The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans

His Last Bow #4

by Arthur Conan Doyle

"The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans" is one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It is one of eight stories in the cycle collected as His Last Bow, and is the second and final appearance of Mycroft Holmes. Doyle ranked "The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans" fourteenth in a list of his nineteen favourite Sherlock Holmes stories.

Genres: Mystery, Classics, Short Stories, Fiction, Crime, Detective, Audiobook

38 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1908

About the author

Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was a Scottish writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for A Study in Scarlet, the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Holmes and Dr. Watson. The Sherlock Holmes stories are milestones in the field of crime fiction.

Doyle was a prolific writer. In addition to the Holmes stories, his works include fantasy and science fiction stories about Professor Challenger, and humorous stories about the Napoleonic soldier Brigadier Gerard, as well as plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction, and historical novels. One of Doyle's early short stories, "J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement" (1884), helped to popularise the mystery of the brigantine Mary Celeste, found drifting at sea with no crew member aboard.

Reviews

[Aishu Rehman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Holmes’s brother, Mycroft, has come about some missing secret submarine plans. The three missing pages of the plans could enable one of England’s enemies to build the submarine and use it against her. It is up to the Great Detective to solve the murder, retrieve the missing plans and ensure England’s future defense.

[Exina · Rating 4 out of 5]

London is foggy, and Sherlock Holmes is bored. And very unsatisfied by the fact that nothing interesting happens.

"The London criminal is certainly a dull fellow," said he, "Look out of this window, Watson. See how the figures loom up, are dimly seen, and then blend once more into the cloud-bank. The thief or the murderer could roam London on such a day as the tiger does the jungle, unseen until he pounces, and then evident only to his victim."
"There have," said I, "been numerous petty thefts."
Holmes snorted his contempt.
"This great and sombre stage is set for something more worthy than that," said he. "It is fortunate for this community that I am not a criminal."

The first half of the investigation is brilliant as usual, but ending is abrupt and the case is solved easily. It was a fun read though, I really enjoyed it.

It was one of my friend's most obvious weaknesses that he was impatient with less alert intelligences than his own.

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my all time favourite Sherlock Holmes adventures. Conan Doyle gives us a murder, foggy London, missing plans, Mycroft Holmes, the London Underground & sparkling dialogue. Have I read it too many time already ? Probably. Will I read it again ? Definitely!

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's the third week in November (as it is now!) in the year 1885 and here is one of Arthur Conan Doyle's best stories featuring Sherlock Holmes.

[Charles van Buren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Charles van Buren
TOP 1000 REVIEWER

One of Doyle's favorites

August 16, 2019

Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
Review of free Kindle edition
A Public Domain Book
Publication date: May 12, 2012
Language: English
ASIN: B0082XIE14
34 pages

This story is notable for being number fourteen on Arthur Conan Doyle's list of his nineteen favorite Sherlock Holmes stories. It also marks the second and final appearance of Mycroft Holmes in the stories of the canon. Originally one of the eight stories in the collection, HIS LAST BOW, it has been reprinted many times in many collections. It is available from Amazon as a single story and in HIS LAST BOW. There are no illustrations in this free Kindle edition.

[Mostafa · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars
نقشه های بروس - پارتینگتون در ۱۹۰۸ نوشته شده که یک رمان جنایی - سیاسی به سبک داستانهای فردریک فورسایت هست... داستان بسیار ساده، روان و با کمی پیچش های مرسوم هست و به جریان ربودن نقشه سرّی یکی از زیردریایی های نیروی دریایی سلطنتی انگلستان اشاره دارد

[Katja Labonté · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars & 5/10 hearts. Oooo, such a story! This is one of the very best. MYCROFT IS BACKKK!

Seriously, I love watching the brothers interact. :D

This tale is particularly twisty and intriguing (I always forget how it goes), and ends delightfully, although unexpectedly! Although I sometimes confuse the story with The Adventure of the Naval Treaty and The Adventure of the Second Stain, it’s nothing similar, minus a few elements—the part about spies, and official government papers missing, and an unsuspected villain…

The characters are all quite interesting (did I mention Mycroft is back?). Poor A. Cadogan West was such a nice fellow, and his fiancée was sweet. The villain was despicable. Sherlock was epic. And Lestrade & Watson were as splendid as ever...

