To Catch a Thief

In Arthur Conan Doyle’s story Charles Augustus Milverton, Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson, equipped with a ‘first-class, up-to-date burgling kit’, are doing a spot of house-breaking. They are looking for documents which will incriminate the building’s owner, the blackmailer Charles Augustus Milverton.

The pair are in disguise, wearing silken masks specially made by Watson for the occasion.

For better or worse, masks transform people – as the students of Harbour School’s Key Stage 3 Group discovered while creating their own fanciful masks and costumes. Like those of Holmes and Watson, their disguises are designed to entrap criminals.

Each disguise comes with a different story.

• A thousand-year-old mummy, swathed in bandages (with stitches in his head and one red eye) is hoping to catch a tomb robber.

• A nuclear scientist, who has ‘a heavy Russian accent’, wants to stop a gang who are trafficking atomic weapons.

• A glamorous Las Vegas showgirl is intent on catching a casino embezzler.

• A curly-haired  dancer in a pink feather boa is trying to discover the killer of her fellow-dancer, Lucy.

• A long-haired girl with a ‘cute stutter’ is after yet another murderer.

Hats and disguises in Sherlock Holmes

From The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

In The Adventures of the Blue Carbuncle a very seedy and disreputable hard felt hat, much the worse for wear and cracked in several places’ provides the vital clue to the solving of the mystery.

In The Man with the Twisted Lip a man discovers that he can earn a better living as a matchseller than as a business man. His disguise is described in detail:

'His appearance, you see, is so remarkable that no one can pass him without observing him. A shock of orange hair, a pale face disfigured by a horrible scar, which, by its contraction, has turned up the outer edge of his upper lip, a bulldog chin, and a pair of very penetrating dark eyes, which present a contrast to the colour of his hair…'

Holmes also appears in disguise in this story as an elderly man in an opium den.

In A Case of Identity, a man weds an older woman for her money. If her daughter marries, he will lose some of this money. So he disguises himself as the daughter’s suitor to delay any prospect of marriage.

From His Last Bow In The Dying Detective’ Holmes pretends to be terminally ill (and fools Watson) so that he can trap the villainous Culverton Smith.

From The Return of Sherlock Holmes

In Charles Augustus Milverton, Holmes disguises himself as a plumber, and becomes engaged to a housemaid, during his investigations.

From The Hound of the Baskervilles

In Chapter 14 the hound is described as it appears terrifyingly on the moor.  The dead animal is examined shortly afterwards, and found to be painted with phosphorus.       

Images from the To Catch a Thief workshops

More Exhibitions to explore

• Arthur and George - Conan Doyle's Fight for Justice for George Edalji

• A Study for Sherlock - reproducing Sherlock Holmes' study at 221b Baker Street

• Conan Doyle - A Good Sport - Conan Doyle's wide ranging sporting interests

• Conan Doyle - The Pompey Lad - Conan Doyle's time in Portsmouth

• Conan Doyle on Holiday - due to his success as a writer, Conan Doyle had the opportunity to travel widely. He often took his family. This exhibition explores the places they visited.

• Dinosaurs, Fairies and Conan Doyle - Conan Doyle's interest in science, and fairies

• Gripping Yarns - story writing in the style of Sherlock Holmes

• The Lost World - Conan Doyle's science fiction novel

• Playing Sherlock - improvised plays based upon Sherlock Holmes

• Sherlock Holmes Fandom - Sherlock Holmes has fans from around the world

• Stitching a Story - stitching a quilt based upon The Adventure of the Copper Beeches,

• The Cottingley Fairies - Conan Doyle's interest in fairies inspired Bunny Warren Nursery to create their own fairies

• You Don't Know Sherlock Holmes Yet -  a wide ranging exhibition featuring items and documents from the Collection. This exhibition covers Conan Doyle's life and works, including his arrival in Portsmouth, his books, his fights for justice and the phenomena that is Sherlock Holmes.

To see more images and find out more about The Conan Doyle Collection, please email: sherlock.holmes@portsmouthcc.gov.uk