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The Final Problem · Questions

The Final Problem: 25 questions

Arthur Conan Doyle · 1893

Questions on the text, each answered in the book’s own words, with the minute you hear it.

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  1. 1. Whose recent letters, defending the memory of his brother, have forced Watson’s hand?

    Answer Colonel James Moriarty

    “My hand has been forced, however, by the recent letters in which Colonel James Moriarty defends the memory of his brother”

    Hear it at 0:52 · in the text

  2. 2. From which two French towns were Holmes’s notes to Watson dated?

    Answer Narbonne and Nimes

    “I received two notes from Holmes, dated from Narbonne and from Nimes, from which I gathered that his stay in France was likely to be a long one.”

    Hear it at 2:22 · in the text

  3. 3. On the evening of which date does Holmes walk into Watson’s consulting-room?

    Answer The 24th of April

    “It was with some surprise, therefore, that I saw him walk into my consulting-room upon the evening of the 24th of April.”

    Hear it at 2:32 · in the text

  4. 4. What does Holmes say he is afraid of when he bolts the shutters?

    Answer Air-guns

    “You are afraid of something?” I asked. “Well, I am.” “Of what?” “Of air-guns.”

    Hear it at 3:14 · in the text

  5. 5. At what age did Moriarty write his treatise upon the Binomial Theorem?

    Answer Twenty-one

    “At the age of twenty-one he wrote a treatise upon the Binomial Theorem, which has had a European vogue.”

    Hear it at 6:20 · in the text

  6. 6. What does Holmes call Professor Moriarty?

    Answer The Napoleon of crime

    “He is the Napoleon of crime, Watson. He is the organizer of half that is evil and of nearly all that is undetected in this great city.”

    Hear it at 8:03 · in the text

  7. 7. How many mysteries will the great trial clear up, according to Holmes?

    Answer Over forty

    “Then will come the greatest criminal trial of the century, the clearing up of over forty mysteries, and the rope for all of them”

    Hear it at 10:08 · in the text

  8. 8. How many minutes does Holmes say he can spare Moriarty?

    Answer Five

    “Pray take a chair. I can spare you five minutes if you have anything to say.’”

    Hear it at 12:52 · in the text

  9. 9. On what date, according to Moriarty’s memorandum-book, did Holmes first cross his path?

    Answer The 4th of January

    “You crossed my path on the 4th of January,’ said he. ‘On the 23rd you incommoded me; by the middle of February I was seriously inconvenienced by you”

    Hear it at 13:25 · in the text

  10. 10. What came whizzing round the corner from Bentinck Street at Holmes?

    Answer A two-horse van

    “As I passed the corner which leads from Bentinck Street on to the Welbeck Street crossing a two-horse van furiously driven whizzed round and was on me like a flash.”

    Hear it at 17:11 · in the text

  11. 11. In which street did a brick come down from a roof at Holmes’s feet?

    Answer Vere Street

    “but as I walked down Vere Street a brick came down from the roof of one of the houses, and was shattered to fragments at my feet.”

    Hear it at 17:33 · in the text

  12. 12. Where did Holmes spend the rest of the day after the brick?

    Answer His brother’s rooms in Pall Mall

    “I took a cab after that and reached my brother’s rooms in Pall Mall, where I spent the day.”

    Hear it at 17:58 · in the text

  13. 13. At what time was Watson to reach the far side of the Lowther Arcade?

    Answer A quarter-past nine

    “dash through the Arcade, timing yourself to reach the other side at a quarter-past nine.”

    Hear it at 20:30 · in the text

  14. 14. How many minutes did the station clock show before the train was due to start, with no sign of Holmes?

    Answer Seven

    “The station clock marked only seven minutes from the time when we were due to start.”

    Hear it at 22:19 · in the text

  15. 15. Who drove the brougham from the Lowther Arcade to Victoria?

    Answer Mycroft, Holmes’s brother

    “It was my brother Mycroft. It is an advantage to get about in such a case without taking a mercenary into your confidence.”

    Hear it at 25:34 · in the text

  16. 16. What does Holmes say Moriarty will do to catch the express?

    Answer Engage a special

    “What would you do, then?” “Engage a special.”

    Hear it at 26:17 · in the text

  17. 17. At which station do Holmes and Watson get out?

    Answer Canterbury

    “This train stops at Canterbury; and there is always at least a quarter of an hour’s delay at the boat. He will catch us there.”

    Hear it at 26:23 · in the text

  18. 18. Where do they spend two days before moving on to Strasburg?

    Answer Brussels

    “We made our way to Brussels that night and spent two days there, moving on upon the third day as far as Strasburg.”

    Hear it at 28:43 · in the text

  19. 19. Over which pass, still deep in snow, do they make their way to Meiringen?

    Answer The Gemmi Pass

    “branching off at Leuk, we made our way over the Gemmi Pass, still deep in snow, and so, by way of Interlaken, to Meiringen.”

    Hear it at 30:08 · in the text

  20. 20. On what date do they reach Meiringen?

    Answer The 3rd of May

    “It was on the 3rd of May that we reached the little village of Meiringen, where we put up at the Englischer Hof, then kept by Peter Steiler the elder.”

    Hear it at 32:46 · in the text

  21. 21. Where had Peter Steiler served three years as a waiter?

    Answer The Grosvenor Hotel in London

    “having served for three years as waiter at the Grosvenor Hotel in London.”

    Hear it at 32:56 · in the text

  22. 22. Where, according to the letter, had the English lady wintered?

    Answer Davos Platz

    “She had wintered at Davos Platz, and was journeying now to join her friends at Lucerne, when a sudden hemorrhage had overtaken her.”

    Hear it at 34:41 · in the text

  23. 23. How wide was the path on which Holmes remained?

    Answer Three feet

    “He had remained on that three-foot path, with sheer wall on one side and sheer drop on the other, until his enemy had overtaken him.”

    Hear it at 37:51 · in the text

  24. 24. What gleamed from the top of the boulder beside the Alpine-stock?

    Answer Holmes’s silver cigarette-case

    “I found that it came from the silver cigarette-case which he used to carry.”

    Hear it at 39:45 · in the text

  25. 25. Where, according to Holmes’s last letter, are the papers that will convict the gang?

    Answer In pigeonhole M., in a blue envelope inscribed ‘Moriarty’

    “Tell Inspector Patterson that the papers which he needs to convict the gang are in pigeonhole M., done up in a blue envelope and inscribed ‘Moriarty.’”

    Hear it at 41:19 · in the text

“The Adventure of the Final Problem,” The Strand Magazine, December 1893; collected in The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, George Newnes, London, 1894. This text follows the Project Gutenberg transcription (#834). Public domain.