The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Part 2 of 24
The Sleepy Bookshelf
Elizabeth continues reading 'A Scandal in Bohemia' from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, following Holmes as he investigates the King of B
Key takeaways
- Irene Adler outsmarts even Sherlock Holmes through wit, foresight, and strategic deception.
Main topics
- Sherlock Holmes's detective work
- Irene Adler as a formidable opponent
Notable quotes
"What a woman! Oh, what a woman!"
Conclusion
Despite his brilliance, Holmes is outmaneuvered by Irene Adler, who use
Transcript preview
Speaker 3 (0:01) Good evening, and welcome to the Sleepy Bookshelf, where we put down our worries from the day and pick up a good book. I'm your host, Elizabeth. Speaker 2 (0:17) Thank you for joining us tonight. This evening will be continuing a Speaker 3 (0:24) scandal in Bohemia from the adventures of Sherlock Holmes. But before we do... Let's take a moment to settle in for the night. Let your body soften into the bed, supported and safe. Notice your breath moving gently in and out. And with each exhale, release a little more of today. With every inhale, welcome a quiet sense of ease. Rest here for a moment. Speaker 3 (1:24) and just allow sleep to come when it's ready. Last time, Dr. Watson had found himself passing his old rooms in Baker Street, having moved out with his new wife, and not heard from his old friend for some time. So he stopped to visit Sherlock Holmes, who was newly absorbed in a new mystery. Speaker 3 (1:58) Holmes had received an anonymous letter from a wealthy visitor who soon revealed himself to be the King of Bohemia. Years earlier, the King had been involved with the celebrated American singer Irene Adler, and she still possessed a photograph of the two of them together. With the King about to marry a Scandinavian princess, Speaker 3 (2:28) Irene had threatened to use the photograph to expose their former relationship and ruin the match. The king had already tried repeatedly to recover the photograph, but every attempt had failed. Confident that there was still time before the king's engagement was announced, Holmes accepted the case and asked Watson to return the following afternoon, when he intended to begin investigating the remarkable woman who had so successfully resisted the King's efforts. And that is where we pick up tonight. So, just lie back and relax, as I turn to the next pages of A Scandal in Bohemia. Speaker 3 (3:44) Chapter 2 At three o'clock precisely I was at Baker Street, but Holmes had not yet returned. The landlady informed me that he had left the house shortly after eight o'clock in the morning. I sat down beside the fire, however, with the intention of awaiting him, however long he might be. Speaker 3 (4:13) I was already deeply interested in his inquiry, for, though it was surrounded by none of the grim and strange features which were associated with the two crimes which I have already recorded, still the nature of the case and the exalted station of his client gave it a character of its own. Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation, which my friend had on hand, There was something in his masterly grasp of a situation, and his keen, incisive reasoning, which made it a pleasure to me to study his system of work, and to follow the quick, subtle methods by which he disentangled the most inextricable mysteries. Speaker 3 (5:08) So accustomed was I to his invariable success that the very possibility of his failing had ceased to enter into my head. It was close upon four before the door opened, and a drunken-looking groom, ill-kempt and side-whiskered, with an inflamed face and disreputable clothes, walked into the room. Speaker 3 (5:38) Accustomed as I was to my friend's amazing powers in the use of disguises, I had to look three times before I was certain that it was indeed he. With a nod, he vanished into the bedroom. Whence he emerged in five minutes, tweed suited and respectable as of old. Speaker 3 (6:01) Putting his hands into his pockets, he stretched out his legs in front of the fire and laughed heartily for some minutes. Well, really, he cried and then choked and laughed again until he was obliged to lie back, limp and helpless in the chair. Speaker 3 (6:28) What is it? Speaker 2 (6:30) It's quite too funny. Speaker 3 (6:33) I'm sure you could never guess how I employed my morning. Or what I ended by doing. I can't imagine. I suppose that you've been watching The Habits and perhaps The House of Miss Irene Adler? Quite so. But the sequel was rather unusual. I will tell you, however, I left the house a little after eight o'clock this morning in the character of a groom out of work. There is a wonderful sympathy and free masonry among horsey men. Be one of them, and you will know all that there is to know. I soon found Bryony Lodge. It is a bijou villa with a garden at the back, but built out in front, right up to the road, two storeys. Chub lock to the door, large sitting room on the right side, well furnished, with long windows almost to the floor and those preposterous English window fasteners which a child could open. Speaker 3 (7:43) Behind, there was nothing remarkable, save that the passage window could be reached from the top of the coach house. I walked round it, and examined it closely from every point of view, but without noting anything else of interest. I then lounged down the street and found, as I expected, that there was a muse in a lane which runs down by one wall of the garden. I lent the Ostlers a hand in rubbing down their horses, and received in exchange two pence, a glass of half-and-half, two fills of shag tobacco, and as much information as I could desire about Miss Adler. To say nothing of half a dozen other people in the neighbourhood in whom I was not in the least interested, but whose biographies I was compelled to listen to. And what of Irene Adler? I asked. Speaker 3 (8:42) Oh, she has turned all the men's heads down in that part. She's the daintiest thing under a bonnet on this planet. So say the serpentine muse to a man. She lives quietly, sings at concerts, drives out at five every day, and returns at seven sharp for dinner. Seldom goes out at other times except when she sings. Has only one male visitor, but a good deal of him. He is dark, handsome, and dashing. Never calls less than once a day, and often twice. He is a Mr. Godfrey Norton of the Inner Temple. See the advantages of a cabman as a confidant. They had driven him home more than a dozen times from Serpentine Muse, and knew all about him. When I had listened to all they had to tell, I began to walk up and down near Briony Lodge once more and to think over my plan of campaign. This Godfrey Norton was evidently an important factor in the matter. He was a lawyer. That sounded ominous. What was the relation between them and what the object of his repeated visits? Was she his client, his friend, or his mistress? If the former, she had probably transferred the photograph to his keeping. If the latter, it was less likely. On the issue of this question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony Lodge or turn my attention to the gentleman's chambers in the temple. It was a delicate point, and it widened the feel of my inquiry. Speaker 3 (10:41) I feel that I bore you with these details, but I have to let you know my little difficulties if you are to understand the situation. I'm following you closely, I answered. I was still balancing the matter in my mind when a handsome cab drove up to Briny Lodge and a gentleman sprang out. He was a remarkably handsome man. Dark, aquiline and mustached. Evidently the man of whom I had heard. He appeared to be in a great hurry, shouted to the cabman to wait, and brushed past the maid who opened the door with the air of a man who was thoroughly at home. He was in the house about half an hour, and I could catch glimpses of him in the windows of the sitting room, pacing up and down, talking excitedly, and waving his arms. Of her, I could see nothing. Speaker 3 (11:41) Presently, he emerged, looking even more flurried than before. As he stepped up to the cab, he pulled a gold watch from his pocket and looked at