Literature insight 5: Sherlock Holmes and the Duke's Son – Conan Doyle

 You need to use normal letters and capital letters correctly in this task.

BEFORE YOU READ

• 1Read about Arthur Conan Doyle. Who gave him the idea for the character of Sherlock Holmes?

  The idea was given to him by .

• 2Read the background to the story. How did the Duke's son leave the school at night?

  The Duke's son .

About the author

Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle

Born: 1859 in Edinburgh, Scotland

Died: 1930 in Crowborough

Important works: A Study in Scarlet (1887), Micah Clarke (1889), The Hound of the Baskervilles (1902)

Did you know? Conan Doyle studied medicine at Edinburgh University. When he finished university, he worked as a ship's doctor. He went on voyages to Antarctica and West Africa. Then he became a doctor in Southsea, in the south of England. While he was waiting for patients, he wrote stories. Dr Joseph Bell, one of Conan Doyle's teachers at medical school, gave him the idea for a new character – a very clever private detective. This character was Sherlock Holmes, and his friend was called Watson. The first Holmes story, A Study in Scarlet, was published in 1887.

A Scandal in Bohemia (1891) was the first Holmes story to become very popular. The public loved this unusual detective, who smoked a pipe, played the violin and lived at 221B Baker Street in London. Fifty-six Sherlock Holmes stories appeared in Strand magazine from 1891–1927. The stories are set in Victorian London, the English countryside and abroad, for example, in the USA and Switzerland. Since then, many other writers have written stories about Holmes, including comics and graphic novels. More than 70 actors have played him in more than 200 films.

BACKGROUND TO THE STORY

A visitor arrives one day at the house of the famous detective, Sherlock Holmes. The man is Dr Huxtable and he has a famous school in the north of England. He looks pale and ill and he tells Holmes and Dr Watson that three days ago, the Duke of Holdernesse's son, Arthur, disappeared. Arthur was unhappy when his parents separated and his mother went to live in France. This is why the Duke sent him away to school. The Duke is one of the greatest and richest men in the country and he is offering five thousand pounds for news of his son and one thousand pounds for the name of the kidnapper. Arthur disappeared at night. He went out of his bedroom window and climbed down the ivy. Heidegger, the German teacher, is also missing, and he took a bicycle.

1Read the extract from Sherlock Holmes and the Duke's Son. What did Arthur receive the day before he disappeared? 

• Holmes took out a little notebook, and began to write things down.

  'The boy didn't go home, of course,' he said.

  'No, no. We asked at Holdernesse Hall at once,' said Dr Huxtable. 'The Duke is very afraid for his son – and I am the unhappiest man in England. Mr Holmes, you are a famous detective – please help me!'

  'You make things very difficult for me,' Holmes said. 'How can I find marks in the ivy or on the ground after three days? Why didn't you come to me at once?'

  'Because of the Duke,' Dr Huxtable said. 'He doesn't like people talking about his unhappy family life.'

  'And what are the police doing?'

  'Well, they heard about a boy and a young man at the station early on Tuesday. They looked for them, and last night they found them in Liverpool – but it was a man and his son going to visit a friend. We lost three days because of that. And last night I couldn't sleep, so I took the first train down to London this morning.'

  'Well, Dr Huxtable, some more questions,' said Holmes. 'Did the boy take German lessons?'

• 'No.'

  'So he didn't know the German teacher well, then.'

  'He probably never spoke to him,' said Dr Huxtable.

  'Mmm,' said Holmes. 'Does the boy have a bicycle?'

  'No.'

  'Was any other bicycle missing?'

  'No.'

  'So. Did the German teacher ride away on his bicycle in the night, with the boy on his back? I don't think so. But what happened to the bicycle? Now, what about visitors? Did the boy have any visitors the day before?'

  'No.'

  'Did he get any letters?'

  'Yes, one letter. From his father.'

  'Do you open the boys' letters, Dr Huxtable?'

  'No.'

  'Then how do you know that the letter was from the father?'

  'I know the Duke's handwriting. And he says that he wrote a letter to his son.'

He received .

2Read the extract again. Answer the questions. 

• Holmes took out a little notebook, and began to write things down.

