Match the Sherlock Holmes Case to the Culprit Quiz

Answer: Jefferson Hope

The novel "A Study in Scarlet" is the very first story featuring Sherlock Holmes.
Mr. Jefferson Hope was the one who killed Enoch Drebber and Joseph Stangerson in order to get revenge for the deaths of his old love, Lucy Ferrier, who died after being forced to marry Drebber, and her father, John Ferrier, who had been killed by Stangerson.

Although it was Holmes who devised the trap used to catch the killer, all credit went to the Scotland Yard detectives Gregson and Lestrade. In order to give his friend the credit he deserves, Doctor Watson says that he will write a narrative of the case.

Answer: Jonathan Small

Jonathan Small was one of the eponymous "Four" who made a pact during the Indian rebellion of 1857 to share the Agra treasure, which they had stolen from a Rajah (although Small was coerced by his accomplices to be part of the plot). The other three, not appearing in the story, were Mahomet Singh, Abdullah Khan and Dost Akbar. Small was, however, sentenced to penal servitude in the Andaman Islands for the crime, although the authorities never found the stolen treasure.

After twenty years, Small made a deal with Captain Morstan and Major Sholto that they would recover the treasure and free Small and his companions, in order to obtain a share of the treasure. Sholto, however, tricked both Small and Morstan. Small finally managed to leave the Andaman Islands and came to England to get the treasure.

When caught by Holmes and arrested for the murder of Major Sholto's eldest son, Small claims that he did not want to kill him, but his henchman, Tonga, committed the murder without Small's consent.

Answer: John Clay

John Clay is one of the most dangerous people in London, according to Sherlock Holmes. He is of noble descent, but engages in criminal activities. In the particular case, Clay and his friend, Archie, set up the Red-Headed League in order to have Mr. Jabez Wilson, a pawnbroker who has hired Clay as an assistant under a false name, get out of his premises for several hours, so that the criminals can dig a tunnel from the pawn shop to the nearby bank and steal a shipment of French gold.

When the tunnel is ready and there is no longer a need for Wilson to be out of his place of business, they dissolve the league, prompting Wilson to being the case to the attention of Sherlock Holmes.

Answer: Jephro Rucastle

Jephro Rucastle is the owner of the house known as "Copper Beeches". Rucastle is portrayed as a very greedy man. In order to keep all his money, he forces his daughter to sign a document where she leaves him in control of her inheritance, which results in her falling sick with brain fever and being forced to cut her hair.

In order to conceal those happenings from his daughter's fiance, Mr. Rucastle hires Violet Hunter, who looks a lot like his daughter, as a governess for his son, and has her cut her hair short and wear some of his daughter's clothes. Miss Hunter reports some strange occurrences in Mr. Rucastle's house to Sherlock Holmes, and the master detective is able to stop the cruel man's schemes.

Answer: Colonel Sebastian Moran

Colonel Sebastian Moran was the right hand of Professor Moriarty and Sherlock Holmes considers him the second most dangerous man in London. After Holmes killed the Professor in "The Final Problem", Moran attempted to kill him, but Holmes escaped and played dead for three years. During those years, waiting for Sherlock Holmes to return to London, Moran lived by cheating while gambling.

When the honorable Ronald Adair found it out, he threatened to have Moran expelled from the club they were playing in, prompting Moran to murder him.

When he reads in the newspapers about Adair's murder, Holmes surmises that Moran is behind it and returns in England, in order to settle his differencies with him.

Answer: Giles Gilchrist

Giles Gilchrist is one of the three students referred to in the title. Gilchrist, wanting to obtain a scholarship, sneaked into his professor's room in order to find out the subject of the examination he was about to undergo. In doing that, he had the assistance of the professor's assistant, Bannister, who had been the Gilchrist household butler.

When the professor sees his exam papers disturbed, he goes to Sherlock Holmes for help, who deduces that Gilchrist was the culprit. Upon being confronted by Holmes for his deed, Gilchrist breaks down and states that Bannister persuaded him not to profit from that activity, and that he plans on joining the Rhodesian Police.

Answer: Beppo

Beppo was the man who was smashing the Napoleon busts and who murdered Pietro Venucci. The reason for all that was the black pearl of the Borgias, which had been stolen one year before the happenings of this case. Suspicion had fallen on the owner's maid, named Lucretia Venucci, who was Pietro's sister. Beppo had somehow managed to steal the pearl from Pietro, and hid it in a plaster bust of Napoleon, while it was still soft. Later, Beppo was arrested for a petty crime and stayed one year in prison.

After being released, he went on smashing Napoleon busts until he found the pearl, while Pietro was seeking him. At one point, the two Italians confronted each other and Beppo killed Pietro. Inspector Lestrade mentions the case to Sherlock Holmes and the murderer is finally caught.

Answer: Hugo Oberstein

Hugo Oberstein was a foreign spy living in London. Oberstein was approached by Colonel Valentine Walter, the brother of a high government official, who is willing to help him obtain the plans of the Bruce-Partington submarine, so that he can pay his huge debts. Unfortunately for them, an employee named Arthur Cadogan West saw Colonel Walter and followed him to Oberstein's quarters, where he was murdered by the spy. Over Walter's objections, Oberstein kept some of the plans (the sheets which were difficult to be copied) and threw the rest in West's pocket, so that he would be blamed for the theft.

He then threw the body off a train roof. When the theft became known, Sherlock Homes was called to investigate and Oberstein was finally caught.

Answer: Captain Croker

Captain Croker was the one who killed Sir Eustace Brackenstall, but it was a crime of passion. Croker had met and fallen in love with Mary Fraser, who ended up marrying Sir Eustace, only to find her husband brutal and abusive. Croker was informed of Sir Eustace's behavior by Mary's maid, Theresa Wright. Subsequently, he secretly met with Mary in the Brackenstall house, but Sir Eustace noticed his presence and attacked the Captain, after hitting his wife with a cudgel. Croker murdered Eustace with a poker, but in self-defense. Croker's devotion to the woman he loves impresses Sherlock Holmes, who lets the captain go free and return to Mary after one year.

Answer: Reuben Hayes

Reuben Hayes is the proprietor of an inn named "The Fighting Cock", which is located in Northern England. Hayes is hired by James Wilder, the illegitimate son of the Duke of Holdernesse, in order to kidnap the Duke's trueborn son, Lord Saltire. Hayes proceeds with the kidnapping, but the initial plan goes awry when Hayes kills the German master Heidegger, who had followed Lord Saltire to the place Hayes was waiting for him. Wilder confesses everything to his father, who allows his trueborn son to stay imprisoned in Hayes' inn for three days, so that Hayes can escape justice. Wilder's and Hayes' plot is foiled by Sherlock Holmes and Hayes faces the gallows, while Wilder is sent to Australia.