"The Problem of Thor Bridge" is a

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a Detective fiction, fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a "Private investigator, consulting detective" in his stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with obser ...

short story by

Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Hol ...

collected in '' The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes'' (1927). It was first published in 1922 in ''

The Strand Magazine ''The Strand Magazine'' was a monthly British magazine founded by George Newnes, composed of short fiction and general interest articles. It was published in the United Kingdom from January 1891 to March 1950, running to 711 issues, though the ...

'' (UK) and '' Hearst's International'' (US).

Plot

Neil Gibson, the Gold King and former

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

from "some Western state", approaches

to investigate the murder of his wife Maria in order to clear his children's

governess A governess is a woman employed as a private tutor, who teaches and trains a child or children in their home. A governess often lives in the same residence as the children she is teaching; depending on terms of their employment, they may or ma ...

, Grace Dunbar, of the crime. It soon emerges that Mr Gibson's marriage had been unhappy and he treated his wife very badly. He had fallen in love with her when he met her in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, but soon realised they had nothing in common. He became attracted to Miss Dunbar; since he could not marry her, he had attempted to please her in other ways, such as trying to help people less fortunate than himself. Maria Gibson was found lying in a pool of blood on Thor Bridge with a bullet through the head and note from the governess, agreeing to a meeting at that location, in her hand. A recently discharged

revolver A revolver is a repeating handgun with at least one barrel and a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold six cartridges before needing to be reloaded, ...

with one shot fired is found in Miss Dunbar's wardrobe. Holmes agrees to look at the situation in spite of the damning evidence. From the outset, Holmes observes some rather odd things about the case. How could Miss Dunbar so coolly and rationally have planned and carried out the murder and then carelessly tossed the murder weapon into her wardrobe? What was the strange chip on the underside of the bridge's stone balustrade? Why was Mrs Gibson clutching the note from Miss Dunbar when she died? If the murder weapon was one of a matched pair of pistols, why couldn't the other one be found in Mr Gibson's collection? Holmes uses his powers of deduction to solve the crime, and demonstrates, using Watson's

, how it was perpetrated: Mrs Gibson, outraged and jealous of Miss Dunbar's relationship with her husband, resolved to end her own life and frame her rival for the crime. After arranging a meeting with Miss Dunbar, requesting her to leave her response in a note, Mrs Gibson tied a rock on a piece of string to the end of a revolver, and shot herself, the rock pulling the revolver over the side of the bridge; the revolver found in Miss Dunbar's wardrobe was the other pistol of the pair, which had been fired off in the woods earlier, and the chip in the bridge was caused by the pistol hitting the stonework as it was pulled off by the rock. Holmes's reconstruction reproduces the damage to the

balustrade A baluster () is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its ...

of the bridge. He asks the police to drag the lake for the revolvers of Watson and Gibson.

Commentary

The story is notable within the Sherlock Holmes canon for the initial reference to a tin dispatchbox, located within the vaults of the Cox and Co. Bank at Charing Cross in London, where

Dr. Watson Dr. John H. Watson is a fictional character in the Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Along with Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson first appeared in the novel ''A Study in Scarlet'' (1887). "The Adventure of Shosc ...

kept the papers concerning some of Holmes' unsolved or unfinished cases. According to Watson: "Among these unfinished tales is that of Mr. James Phillimore, who, stepping back into his own house to get his umbrella, was never more seen in this world". The unknown fate of Phillimore has been a subject for many subsequent stories including: ''The Disappearance of Mr. James Phillimore'' by

Ellery Queen Ellery Queen is a pseudonym created in 1928 by the American detective fiction writers Frederic Dannay (1905–1982) and Manfred Bennington Lee (1905–1971). It is also the name of their main fictional detective, a mystery writer in New York City ...

; '' The Adventure of the Highgate Miracle'' by Adrian Conan Doyle and

John Dickson Carr John Dickson Carr (November 30, 1906 – February 27, 1977) was an American author of detective stories, who also published using the pseudonyms Carter Dickson, Carr Dickson, and Roger Fairbairn. He lived in England for a number of years, and ...

; ''The Enigma of the Warwickshire Vortex'' by F. Gwynplaine MacIntyre; ''The Problem of the Sore Bridge'' by Philip J. Farmer; one episode of the Italian comic book series ''Storie di Altrove'' (a

spin-off Spin-off, Spin Off, Spin-Off, or Spinoff may refer to: Entertainment and media *Spinoff (media), a media work derived from an existing work *''The Spinoff'', a New Zealand current affairs magazine * ''Spin Off'' (Canadian game show), a 2013 Canad ...

from the more famous

Martin Mystère ''Martin Mystère'' is an Italian comic book whose protagonist is Martin Mystère. Created by writer Alfredo Castelli and artist Giancarlo Alessandrini, it was first published in Italy by Sergio Bonelli Editore in 1982. Dark Horse Comics has ...

); Bert Coules's BBC Radio adaptation ''The Singular Inheritance of Miss Gloria Wilson'' from ''The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes''; and two books by Marvin Kaye, ''The Incredible Umbrella'' (Doubleday, 1979) and ''The Amorous Umbrella'' (Doubleday, 1981). Also mentioned are the case of Isadora Persano, "who was found stark staring mad with a match box in front of him which contained a remarkable worm said to be unknown to science" and that of the cutter ''Alicia''.

Publication history

"The Problem of Thor Bridge" was published in the UK in ''

'' in two parts in February and March 1922, and in the US in '' Hearst's International'' in the same months. The story was published with seven illustrations by A. Gilbert in the ''Strand'', and with six illustrations by G. Patrick Nelson in ''Hearst's International''. It was included in the short story collection '' The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes'', which was published in the UK and the US in June 1927.

