A Study in Scarlet (Part Two): Chapter 6 {Sunday Midnight Book Club #8}
Hello, Internet, and good mornight to you all!
My name is Taffryne, shoppekeeper of Midnight on Memory Lane, and it is my absolute delight to welcome you to the first of two posts for this week's gathering of Sunday Midnight Book Club!
'Tis a pleasure, 'tis a pleasure indeed.
As the title of this post says, we're going to be talking about the sixth chapter of part two of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's first-ever Sherlock Holmes story, A Study in Scarlet.
I humbly present my thoughts for your enjoyment and consideration. Accordingly, please mind that there will be spoilers ahead!
Page Bound Link: click here!
Disclaimer: All of the original Sherlock Holmes books were written by a well-off, white gentleman in the late 1800s. Unfortunately, there potentially will be relics of their time, be it terminology or depictions, at varying levels of offensiveness. I mean no disrespect to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, nor his legacy; I merely want to make it clear that they were wrong during his time, they are wrong now, and I am wholeheartedly in no way endorsing them on this blog. Everyone has different levels of acceptability, so please advise and feel no judgement if you'd rather not take the risk yourself this time around.
Trigger Warnings: Deathbed Confessions, Recounting of Murders, Vigilante Justice, Revenge
Chapter 6 ~ A Continuation of the Reminiscences of John Watson, M.D.
Recollection
- Back in the present time at 221B Baker Street, Holmes, Watson, Gregson, and Lestrade take Mr. Jefferson Hope into custody and bring him into the police station
- Hope reveals that he's got an aortic aneurism and would like to give a deathbed testimony about his motivations for the crimes
- Jefferson recounts the story about Utah, and then how he finally cornered them within London while working as a cabbie
- Jefferson had been stalking them with his cab for weeks, just waiting for the right opportunity to strike
- After missing the train to Liverpool, Strangerson and Drebber had separated which allowed Jefferson to trail around a bar-hopping Drebber for the right moment
- Drebber finally got into his cab after being chased about by the prior upset Naval officer and thus his death sentence was sealed
- Jefferson got the poison for the pills from a laboratory at York College (he was briefly their janitor) and devised the safe/unsafe pill exchange
- Jefferson escorted the drunken Drebber to the house and used a copy of the key he made to get in, all the while swearing he could see John and Lucy cheering on his vengeance
- Jefferson makes sure Drebber knows who he is and why he's doing this before making him choose a pill at knife point and showing him Lucy's ring as he dies
- Jefferson wrote "RACHE" after remembering it in a newspaper and wanting to throw the police off his trail
- Jefferson was the stumbling drunk man the policeman saw, but was pretending so he could come back for the wedding ring
- Jefferson tracked down Strangerson's hotel room and intended to play the same pill game with him, but ultimately stabbed Strangerson in self-defense
- Jefferson's day in court is set for that Thursday, with all four gentlemen called to be witnesses
"Who talks of murdering a mad dog? What mercy had you upon my poor darling, when you dragged her from her slaughtered father, and bore her away to your accursed and shameless harem?" (Pg.66)
Holy shit. Just...wow. I cannot in good conscious condone the murder of other people, but I can absolutely recognize and understand the motivations that Jefferson had.
The sheer amount of dedication he had in following these men to every single location is a remarkable thing. Different cities, states, even transcontinental treks. The fact that he had to pick up jobs and outlast imprisonment to stay on their trail. All the while, his health is failing him and he has these pills and ring burning a hole in his pockets.
Based on the text, I feel very confident in saying that he's not going to live to see his trial date on Thursday. I suppose it's rather poetic that he would die right as he's achieved vengeance for his lover and should've-been-father-in-law.
If nothing else, I give him props for not implicating the person who helped him get the ring back. He might be a murderer, but he has a sense of honour. I can respect that bit, at least.
T/N: Don't murder people.
The Questioning Queries
- Do you think Jefferson will see that court date?
- What're your feelings on avenging the death of someone you love? What lengths would you go to, if you had to?
- If you committed a crime, would you turn in your accomplices or would you protect them?
Thanks for Reading!
I hope you've been able to read and experience the story for yourself!
If you haven't seen it yet, that's okay too! My thoughts are here to keep you updated and entertained in the meantime.
That'll be the end of this post, so off into the nighttime I go to publish the next one shortly!
May we always meet at Midnight!