  'The boy didn't go home, of course,' he said.

  'No, no. We asked at Holdernesse Hall at once,' said Dr Huxtable. 'The Duke is very afraid for his son – and I am the unhappiest man in England. Mr Holmes, you are a famous detective – please help me!'

  'You make things very difficult for me,' Holmes said. 'How can I find marks in the ivy or on the ground after three days? Why didn't you come to me at once?'

  'Because of the Duke,' Dr Huxtable said. 'He doesn't like people talking about his unhappy family life.'

  'And what are the police doing?'

  'Well, they heard about a boy and a young man at the station early on Tuesday. They looked for them, and last night they found them in Liverpool – but it was a man and his son going to visit a friend. We lost three days because of that. And last night I couldn't sleep, so I took the first train down to London this morning.'

  'Well, Dr Huxtable, some more questions,' said Holmes. 'Did the boy take German lessons?'

• 'No.'

  'So he didn't know the German teacher well, then.'

  'He probably never spoke to him,' said Dr Huxtable.

  'Mmm,' said Holmes. 'Does the boy have a bicycle?'

  'No.'

  'Was any other bicycle missing?'

  'No.'

  'So. Did the German teacher ride away on his bicycle in the night, with the boy on his back? I don't think so. But what happened to the bicycle? Now, what about visitors? Did the boy have any visitors the day before?'

  'No.'

  'Did he get any letters?'

  'Yes, one letter. From his father.'

  'Do you open the boys' letters, Dr Huxtable?'

  'No.'

  'Then how do you know that the letter was from the father?'

  'I know the Duke's handwriting. And he says that he wrote a letter to his son.'

• • 1Where does Holmes write things down?

  • 2How do they know that Arthur didn't go home?

  • 3Who is the unhappiest man in England?

  • 4Who doesn't like people talking about his life?

  • 5Where did the police find a man and a boy?

  • 6What language does Arthur not learn at school?

  • 7Which train did Dr Huxtable catch?

  • 8Who owns a bicycle?

• aThe Duke doesn't like people talking about his life.

  bDr Huxtable is the unhappiest man in England.

  cThe school asked his father and he is afraid for his son.

  dThe police found a man and a boy at the station in Liverpool.

  eHe writes things in his notebook.

  fHe caught the first train to London.

  gThe German teacher owns a bicycle.

  hHe doesn't learn German.

• 
  

3. Read the questions and give your opinion.

• Do you think Arthur is with the German teacher? Where do you think Arthur is?
• What skills do you need to be a great detective?
• Do you like mystery stories? Why / why not?

4Read what happens next. What does Holmes find on the moors? 

READ ON

Holmes and Watson catch a train to Dr Huxtable's school. They meet the Duke and Mr James Wilder, his secretary. The Duke is surprised to see Holmes. He does not want people to know about his son's disappearance.

The Duke leaves and Sherlock Holmes studies a map of the area. When the gardener finds a school hat on the moors, Holmes knows that Arthur and the German teacher did not travel by road. The next day Holmes and Watson walk across the moor. They don't find any footprints, but they find cow tracks, bicycle tracks and blood.

5Play the recording and listen to the next part of the story. What does the workman do when he sees the body? 

6Play the recording and listen to the next part of the story. Complete the sentences. 

• 1Watson offers to run back to the .

• 2Holmes writes a  to Dr Huxtable.

• 3The workman runs down the .

• 4Then Holmes  carefully.

• 5The German teacher left without his .

• 6The German teacher  eight kilometres from the school.

• 7The German teacher needed a bicycle because Arthur was moving .

• 8The person travelling with Arthur hit the German teacher on the .

7. Read the questions and give your opinion. In your opinion, did Arthur kill the German teacher? Why / why not? Would you like to go to a school like Arthur's? Why / why not? Imagine you are Sherlock Holmes and you are interviewing the Duke of Holdernesse. What questions would you ask to find out the following about Arthur? what he looks like what his hobbies are what sport he plays

8  Arthur is a new boy at school and his mother is in France. Imagine that you are Arthur. Write a letter to your mother, the Duchess. Include the following ideas and your own ideas: where the school is what your friends are like what you do every day what your room is like what your teachers and lessons are like

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