The Red-Headed League (Arthur Conan Doyle) — graded reader B1–B2

The Red-Headed League

A graded reader · Arthur Conan Doyle · B1–B2

Warm-up

• Do you enjoy detective stories or crime series? Which is your favourite?

• Have you ever seen a job advert that looked too good to be true?

• Are you good at noticing small details? Give an example.

• If you earned a little extra money every week, what would you do with it?

The author and the book

Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930)

Arthur Conan Doyle was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1859. He studied medicine there, and one of his teachers, Dr Joseph Bell, could tell surprising things about patients just by looking at them. Doyle later wrote to Bell, "It is most certainly to you that I owe Sherlock Holmes."

As a student, Doyle sailed to the Arctic as the doctor on a whaling ship. Later, while working as a doctor in Southsea, he played in goal for a Portsmouth football club under a false name, "A. C. Smith". In 1891 he opened an office in London as an eye doctor. According to his own autobiography, no patients came.

Holmes first appeared in 1887. "The Red-Headed League" was published in The Strand Magazine in August 1891, and Doyle later put it second in a list of his twelve favourite Holmes stories. In 1893 he killed Holmes off, but readers protested, and Holmes came back. Doyle died in Crowborough, Sussex, in 1930.

Key words

pawnbroker

league

encyclopaedia

a person who lends money to people, and keeps their watch, ring or other things until they pay it back

a group or club of people who join together for a shared purpose

a very large book, often in many volumes, with information on every subject from A to Z

cellar

deduce

a room under a building, below the ground

to work out the truth from the small facts you can see

Let's talk

• Doyle based Holmes on a teacher who could "read" his patients. Could a doctor make a good detective?

• Doyle grew tired of Holmes and killed him. Why do you think readers wouldn't let him go?

• What could a stranger deduce about you from your hands, clothes or bag?

• The story is called "The Red-Headed League". What could a club for red-haired men have to do with crime?

PART 1 OF 4

The red-headed man

PART 1 · THE RED-HEADED MAN

One autumn day, I called on my friend Sherlock Holmes, and found him talking to a fat, red-faced, elderly gentleman with fiery red hair.

"You could not have come at a better time, my dear Watson," said Holmes. "This is Mr Jabez Wilson. He has a most unusual story."

I studied our visitor, but saw only an ordinary, rather slow shopkeeper in old clothes. There was nothing remarkable about him except his blazing red head.

"Apart from the obvious facts that he once did hard work with his hands, that he has been in China, and that he has done a lot of writing lately, I can deduce nothing else."

Mr Wilson jumped in his chair. "How did you know all that, Mr Holmes?"

"Your right hand is bigger than your left.

You have worked with it. The fish tattooed above your wrist could only have been done in China. And your right cuff is very shiny, from resting on a desk."

"Well, I never!" laughed Mr Wilson. "I thought you'd done something clever, but there's nothing in it after all."

He handed me a newspaper, and I read the advertisement.

TO THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE: There is now another vacancy, with a salary of £4 a week for very light work. All red-headed men over twenty-one may apply. Apply in person on Monday, at eleven o'clock, to Duncan Ross, 7 Pope's Court, Fleet Street.

"What on earth does this mean?" I cried.

"I have a small pawnbroker's shop in Saxe-Coburg Square," said Mr Wilson.

PART 1 · THE RED-HEADED MAN

"My assistant, Vincent Spaulding, works for half pay, to learn the business. He's a clever lad. His only fault is photography. He's always diving down into the cellar, like a rabbit into its hole, to develop his pictures.

"Eight weeks ago, Spaulding showed me this advertisement. 'I wish I had red hair,' he said. A rich American with red hair, he told me, had left his fortune to help red-headed men. The pay was excellent, and the work was easy.

"So we shut the shop and went. Mr Holmes, Fleet Street was full of red-headed men! But Spaulding pushed me through the crowd and up the stairs.

"In the office sat a small man with hair even redder than mine. He stared at my hair. Then he took it in both hands and pulled until I shouted with pain.