In short, it’s one of the best Sherlock stories and one of my very favourites.

Content: Good G*d; before G*d.

A Favourite Quote: “We must fall back upon the old axiom that when all other contingencies fail, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”
A Favourite Humorous Quote: “‘Am dining at Goldini’s Restaurant, Gloucester Road, Kensington. Please come at once and join me there. Bring with you a jemmy, a dark lantern, a chisel, and a revolver.
S.H.’
It was a nice equipment for a respectable citizen to carry through the dim, fog-draped streets. I stowed them all discreetly away in my overcoat and drove straight to the address given….
“It is nearly half a mile, but there is no hurry. Let us walk,” said [Holmes]. “Don’t drop the instruments, I beg. Your arrest as a suspicious character would be a most unfortunate complication.”

[Rob Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mycroft's behaviour perplexes Holmes. Until he reveals that a murder has a link with the theft of some vital and secret submarine plans. It's up to Sherlock to find them. But with the government, the military and even his own brother turning up the pressure, can Sherlock unravel the web of secrets, spies and cunning crimes before it's too late?

Everything in the story comes together nicely. And the explanation about how the man was killed from the train is as Watson states "a masterpiece."

[Jack Heath · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars. A good one. The papers reported a story, but it wasn't of much interest to Sherlock Holmes or Dr. Watson - that is, a clerk with the British government named Arthur Cadogan West had died after falling off a London subway train the previous day. Then Sherlock's brother Mycroft sent an urgent note saying he must see Sherlock immediately and that it was about Cadogan West. What was missing in the papers? The 27-year-old clerk was attached to the Woolwich Arsenal and worked for the armed forces? He had access to the plans for the latest submarine. We learn that he had 7 pages of those plans in his pocket. Now Holmes is interested. Me too! How did he get them out of the Arsenal, and where were the remaining pages - the most important ones? More than some Holmes stories, we follow his approach to the case, including the placing of a want-ad to attract the perpetrator's attention. Wasn't there an Agatha Christie story starring Hercule Poirot on the same subject? Yes, 'The Submarine Plans' came out in 1923. Conan Doyle's in 1908. So few years apart. Hmm. Doyle was still alive - did he say anything? I did enjoy both of them. (Au2024/Au2025)

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls · Rating 4 out of 5]

although somewhat reminiscent of The Adventure of the Second Stain (even including the spy Oberstein) there's plenty for Holmes to do and even a couple of Mycroft appearances

[ᗩᗰIᖇᗩ ˚ʚ♡ɞ˚ · Rating 4 out of 5]

تَلقَّى «شيرلوك هولمز» خِطابًا غريبًا من أخيهِ «مايكروفت» — الذي يديرُ مكتبًا تابِعًا للحكومةِ البريطانية — يخبرُه فيه بأنَّه قادمٌ إليه على وجهِ السرعةِ يَلتمِسُ مساعَدتَه في أمرٍ خطير، وعندَ وصولِه عرَضَ على «هولمز» و«واطسون» أمرًا بالغَ الأهميةِ يتعلَّقُ بالأمنِ القوميِّ للبلاد؛ فقَدْ سُرِقتْ مِنَ المكتبِ الحكوميِّ في «وولويتش» ثلاثٌ من أصلِ عشرِ أوراقٍ تَحْوي مُخطَّطاتِ بناءِ الغوَّاصةِ «بروس بارتينجتون». والآنَ يَرغبُ «مايكروفت» في أنْ يُساعِدَه هولمز في العثورِ على الأوراقِ الثلاثِ؛ إذْ إنَّ أهميتَها تَفوقُ أهميةَ باقي الأوراقِ لِمَا تَحْوِيه من تَفاصيلَ فنيةٍ مُهمَّة. فأينَ هذه الأوراقُ الثلاث؟ وما عَلاقةُ ذلك بجُثَّةِ الشابِّ «كادوجان ويست» التي عُثِرَ عليها على قُضْبانِ مترو الأنفاق، ذاكَ الشابِّ الذي كانَ يَعملُ في المكتبِ الحكوميِّ الذي تُحفَظُ فيه هذهِ الأوراق؟

[Catherine Mustread · Rating 3 out of 5]

Top secret plans have been stolen, and a man lies dead in the Underground. Can Sherlock Holmes stave off an international incident? Listened to this on The Classic Tales Podcast.

