All The Adventure of Black Peter

The Adventure of Black Peter

The Adventure of Black Peter, Watson tells us, occurred in July 1895. It is one of 13 Sherlock Holmes short stories in The Return of Sherlock Holmes. It was first published in The Strand Magazine in 1904. Watson and Holmes travel to Woodman’s Lee near Forest Grove in Sussex to investigate the harpooning to death of Captain Peter Carey. Carey who had a violent temper when drunk had been given the nickname ‘Black Peter’. He had retired from the sea at a relatively early age and sought seclusion. Despite Inspector Hoskins arresting a frail young man John Hopley Nelligan for the murder, Holmes argues that the death must have required greater strength than Nelligan possessed but must implement a clever stratagem to uncover the real killer.