"'There are tears in your eyes,' he said. 'Good. We have been tricked twice by wigs and once by paint.' Then he shouted from the window that the vacancy was filled, and the crowd went home.

"'I am Duncan Ross,' he said. 'The hours are ten to two.'

"A pawnbroker is busiest in the evenings, and Spaulding said he'd look after the shop. So I agreed.

"'But you must never leave the office,' said Mr Ross. 'Not for illness, not for business, not for anything. If you leave, you lose the job forever.'

"'And the work?' I asked.

"'Is to copy out the Encyclopaedia Britannica.'"

Book club

PART 1 · THE RED-HEADED MAN

1. How did Holmes know that Mr Wilson had been in China and had done a lot of writing?

2. Why did the hours of ten to two suit Mr Wilson?

3. What were the rules of the new job?

4. Would you take a job that seemed too good to be true? Why or why not?

5. Spaulding works for half pay and loves the cellar. What do you make of him?

6. Why might anyone pay a man £4 a week to copy out an encyclopaedia?

PART 2 OF 4

The League is dissolved

PART 2 · THE LEAGUE IS DISSOLVED

"The next morning I bought ink, a pen and some paper, and went to Pope's Court. Mr Ross started me on the letter A, and at two o'clock he locked the door behind me.

"On Saturday, he put four gold coins on my desk. It went on like this for eight weeks. Mr Ross came less and less, and then not at all. But I never dared to leave the room. I wrote about Abbots and Archery and Armour and Architecture, and I hoped to reach the B's soon.

"And then, this morning, the door was locked, with a card on it."

He held it up.

THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE IS DISSOLVED. October 9, 1890.

Holmes and I looked at the card, and at the sad face behind it, and we both burst out laughing.

"I can't see anything funny," cried Mr Wilson, going red to the roots of his hair. "If you can only laugh at me, I'll go elsewhere."

"No, no," said Holmes, pushing him back into his chair. "I wouldn't miss your case for the world. What did you do next?"

"I asked the landlord. He'd never heard of the League. The red-headed man was a lawyer called William Morris, he said, and he'd moved to 17 King Edward Street. I went there. It was a factory that made artificial knee-caps, and nobody there had heard of Morris or Ross."

"Now, your assistant," said Holmes. "How did he come to you?"

"He answered my advertisement. I chose him because he was cheap."

"At half pay, in fact. What does he look like?"

PART 2 · THE LEAGUE IS DISSOLVED

"Small, strong, very quick. No hair on his face, though he's nearly thirty. And he has a white mark of acid on his forehead."

Holmes sat up in great excitement. "I thought as much! Are his ears pierced for earrings?"

"Yes, sir. He told me they were done when he was a boy."

When our visitor had gone, Holmes curled up in his chair with his pipe. "It is quite a three-pipe problem," he said. "Please don't speak to me for fifty minutes."

Then he jumped up. "Come, Watson. Let's visit Saxe-Coburg Square."

It was a shabby little square of dirty brick houses around some weedy grass. Over the corner house hung three gold balls and a brown board: JABEZ WILSON.

Holmes looked the house over, then walked slowly up the street and back, looking hard at the houses. Then he hit the pavement two or three times with his stick, and knocked at the door.

A bright-looking, clean-shaven young man opened it.

"Could you tell me the way to the Strand?" asked Holmes.

"Third right, fourth left," said the assistant quickly, and closed the door.

"Smart fellow, that," said Holmes as we walked away. "He is the fourth smartest man in London. And for daring, perhaps the third."

"You only asked the way so you could see him," I said.

"Not him."

"What, then?"

"The knees of his trousers."

Book club

PART 2 · THE LEAGUE IS DISSOLVED

1. What did Mr Wilson find on the office door?

2. What did he discover at 17 King Edward Street?

3. What did Holmes do outside the shop before he knocked?

4. Holmes and Watson laughed at Mr Wilson. Was that fair?

5. Have you ever been tricked? How did you find out?

6. Why do you think Holmes wanted to see the assistant's knees?

PART 3 OF 4

Spies in an enemy's country

PART 3 · SPIES IN AN ENEMY'S COUNTRY

"And what did you see?" I asked.