[Flo Svn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Une belle aventure de Sherlock avec un vol, un meurtre, un plan secret, d'un sous marin, un complot contre la Couronne. C'est une bonne recette.

[Federico DN · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great.

This was great, but not going to review it.

For the moment at least.

It’s public domain. You can find it HERE.

-----------------------------------------------
PERSONAL NOTE :
[1917] [30p] [Crime] [3.5] [Recommendable]
-----------------------------------------------

★★★★☆ 1. A Study in Scarlet [3.5]
★★★☆☆ 2. The Sign of Four [2.5]
★★★☆☆ 3. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
★★★★☆ 4. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes [3.5]
★★★★☆ 5. The Hound of the Baskervilles
★★★★☆ 6. The Return of Sherlock Holmes
★★★☆☆ 7. The Valley of Fear
★★★★☆ 8. His Last Bow [3.5] <--
★★★☆☆ 9. The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes [2.5]
★★★☆☆ 10. The Complete Sherlock Holmes

-----------------------------------------------

Genial.

Esto estuvo genial, pero no voy a reseñarlo.

Al menos por ahora.

Es dominio público, lo pueden encontrar ACA.

-----------------------------------------------
NOTA PERSONAL :
[1917] [30p] [Crimen] [3.5] [Recomendable]
-----------------------------------------------

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful listening

Due to eye issues and damage Alexa reads to me.
Another entertaining will written Sherlock Holmes adventure thriller mystery novella with the usual interesting characters plus bad 👎guys. The story line is complicated but Holmes unravels the twist and turns to the unexpected conclusion. I would recommend this novella to fans of Sherlock Holmes. Enjoy the adventure of reading. 2021

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun short story featuring Sherlock Holmes and Watson. Watson learns about Mycroft's real job in the British government. He sends them on a murder case to find a spy. It's a fun and quick read. Nice little Sherlock mystery.

[Mennah · Rating 3 out of 5]

القصة التي تعتمد على “علينا العودة إلى المبدأ القديم الذي يقول إنه حين تفشل كل الاحتمالات الأخرى، فإن أيًّا كان ما يتبقَّى لديك، مهما بَدَا بعيدَ الاحتمال، يكون هو الحقيقة.”
كما احتوت -أخيراً- على ظهور مايكروفت...

[Yvensong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fun Sherlock Holmes tale with a good insight, from Sherlock, into his brother Mycroft's nature.

[Bella · Rating 4 out of 5]

As brilliant as usual !

[Elidanora · Rating 4 out of 5]

Edición Aguilar en castellano con DVD

[John Yelverton · Rating 4 out of 5]

International intrigue and espionage abound in this Sherlock Holmes adventure in which Sherlock is recruited by his brother Mycroft to recover stolen plans for a submarine.

[Joop · Rating 3 out of 5]

SH weet een misdaad op hoog niveau op te lossen. Doyle weet de lezer natuurlijk eerst weer op het verkeerde spoor te brengen.

[Nö Ğå · Rating 4 out of 5]

تفاصيل صغيره منفصله غير ملفته.. ولكنها مع شرلوك تتحول الي حل للقضيه

[Preetam Chatterjee · Rating 5 out of 5]

#Binge Reviewing my previous Reads #Holmes

This story always stood out to me, not just as a story of espionage and national peril, but as one of the best examples of how Holmes and Watson could step beyond the cosy realm of domestic crime into matters of the state.

I first read it in 2001, and even then, as a student poring over the late stories of the canon, I felt something cinematic about its rhythm. Later, when I had the chance to direct it as an audio play, the richness of its dialogues came alive in a way only Doyle’s best writing allows.

Translating it into a screenplay was less an adaptation and more an unveiling — the drama was already there, hidden in the folds of the prose.

The story itself is deceptively simple at first. A body found by the Underground tracks, a junior clerk named Cadogan West, and the suspicious circumstances of his death. However, the deeper Holmes digs, the more the narrative reveals its true stakes: nothing less than the theft of secret submarine plans, the Bruce-Partington documents on which the very security of Britain depends.

Unlike the darker, more introspective Case-Book tales, this story retains the muscular clarity of the earlier Holmes adventures, infused with the added weight of international intrigue. Doyle, writing in the shadow of early 20th-century anxieties, knew how to make espionage thrilling without drowning the reader in detail.