Adaptations

Film and television

"The Problem of Thor Bridge" was adapted as a short silent film titled ''The Mystery of Thor Bridge'' in 1923 as part of the Sherlock Holmes film series by

Stoll Pictures Stoll Pictures was a British film production and distribution company of the silent era, founded in April 1918. Background During the early to mid-1920s it was the largest film company in Britain and one of the biggest in Europe. Its major dome ...

. It starred Eille Norwood as Sherlock Holmes and

Hubert Willis Hubert Willis (1862 – 13 December 1933) was a British actor best known for his recurring role as Dr. Watson, Doctor Watson in a Sherlock Holmes (Stoll film series), series of silent Sherlock Holmes films co-starring with Eille Norwood. St ...

as Dr. Watson. The story was adapted for the Sherlock Holmes 1968 BBC series with

Peter Cushing Peter Wilton Cushing (26 May 1913 – 11 August 1994) was an English actor. His acting career spanned over six decades and included appearances in more than 100 films, as well as many television, stage and radio roles. He achieved recognition f ...

, but the episode is now lost. The story was also dramatised in 1991 in Granada TV's series ''

'' starring

Jeremy Brett Peter Jeremy William Huggins (3 November 1933 – 12 September 1995), known professionally as Jeremy Brett, was an English actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes from 1984 to 1994 in 41 episodes of a Sherlock Holmes (1984 TV ...

with Daniel Massey as Neil Gibson, Celia Gregory as Maria Gibson, and Catherine Russell as Grace Dunbar. A similar framing method is used in ''

Murder, She Wrote ''Murder, She Wrote'' is an American crime drama television series, created by Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson and William Link, starring Angela Lansbury, and produced and distributed by Universal Television for the CBS network. The series f ...

'', Season 8, Episode 17 (1992) "To the Last Will I Grapple with Thee". In the 2005 '' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' episode "Who Shot Sherlock?" (Season 5, Episode 11), the method of killing was mostly similar, with changes including the chip coming off the gun instead of the stonework (of a fireplace). But rather than a suicide staged to frame one of the suspects, it turned out another suspect had staged the death. The professor in '' Elementary'', Season 1, Episode 9 (2012), has the same motive as Mrs Gibson and a similar framing method. The same cause of death deduced by Holmes in this story is used in the opening sequence of the same series, Season 2, Episode 9 (2013), with the same intent of throwing suspicion on to another party.

Radio and audio dramas

"The Problem of Thor Bridge" was adapted by Edith Meiser as an episode of the American radio series '' The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes''. The episode aired on 16 March 1931, with Richard Gordon as Sherlock Holmes and Leigh Lovell as Dr. Watson. Another radio dramatisation of the story aired on 13 June 1936 (with Gordon as Holmes and Harry West as Watson). Meiser also adapted the story for the American radio series '' The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes'' as an episode that aired on 3 November 1940. Another adaptation of the story aired on 1 October 1945. Both episodes starred

Basil Rathbone Philip St. John Basil Rathbone MC (13 June 1892 – 21 July 1967) was an Anglo-South African actor. He rose to prominence in the United Kingdom as a Shakespearean stage actor and went on to appear in more than 70 films, primarily costume drama ...

as Holmes and

Nigel Bruce William Nigel Ernle Bruce (4 February 1895 – 8 October 1953) was an English character actor on stage and screen. He was best known for his portrayal of Dr. Watson in a series of films and in the radio series '' The New Adventures of Sherlo ...

as Watson. A radio adaptation titled "Thor Bridge" aired in 1962 on the

BBC Light Programme The BBC Light Programme was a national radio station which broadcast chiefly mainstream light entertainment and light music from 1945 until 1967, when it was replaced by BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 2. It opened on 29 July 1945, taking over the ...

, as part of the 1952–1969 radio series starring Carleton Hobbs as Holmes and Norman Shelley as Watson. It was dramatised by Michael Hardwick. Robert Ayres played J. Neil Gibson. "The Problem of Thor Bridge" was dramatised for

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

in 1994 by Bert Coules as part of the 1989–1998 radio series starring Clive Merrison as Holmes and Michael Williams as Watson, featuring William Hootkins as J. Neil Gibson. In 2012, the story was adapted for radio as part of '' The Classic Adventures of Sherlock Holmes'', a series on the American radio show ''

Imagination Theatre ''Imagination Theatre'' is an American syndicated radio drama program airing on AM broadcasting, AM and FM broadcasting, FM radio stations across the United States. It features modern radio dramas. The program first aired in 1996. Originally prod ...

'', with John Patrick Lowrie as Holmes and Lawrence Albert as Watson. In 2023, the podcast Sherlock & Co. adapted the story in a two-episode adventure called "The Problem of Thor Bridge", starring Harry Attwell as Sherlock Holmes, Paul Waggott as Dr. John Watson and Marta da Silva as Mariana "Mrs. Hudson" Ametxazurra.

Literature

''The Problem of Three-Toll Bridge'' by fantasy author Josh Reynolds, featuring sage-detective Zavant Konniger and his

halfling Halflings are a fictional race found in some fantasy works. They tend to be depicted as physically similar to humans, except about half as tall and not as stocky as the similarly sized dwarves. Halflings are often depicted as having slightly p ...

manservant Vido, was published 2012 in issue 25 of Warhammer Fantasy magazine ''Hammer and Bolter''.

References

Bibliography

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Problem of Thor Bridge 1922 short stories Locked-room mysteries Sherlock Holmes short stories by Arthur Conan Doyle Works originally published in The Strand Magazine