Sherlock Holmes and the Rune Stone Mystery

Larry Millett

Sherlock Holmes is bored between cases at 221B Baker Street. So when King Oskar II of Sweden—who has heard of the discovery of the Kensington Rune Stone by a farmer in Minnesota—asks to engage his services, Holmes jumps at the chance to decipher the runes and determine whether the find is real or a hoax. With Dr. John H. Watson by his side, faithfully recording every detail, Holmes makes his way to Minnesota for a third time. But, in the first of many strange and unfortunate coincidences, the farmer who found the mysterious stone is murdered, and the stone itself is stolen on the day the famous detective arrives.

With the help of one Shadwell Rafferty, now a friend and partner, Holmes must solve this baffling case to find both the stone and the murderer.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Map of Area around Alexandria, Minnesota, 1899
• Introduction
• 1. “The Whole Thing Is Nothing But a Crude Hoax”
• 2. “I Guess You Haven’t Heard”
• 3. “Just Who Exactly Might the Two of You Be?”
• 4. “Rochester Knows”
• 5. “One Might As Well Have Stolen the Mona Lisa”
• 6. “Her Name Was Mary Robinson”
• 7. “Well, I Guess I Win”
• 8. “He Is Also Said to Be the Richest Swede in America”
• 9. “I Killed No One”
• 10. “Fooled You All”
• 11. “Give Me the Gun”
• 12. “There Was Something Very Wrong on That Farm”
• 13. “I Felt the Presence of a Horrible Chill”
• 14. “Murder Is Always Hard to Believe”
• 15. “I Have Formulated a Little Plan”
• 16. “You Will Have to Play Along”
• 17. “This Case Has Become a Conspiracy of Lies”
• 18. “I Do Not Have to Tell You What That: May Mean”
• 19. “You Can Answer a Question for Me”
• 20. “I Don’t Like the Look of This”
• 21. “Bad Man”
• 22. “We Are Finished Here, Mr. Holmes”
• 23. “You Will Tell Us What You Have Done with the Rune Stone”
• Epilogue: “Who Is to Say We Might Not Meet Again?”
• Notes
• Author’s Note