What I always loved here is the way Doyle marries the ordinary with the extraordinary. The underground setting is so mundanely modern — trains, tunnels, fog — and yet it becomes the stage for a drama involving spies, treachery, and the thin line between patriotism and betrayal.

The contrast between Cadogan West, the young clerk driven by honour, and Colonel Valentine Walter, whose weakness leads him into treason, makes the story hum with moral tension.

Moreover, through it all, Holmes stands poised, not as the cold logician but as a figure profoundly aware of the stakes for his country.

Directing this tale as an audio play was a revelation. The dialogues, when spoken aloud, sparkle with urgency. Holmes’ sharp deductions, Watson’s quiet support, and Mycroft’s monumental presence — the latter looming like a shadow over British intelligence — all became voices in a chamber of secrets.

It reminded me how Doyle had an ear for speech as much as an eye for detail. Writing the screenplay, I hardly needed to invent anything: Doyle had already done the heavy lifting, the beats falling neatly into place like stage directions waiting to be read.

But perhaps what lingers most about The Bruce-Partington Plans is the mood. The London fog, the dimly lit government offices, the quiet menace of espionage in an age of empire. This isn’t just another locked-room puzzle. It is Doyle showing us that Holmes can operate on the grandest scale without losing his precision. That combination of national danger and personal tragedy gives the story its enduring resonance.

Looking back, I realise why it captivated me so much in 2001, and why I loved returning to it in performance. The best Holmes tales are not merely about solving mysteries; they are about uncovering the fault lines of human ambition, fear, and weakness. In this case, those fault lines extend from a body on the tracks to the safety of the entire nation.

Doyle, ever the master storyteller, tightens the net around the culprit with a kind of inevitability that feels both thrilling and satisfying.

Even now, whenever I revisit the story, I hear the voices again — Holmes with his clipped brilliance, Watson steady and humane, Mycroft ponderous and knowing. It feels less like reading than like being present at a performance.

And perhaps that’s the true power of this tale: it doesn’t just tell you a mystery; it stages it before your eyes and ears, demanding to be lived as much as read.

[Huy Trần Ngọc · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tuyển tập Sherlock Holmes là sự tổng hợp của những truyện ngắn và chỉ riêng cuốn TOÀN TẬP phần 3 thôi cũng bao gồm tới gần 20 truyện ngắn, vì vậy thật khó đễ khi đọc hết cuốn sách, có thể để lại một vài dòng ấn tượng về cuốn sách nói chung (cũng như ấn tượng về từng mẩu truyện ngắn); vì vậy mình sẽ chỉ để lại một vài dòng về 2 mẩu truyện để lại ấn tượng nhất trong cuốn tập 3 này.

Mẩu truyện đầu tiên này là Cuộc hành trình của những tài liệu về con tàu ngầm Bruce-Partington, cũng là câu chuyện mang lại cho mình nhiều bất ngờ và khó đoán biết nhất.
Điểm để lại ấn tượng sâu sắc nhất đó là bối cảnh diễn ra vụ án mất cắp tài liệu này mang tính chính trị và có thể dẫn đến bùng nổ chiến tranh (tuy đây không phải lần đầu Holmes nhúng tay vào những vụ án mang tầm quant rọng quốc tế như vậy); và thứ hai là sự xuất hiện của người anh trai của Sherlock Holmes - Mycroft Holmes. Việc xây dựng hình ảnh người anh trai cũng thông minh, tài ba và dấn thân vào con đường chính trị lại thu hút mình hơn cả những tình tiết gay cấn và rùng mình trong truyện. Bởi đây là hình tượng người anh trai đã thỏa mãn được, hay còn vượt xa sự mong đợi về nhân vật này, anh có nhiều những nết tương đồng cũng như những điểm khác biệt độc đáo so với người em trai tài ba.
Mình đã không thể đoán trước được diễn biến câu chuyện cho đến mãi sau khi mọi việc dần hé mở và Holmes tìm được đáp án cuối cùng, cũng như cách anh lừa Oberstin vào bẫy. Và cuối cùng dẫu không nhận được sự công nhận công khai trước báo chí, món quà đặc biệt của Nữ hoàng là phần thưởng xứng đáng mà Holmes đáng nhận được.

[Rajan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very mysterious story of my most favorite fictitious character of all time, Sherlock Holmes.

