Sherlock Holmes
Every finding at a glance
Sort or filter any column, search everything at once, and click a row to open its finding below.
Contradictions
There I was struck on the shoulder by a Jezail bullet, which shattered the bone and grazed the subclavian artery.
His left arm has been injured.
I made no remark, however, but sat nursing my wounded leg.
the jezail bullet which I had brought back in one of my limbs
Your hand stole towards your own old wound
In 'A Study in Scarlet', Watson describes his Jezail bullet wound as being in his shoulder/arm ('struck on the shoulder by a Jezail bullet'), whereas in 'The Sign of the Four', he states that the bullet passed through his leg ('I sat nursing my wounded leg. I had a Jezail bullet through it some time before').
Mrs. Barclay has always, I understand, been as popular with the ladies of the regiment as her husband was with his brother officers.
Nancy Devoy, the daughter of the colour-sergeant.
The passages assign two different surnames ('Barclay' and 'Devoy') to the same person. As written without context in the text provided, they contradict each other regarding her surname.
Every book's value for this fact, in the bible explorer →a pair of keen dark eyes
his grey eyes dancing with amusement as they fell upon my astonished features.
Sherlock Holmes's eye color is described as 'dark' in 'The Sign of the Four' ('a pair of keen dark eyes') and 'grey' in 'The Hound of the Baskervilles' ('his grey eyes dancing with amusement'). These physical descriptions directly disagree.
Every book's value for this fact, in the bible explorer →our landlady entered
Mrs. Hudson, our landlady, raising her voice
our landlady had provided
When Mrs. Turner has brought in the tray I will make it clear to you.
In 'A Scandal in Bohemia', Holmes refers to 'Mrs. Turner' bringing the tray, and the narrative refers to her as 'our landlady'. In 'The Sign of the Four', the landlady of 221B Baker Street is established as Mrs. Hudson. No explanation or change of staff is given in the text.
Needs your judgement
is Dr. Becher a German, very thin, with a long, sharp nose?
No, sir, Dr. Becher is an Englishman, and there isn’t a man in the parish who has a better-lined waistcoat.
Dr. Becher is an Englishman
The first passage asks a question speculating whether Dr. Becher is German, while the second passage definitively corrects the query by stating he is an Englishman. The text is loose enough that a speculative question and a corrective answer are consistent.
Mrs. Hudson entered with the tea and coffee.
We have a housekeeper now, but she is old and foolish
The first passage describes Mrs. Hudson serving tea at Baker Street, while the second passage quotes Helen Stoner referring to an elderly housekeeper in her own household. Neither passage asserts that Helen Stoner is the housekeeper of Holmes's household.
with his right leg off,
there is a good deal of skin missing from the palm of his hand.
from the thigh downwards there was but a wooden stump upon the right side.
just above the knee.
The passages describe distinct physical features and injuries—an amputated right leg (a wooden stump above the knee) and skin missing from the palm of his hand. Because they describe different body parts, they can be read as consistent.
dark-eyed man
There were pride, valour, and strength in his thick brows, his sensitive nostrils, and his large hazel eyes.
Sir Henry Baskerville is described as a 'dark-eyed man' in one passage and as having 'large hazel eyes' in another. Because hazel eyes are commonly categorized among dark eye colors, these descriptions are broadly compatible.
Reviewed and cleared
18 candidates judged deliberate or not a conflict, each on a quoted passage
In Chapter 1 of 'A Study in Scarlet', Lucy Ferrier is depicted as a five-year-old child with golden hair. Chapter 2 explicitly states that twelve years passed, during which her hair naturally darkened to chestnut as she grew into adulthood.
In three years he was better off than his neighbours, in six he was well-to-do, in nine he was rich, and in twelve there were not half a dozen men in the whole of Salt Lake City who could compare with him.
The story explicitly describes Jefferson Hope's hair turning grizzled from black over the years he spent relentlessly tracking his enemies.
Year passed into year, his black hair turned grizzled, but still he wandered on, a human bloodhound, with his mind wholly set upon the one object upon which he had devoted his life.
The series bible extracted a false conflict. Describing Holmes as 'rather over six feet' in height is completely consistent with describing him as tall. Furthermore, the second quote cited merely refers to his 'long, thin fore-finger'.
