The Boscombe Valley Mystery (Chapter 1)

At Dr Watson's Home

Dr John Watson received a telegram from Dr Sherlock Holmes inviting him to join in an investigation of a murder case at Boscombe Pool. His wife encourages him to accompany Holmes as he liked working with him. It was 10.15 a.m. and Dr Watson had half an hour to get ready to meet Holmes at Paddington Station to catch the 11.15 a.m. train.

At Paddington Station

Sherlock Holmes waved to Watson who was alighting from the carriage with his baggage. Holmes bought the tickets for the 11.15 a.m. train

In the Train

In the train, Holmes presented the details of the murder case to Watson who had no inkling of it. First, he said that the murdered man was Charles McCarthy. The main suspect was McCarthy's son, James. Holmes did not believe that the son was guilty because a simple case could sometimes be very complex.

Holmes continued to give Watson more details of the murder case. He told Watson that the McCarthys stayed on the Turner estate in Boscombe Valley near Ross-on-Wye. Mr John Turner was a rich man but it was unknown how he gained his wealth. It was said that he came to England from Australia twenty years ago. No one knew much about him. Holmes suspected that Charles McCarthy and John Turner were friends as Charles McCarthy was also in Australia for many years. Mr Turner had an 18-year-old daughter, Alice. He was a widower and wasn't very sociable. As for Charles McCarthy, he was said to like horse-racing and he gambled a lot.