Sherlock Holmes receives a visit from his brother Mycroft over the case of Cadogan West and the Bruce-Partington plans. Mycroft works as a Government advisor and in this capacity he has decided that Sherlock Holmes is the only man who can clear up the matter.

The Bruce-Partington plans detail the Bruce-Partington submarine, a closely kept government secret. The plans were kept in the Woolwich Arsenal in an elaborate safe within an office which has burglar proof doors and windows. Two people have a key to the safe. The first is Sir James Walter whose movements during the time of the theft are accounted for. Mr. Sidney Johnson is the second man who possessed a key and he also has an alibi for the evening in question.

The papers, thirty in total, were definitely in the office during the working hours of that Monday. On Tuesday morning it was discovered that ten of the papers were missing. Also that morning the dead body of a junior clerk was found outside Aldgate station. In his pocket were seven of the ten missing papers. Three papers are still unaccounted for.

The clerk's name was Cadogan West. He had last been seen by his fiancée, Miss Violet Westbury, with whom he was going to the theatre. He had abruptly left her on Monday evening and run off into the fog.

The body of Cadogan West was found near the rail track on Tuesday morning. The head was crushed and it was assumed that this injury must have been sustained as Cadogan fell from the train. The body could only have come onto the line by a fall from the train since carrying it to that location would involve passing an official at the station barriers. The young man had no ticket on his person and Sherlock Holmes comments that in his experience it is not possible to board a metropolitan train without one.

Inspector Lestrade theorises that Cadogan West took the papers into London to sell them to an international agent. They could not agree on a price so West left but the agent followed him, killed him and stole the most essential papers. Mycroft’s instincts are against the explanation and he urges Sherlock to solve the case and recover the missing papers.

Sherlock Holmes, Watson and Lestrade go to Aldgate Station which is a junction with a network of points and a curve in the line. Holmes is surprised that there is no indication of bleeding around the area where the body was found.

Holmes tells Watson that he believes Cadogan West was not killed on the train and thrown from it but killed elsewhere and then his body was placed on the roof of the train. At the point where the train pitches and sways the body would have fallen off. This would explain the absence of a ticket and of bleeding at the scene.

Holmes and Watson go to interview Sir James Walter. They learn from his brother, Colonel Valentine Walter, that Sir James died that morning, broken by the shame of the ongoing scandal over the papers.

At the Woolwich Arsenal Mr. Sidney Johnson tells Holmes that the three missing papers are the most essential and that possession of them could enable construction of a Bruce-Partington submarine. Despite this one of the seven returned papers details a type of valve without which the submarine could not be made immediately. Johnson states that whilst this valve could be invented the process would delay a foreign power in building the submarine.

At Woolwich Station Holmes and Watson speak to a clerk who knew Cadogan West by sight and had sold him a ticket on Monday night. West had taken the eight fifteen to London Bridge. He had been alone and extremely agitated.

That night Holmes explains to Watson that at some points in the West End the underground runs clear of the tunnels. If the train halted under a window then this would make it easy to push a body out onto the train. Holmes has found out that Mr. Hugo Oberstein, a leading international agent, has a house which abuts onto the underground and trains frequently stop beside the house. Oberstein has gone to the continent to sell on the papers and Holmes persuades Watson that they should enter his house and search through his correspondence.

In Oberstein’s house Holmes and Watson find blood on the window sill above the point where the trains pass by. They also find a record of a series of messages in the Daily Telegraph agony column. These show that Oberstein organised purchasing the documents by placing veiled messages in which he called himself “Pierrot”.

Holmes lays a trap for the traitor by posting an advertisement in the Telegraph under the name “Pierrot”. The message urges a meeting that night. Sherlock, Mycroft, Lestrade and Watson lay in wait at Oberstein’s house and catch the man who takes the bait, Colonel Valentine Walter.

Colonel Valentine had been pressed for money and resorted to copying his brother’s keys to the Woolwich Arsenal office and safe. Cadogan West was suspicious of Valentine and having caught sight of him on Monday night he followed him by train.

West tailed Valentine to Oberstein’s house and then tried to intervene. Oberstein hit West over the head and the blow killed him. Oberstein stuffed the less vital papers into West’s pocket to make him look like the guilty party and took the ticket out of his pocket to avoid leaving a link to the area. The body was then pushed onto the roof of one of the underground trains which regularly made a stop by the house.

