Summary: The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet
A banker, Mr Alexander Holder, gives a loan of £50,000 to a socially
prominent client, against the security of a beryl coronet—a valuable piece of
jewellery. Holder feels that he must not leave the rare and precious piece
of jewellery in the bank safe, and so he takes it home with him for safekeeping.
He tells his son, Arthur, and his adopted niece, Mary, about where he has kept
it. He checks the doors and windows of the house just to ensure that
everything is locked properly. He is awakened at night by a noise in his
dressing room. When he enters his dressing room, he is horrified to see
Arthur, with the coronet in his hands. One corner of the coronet is broken
with three of the jewels missing and Mr Holder assumes that Arthur has
stolen the jewels.
After handing over Arthur to the police, Mr Holder goes to Sherlock Holmes to
seek his help. Holmes and Dr Watson, the narrator of the story, decide to visit
Mr Holder’s house. Holmes stays back to study the surroundings of the house
as Mr Holder and the speaker go inside the house. Inside, the house, Holmes
examines all the windows of the hall and finds the mark of a wet instep on the
stable lane windowsill. He also makes Mr Holder realise that the coronet was a
strong one and could not have been broken noiselessly. So, if Arthur had
broken it in the dressing room, Mr Holder would have definitely heard it.
When Mr Holder visits Holmes the next morning, and declares that Mary has
deserted him, Holmes tells him the whole story. Mary, who had been
convinced by Sir George Burnwell to steal the coronet, had opened the
dressing-room bureau with the keys of the lumber room and given Burnwell
the coronet through the stable lane window. Arthur, who had followed her
and seen it all, went out of the window and chased Burnwell. They had had a
scuffle and Arthur managed to retrieve the coronet though one corner had
broken in the scuffle. In the meantime, Holmes had also bought Burnwell’s
shoes to check his shoe size with the bootmarks on the snow on the stable
lane. Holmes managed to get the jewels and return them to Mr Holder.
Clues are spread throughout the text, which makes this a very interesting
read; the reader seems to solve the mystery along with Holmes. There are,
however, bits of information that the reader is not privy to and it helps to
show the amazing deductive capability of Holmes.
UNIT 6: THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET
Embedded Questions
1. Free response
2. She was shocked and scared.
3. Free response
4. She was probably hiding something.
5. Yes, then the coronet would not have been stolen.
6. Holder is impressed by Holmes' deductive capabilities.
Comprehension
A. 1. he had kept the beryl coronet at home.
2. hurriedly closing the window overlooking the stable lane.
3. that it would take a lot of time and effort to break it and even if it did break, it would make a very
loud noise.
4. that she blamed herself for Holder’s misfortune and forbade him from searching for her.
5. he was in love with her.
6. he wanted to see if they exactly fitted the tracks.
69B. 1. a. ‘He’ refers to Arthur and ‘I’ refers to Mr Holder.
Just before this, ‘he’ had said that any old key could open the dressing-room bureau.
b. The speaker is proved wrong when the beryl coronet gets stolen from the dressing-room
bureau and the thief uses the key of the lumber room to open the bureau to steal the
coronet.
c. Mary, Mr Holder’s adopted niece, had also heard what Arthur had said.
2. a. Sherlock Holmes said this to Mr Holder.
When Mr Holder had seen Arthur standing next to the dressing-room bureau and wrenching
the beryl coronet with all his strength, he had immediately thought that Arthur was trying to
steal the beryl coronet.
b. Mr Holder yelled at Arthur, who was startled and dropped the coronet. On picking it up, when
Mr Holder saw that three of the jewels were missing, he asked Arthur where the stolen jewels
were.
c. Arthur was trying to straighten the coronet because it had twisted while he and Burnwell had
been fighting for it.
C. 1. Holder was suddenly awakened by the sound of a window gently closing. Then he heard footsteps
in the dressing room. When he cautiously crept to the dressing room, he saw Arthur wrenching the
coronet with all his strength. As Holder yelled at him, Arthur turned pale and dropped the coronet.
On picking up the coronet and examining it, Holder saw that one corner, with three of the beryls in
it, was missing. Immediately, Holder assumed that Arthur had stolen the jewels.
2. Mary had ran away from home with George Burnwell. Persuaded by Burnwell, Mary had stolen the
coronet. Holmes referred to Mary running away from Holder’s house as ‘the best possible solution’
because otherwise it would lead to problems for Holder. People would get to know about the
theft and would blame him for taking the coronet home in spite of it being a property of the bank
as it was a security against a loan.
