Summary
Sherlock returns from his investigation and shares his findings with Watson. He believes that the death of Major Sholto, Mary's father's only friend in London, has something to do with the mysterious pearls she has been receiving. Somehow, Sholto's heir knows that Mary has been wronged in some way, and may be seeking to rectify the problem.
Mary arrives at Baker Street as planned, and Sherlock and Watson accompany her to the appointment with the mysterious letter writer. She brings a paper of her father's with her that she hasn't been able to decipher; she thinks the paper might be pertinent to the case in some way.
Sherlock examines the letter and puts it away for safe-keeping. He, Watson, and Mary go to the meeting; there, a person asks them any of them are police officers, which they deny. The person, who is apparently a servant of the person they are meeting, then drives them in carriage.
The trio arrives in a 'less fashionable' part of London, aka a more rundown, working class neighborhood. They are escorted inside a house by a "Hindoo servant" (100). They meet Thaddeus Sholto, who tells Mary that her father died due to his heart, after he suffered some shock.
Thaddeus then recounts his story while sitting with the trio on the floor, smoking. He reveals that he is the son of Major Sholto, the man who knew Mary's father. Thaddeus recounts that his father was afraid of going out alone and had a pathological fear of men with wooden legs– he even shot at such a man, who turned out not to be whom he imagined.
Thaddeus also says that his father alone knew the fate of Mr. Morstan, which he revealed on his deathbed after receiving a frightening letter. He said that the pearls in a jar should be given to Mary, as he always intended. He regretted his terrible treatment of Morstan's daughter and wanted to give her at least part of her portion of the Agra treasure.
Major Sholto revealed to his sons that Morstan died during an argument with him. When he got angry, Morstan clutched his heart and fell backward, hitting his head on the treasure chest behind him. He was dead. Sholto revealed that he feared that people would think he murdered Morstan, as his servant Lal Chowdar assumed based on what he heard from outside the room. Sholto maintained that he did not kill Morstan, but he decided to hide the body anyway.
Thaddeus reveals that his brother and he searched for the treasure after their father's death to give Mary her portion, but they couldn't find it. So they sent her the pearls instead, as it was the least that they could do. Thaddeus reveals that his brother Bartholomew found the treasure in their house in the form of a pile of jewels worth around half a million sterling.
Analysis
In "The Story of the Bald-headed Man," we see the progression of Watson and Mary's relationship. When Thaddeus innocently asks Watson to check his heart and make sure it is working properly, Watson thinks nothing of it and obliges.
Yet Thaddeus's next step is to tell Mary that her father died of something heart-related, hence his concern for his own heart. This is a shock to Mary and she turns white, causing Watson to become incensed: he writes, "I could have struck the man across the face, so hot was I at this callous and offhand reference to so delicate a matter" (101).
Sholto died just before he could tell his sons where the treasure was hidden so that they could give Mary her due share, after glimpsing a wild face looking in through the window. The only evidence that someone had actually been at the window was a single footprint, implying that perhaps the man has a wooden leg, and hence is the man who Sholto always feared, explaining why he would die of fright at the sight of him.
In the latter chapter, we learn a lot about Thaddeus and the Sholtos. It seems that Thaddeus and his brother Bartholomew are fundamentally good people who want to help right the wrong that their father did to Mary and Morstan.
