The relationship between Sherlock Holmes and Isadora Klein, like Churchill's impression of Russia, is viewed by some as a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.
Isadora Klein is, without doubt, the most reprehensible character in the Canon (Doyle’s 56 short stories and the 4 longer ones). Her cruelty knew no bounds. She would do anything - destroy any life - to satisfy her lust or to satiate her appetites. Yet, Holmes never sought to bring her to justice. This present writing now before you will suggest for your consideration just how, and in what manner, she purchased the silence of Sherlock Holmes.
Young Douglas Maberly, the unsuccessful suitor of Isadora, did not die of pneumonia as his mother supposed. He did not die of complications from the beating that was inflicted upon him. He died of a broken heart, a result of the cruelty of Isadora Klein.
Why, then, did not Holmes bring this temptress, this Jezebel, to justice? By her own admission she engaged ruffians to commit at least two felonies. She arranged for a premeditated attack and beating upon young Maberly; and she contracted for the burglary of the home of Maberly’s widowed mother and for the stealing a manuscript written by her late son, a manuscript of great sentimental value.
This seductress had romped upon the heart and the emotions of young Maberly, using him to fill her emotional needs. Then, heartlessly she tossed him aside when he stood in the way of her more important campaign to satisfy her financial and material greed through a marriage to the young Duke of Lomond. Yet, Holmes, who had been employed by Mrs. Maberly, never sought to bring Isadora Klein to justice.
A close examination of the facts in the account of the “Three Gables” matter will reveal some unpleasant answers to some heretofore un-asked questions.
When Sherlock Holmes first strutted across the stage where these events were being played out, he declared:
"I represent justice so far as my feeble powers go."
(See Doubleday Edition, page 1032)
Well, his powers were quite feeble on that particular day, and they didn’t go very far either.
The reasons shall become clear to those who will examine the facts with an open mind. What did Holmes do to obtain justice ? Absolutely nothing. And it was not for the paltry sum of five-thousand pounds that Sra. Klein purchased his silence and her freedom. Holmes doesn’t come cheap, you know.
Why did Sherlock Holmes abandon his client’s case? Why did Sherlock Holmes let Isadora Klein “walk?”
Watson, in his report of the case, laces his account with many clues, but it is Holmes, himself who gives us the major clue. Holmes may not have realized the confessions that he made when he adopted the words of John Keats and referred to Isabella Klein as “la belle dame sans merci.”
If Holmes was seeking to obtain justice, he fell far short of his goal in this case. But Holmes was not seeking justice. That was not what he had on his mind. In our pursuit of the truth, if we can handle the truth, we shall find that Holmes, like others before him, may have succumbed to Isadora’s seductive charms.
A Disclosure from Inspector Baynes, of the Surrey Constabulary
(To be continued at Part 2 of 2 Parts, a future posting)
(Jody Baker is a Chattanooga attorney, who specializes in Sherlock Holmes lore. He can be reached at
jceblaw@bellsouth.net)