It was the kind of close, oppressive afternoon in which Holmes, deprived for some weeks of any case worth his attention, had retreated into his black mood and his violin. He was sawing at a slow Beethoven adagio when the door opened and Inspector Lestrade was shown up. "A telegram, Mr Holmes," he said without preamble, laying a small pink form upon the table. "Picked up off the floor of a cab in Tottenham Court Road this morning. The cabman swears it was dropped by the gentleman he set down at the British Museum at half past nine. The gentleman has not been seen since, and within the hour we found him in a carriage at King's Cross, dead, with a phial of laudanum in his pocket and no mark of violence upon him. We supposed suicide, until we found the telegram. The Yard's chemists make nothing of it, and so I have come to you." Holmes set down his violin and took up the form. He read it once, frowned, read it again, and laughed. "Well, Watson," he said, "the dead gentleman has solved his own death for us, if we trouble to read his last word." The form bore a single line of capital letters: "PHHW PH DW WKH JUHHN URRP DW WHQ. M."
The 221B Daily
A new edition from Baker Street every morning.
Thursday, 30 April 2026 | Difficulty III
The Hieroglyphic Telegram
A man dead in a King's Cross carriage, no mark of violence. In his cab he left a single line of capital letters that Scotland Yard cannot read.
Sidney Paget · The Strand Magazine, September 1893 · Public Domain
Watson’s account
Section I
The Scene
- Setting
- Holmes's sitting-room at 221B; the British Museum's Greek Room; a first-class carriage at King's Cross
- Time
- Thursday afternoon, late June 1895
- Weather
- Heavy, oppressive, the air of London thick before a thunderstorm
- Atmosphere
- The summer hush of the Reading Room broken by a Yard inspector's slow tread; the smell of laudanum on a dead man's coat.
Section II
The Suspects
-
Mr Abel Maitland
Senior under-keeper of the Greek and Roman antiquities
A thin, scholarly man of fifty, much respected in his field. He had been in his office in the Museum from nine o'clock that morning. The dead gentleman, a private collector named Edmund Foxton, had had an appointment with him at ten in the Greek Room.
-
Mr Julian Marston
Dealer in classical antiquities, of Maddox Street, Mayfair
A florid, well-spoken gentleman of forty, who had had professional dealings with Foxton in connection with a small Etruscan bronze the late collector had purchased some six months earlier. The bronze had been the subject of dispute, Marston having later believed it to be a forgery.
-
Mr Joseph Ashby
Foxton's secretary, four years in his employment
A quiet, careful young man of twenty-eight, who had drafted Foxton's correspondence and kept his collection's catalogue. He was on the firm's books at a salary of one hundred and twenty pounds and was understood to be engaged to be married.
-
Mrs Caroline Foxton
The dead gentleman's wife of nine years
A handsome, somewhat reserved woman of thirty-four. She had risen at her usual hour, breakfasted with her husband, and seen him off in his cab at half past nine. She had spent the morning at her dressmaker's in Wigmore Street, where she was attended by Madame Lefroy from a quarter past ten until midday.
-
Mr Richard Brennan
Foxton's man of business, of Lincoln's Inn
A grave solicitor of fifty-five, who had handled the Foxton affairs for eleven years. He had been at his chambers at the relevant hour in conference with another client, a fact attested by his clerk and by the second client's signed engagement-book.
Section III
The Evidence
-
The cipher
The telegram reads PHHW PH DW WKH JUHHN URRP DW WHQ. M. Holmes pointed out at once that this was no cipher more elaborate than a Caesar shift of three places: each letter is to be replaced by the letter three before it in the alphabet. The plain text reads: MEET ME AT THE GREEK ROOM AT TEN. J.
-
The phial of laudanum
A small phial, half-empty, found in Foxton's right-hand coat-pocket. The pharmacist's label was that of Mr Henshaw of Wigmore Street, with whom Foxton had a long-standing account; the prescription was Foxton's regular one, for a stomach complaint of some years' standing.
-
The Etruscan bronze
A small bronze figure of a winged lion, three inches long, said to be of Etruscan workmanship. Marston had sold it to Foxton the previous October for one hundred and ten pounds. He had subsequently come to believe it a forgery and had asked, unavailingly, for the return of the purchase money.
-
Foxton's appointment-book
Foxton kept a small green leather appointment-book in his coat-pocket. The Thursday's entry read "10. Maitland — Greek Room — re. catalogue". There was no entry for any other meeting that morning, nor any reference to Marston.
-
Ashby's wedding plans
The secretary was understood to be on the eve of his marriage to a Miss Trevelyan of Putney. The wedding was set for the second week of August.
-
The cabman's account
The cabman who had set Foxton down at the Museum at half past nine reported that his fare had been agitated during the ride, opening and closing his coat-pocket several times, and had directed him by mistake first to the Russell Square gate before correcting himself. The telegram was found upon the floor of the cab when the cabman swept it out at the rank.
-
Marston's gallery accounts
Marston's accounts, which Lestrade obtained later that evening, showed the gallery to be in considerable embarrassment. A bill of three hundred pounds fell due on the Friday following.
Section IV
Statements & Testimony
-
Inspector Lestrade Reliable
Of Scotland Yard
“"The doctor is sure of laudanum. He is sure also that the dose was twice what Foxton was prescribed. We had taken it for a self-inflicted accident, but the cipher told a different tale."”
-
Mr Abel Maitland Reliable
Under-keeper, British Museum
“"Mr Foxton did not come to my office at ten. I waited for him until eleven and then sent a boy to the porter's lodge, who reported he had not entered the building."”
-
Mrs Caroline Foxton Partial
Wife of the deceased
“"Edmund had taken his draught the previous evening. He was perfectly well at breakfast. I cannot — I will not — believe he took his own life."”
-
Mr Henshaw Reliable
Pharmacist, Wigmore Street
“"Mr Foxton's prescription was for ten drops at bedtime. The phial in his pocket was at half its level. He had collected the phial from me on Tuesday, fresh."”
Section V