"The Adventure of the Abbas Ruby" is a Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...

 mystery by Adrian Conan Doyle

Adrian Conan Doyle

Adrian Malcolm Conan Doyle was the youngest son of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and his second wife Jean, Lady Conan Doyle. He had two siblings, a sister, Jean, and a brother, Denis....

, the youngest son of Arthur Conan Doyle

Arthur Conan Doyle

Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle DL was a Scottish physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, generally considered a milestone in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger...

, the Sherlock Holmes creator. The story was published in the 1954 collection, The Exploits of Sherlock Holmes

The Exploits of Sherlock Holmes

The Exploits of Sherlock Holmes is a short story collection written by Adrian Conan Doyle and John Dickson Carr, first published in 1954.The stories contained in the collection are:*"The Adventure of the Seven Clocks"*"The Adventure of the Gold Hunter"...

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Plot

Holmes is startled by the sudden appearance during a blizzard of Andrew Joliffe, the butler of horticulturalist Sir John Doverton. During a dinner party, the Abbas Ruby disappeared from the Doverton house, as did all the blooms on Sir John's camillia bush. The police arrive at Holmes residence to arrest Joliffe, but not before Joliffe admits that he was the same Joliffe involved in the
Catterdon Diamond robbery. Before departing with his prisoner, Inspector Gregson of Scotland Yard

Scotland Yard

Scotland Yard is a metonym for the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service of London, UK. It derives from the location of the original Metropolitan Police headquarters at 4 Whitehall Place, which had a rear entrance on a street called Great Scotland Yard. The Scotland Yard entrance became...

shows Holmes and Watson the empty jewel case found concealed in Joliffe's room.

Lady Doverton smiled coldly. "In the meantime, the police will have arrested the thief."

[Holmes]"I think not."

"Absurd! The man who fled was a convicted jewel–robber. It is obvious."

"Perhaps too obvious, madam! Does it not strike you as somewhat singular that an ex–convict, though aware that his record was known already to your brother, should steal a famous stone from his own employer and then conveniently condemn himself by secreting the jewel–box under his mattress, where even Scotland Yard could be relied upon to search?

Lady Doverton put a hand to her bosom. "I had not considered the matter in that light," she said.

"Naturally...."