Douglas admitted that he wasn't sure if he pulled the trigger or if the abuse the gun was being subjected to made it fire. In either case, though, the barrels were under Baldwin's chin, causing massive wounds to the head and face and instant death.

Douglas and Baldwin had an extremely similar build, height, and hair color, meaning that with the shotgun-inflicted damage to Baldwin's face, his corpse could pass for Douglas's own. Douglas saw a chance to fake his death and throw his pursuers off his trail once and for all. Barker came to help Douglas change Baldwin into his clothes, so that it seems Douglas himself was killed. Baldwin's clothes were wrapped up in a bundle, weighted with the dumbbell, and thrown into the moat. The only three who knew about this are Douglas, Barker and Mrs Douglas. They keep quiet until they are discovered. Douglas presents some handwritten notes to Watson, which tell his backstory in America. Holmes assures Douglas that English law is just, and he will be treated fairly. Holmes tells Mr and Mrs Douglas that they are still in danger and must be on their guard. Watson then speaks directly to the reader, promising that, after Douglas's story is told, we can all return to the rooms at Baker Street. With that, the reader is introduced to Part 2 (much in the same way as A Study in Scarlet).

Part II: The Scowrers

This story begins 4 February 1875, on a train approaching the coal-and-iron-ore-mining region of Vermissa Valley. The narrator instructs the reader to look at a young man seated by himself ("Take a good look at him; for he is worth it"), who can be recognized as the younger John Douglas by his shrewd, humorous gray eyes. He carries a large navy revolver, which catches the attention of another passenger, Mike Scanlan. The young man introduces himself as John McMurdo, and remarks that he is from Chicago, and a member of the Ancient Order of Freemen. Scanlan verifies that he is a Brother of the Order, then identifies himself as a Brother from Lodge 341 in Vermissa Valley.

McMurdo is soon shown to have a hot and violent temper, as he argues with a couple of policemen on the train. Before he even reaches Vermissa, he already has a reputation. Scanlan recommends that McMurdo go to old Jacob Shafter's boarding house, and to see Bodymaster McGinty as soon as possible once he reaches the town. McMurdo meets and soon falls in love with Ettie Shafter, Jacob's daughter, who is promised to another Freeman, Ted Baldwin. Ettie returns McMurdo's feelings, but she and her father are too afraid of the consequences if she spurns Baldwin.

McMurdo later visits Bodymaster McGinty, and claims that he made counterfeit money before killing his partner and coming to the coal mine region. McGinty thinks that McMurdo's skill will be of use and keeps him. McGinty decides that Ettie could choose who she likes, as both Baldwin and McMurdo are Freemen. McMurdo joins the Order in a ceremony later, and gets involved in several criminal activities. During the period, Ettie becomes worried, and McMurdo asks her to give him six months.

One day, a fellow of the Order gets the information that Pinkerton National Detective Agency is sending detective Birdy Edwards to investigate their criminal organization. McMurdo says that he knew this Birdy Edwards, and suggests that McGinty, Baldwin, and five other important members of the group wait in McMurdo's house, while he will lure Birdy Edwards there as a trap. On that day, while those seven people waiting in the bedroom for the signal to rush out to catch Birdy Edwards, McMurdo walks in, and announced that he is Birdy Edwards, while telling those criminals that they were surrounded by policemen.

Later, after trials, McGinty is sentenced to death, but Baldwin and a few others were jailed for terms. Birdy Edwards leaves Vermissa Valley with Ettie and gets married in Chicago. After being the target of several failed assassinations, he changes his name to John Douglas and goes to California, where he makes a fortune, loses his wife to a deadly illness, and makes friends with Cecil Barker. As Baldwin and the others are still trying to kill him for revenge, he leaves for England, where he marries his second wife. Holmes warns them that the coming danger was bigger than the past, as Moriarty is involved. He suggests to Douglas that he leave England.

Epilogue

In the epilogue, Holmes receives a note slipped into his letter box simply stating 'Dear me Mr Holmes. Dear me!'. Barker then arrives at 221B with the news that Douglas has been killed. He and his wife had departed on a trip to South Africa three weeks prior, and now Barker has received a telegram from Mrs. Douglas. She says that Douglas has been lost overboard in a gale off St Helena, but nobody knows how it happened. Holmes believes that Moriarty had Douglas killed, because Moriarty did not want it to look as if he had failed. Barker asks if Moriarty will ever pay for his crime. Holmes says that he will, but justice will be long delayed.

Professor Moriarty

The Valley of Fear, notable for Professor Moriarty's involvement, is set before "The Final Problem", the short story in which Moriarty was introduced. This introduces a logical difficulty, as in The Final Problem Dr. Watson has never heard of Moriarty, whereas by the end of The Valley Of Fear he is, or should be, familiar with his name and character. The "Moriarty" element in the story is tied into the fate of the informer in the story. It ties the Molly Maguire background to another event of that period: the murder of James Carey, an informer who was shot onboard a ship off the coast of Natal, South Africa in 1883 by Patrick O'Donnell, an Irish republican who had relatives in the Mollies and briefly visited the Pennsylvania coal mining district, supposedly looking for the suspected informer among them.^{[citation needed]}

Adaptations

Among the few film adaptations are the 1916 silent film The Valley of Fear starring H.A. Saintsbury and Booth Conway, the 1935 British film The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes, starring Arthur Wontner as Holmes and Ian Fleming as Watson, and the 1984 animated film Sherlock Holmes and the Valley of Fear, starring Peter O'Toole as the voice of Holmes. The story was also adapted for an episode of the 1954 television series Sherlock Holmes starring Ronald Howard as Holmes and Howard Marion Crawford as Watson. The episode is titled "The Case of the Pennsylvania Gun". The 1962 film Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace was intended to be an adaptation of The Valley of Fear, but only minor elements of the story remained in the final film.

See also

• Person from Porlock
• Pinkerton National Detective Agency
• Freemasonry

External links

• The Valley of Fear at Project Gutenberg
• The Valley of Fear, online at Ye Olde Library