Das leere Haus: Viola Gabor liest Sherlock Holmes, Folge 24

Geschrieben von Arthur Conan Doyle

Erzählt von Viola Gabor

Das leere Haus (The Empty House) erschien erstmals 1903 im Strand Magazine und wurde 1905 mit 12 anderen Fällen in Die Rückkehr des Sherlock Holmes veröffentlicht.
Drei Jahre sind seit dem Tod von Sherlock Holmes vergangen. Dr. Watson hat das von seinem Freund geschürte Interesse an Kriminalfällen nicht verloren und findet wie ganz London die Umstände der Ermordung des ehrenwerten Ronald Adair ebenso unerklärlich wie faszinierend. Als Watson sich unter die Menge vor dem Haus des Opfers mischt, stößt er mit einem älteren etwas verwachsenen Mann zusammen und zieht sich dessen Zorn zu, da diesem ein paar Bücher aus den Händen fielen. Kurz nach Watsons Ankunft zu Hause findet sich dort der seltsame Büchernarr ein und entpuppt sich als der vermeintlich tote Sherlock Holmes. Watson fällt erstmals in seinem Leben in Ohnmacht, um sich dann nach seinem Erwachen die unglaubliche Erklärung seines Freundes anzuhören: Holmes war am Reichenbachfall nicht in die Tiefe gestürzt, sondern konnte sich retten. Da ihm klar war, dass sein Leben trotz des Todes seines Erzwidersachers Professor Moriarty weiterhin in Gefahr war, entschloss er sich, unterzutauchen, um drei Jahre lang in cognito die Welt zu bereisen. Nun ist er nach London zurück gekehrt, um den Machenschaften von Moriartys engstem Vertrauten, Colonel Sebastian Moran, das Handwerk zu legen.

• Sprache: Deutsch
• Herausgeber: Ignatius Publishers
• Erscheinungsdatum: 10. Juni 2024
• ISBN: 9783991670889

Arthur Conan Doyle

Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was a British author and physician best known for his creation of the characters of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, penning four novels and fifty-six short stories about the crime-fighting duo. Born in 1859 in Edinburgh, Doyle was the son of a confirmed alcoholic and his family was often scattered among different houses as young Arthur grew up. Thankfully, Doyle had rich uncles to support him and he was given a fine education and, after receiving his medical degree, he was hired on as a ship's surgeon aboard the SS Mayumba. Returning to England, he set up a medical practice and continued to study various subjects including botany, ophthalmology and?fiction writing. He penned a number of short stories during this time and, after his medical practice failed, Doyle had even more free time to write. In 1886, Doyle created the characters of Holmes and Watson for the short story A Study in Scarlet. His new hero proved to be enormously successful and he began publishing Holmes stories in The Strand magazine on a regular basis. Doyle soon tired of Holmes, however, and he famously killed off Holmes and his arch nemesis Professor Moriarty by having them both plunge to their deaths off the Reichenbach Falls. Holmes fans across the world were devastated by the loss of their favorite detective and pestered Doyle to return to Baker Street and create more stories. Doyle finally relented, writing The Hound of the Baskervilles in 1901 and, in 1903, resuming the Holmes series of short stories with The Adventure of the Empty House, in which it is revealed that only Moriarty was actually killed at the Falls. He would continue to write Holmes and Watson stories until the late 1920's. Apart from the Holmes fiction, Doyle was enormously prolific as a writer, penning an entire science fiction series about Professor Challenger as well as plays, romances, historical novels, poetry and non-fiction as well. Doyle died of a heart attack at the age of 71 on July 17, 1930 in Sussex.