"What I expected to see."

"And why did you hit the pavement?"

"My dear Doctor, this is a time for observation, not talk. We are spies in an enemy's country. Let us explore the streets behind the square."

Round the corner was a busy main road, full of traffic and fine shops. It was as different from the quiet square as the front of a picture is from the back.

"I like to have an exact knowledge of London," said Holmes. "Here is Mortimer's, the tobacconist, the little newspaper shop, the Coburg branch of the City and Suburban Bank, the Vegetarian Restaurant, and McFarlane's carriage-builders. Now, Doctor, time for some music."

All afternoon he sat at a concert, waving his long, thin fingers to the music. Afterwards he was serious.

"A big crime is being planned," he said. "I'll need your help tonight, at ten. And, Doctor, there may be some danger. Please put your army revolver in your pocket."

I had seen and heard everything he had. Yet he clearly understood what had happened, and what was about to happen. To me, it was all still a mystery.

At ten, at Baker Street, Holmes introduced two men: Peter Jones, a police detective from Scotland Yard, and Mr Merryweather, a long, thin, sad-faced bank director.

"Tonight, Mr Merryweather," said Holmes, "you are playing for thirty thousand pounds. And you, Jones, for the man you most want to catch."

PART 3 · SPIES IN AN ENEMY'S COUNTRY

"John Clay," said Jones. "Murderer, thief and forger. He's young, but he's the best in his profession. His grandfather was a royal duke, and he went to Eton and Oxford. I've been after him for years, and I've never even seen him."

Two cabs took us back to the busy road behind the square. Mr Merryweather led us through a side door, past heavy iron gates, and down stone steps into a huge cellar full of boxes.

"You're not easy to rob from above," said Holmes, holding up the lantern.

"Or from below," said Mr Merryweather, striking the stone floor with his stick. "Why, dear me! It sounds hollow!"

"Please be quiet!" said Holmes sharply. "You have put our whole plan in danger."

He knelt and studied the cracks between the stones with his magnifying glass.

"We are in the cellar of a London bank," he said.

"Our French gold is here," whispered Mr Merryweather. "Thirty thousand gold coins, borrowed from the Bank of France and never unpacked. We've had warnings."

"We must hide in the dark," said Holmes. "When they come, I'll flash a light. Close in quickly. If they shoot, Watson, shoot back."

I put my revolver on the box in front of me. Holmes covered his lantern, and we were in total darkness.

"They have only one way out," whispered Holmes. "Back through the house into Saxe-Coburg Square. Jones?"

"Three officers are waiting at the front door."

"Then we've stopped every hole. And now we must be silent, and wait."

Book club

PART 3 · SPIES IN AN ENEMY'S COUNTRY

1. What businesses did Holmes notice on the road behind Saxe-Coburg Square?

2. Who is John Clay, according to Jones?

3. What did Mr Merryweather notice when he hit the floor with his stick?

4. Holmes knows the answer but tells Watson nothing. Would you enjoy working with him?

5. Have you solved the mystery yet? What do you think is going on?

6. What do you think will happen in the dark cellar?

PART 4 OF 4

A light in the floor

PART 4 · A LIGHT IN THE FLOOR

It was only an hour and a quarter, but it felt like the whole night. My legs were stiff, but I didn't dare to move. Suddenly, I saw a light.

At first it was just a spark on the stone floor. Then it became a yellow line. Then, without a sound, a hand appeared, a white, almost womanly hand, feeling about in the patch of light. Then it was gone.

With a tearing sound, one of the broad white stones turned over, leaving a square hole. A clean-cut, boyish face looked carefully around. The man climbed out, then pulled up a companion, small like himself, with a pale face and a shock of very red hair.

"It's all clear," he whispered. "Have you got the bags? Great Scott! Jump, Archie, jump!"

Holmes had seized him by the collar.

The other man dived back down the hole, and I heard cloth tear as Jones grabbed his coat. The light flashed on a revolver, but Holmes struck the man's wrist with his hunting whip, and the pistol fell.