Sherlock Holmes tells Colonel Valentine to make reparation for his actions by writing to Oberstein and enticing him to a meeting in London. The technical paper detailing the special valves is used as bait. Oberstein is caught and the missing three papers are among his possessions.


Considering the day and age in which these stories were written this is a very good and intriguing mystery. The Serials like CSI, Bones relies heavily on forensics. Serials like monk, mentalist, castle etc relies on hunches and unexplained guess work of leads. But todays VFX graphics movie generation will not be able to appreciate the mystery.
A very satisfying read. Must read for all those who like a good mystery. What sets apart Sherlock Holmes form Poirot, Miss Marple, Feluda, Byomkesh Bakshi and many others is that he explains everything logically. Holmes doesn’t rely on intuition, hunches or so called intelligent guess work. Holmes is the best.

[Roberto Mattos · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book, the monotony of thick smog-shrouded London is broken by a sudden visit from Holmes’s brother Mycroft. He has come about some missing, secret submarine plans. Seven of the ten pages — three are still missing — were found with Arthur Cadogan West’s body. He was a young clerk in a government office at Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, whose body was found next to the Underground tracks near the Aldgate tube station, his head crushed. He had little money with him (although there appears to have been no robbery), theater tickets, and curiously, no Underground ticket. The three missing pages by themselves could enable one of Britain’s enemies to build a Bruce-Partington submarine.
It seems clear that Cadogan West fell from a train and that he stole the plans meaning to sell them, but the mystery is truly complex:
How did Cadogan West meet his end?
If he was thrown off a train, what was he doing at Aldgate, well past the stop where he presumably would have gone?
If he had made an appointment with a foreign agent to sell the plans, would he not have kept his evening free instead of buying theater tickets for himself and his fiancée?
How did he get into the Underground without a ticket, or did someone take it?
Why can no evidence of violence be found in any Underground coach?
How is it that Cadogan’s head was crushed and yet there was very little bleeding by the track where he was found?
Inspector Lestrade tells Holmes that a passenger has seen fit to report hearing a thud at about the location in question, as though a body had fallen on the track. He could not see anything, however, owing to the thick fog.
After an examination of the track near Aldgate, Holmes reaches an astonishing and unusual conclusion: Cadogan West had been killed elsewhere, was deposited on the roof of an Underground train, and fell off when the jarring action of going over the points at Aldgate shook the coach.
Holmes decides to visit Sir James Walter, who was in charge of the papers. He has, however, died, apparently of a broken heart from the loss of his honor when the papers were stolen, according to his brother Colonel Valentine.
Cadogan West’s fiancée is a bit more informative. There was something on his mind for the last week or so of his life. He commented to her on how easily a traitor could get hold of “the secret” and how much a foreign agent would pay for it. Then, on the night in question, as the two of them were walking to the theater, near his office, he dashed off, never to be seen again.
Holmes next goes to the office from which the plans were stolen. Sidney Johnson, the senior clerk, tells Holmes that as always, he was the last man out of the office that night, and that he had put the papers in the safe himself. Anyone coming in afterwards to steal them would have needed three keys (for the building, the office, and the safe), but no duplicates were found on Cadogan West’s body, and only the late Sir James had all three keys. Johnson also mentions that one of the seven recovered pages might also be indispensable to a foreign agent. This will prove important later. Holmes also discovers that it is possible to see what is happening inside the office from outside even when the iron shutters are closed.
After leaving, Holmes finds that the clerk at the nearby Underground station remembers seeing Cadogan West on the evening in question. He was most shaken by something, and took a train to London Bridge.
Acting on information from Mycroft, and on what he has learnt thus far, Holmes identifies a person of interest, Hugo Oberstein, a known agent who left town shortly after Cadogan West’s murder. Some small reconnaissance shows Holmes that Oberstein’s house backs onto an above-ground Underground line, and that, owing to traffic at a nearby junction, trains often stop right under his windows. It seems clear now that Cadogan West’s body was laid on the train roof — the evidence shows that he was not dropped from a height — just there. The only remaining questions are about who killed him and why.
Holmes and Dr. Watson break into Oberstein’s empty house and examine the windows, finding that the grime has been smudged, and there is a bloodstain. An Underground train stops right under the window. It would be easy to lift a dead man onto a train roof, as was apparently done. Some messages from the Daily Telegraph agony column, all seeming to allude to a business deal, are also found, posted by “Pierrot”, and this gives Holmes an idea. He posts a similarly cryptic message in the Times demanding a meeting, signing it Pierrot, in the hopes that the thief — assuming it is not Cadogan West — might show up at Oberstein’s house.
It works. Colonel Valentine shows up and is stunned to find Holmes, Watson, Lestrade, and Mycroft all waiting for him. He confesses to the theft of the plans, but swears that it was Oberstein who killed Cadogan West. Cadogan had followed the Colonel to Oberstein’s and then, injudiciously, intervened. Oberstein beat his head in. Oberstein then decided, over the Colonel’s objections, that he had to keep three of the papers, because they could not be copied in a short time. He then got the idea of putting the other seven in Cadogan West’s pockets and then putting him on a train roof outside his window, reasoning that he would be blamed for the theft when his body was found, when actually, he had only seen the theft in progress and followed the thief.
Colonel Valentine Walter had been deep in debt and had acted out of a need for money. He redeems himself somewhat by agreeing to write to Oberstein, whose address on the Continent he knows, inviting him to come back to England for the fourth, vital page. This ruse also works, and Oberstein is sentenced to 15 years in prison, while the missing pages of the Bruce-Partington plans are recovered from his trunk. Colonel Valentine dies in prison, not long after starting his sentence. Holmes is given an emerald tie pin by Queen Victoria (she is not actually identified by name, but there is little doubt considering the dropped hints and given that the story is set in the year 1895, while she still reigned) for his efforts.
Excellent plot, I recommend this book to all readers that enjoy a well written mystery book, mainly featuring Sherlock Holmes and his friend Dr. Watson.

