A Study in Scarlet: Part 1, Chapter 7 Summary & Analysis

Watson, Holmes, and Gregson are shocked at the news of Stangerson’s death. Holmes requests Lestrade’s account of his investigations, and the detective obliges, admitting that he had thought Stangerson was the murderer. With little success, Lestrade had spent the entirety of the previous day inquiring into Stangerson’s whereabouts between his meeting with Drebber at the train station and the time of Drebber’s murder. Lestrade ascertained that Stangerson was staying at Halliday’s Private Hotel. Wanting to catch Stangerson off guard, Lestrade went up to his hotel room—only to discover blood pooling out from behind Stangerson’s door. With the help of some men, Lestrade broke down the door and found Stangerson’s dead body on the floor next to an open window. Stangerson had been stabbed in the heart and above him was written the word “RACHE” in blood.

Lestrade tells the others that the culprit had been seen by a milk boy, who described the man as tall with a reddish face and a brown coat. Like Drebber, nothing had been stolen from Stangerson after his death. Stangerson carried no papers except a telegram saying “J. H. is in Europe.” At Holmes’ prompting, Lestrade lists other objects in the room: a novel on the bed, a pipe on the chair, a glass of water on the table, and a box of pills on the windowsill. Though Lestrade believes these are unimportant details, Holmes springs up and triumphantly announces that he has found “the last link…My case is complete.”

Claiming he will prove his solution to the case, Holmes asks Lestrade for the pills, which the detective happened to collect at the crime scene. Holmes turns to Watson, asking if the light-colored and translucent pills are ordinary, to which Watson responds that they are likely water-soluble. At Holmes’ request, Watson fetches the landlady’s sick terrier—which he was supposed to euthanize the day before—and Holmes cuts one of the pills in half, dissolves a half into a mixture of milk and wine, and feeds it to the dog. The men watch the dog silently and expectantly, but nothing happens. Minutes pass by, and Holmes appears chagrined while Lestrade and Gregson are smug.

Holmes almost begins to doubt himself, but then “with a perfect shriek of delight” he cuts the other pill in half, dissolves it into some milk, and feeds it to the dog, who immediately dies. Relieved that his reasoning was correct, Holmes declares that one of the pills was poisonous and the other harmless. He launches into a speech explaining why the detectives have failed to solve the case, but is interrupted by Gregson, who demands to know the identity of the murderer. Though Lestrade and Watson also urge him to reveal his findings about the murderer, Holmes is reluctant, as he is close to catching the man and doesn’t want Lestrade or Gregson to ruin the set-up.

At that moment, someone knocks at the door. It is Wiggins, leader of the “street Arabs,” who announces to Holmes that he has the cab downstairs. Holmes tells Wiggins to ask the cab driver to help him with his boxes. Under the pretense of requesting the driver’s assistance with his luggage, Holmes manipulates the driver into bending down, allowing the consulting detective to put handcuffs around his wrists. Holmes introduces the man to the room as “Mr. Jefferson Hope, the murderer of Enoch Drebber and of Joseph Stangerson.” Hope frees himself from Holmes and attempts to throw himself out the window, but Gregson, Lestrade, and Holmes drag him back. Holmes declares that they will take the man’s cab to Scotland Yard and that he will answer any questions about his investigations into the case.