The Valley of Fear
Chapters - Arthur Conan Doyle
The Tragedy of Birlstone
Chapter 1: The Warning
Holmes receives a coded warning from Porlock, an informant within Moriarty's network. The cipher, once decoded, names a man in danger - but before Holmes can act, Inspector MacDonald arrives with news: the man has already been murdered. The chapter establishes the shadow of Moriarty behind the case, though he never appears directly.
POV: Dr John H. Watson·On page: Sherlock Holmes·Mentioned: Professor James Moriarty
Chapter 2: Mr Sherlock Holmes Discourses
Holmes discusses the case with MacDonald and Watson, revealing his knowledge of Moriarty's organisation. The victim, John Douglas, was found shot in the face with a sawn-off shotgun at his moated manor house, Birlstone. The drawbridge was up; no one could have left.
POV: Dr John H. Watson·On page: Sherlock Holmes·Mentioned: Professor James Moriarty, Colonel Sebastian Moran
Chapter 3: The Tragedy of Birlstone
Holmes and Watson travel to Birlstone and examine the crime scene. The victim's face is destroyed, a candle has been left burning beside the body, and a card marked "V.V. 341" is placed nearby. Holmes notices that the dead man's wedding ring is missing - but a mark on the arm shows it was worn elsewhere.
POV: Dr John H. Watson·On page: John Douglas, Ted Baldwin
Chapter 4: Darkness
The investigation deepens. Holmes deduces from a missing dumbbell, a bicycle in the garden, and the moat that someone is hiding in the house. The darkness of the case - a man shot in the face in his own home - intensifies.
POV: Dr John H. Watson·On page: Sherlock Holmes
Chapter 5: The People of the Drama
Holmes interviews the household and establishes the relationships: Douglas's wife, his friend Cecil Barker, the servants. Everyone is holding something back, and Holmes recognises that the widow's composure is itself a clue.
POV: Dr John H. Watson·On page: Sherlock Holmes
Chapter 6: A Dawning Light
Holmes finds the missing dumbbell in the moat, along with other evidence, and the solution begins to clarify. The clues point not to an intruder but to an elaborate deception staged from within.
POV: Dr John H. Watson·On page: Sherlock Holmes
Chapter 7: The Solution
Holmes reveals the truth: Douglas is alive. The dead man is Ted Baldwin, a member of a secret society who came to kill Douglas. Douglas killed Baldwin in self-defence, then switched clothes and identities to escape the society's reach permanently. The wedding ring, the dumbbell, the candle - all props in the staged scene. Douglas emerges from hiding.
POV: Dr John H. Watson·On page: Sherlock Holmes
The Scowrers
Chapter 1: The Man
The narrative shifts to the coalfields of Vermissa Valley, Pennsylvania, twenty years earlier. A young man named McMurdo arrives seeking work and quickly establishes himself as tough, Irish, and willing.
Chapter 2: The Bodymaster
McMurdo joins Lodge 341 of the Ancient Order of Freemen, led by the ruthless Bodymaster McGinty. The lodge is the centre of power in the valley, its members terrorising mine owners and rivals through arson, beatings, and murder.
Chapter 3: Lodge 341, Vermissa
McMurdo rises through the lodge, participating in raids and earning McGinty's trust. The violence escalates and McMurdo finds himself drawn deeper into the conspiracy, though hints emerge that he may not be what he seems.
Chapter 4: The Valley of Fear
The valley lives under a reign of terror. McMurdo is ordered to participate in a murder and complies, though with evident reluctance. The chapter documents the corruption of an entire community by organised violence.
Chapter 5: The Darkest Hour
The darkest hour: multiple murders, a community paralysed by fear, and McMurdo increasingly conflicted. A Pinkerton detective named Edwards is rumoured to be operating in the valley.
Chapter 6: Danger
McMurdo is revealed as Birdy Edwards - the Pinkerton agent, embedded in the lodge for months. He has gathered enough evidence to destroy the entire organisation. McGinty and the lodge members are arrested.
Chapter 7: The Trapping of Birdy Edwards
Edwards testifies and the Scowrers are convicted. But the organisation has a long memory and a longer reach. Edwards changes his name to Douglas and flees, eventually to England - where, decades later, Baldwin found him.
POV: Dr John H. Watson·On page: Sherlock Holmes·Mentioned: Professor James Moriarty, Mrs Hudson
Epilogue
The epilogue returns to the present. Douglas sets sail for South Africa to start again, but Holmes receives a telegram: Douglas was lost overboard during the voyage. Holmes has no doubt that Moriarty arranged it. The novel closes with Holmes staring at the telegram, his face hard: "I think that there is a certain promise of danger which I hardly expected."
POV: Dr John H. Watson·On page: Sherlock Holmes·Mentioned: Professor James Moriarty