In height he was rather over six feet, and so excessively lean that he seemed to be considerably taller.
The bible conflated two different characters named Lucy. Lucy Ferrier in 'A Study in Scarlet' was adopted by John Ferrier, while little Lucy in 'The Yellow Face' is the child of Effie Munro and John Hebron.
It was our misfortune that our only child took after his people rather than mine. It is often so in such matches, and little Lucy is darker far than ever her father was.
The series bible conflated Lord Saltire (from 'The Adventure of the Priory School') with Edward Rucastle (the unnamed six-year-old son of Jephro and Mrs. Rucastle in 'The Adventure of the Copper Beeches'). Lord Saltire is the son of the Duke of Holdernesse.
Heir and only child, Lord Saltire.
John Straker suffered two distinct wounds in the same incident: a blow to the head from the horse and a cut to the thigh from his own knife. Both injuries are described together in the text.
His head had been shattered by a savage blow from some heavy weapon, and he was wounded on the thigh, where there was a long, clean cut, inflicted evidently by some very sharp instrument.
These quotes refer to minor, temporary injuries sustained by Sherlock Holmes across entirely separate cases ('The Reigate Squires', 'The Naval Treaty', and 'The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist'). They are distinct events rather than conflicting permanent traits.
I feel that young man’s grip on my throat now
The text states that Sir Henry Baskerville was farming in Canada, not that he was born there. His father lived on the South Coast. The bible mislabeled his location of occupation as his birthplace.
On the death of Sir Charles we inquired for this young gentleman and found that he had been farming in Canada.
Stapleton is described as having grey eyes and 'light eyes'. 'Light' is an adjective describing the lightness of his grey eyes, not a contradictory eye color.
for Stapleton was neutral tinted, with light hair and grey eyes
'Fair' and 'golden-haired' are two characterizations of the same hair extracted from a single phrase ('She was a blonde, golden-haired, blue-eyed').
She was a blonde, golden-haired, blue-eyed
Captain Morstan's appearance in 'The Strange Story of Jonathan Small' is part of a narrated backstory detailing events that took place years prior to his death.
When I stooped over him I found, to my horror, that he was dead.
Lestrade is giving a report of past events regarding when Drebber's body was discovered in the Brixton Road. A report of past deeds or the timeline of a crime is explicitly not a dead_speaks conflict.
At two in the morning Drebber had been found in the Brixton Road.
Part II of A Study in Scarlet ('The Country of the Saints') is a retrospective backstory depicting events in Utah years prior to Stangerson's murder in London. A narrated backstory is not a dead_speaks conflict.
Rumour reported that Drebber had managed to convert a large part of his property into money, and that he had departed a wealthy man, while his companion, Stangerson, was comparatively poor.
The Hound of the Baskervilles is a retrospective narrative compiled by Dr. Watson from his past diaries and recollections from an earlier period before Holmes's death, not a scene set after his death in real time.
Now, however, I have arrived at a point in my narrative where I am compelled to abandon this method and to trust once more to my recollections, aided by the diary which I kept at the time.
Barrymore is recounting to Dr. Watson why Sir Charles was standing at the gate on the night he died. Recounting past deeds prior to death is not a dead_speaks conflict.
I know why he was at the gate at that hour. It was to meet a woman.
Dost Akbar is the full name of the character. Referring to him as 'Akbar' alongside 'Abdullah' and 'Mahomet' uses his family name/surname and is not a name drift error.
He has with him as travelling-companion my foster-brother Dost Akbar, who knows his secret.
The series bible mislabeled Mrs. Cecil Forrester as a governess. The text states that Mary Morstan entered the family of Mrs. Cecil Forrester in the capacity of governess, making Mary Morstan the governess and Mrs. Cecil Forrester her employer.
I had at that time just entered the family of Mrs. Cecil Forrester in the capacity of governess.
The series bible incorrectly identified Mrs. Cecil Forrester as Watson's landlady. Mrs. Cecil Forrester is Mary Morstan's employer living in her own household, which Watson visits to deliver the treasure chest.
A quarter of an hour’s drive brought us to Mrs. Cecil Forrester’s. The servant seemed surprised at so late a visitor. Mrs. Cecil Forrester was out for the evening, she explained, and likely to be very late. Miss Morstan, however, was in the drawing-room