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[Stumbo]

I had read the Holmes short stories and The Hound of the Baskervilles as a kid, but none of the other novels (despite having purchased a cheap complete edition, at some point). A few weeks ago, someone mentioned The Sign of Four in a tsunami-related discussion (re: the Andaman islands), so I decided to check it out.

It was a decent read. The story starts off with Holmes mainlining coke out of sheer boredom; but soon enough, a beautiful client appears, providing him with an interesting case and Dr. Watson with an object of affection. (The romantic subplot isn't given in much detail, and therefore seems stilted; but fleshing it out more would've probably overshadowed the main plot.) The usual stuff follows: Holmes deducing someone's entire biography from examining an object from his personal effects; the arrogant incompetence of an official detective; and so on.

I didn't quite figure out why Small, after making such a huge deal of his loyalty to his "three comrades" Singh, Khan, and Akbar -- to the point of refusing Sholto and Morstan's offer of freedom and riches, unless they too were included -- abandons them seemingly without a thought following Sholto's double-cross, and escapes all by himself. (Nor why he would feel so righteously indignant towards Sholto -- after all, he and his comrades had obtained the treasure by even nastier means, in the first place; Sholto, at least, didn't kill anybody for it.)

I did, however, discover that -- after all these years -- I still giggle like a schoolboy upon reading sentences like,

"Simple!" I ejaculated.

After a few setbacks, the culprit is of course apprehended. The inevitable conclusion:

"The division seems rather unfair," I remarked. "You have done all the work in this business. I get a wife out of it, Jones gets the credit, pray what remains for you?"

"For me," said Sherlock Holmes, "there still remains the cocaine-bottle." And he stretched his long white hand up for it.