summary of the adventure of the norwood builder
The Adventure of the Norwood Builder - wikipedia The Adventure of the Norwood Builder Jump to : navigation , search <Th_colspan="2"> `` The Adventure of the Norwood Builder '' <Td_colspan="2"> McFarlane visiting Holmes and Watson , 1903 illustration by Sidney Paget Author Arthur Conan Doyle Series The Return of Sherlock Holmes Publication date 1903 `` The Adventure of the Norwood Builder '' , one of the 56 short Sherlock Holmes stories written by British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle , is the second tale from The Return of Sherlock Holmes . The story was first published in The Strand Magazine in 1903 with original illustrations by Sidney Paget . Contents ( hide ) 1 Plot 2 Details 3 Adaptations and differences 4 References 5 External links Plot ( edit ) Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson are visited by `` the unhappy John Hector McFarlane '' , a young lawyer from Blackheath who has been accused of murdering one of his clients , a builder called Jonas Oldacre . McFarlane explains to Holmes that Oldacre had come to his office only the day before and asked him to draw up his will in legal language . McFarlane saw to his surprise that Oldacre was making him the sole beneficiary , and heir to a considerable bequest at that , and he can not imagine why Oldacre would do so . This business took McFarlane to Oldacre 's house in Lower Norwood where some documents had to be examined for legal purposes . These were kept in the safe where the murder allegedly took place . McFarlane left quite late and stayed at a local inn . He claims to have read about the murder in the newspaper the next morning on the train . The paper said quite clearly that the police were looking for him . The evidence against young Mr. McFarlane is quite damning . His stick has been found in Mr. Oldacre 's room , and a fire was extinguished just outside in which a pile of dry timber burnt to ashes , complete with the smell of burnt flesh . It seems more than likely that McFarlane did the crime , especially as it is known that he was there at about that time . Inspector Lestrade does quite a bit of gloating in this story , for it seems that he is on the right track and Holmes is not . Holmes begins his own investigation into the matter by going to Blackheath , which puzzles Lestrade , who had expected him to go first to Norwood . McFarlane 's mother , Holmes finds out , was once engaged to Oldacre years earlier , but then later wanted nothing to do with the man once she found out how cruel he was -- he had let a cat loose in a bird sanctuary . Nonetheless , he tells Lestrade that he can see no other explanation for what has happened to Mr. Oldacre than the official one propounded by Lestrade . Upon examining the handwritten notes given McFarlane by Oldacre to be rendered into legally acceptable language , Holmes reckons they were written in a very haphazard fashion , as if the writer did n't really care about what he was writing . The alternation between legible handwriting and incomprehensible squiggles suggests to Holmes that the `` will '' was written hurriedly on a train , with the legible writing representing stops at stations . It also emerges that Oldacre 's financial dealings had been a bit odd . Several cheques for substantial amounts , and for unknown reasons , have recently been made out to a Mr. Cornelius . The discovery by Holmes of Mr. Oldacre 's trouser buttons in the fire ashes does nothing to help exonerate McFarlane , but Holmes is convinced that Mr. Oldacre 's housekeeper is withholding information . Holmes 's powers of observation tell him that the housekeeper 's expression suggests this . Oldacre appearing Lestrade 's gloating reaches a peak when a bloody thumbprint is found at Oldacre 's house . It matches the accused 's thumb exactly . However , it makes Holmes quite sure that something very devious is afoot : Holmes examined that part of the house only a day earlier , and is quite sure that the thumbprint was not there then . Because McFarlane has been in gaol since his arrest at Holmes 's Baker Street rooms , he deduces that someone is attempting a deception . Holmes sets up a small fire in one room of the house with a little straw , and tells three of his constables to shout `` Fire ! '' . Lestrade and Watson are quite astonished at what happens next : the very much still living Mr. Oldacre emerges from a hidden chamber at the end of a hallway -- where Holmes has deduced it must be -- and runs to escape the fire . He is immediately seized . The dénouement reveals that it was a revenge campaign against the woman who rejected him years ago , young Mr. McFarlane 's mother . Oldacre tries to pass off his actions as a practical joke , but he is taken into custody . Holmes lightly chuffs his rival for neglecting Blackheath , where he acquired the key information . As for Mr. Cornelius , the recipient of so much of Oldacre 's munificence , Holmes deduces that it is likely an alias used by Oldacre , and that he has been leading a double life with the eventual goal of shedding his Oldacre identity so that he can start a new life . `` Mr. Cornelius '' 's bank account will be seized by Oldacre 's creditors . Oldacre swears revenge against Holmes , who serenely dismisses the threats . Details ( edit ) Arthur Conan Doyle lived in South Norwood from 1891 to 1894 , but the Norwood where Oldacre lives is Lower Norwood ( also known as West Norwood ) . The