3. That night, Mary, thinking that Mr Holder had gone to bed, slipped down to talk to Burnwell
through the window that overlooked the stable lane. Burnwell persuaded her to give him the
coronet. In the middle of the night, Mary stole the coronet using the lumber room key and gave
it to Burnwell, who was waiting outside the window overlooking the stable lane. Arthur, hearing
Mary’s footsteps outside his door, looked out and saw Mary walking stealthily into Mr Holder’s
dressing room and coming out with the coronet in her hands. Arthur followed her and saw her
quietly handing it to Burnwell through the window, closing the window, and hurrying back to her
room. After she had gone, Arthur jumped out of the window and ran after Burnwell. There was a
struggle between them. In the scuffle, Arthur struck and cut Burnwell over the eye. Suddenly the
coronet snapped and Arthur, finding that he had the coronet in his hands, rushed back, closed
the window, and went up to Mr Holder’s dressing room. He was trying to straighten the twisted
coronet, before keeping it back in the bureau, when Mr Holder saw him.
4. On the stable lane, Holmes saw two double lines of boot marks and naked feet. While the boots
had walked both ways, the other had run swiftly, and as the footmarks were in places over the
boot marks, it was clear that this person had passed after the other. The boot marks led to the
hall window and onto the road at the other end. He also noticed that there had been a struggle,
as there were a few drops of blood on the snow. Holmes also saw the outline of an instep on the
windowsill, where the wet foot had been placed when coming in. He had also deduced that Arthur
could not have broken the coronet in the dressing room as it would have made a loud noise and
woken up Mr Holder, who slept in the next room.
05. Holmes found out from Burnwell’s attendant that Burnwell had injured his head the night before.
Holmes also bought a pair of Burnwell’s old shoes to see if they fitted the boot marks on the snow
on the stable lane. This was how Holmes made sure that Burnwell was the real culprit.
D. 2. Mary did not want Mr Holder to see her talking to Burnwell.
3. Somebody had come from outside before Arthur had walked into Mr Holder’s dressing room.
4. The coronet had not broken or been broken in the dressing room.
5. A physically challenged person had stood there.
6. Somebody had walked barefoot over snow or water and entered the house through the window.
7. A scuffle or a struggle had taken place there and Burnwell had been injured.
Grammar
A. 2. Would 3. could 4. Shall 5. might 6. Could
B. 2. need not 3. should not 4. shall not 5. will not
Vocabulary
1. overjoyed 2. afternoon 3. downfall 4. superhero 5. backbone
6. self-respect 7. undergrowth 8. without 9. underground 10. overheard
Listening
Listening Text
James M Dodd and Godfrey Emsworth served together in the Second Boer War, which had only
just ended. Godfrey Emsworth had been wounded in the war. James Dodd had not seen Godfrey
Emsworth since the report of his injury. Dodd wrote twice to Colonel Emsworth, Godfrey Emsworth's
father, before he got an answer. He was told in a terse letter that Godfrey was not at home and had
gone on a voyage around the world. Godfrey had been a good friend and Dodd felt that something
was amiss.
Dodd decided to visit the Emsworth family home, Tuxbury Old Park. The Colonel was not happy to
see Dodd and implied that Dodd was lying about his friendship with Godfrey. He did not even allow
Dodd to send a letter to Godfrey. That evening, in the ground floor bedroom, Dodd talked to the
butler, Ralph, when he came to deliver coal. When Ralph mentioned Godfrey in the past tense, Dodd
began to suspect that his friend was dead. Ralph hinted that he wasn't, but that it would probably be
better that way. To add to the mystery, Dodd spotted a ghastly pale Godfrey at his bedroom window.
He ran off as Dodd went to open the window to catch him.
The next day, after nightfall, Dodd crept out of the bedroom window and stole down to the
outbuilding that he had seen that morning. Finding a crack in the shutters, he looked in, saw a figure,
who he was sure was Godfrey. At this point, there was a tap on his shoulder.
Answers: 1. Second Boer War 2. wounded 3. voyage 4. coal
5. bedroom 6. tap
Spelling
1. tion 2. sion 3. tion 4. tion 5. sion 6. tion 7. cian 8. sion
9. sion
Writing
Dear Sir
I, (name), residing in (area and street name) want to open a savings account in the (location name)
branch of your bank.
Though your website gives an idea of what is required to open a savings account, I am still unsure
about a few details in this regard. It would be of great help if you could please tell me what
documents and the number of photographs that will be required. Also, could you please let me know
the minimum amount required to keep in a savings account?