[Shuggy L. · Rating 3 out of 5]

As in the Red Circle, Sherlock Holmes manages to intercept a communication system to solve this mystery.

Trusted British government employees at the Woolwich Arsenal, Sir James Walter, Mr. Sidney Johnson (senior clerk) and Mr. Arthur Cadogan West (junior clerk) have access to the plans of a submarine called the Bruce-Partington.

When the plans go missing, and espionage is suspected, Mycroft Holmes, Sherlock Holmes's brother, also a government employee, calls his brother for help.

On the night in question, Cadogan West was on his way to the theatre with his fiancee, Miss Violet Wesbury and Johnson was at home with his wife and five children.

Colonel Valentine Walter, Sir James's brother, and Admiral Sinclair attests to Sir James's whereabouts in Woolwich and London.

This story captures the dangerous world of dishonest foreign agents. A platelayer (Mason) discovers a body just outside Aldgate station. .

Also an emotional toll is exacted on women family members, and men who are working honestly on behalf of their country.

A story dominated by traditionally masculine interests and spheres of influence such as engineering, submarines, and foreign affairs.

[Lloyd Hughes · Rating 5 out of 5]

We meet Mycroft Holmes, Sherlock’s older brother, who is gifted with an elephantine intellectual capacity for warehousing information and connecting the dots enabling us mere mortals to see the big picture, and all it’s ramifications. He is the unofficial, indispensable, go-to guy for government officials when there is a problem or a determinative course of action is needed. His is an even odder duck than younger brother Sherlock. The problem: highly classified plans for a radically new, highly sophisticated type of submarine that will dramatically change the face of naval warfare have gone missing. Where to turn, what to do? Once again governmental officials turn to Mycroft who summons little brother, Sherlock, explains the dire situation, and implores him to solve this dilemma quickly for the sake of home and country. You’ll have to read it yourself to find out: if, who, what, when and where. But, remember this is Sherlock! 5 stars, essential reading for anyone who enjoys reading.

[Andy Hickman · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The Bruce-Partington Plans" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

"The London criminal is certainly a dull fellow," said he, "Look out of this window, Watson. See how the figures loom up, are dimly seen, and then blend once more into the cloud-bank. The thief or the murderer could roam London on such a day as the tiger does the jungle, unseen until he pounces, and then evident only to his victim."
"There have," said I, "been numerous petty thefts."
Holmes snorted his contempt.
"This great and sombre stage is set for something more worthy than that," said he. "It is fortunate for this community that I am not a criminal."

“It was one of my friend's most obvious weaknesses that he was impatient with less alert intelligences than his own.”

"Sherlock. Give me your details, and from an arm-chair I will return you an excellent opinion." - Mycroft.
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