Holmes and Watson are vacationing in Cornwall. A doctor ordered fresh air, exercise and a complete rest for Holmes as he was on the verge of a complete break- down. Not surprisingly Holmes becomes bored with this bucolic retreat. But he is revitalized when the local vicar tells him the strange story of what happened to three of his parishioners. Brenda Tregennis was found dead and her brothers Owen and George were found mad as hatters. A third brother, Mortimer, had been playing cards with them the previous evening and they were fine when he left. Using his deductive skills and an experiment that is almost disastrous, Holmes determines that the Tregennis siblings were the victims of a toxic, hallucination inducing drug. Holmes and Watson are soon visited by the cranky recluse Dr. Sterndale, a famous African lion hunter and explorer who demands that Holmes tell him how the case is proceeding. Soon thereafter another murder occurs with the same method that killed Brenda and drove her two brothers mad. Interestingly, but perhaps not really out of character, Holmes decides to withhold the murderer's identity from the police, a decision with which Watson agrees. This episode is another good adaption of an especially intriguing Holmes story. I'm becoming increasingly impressed with Wilmer and Stock as Holmes and Watson and with how faithful this series is to the original stories.
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