It would be of great help if you could respond to this letter at the earliest.
Thank you
Yours sincerely,
(name)
A. Answer in brief.
1. What did Arthur say when Holder told him and Mary about the coronet? How could his response
have helped the thief reach the coronet?
Ans: Holder told both Mary and Arthur that he had put the coronet in his dressing room bureau.
Arthur immediately said that any old key could unlock that bureau. That could have given a clue
to the probable thief to open the bureau to steal the coronet.
2. Why did Holder accuse Arthur of stealing the coronet? How did Arthur react to that accusation?
Ans: Holder, on hearing some noise from the dressing room rushed there and saw Arthur twisting
the coronet. Holder thought that Arthur was trying to steal the coronet. Arthur warned Holder
that he would leave his house in the morning and make his own way in the world.
B. Answer in detail.
1. What were the questions Holmes asked Holder before he decided to go to his house? What were
the responses to his queries?
Ans: Holder wanted to take Holmes’ help to solve the mystery of the missing jewels. Like any
detective Holmes had a series of questions to ask before going ahead with the case. He wanted to
know from Holder if he often received guests, to which Holder replied that he did not get many
except his partner and an occasional friend of Arthur’s. He also said that Sir George Burnwell,
one of Arthur’s friends, had been visiting them often. Holder felt George was charming but he
and Mary both could not trust him. Holmes wanted to know if Holder socialised outside. Holder
responded that he and Mary did not but Arthur did. Holmes also wanted to know if both Mary
and Holder suspected Arthur. Holder said he didn’t have any doubt as he saw Arthur holding the
coronet.
2. It was Mary’s note to Holder that confirmed Holmes’ suspicion about the culprit. Discuss.
Ans: After checking the details and talking to everyone in the Holder household, Holmes was
almost sure that Arthur could not be the culprit. He knew that another person was involved along
with one of the members of the household and had to be sure about Mary’s involvement in the
theft. But he did not have any valid proof to support his suspicion. The next morning Holder
came to Holmes saying that Mary had deserted him. She had left a note in which she had blamed
herself for his misfortune and forbade him from searching for her. That was enough for Holmes to
conclude who the actual culprit was.
C. Read the lines and answer the questions.
1. She told me that she’d seen Lucy come in through the kitchen door after meeting someone.
a. Who is the speaker and who is he talking to?
b. Who is ‘she’? Why did she answer the speaker so?
c. Was she telling the truth?
Ans: a. The speaker is Holder. He was talking to Holmes.
b. ‘She’ in the above line refers to Mary. She was explaining to the speaker the reason for
her closing the window overlooking the stable lane.
c. No, we come to know later that she wasn’t telling the truth.
2. I even brought a pair of his old shoes and they exactly fitted the tracks.
a. Whose shoes did Holmes get?
b. Why did he get it?
c. How did it help him?
Ans: a. Holmes had got Mr Burnwell’s shoes.
b. Holmes had seen some boot marks on the stable lane and he wanted to check whose
they were as that would help him solve the mystery.
c. He could make out from the size of the mark that it belonged to Burnwell and that he
had visited the house secretively.
D. Answer in brief. (Think and answer)
1. Why do you think Mary was a bit taken aback when Holmes described the man she said she saw
near the window?
Ans: Mary said she saw a man talking to Lucy near the door. Holmes wanted to know if that man
was physically challenged. That shocked Mary because Holmes was able to state that he was
physically challenged even though he had not even seen the man. It proved that he would be
able to track the thief easily.
2. How did Holmes conclude that Arthur was innocent?
Ans: Holmes just wanted to check if the coronet could be broken easily. He found it was very
strong and he knew it would take a lot of time and effort to break it. Arthur could not have done it
in such a short time. It was clear that he was only trying to straighten the twisted coronet.
E. Answer in detail. (Think and answer)
What skills are required to be an efficient detective? Elaborate with your understanding of Holmes as
a detective.
(Free response) Suggested Ans: The most important quality expected of a detective is excellent
observation skills and patience. He needs to be shrewd and should have the smartness to look
beyond what actually meets the eye. He should always be alert to catch any clue or proof that would
lead him to the suspect. All these qualities are prevalent in Holmes. In the text we see, he doesn’t
agree with Holder or Mary until he himself is sure. He is so observant that with just the boot marks he
is able to deduce that the man was physically challenged and from the foot imprints he infers there
were two different people outside the window. From the blood marks he makes out that there had
been some kind of a struggle. Adding up all this evidence together he solves the mystery.
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