The Adventure of the Red Widow

The Adventure of the Red Widow is a short Sherlock Holmes murder mystery by Adrian Conan Doyle. The story was published in the 1954 collection, The Exploits of Sherlock Holmes.

Holmes and Watson are invited by Scotland Yard Inspector Gregson to accompany him to an ancient country mansion in Derbyshire. The crime scene remains undisturbed, indicating that the lord of the manor has been decapitated by the guillotine in his own museum. His head and his cousin, Captain Lothian, are both missing, along with a horse from the stable. Holmes annoys a local police inspector named Dawlish by lingering over the crime scene, but quickly resolves the mystery.

"Most instructive," observed Holmes. "As I understand your theory, the two men engaged in a ferocious combat, being careful not to disarrange any furniture or smash the glass cases that clutter up the room. Then, having disposed of his opponent, the murderer rides into the night, a suit–case under one arm and his victim's head under the other. A truly remarkable performance."

An angry flush suffuse Dawlish's face."It's easy enough to pick holes in other people's ideas, Mr. Sherlock Holmes," he sneered. "Perhaps you will give us your theory."