This is one of the better known stories. A number of plaster figures of Napoleon have been smashed by someone. It would appear to be burglary, but nothing much has been taken. It's not a fetish. No one has been harmed until one day that ends with a murder. The best part of this offering is the byplay between Holmes and Inspector LeStrade who plays Hamilton Burger to Holmes' Perry Mason. He's always wrong, but he has the best of intentions. Holmes is perpetually disappointed by the police and their ineptness, but not as bad in the original stories as they are in the Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce Holmes episodes. In this, while LeStrade comes up with some pretty preposterous theories, Holmes doesn't overtly abuse him. They actually work together well and LeStrade actually pays him a great compliment, telling him how significant his contributions are to Scotland Yard. The problem at this time, of course, is that the fine points of detection had not been really used. Scotland Yard was as much a political entity as a police force. That aside, Holmes suspect that the Napoleon bust must have some existence beyond the mere acts of vandalism. Apparently, LeStrade all but disappears from the canon after this story. He is a much more human character in the Granada series (as is Watson) and as a true fan, I really appreciate that.
Review of The Six Napoleons
