The 221B Daily

A new edition from Baker Street every morning.

SUN · 8 NOV · No. 030 Sign in

Sunday, 8 November 2026 | Difficulty IV

The Case of the Honourable Member's Speech

An Honourable Member's pre-prepared speech, central to Monday's Commons vote on a colonial bill, is gone from his locked study. The vote is in eighteen hours.

Engraved key object plate for The Case of the Honourable Member's Speech.
Narrated by Dr Watson — the case as it stood before us
Victorian newspaper-style illustration for The Case of the Honourable Member's Speech, set at The Member's house, Smith Square, Westminster.

Section I

The Scene

Hand-drawn case map for The Case of the Honourable Member's Speech, showing The Member's house, Smith Square, Westminster.
The ground in question.
Setting
The Member's house, Smith Square, Westminster
Time
Sunday morning, third Sunday of May 1894
Weather
Bright; a clear May Sunday; the chestnuts in full leaf
Atmosphere
A small first-floor study panelled in oak; tall sash windows over Smith Square; a desk strewn with House papers; a French clock on the mantel.

Section II

The Suspects

  • Mr Conyers

    The Member, the client

    A grave, careful man of fifty-five, twenty years in the House, the government's chief speaker on the colonial bill. He held the only key to the study on a chain at his watch.

  • Mr Aimer

    Private secretary, four years

    A neat, conscientious young man of thirty, who had set the speech upon the desk at six the previous evening and had left the house at half past nine. He held no key to the study and had not, by his own account, returned.

  • Mr Conyers's son

    The Member's elder son, a journalist for the Westminster Gazette

    A clever, well-mannered young man of twenty-eight, who took an opposite view to his father upon the colonial bill. He had been at his father's table on Saturday evening and had said, with a son's plainness, that the bill should be put back a week to admit the Indian secretariat's amendments. He had slept at the house on Saturday night.

  • Sir Vincent Pell

    Faction-whip of the Member's own party

    A florid, careful Member of fifty-five, who leads a rival faction within the government's own party. He had been at the house on Saturday evening for an hour after dinner.

Section III

The Evidence

  1. The locked study

    The study door had been locked from outside on Saturday at eleven; the key was on the Member's watch-chain through the night. The window-catches were in order; there was no other entry.

  2. Mr Conyers's son's lodging at the house

    The son had slept at the family's house on Saturday night, in his old bedroom upon the same first-floor as the study. The bedroom shared the floor's small back-corridor with the study door.

  3. A coded telegram in the son's coat

    Holmes asked, with grave courtesy, for a sight of the son's pocket-book and coat-pockets. In the inside pocket of his coat was a folded telegram, sent from a Pall Mall office at half past four on Saturday afternoon, signed only with the initials "V.P." and reading: "For the Indian amendments. Have the prepared text by Sunday's noon. Vote will be put back to Wednesday."

  4. Mr Aimer's evening at the house

    The secretary had set the speech upon the desk at six and had left at half past nine. He had not been to the house on Sunday morning. He had no acquaintance with Sir Vincent Pell.

  5. The political opponent

    The Member's political opponent had dined with Mr Conyers on Saturday evening - a familiar courtesy of the House. He had left at half past ten, by the front door, and had been at his own house in Eaton Square at all subsequent hours.

Section IV

Statements & Testimony

  • Mr Aimer

    Private secretary

    “"I set the speech upon the master's desk at six on Saturday, sir. I locked nothing; I left at half past nine. The Member came in at eleven from the club and locked the study himself. I have not been to the house on Sunday morning. I do not know how the speech is gone."”

  • Mrs Conyers

    The Member's wife

    “"My son slept at the house on Saturday, Mr Holmes. I heard him at his bedroom door at midnight; I heard the corridor's small board creak at quarter past, and again at half past. He went down for a glass of water, perhaps; I thought no more of it at the time."”

Section V

Your Verdict

Three picks render a verdict. Name the culprit, choose the method, and nail the keystone clue. We score all three — partial credit if you got the culprit but missed the method, full credit only if you got Holmes’s exact reasoning.

1. Name the culprit
2. Choose the method

Which of these accounts of the deed best matches the evidence?

3. Pick the keystone clue

Of all the evidence above, which single piece nails the case?

Choose a culprit, a method, and a keystone clue to render your verdict.