"It's no use, John Clay," said Holmes calmly. "You have no chance at all."

"So I see," said the other, perfectly cool. "But my friend is all right, though you've got his coat-tails."

"Three men are waiting for him at the door."

"Oh, indeed! I must congratulate you."

"And I you," said Holmes. "Your red-headed idea was very new and effective."

As Jones put the handcuffs on him, Clay said, "Please don't touch me with your dirty hands. I have royal blood in my veins.

PART 4 · A LIGHT IN THE FLOOR

And always say 'sir' and 'please' when you speak to me."

"All right," said Jones, laughing. "Would you please, sir, walk upstairs, where we can get a cab to take your Highness to the police station?"

"That is better," said John Clay. He bowed to us and walked calmly away.

In the early morning, over a whisky in Baker Street, Holmes explained.

"The League had only one possible purpose, Watson: to get the pawnbroker out of the house every day. The assistant worked for half pay, so he badly wanted that job. Then I remembered how he kept disappearing into the cellar. He was digging a tunnel to another building.

"I hit the pavement to see where the cellar went. Not in front.

Then I knocked, and I looked at his knees. They were worn, wrinkled and dirty from hours of digging. Round the corner was the bank. When the League closed, I knew the tunnel was finished. And Saturday gave them two days to escape."

"You reasoned it out beautifully," I said. "It's such a long chain, and yet every link rings true."

"It saved me from boredom," he answered, yawning. "My life is one long effort to escape from the ordinary. These little problems help me."

"And you help everyone," I said.

He shrugged. "Well, perhaps it is of some little use. 'Man is nothing, the work is everything,' as Gustave Flaubert wrote to George Sand."

Book club

PART 4 · A LIGHT IN THE FLOOR

1. How did the two robbers get into the cellar?

2. How did John Clay behave when he was caught?

3. How did Holmes know the robbery would happen that night?

4. Which clue would you have noticed? Which did you miss completely?

5. Clay was clever, rich and educated. Why might someone like him choose crime?

6. Holmes solves crimes to escape boredom. Is that a good reason to do important work?

Big questions

1

Was Mr Wilson foolish, or would most people have believed in the League?

2

Which clue was the most important? Could you have solved it before Holmes?

3

John Clay is clever, polite and daring. Why do readers often enjoy a clever criminal?

4

Watson saw everything Holmes saw, but understood nothing. What makes someone a good observer?

5

Holmes says "Man is nothing, the work is everything." Do you agree?

6

Could a trick like the Red-Headed League still work today? What would it look like?

TEACHER'S REFERENCE · SKIP OR DELETE BEFORE CLASS

Answer key

Part 1 · 1 A fish tattoo above his wrist was coloured in a way only done in China. His right cuff was very shiny from resting on a desk.

Part 1 · 2 A pawnbroker is busiest in the evenings, and Spaulding offered to look after the shop in the mornings.

Part 1 · 3 He had to stay in the office from ten to two every day, and never leave for any reason. If he left, he would lose the job forever.

Part 2 · 1 A card saying "THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE IS DISSOLVED. October 9, 1890."

Part 2 · 2 It was a factory that made artificial knee-caps. Nobody there had heard of William Morris or Duncan Ross.

Part 2 · 3 He looked the house over, walked up and down the street looking at the houses, and hit the pavement two or three times with his stick.

Part 3 · 1 Mortimer's, the tobacconist, a newspaper shop, the Coburg branch of the City and Suburban Bank, the Vegetarian Restaurant and McFarlane's carriage-builders.

Part 3 · 2 A murderer, thief and forger, the best in his profession. His grandfather was a royal duke, he went to Eton and Oxford, and the police have never seen him.

Part 3 · 3 The floor sounded hollow.

Part 4 · 1 They dug a tunnel from the pawnbroker's cellar, and pushed up one of the stones in the bank's floor.

Part 4 · 2 He was perfectly cool and polite. He congratulated Holmes, said he had royal blood, and asked the police to call him "sir" and say "please".

Part 4 · 3 The League had closed, so the tunnel was finished. They had to use it soon, and a Saturday gave them two days to escape.