The Adventure of the Dancing Men recap

Norfolk landowner Hilton Cubitt asks Sherlock Holmes to explain drawings of dancing stick figures that terrify his American wife Elsie. She had required him to promise never to question her about her past, so he seeks help without breaking her confidence. As more messages appear, Holmes identifies the figures as a substitution cipher and gradually reads them as communications from Abe Slaney. An urgent message brings Holmes and Watson to the Cubitt home too late: Hilton is dead and Elsie is critically wounded. The police suspect murder followed by attempted suicide, but Holmes shows that a third person fired through a window. Using the solved cipher, he summons Slaney and has him arrested. Slaney reveals that he knew Elsie through her father's Chicago criminal gang and pursued her after she escaped to England. Hilton interrupted their final meeting, and the men exchanged shots; Elsie then shot herself in despair. Slaney is convicted, while Elsie recovers and continues her husband's charitable responsibilities in Norfolk.

Hilton Cubitt brings Sherlock Holmes a series of drawings showing small dancing figures. The marks have appeared near Cubitt's Norfolk home and cause intense fear in his American wife, Elsie. Before their marriage she admitted that her past contained shameful associations and asked Hilton never to investigate them; he accepted the condition and still will not force her confidence. Holmes concludes that the figures form a substitution cipher and uses repeated patterns to identify letters. Further messages reveal that someone named Abe Slaney is demanding a response from Elsie and becoming more threatening. Holmes sends an urgent warning, but he and Watson reach Norfolk after Hilton has been shot dead and Elsie badly wounded. Inspector Martin considers the possibility that Elsie killed her husband and then herself. Holmes reads the physical evidence as an exchange of shots through a window and uses the solved cipher to send Slaney a command to come. Slaney arrives believing the message came from Elsie and is arrested. He explains that Elsie's father led a Chicago gang and devised the code. Slaney followed Elsie to England and tried to reclaim her; when Hilton confronted him, the men exchanged fire, killing Hilton, and Elsie then shot herself. Slaney is convicted, and Elsie eventually recovers and remains at the estate.

Holmes deciphers the dancing figures as a substitution cipher used by Abe Slaney, an American criminal who knew Elsie before her marriage. By the time Holmes and Watson reach Norfolk, Hilton Cubitt has been shot dead and Elsie is gravely wounded by a self-inflicted gunshot. Evidence at the window shows that Cubitt exchanged fire with an outside visitor. Holmes writes a message in the same cipher ordering Slaney to come and has it delivered to the farm where he is staying. Believing that Elsie sent it, Slaney arrives and is arrested. He explains that Elsie's father led a Chicago gang and created the code. Elsie fled that life; Slaney followed and tried to force her to return to him. During their final meeting Cubitt appeared, and the two men fired at each other. Cubitt died, while Slaney escaped and Elsie attempted suicide. Slaney's death sentence is reduced because Cubitt fired first. Elsie survives and remains in Norfolk, devoting herself to the management of her husband's estate and care for those in need.