Valley of Fear to 281

The twist that Mr. Douglas was still alive blew my mind for a second. Sherlock Holmes’ processing appeared to be so far beyond my own; however, with a little analysis one can see why this seems true. As the writer, Mr. Doyle has the power to point the reader in whatsoever direction he chooses. By focusing on the “unimportant” parts of the case he places the reader on a false trail making it seem even more amazing that Holmes knew and understood what had taken place long before he allowed anyone else present to partake in his knowledge. This superiority is so apparent through Holmes’ speech and the language of the inspectors, who are, in essence, his subordinates. The officers even acknowledge Sherlock’s superiority when he states that he is “rather older and perhaps more experienced” than Detective Mac. While this statement may be true, and the Detective concedes in jovial tone, Holmes’ attitude does begin to irritate the policemen over time. When he tells them to just “drop the case” and “take a walk” the undercurrent questions surface. The policemen question Holmes’ judgement for a short period of time while waiting outside the home and watching the moat, inquiring of the purpose of their stakeout. Nevertheless, Holmes proves correct and all is revealed.

    The second storyline involving McMurdo creates an interesting story. The backstory behind the dead man Ted Baldwin is explained, and McMurdo, whose ambiguous morals creates that I cannot tell if I like or not, proves to be a strong character. He might be evil to the core or good at heart, but at the moment it still remains to be seen. I want to like him though, and I wish he had been the one to just kill Mr. Baldwin. I feel as though this would have led to much less pain and suffering for others. Joining the Scowlers seems to be stealing all that is good from within him though, and I hope that the situation will be remedied soon. Anyways, I can’t wait to see how the book will end; it promises to be quite interesting.