Justice
Most of Holmes’s cases in the book deal directly with crime, and it is up to him to bring the real culprit to light. The stories are mostly interested in Holmes’ investigation and the pursuit of the criminal than what happens after. Though, it is not informed as what the fate was of the most criminals once the story ends, through Holmes’ diverse notes, it is possible that he keeps tracks of most of the people he has sent to jail. Holmes also seem to have his own brand of justice, convenient to his as per the law of the twentieth century. When he realises that Isadora’s efforts were to acquire a book which she had burned already and that bringing her to justice won’t do the Mrs. Maberley any good, he has her finance Maberley’s travels.
Crime and Law
Sherlock Holmes is a private detective who takes up private cases and even helps the police time to time in some cases. Given his career, he is not untouched form the world of crime. He is familiar with the notorious faces of London and keeps well-updated notes on them as his personal encyclopaedia. In this book, most of the cases deal with organised crime and Holmes have to rub shoulders with a lot of criminals. Dealing with organised crime is different than with his private practice as the enemy is more spread out and powerful. It is also mentioned at several points that with his mind, he could have excelled in crime had he put his mind to it. He even resorts to crime himself if the act serves his purpose of bringing the truth.
Power of Observation
Sherlock Holmes is known for his acute power of observations and deductions. He solves most of his cases based on these skills. He makes theories and checks if they fit his data, if not he discards the theory and move to the next one. Police and Watson usually find his explanations simple but they are themselves unable to derive such conclusions. These powers, though ignored by most people, give Holmes a chance of looking things in a purely objective way. He observes his clients’ reactions and whatever data they can provide to get to the truth. He also understands that while he can observe and deduce, other people can’t do that usually and uses their ignorance to fool them if he needs to test his theories.
Human Nature
A constant theme in the stories of Sherlock Holmes is the human nature and its capabilities. Holmes derives his conclusions of other people’s nature through their behaviour, and thus can predict their actions. All human actions are motivated through their emotions. This helps Holmes in identifying the culprit often in the stories. There is wide spectrum of human nature to which the characters of the book belong. While Holmes himself is objective to any emotions, he has a very acute understanding of them. Josh Amberley is able to confound Holmes in the start because of this, as his story is dictated by hatred for his wife and her lover, which is genuine.
Morals
Holmes is a man of high morals. He doesn’t care for money or fame while choosing his cases, and even chooses to work for free if the case is engaging and doesn’t take credit for his work some times. In some cases, he even works as an advisory. He chides his clients if he feels they have immoral motives, as in the case of Neil Gibson. He is more worried for about his clients than for his own personal safety. He has his own measure of justice, and weighs things according to a person than the law which is the reason he is lenient with Robert Norberton after he hides the death of his sister. Similarly, he realises that bringing Isadora Klein to justice would not benefit Mrs. Maberley and so has Isadora finance the elderly woman’s travels.
