The Problem of Thor Bridge
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "The Problem of Thor Bridge" | |
|---|---|
| by Arthur Conan Doyle | |
| Released | 1922 |
| Series | The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes |
| Client(s) | Neil Gibson and Grace Dunbar |
| Set in | 1900, according to William S. Baring-Gould |
| Villain(s) | Mrs. Gibson, née Maria Pinto |
The Problem of Thor Bridge is a Sherlock Holmes murder mystery by Arthur Conan Doyle, which appears in the collection The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes. The story was previously published in the Strand Magazine and Hearst's International Magazine in 1922.
Contents |
[edit] Synopsis
Neil Gibson, the Gold King and former Senator for "some Western state", approaches Holmes to investigate the murder of his wife Maria in order to clear his children's governess, Grace Dunbar, of the crime. Holmes compels Gibson to admit his attraction to Dunbar and his dislike of his wife.
Maria Gibson was found lying in a pool of blood on Thor Bridge with a bullet through the head and note from the governess, agreeing to a meeting at that location, in her hand. A recently discharged pistol with one shot fired is found in Miss Dunbar's wardrobe. Holmes agrees to look at the situation in spite of the damning evidence.
From the outset, Holmes observes some rather odd things about the case. How could Miss Dunbar so coolly and rationally have planned and carried out the murder and then carelessly tossed the murder weapon into her wardrobe? What was the strange chip on the underside of the bridge's stone balustrade? Why was Mrs. Gibson clutching the note from Miss Dunbar when she died? If the murder weapon was one of a matched pair of pistols, why couldn't the other one be found in Mr. Gibson's collection?
Holmes uses his usual brilliant powers of deduction to solve the crime, and even demonstrates, using Watson's revolver, how it was perpetrated.
[edit] Commentary
The story is remarkable also for the inital reference to a tin dispatchbox, hidden in a bank, where Dr. Watson would keep the papers concerning some Holmes' cases with no good solution or no explanation at all. According to Watson: "Among these unfinished tales is that of Mr. James Phillimore, who, stepping back into his own house to get his umbrella, was never more seen in this world". The unknown fate of Phillimore has been a subject for other stories, among which The Enigma of the Warwickshire Vortex, one episode of the italian comic book series Storie di Altrove a spin-off from the more famous Martin Mystère and in Bert Coules's BBC Radio adaptation The Singular Inheritance of Miss Gloria Wilson from The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
[edit] Connections to real-life events
In 2004 it was stated that the solution to the story may also explain the mysterious death of Richard Lancelyn Green, one of the foremost experts on Sherlock Holmes, who was found having been asphyxiated to death shortly after rediscovered papers of Conan Doyle were put up for auction.
According to David Stuart Davies, the inspiration for The Problem of Thor Bridge came from a real-life case in Germany, which the editor of the Strand Magazine had brought to Conan Doyle's attention.
