Introduction

"The Greek Interpreter" is one of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's sixty-two stories about the adventures and deductions of genius detective Sherlock Holmes. It appeared in The Strand Magazine in the United Kingdom and Harper's Weekly in the United States in September 1893 and was later anthologized in The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. The story is set in London, England, about 1883.

Plot Summary

The story opens with a conversation between Holmes and his friend and sidekick, Dr. Watson, in their Baker Street rooms. Watson is surprised to discover that Holmes has an older brother, Mycroft, whom Holmes considers his "superior in observation and deduction." The two walk to Mycroft's club, the Diogenes Club, and Watson meets Mycroft, who is "much larger and stouter" than his brother.

The conversation soon leads to a mystery that has been brought to Mycroft's attention. His neighbor, the Greek interpreter Mr. Melas, had a frightening experience the previous Monday. Mycroft summons the man so that he can tell his story in his own words.

Melas relates that a man named Mr. Latimer came to him and retained his services as an interpreter. On their way to their destination, Latimer blocked the windows of the carriage and became threatening. Melas was to do exactly as he said, or he would "find it a very serious thing." Upon arrival, they were met by a small man with a nervous giggle and steely, dangerous eyes. He, too, threatened the interpreter with serious consequences if he failed to obey.

Melas' task was to communicate in Greek with a pale, extremely thin man who was clearly a prisoner. The man had sticking plasters (bandages) all over his face and one across his mouth. Melas asked him questions, and the man wrote his answers. When Melas was asked to ask him to sign some papers, the man refused. Eventually, Melas learned that the man's name was Kratides and that he was from Athens.

A woman enters the room and recognizes the prisoner, calling him "Paul" and running to him. The man refers to her as Sophy. They are soon split apart and hurried off. The giggling man warns Melas to say nothing about the events of the evening. Then Mr. Latimer takes him part of the way home.

The event is so disturbing to Melas that he consuls Mycroft immediately. The two put an advertisement in the newspaper to see if anyone knows about Paul and Sophy. Homes decides to take up the case.

Holmes and Watson walk back to Baker Street only to find Mycroft waiting for them when they arrive. He has had a response to the advertisement, saying that Sophy is at a house called the Myrtles. The three hurry to Melas, but he is gone, and a neighbor tells them that a small, giggling man took him.

After picking up Inspector Gregson at Scotland Yard, Holmes, Watson, and Mycroft travel to the Myrtles, but carriage tracks tell them that Latimer, the giggling man, and Sophy have already fled. They find Melas and Paul Kratides in an upstairs room, slowly being poisoned by charcoal smoke. Holmes rushes in to open a window, and they pull the two men out. Watson is able to revive Melas, but Paul Kratides, in his weakened condition, does not survive.

Later, Holmes, Watson, and Mycroft learn that Harold Latimer had seduced Sophy Kratides. Her brother, Paul, coming to rescue her, was taken prisoner by Latimer and his giggling associate, Wilson Kemp, who tried to force Paul to sign away his and Sophy's property. Months later, a newspaper account tells the tale of two Englishmen stabbed to death in Hungary; Holmes is sure that Sophy Kratides has taken her revenge.