The Adventure of the Second Stain characters

Appears from the start

A consulting detective asked to recover a missing state paper whose publication could provoke a European war. Holmes treats the political stakes seriously but insists that the small circle with access to the document must contain the explanation. He connects the theft to a nearby murder and uses a displaced carpet stain to reconstruct what happened after the killing.

Also known as Dr Watson

Appears from the start

Holmes's friend and the narrator of the case. Watson accompanies Holmes during the confidential visit from government leaders and the later examination of the murder scene, recording a solution that the detective keeps from his official clients.

Also known as Lord Bellinger

Appears from the start

The British prime minister, who comes privately to Baker Street because a letter from a foreign ruler has vanished. Controlled and authoritative, he believes disclosure could destabilize Europe and refuses to reveal more of the document than Holmes needs to know.

Appears from the start

The secretary for European affairs and custodian of the missing letter. Hope kept it in a locked dispatch box at home and is horrified that it disappeared despite his careful routine. His public duty and his trust in his wife are both implicated in the mystery.

Also known as Lady Hilda

Appears from the start

Trelawney Hope's wife, who secretly visits Holmes after the officials leave. She asks what damage the stolen paper could do while insisting that her husband has not confided its contents to her. Holmes recognizes that her fear is personal as well as patriotic.

Appears from the start

A London resident known to the authorities as an international agent. Lucas is found stabbed in his house on the same night the state letter disappears. The investigation reveals that he also used another identity in Paris and had been blackmailing Lady Hilda.

Appears from the start

A Scotland Yard inspector investigating Eduardo Lucas's murder. Lestrade brings Holmes back to the scene after noticing that a bloodstain on the carpet no longer matches the stain on the floor beneath it, an inconsistency that reveals a hidden compartment.

Also known as Madame Fournaye

Appears from the start

The Parisian wife of the man who lived in London as Eduardo Lucas. Driven by jealousy after discovering his double life, she follows him to his house and kills him during a confrontation, unintentionally creating the opportunity for the stolen state paper to be recovered.