only connection between this story and South Norwood is that South Norwood 's railway station Norwood Junction is used by the Oldacre . McFarlane spends the night in The Anerley Arms , a pub which exists as of 2011 , but has a derelict upper floor ( no more overnight guests ) and changing management . It is one of the few Holmes stories in which a fingerprint provides a good clue to the nature of the problem . The wax thumb - print reproduction idea was devised by , and bought from , Bertram Fletcher Robinson ( 1870 -- 1907 ) , who also helped plot The Hound of the Baskervilles ( 1901 ) . At the start of the story , Watson mentions two unrecorded cases that Holmes investigated around the same time as this story : `` The case of the papers of Ex-President Murillo '' , which Conan Doyle later wrote as `` The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge '' . `` The shocking affair of the Dutch steamship Friesland '' , which loosely inspired the 1945 film Pursuit to Algiers starring Basil Rathbone as Holmes . A reference to Professor Moriarty prefaces the story , ' From the point of view of the criminal expert , ' said Mr Sherlock Holmes , ' London has become a singularly uninteresting city since the death of the late lamented Moriarty . ' Moriarty is mentioned in two other 1903 stories ' The Adventure of the Missing Three - Quarter ' and ' The Adventure of the Empty House ' . Adaptations and differences ( edit ) The Granada TV version with Jeremy Brett was faithful to the original story with exceptions . On TV , Oldacre kills and burns a tramp , versus in Doyle , he refuses to admit what flesh burned . Mrs. McFarlane is a recent widow , versus Mr. McFarlane is alive but away . Watson traces payments to Cornelius , versus Holmes gleans this fact . Holmes warns McFarlane his words may be used against him versus Lestrade . `` The Norwood Builder '' was dramatised for BBC Radio 4 in 1993 by Bert Coules as part of his complete radio adaptation of the canon , starring Clive Merrison as Holmes and Michael Williams as Watson , and featuring Peter Sallis as Jonas Oldacre , Donald Gee as Inspector Lestrade , and David Holt as John McFarlane . In it , because of his change of attitude towards fame ( acquired while traveling in Tibet during his `` death '' ) , Holmes at the beginning informs Watson that `` there must be no more stories '' , but that Watson should continue to keep notes on their cases so as to stockpile them for possible future publication . Also , after his capture Oldacre reveals that he also believed Holmes to be dead . The Wishbone Mysteries novel Forgotten Heroes references the Adventure of the Norwood Builder . The 2017 Twitter accounts of Sherlock Holmes and John H. Watson . The story was adapted to a twenty - first century equivalent , but most of the details remained unchanged . References ( edit ) Jump up ^ `` The Anerley Arms Hotel '' . Geograph Britain and Ireland . Retrieved 23 August 2014 . Jump up ^ `` The Anerley Arms '' . Sam Smiths . Retrieved 23 August 2014 . Jump up ^ Spiring , Paul ( 2007 ) . `` The Hound of the Baskervilles ( Part I ) '' . Bertram Fletcher Robinson Online . Retrieved 23 August 2014 . Jump up ^ Bert Coules . `` The Return of Sherlock Holmes '' . The BBC complete audio Sherlock Holmes . Retrieved 12 December 2016 . Jump up ^ https://twitter.com/ContactSH Jump up ^ https://twitter.com/contactJHW External links ( edit ) The full text of The Adventure of the Norwood Builder at Wikisource Media related to The Adventure of the Norwood Builder at Wikimedia Commons Victorian map of Norwood in 1873 , 21 years before the setting of this story . Conan Doyle 's house is roughly on the H of the big `` SOUTH NORWOOD WARD '' . Map of London sites mentioned in `` The Norwood Builder '' by Ross E. Davies & Cattleya M. Concepcion <Th_colspan="2"> ( hide ) The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle <Td_colspan="2"> `` The Adventure of the Empty House '' ( the return of Holmes ) `` The Adventure of the Norwood Builder '' `` The Adventure of the Dancing Men '' `` The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist '' `` The Adventure of the Priory School '' `` The Adventure of Black Peter '' `` The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton '' `` The Adventure of the Six Napoleons '' `` The Adventure of the Three Students '' `` The Adventure of the Golden Pince - Nez '' `` The Adventure of the Missing Three - Quarter '' `` The Adventure of the Abbey Grange '' `` The Adventure of the Second Stain '' <Td_colspan="2"> A Study in Scarlet Sign of Four Adventures Memoirs The Hound of the Baskervilles Return The Valley of Fear His Last Bow Case - Book Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Adventure_of_the_Norwood_Builder&oldid=802284867 '' Categories : Sherlock Holmes short stories by Arthur Conan Doyle London literature 1903 short stories Hidden categories : Use dmy dates from November 2016 Use British English from November 2016 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Български Eesti Español Français Македонски 日本 語 Polski Português Română Русский Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Svenska Українська 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 25 September 2017 , at 04 : 55 . 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1. "The Adventure of the Norwood Builder"
2. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson
3. Accusation of murder
4. Investigation and clues
5. Deception and revenge