The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax
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| “The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax” | ||
|---|---|---|
| Informations | ||
| Foreign names | See section | |
| Parution | .svg.png){kind=small}  December 1911 (The Strand Magazine) (American Magazine) | |
| Client(s) | No informations | |
| His Last Bow | ||
| Preceded by | The Adventure of the Red Circle | |
| Followed by | The Adventure of the Dying Detective | |
“The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax” is the sixth short story from the twelve in the cycle collected as His Last Bow. It was first published in The Strand Magazine in December 1911.
Storyline
Dr. Watson is sent by Sherlock Holmes to Lausanne, Switzerland, to investigate the mysterious disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax, an independent, unmarried Englishwoman of noble birth. Holmes, preoccupied in London, entrusts Watson with the task because Lady Frances had been writing regular letters to her old governess but had recently stopped, and her bank account had remained untouched for weeks.
Watson traces Lady Frances’s movements across Europe. He learns that she had left Lausanne suddenly, accompanied by a bearded man and a woman described as his wife. Before that, she had stayed at a hotel where she had been friendly with a Dr. Shlessinger and his frail wife, who claimed to be missionaries. The bearded man is believed to be this same Dr. Shlessinger. Watson suspects foul play but cannot find any conclusive evidence. He follows their trail to Baden and then to London, where the couple seems to have vanished.
Holmes eventually joins the case in person after discovering that Dr. Shlessinger is, in fact, a notorious conman and career criminal named Henry Peters, who is known for using religious disguises and preying on wealthy women. Holmes deduces that Lady Frances may have been abducted and possibly murdered. He begins to search London’s undertakers, suspecting that Peters may be using a coffin to smuggle her body or, worse, to hide her while she is still alive.
Holmes’s theory proves correct. He locates the undertaker where Peters had arranged for the transport of a coffin supposedly containing his wife's deceased former nurse. Holmes, Watson, and the police intercept the coffin just in time and discover Lady Frances inside, drugged but alive, being slowly suffocated. Peters had planned to kill her, bury her under the nurse's name, and steal her valuables. Lady Frances is rescued, and Holmes remarks that she is lucky to be alive. Peters and his accomplice flee, but Holmes believes they won’t get far.
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