The Adventure of the Dark Angels

The Adventure of the Dark Angels is a Sherlock Holmes murder mystery by Adrian Conan Doyle. The story was published in the 1954 collection, The Exploits of Sherlock Holmes.

Plot

Holmes and Dr. Watson arrive at their residence to discover that Daphne Ferrers is waiting to consult with Holmes about the behavior of her father, Josua Ferrers of Abbotstanding in Hampshire. Not only has her father selected the most isolated abode after retiring from his business interests in Sicily, but he has become even more reclusive and agitated due to the appearance of pictures of angels of death on his property. After a few calculations, Holmes knows that he must move quickly to prevent a tragedy, but arrives too late to save Josua Ferrers' life.

Holmes scrambled into the fork of the tree and, supporting himself by the branches, peered about him. "Ha, what have we here!" he chuckled. "A fresh scrape on the trunk, traces of mud in the fork and another small thread from some coarse brownish material clinging to the bark where a man might lean his back. Quite a treasure–trove."