About this story
She is Irene Adler, an opera singer from New Jersey with a mind the King has already sent five burglars against. Doyle chose this case to open the short stories. You read it as Watson, and what happens on Serpentine Avenue happens partly on your conscience.
Who you’ll meet
Sherlock Holmes, the brilliant consulting detective of 1888 gaslit Baker Street, whom the reader (as Watson) faces.
How it opens
To Sherlock Holmes, Irene Adler remained the woman.
The title honored a mind that had defeated his; it never meant romance.
If that is you, Doctor, come upstairs.
Marriage has not slowed your step.
Choose
I am glad to find you well.
You heard me through the glass?
A case has found you again.