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.

“Mr. Melas's account”
Sidney Paget · The Strand Magazine, September 1893 · Public Domain

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.

The rest of the edition is reserved.

Sign in with Google to read the rest.

Today’s case is free for every reader. Back issues open with a free Google sign-in, limited to three archive reads each calendar month. Strand subscribers may roam the full archive at will.