The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes’ Smarter Brother

In 1891, Foreign Secretary Lord Redcliff receives a document from Queen Victoria. Later that night, the document is stolen from his safe, triggering a dangerous case. The theft sets the stage for Holmes and Watson to investigate.

Holmes explains that he will lie low for a while and delegate cases to his younger brother Sigerson, who has labored in Sherlock's shadow for decades. Watson listens as Holmes outlines his plan. Sigerson resents living in his brother's shadow and longs for credit.

Holmes hands the case message to Scotland Yard records clerk Orville Sacker at a railway station. This exchange marks the formal handoff of the case and signals Sigerson's looming involvement. The wheels of the plot begin turning.

Arriving at Sigerson's flat, Sacker finds him fencing and clearly bitter about not achieving Sherlock's fame. Sigerson laments the weight of his brother's shadow and his own obscurity. The scene sets up Sigerson's uneasy involvement in the case.

A woman claiming to be Bessie Bellwood arrives, but she is really Jenny Hill, a music hall singer who believes opera singer Gambetti is blackmailing her over a lewd letter. The deception introduces Jenny's precarious position and ties her to Redcliff's circle. Sigerson and Sacker observe the tension as the plot thickens.

Sigerson attends one of Hill's performances and twice saves her from attempts on her life. The next day, he seduces her in her dressing room, blurring the line between ally and suspect. Hill's dangerous vulnerability deepens their tangled relationship.

Hill reveals that she stole the document from Redcliff's safe and claims that Redcliff is her father. The revelation ties Redcliff to Hill in a personal dimension and complicates the political stakes. Sigerson grapples with the implications as the case unfolds.

When Sigerson meets Redcliff, he learns that Hill is in fact Redcliff's fiancée. The revelation reframes the entire web of relationships and stakes in the plot. Sigerson begins to sense the depth of the conspiracy surrounding them.

Gambetti has made a deal with Professor Moriarty to sell him the document, with foreign powers offering £50,000. The collaboration marks a dangerous escalation as multiple parties strive to control the document. The plot thickens as loyalties and threats multiply.

Moriarty pays, but Gambetti proposes handing over the document during the opera debut so he can deposit the money first. Sigerson and Sacker decide to infiltrate the performance to thwart the exchange. The tension builds as the date of the debut approaches.

Sigerson and Sacker infiltrate the opera, and the event spirals into chaos as the plan goes awry. They navigate crowds, guards, and the escalating danger. Moriarty and Gambetti's schemes tighten the noose around the principal players.

Sigerson faces Moriarty in a sword fight on an outside ledge while Moriarty taunts that Sherlock was a greater challenge. Under threat, Sigerson agrees to hand over what Moriarty thinks is the document. The chimes of Big Ben interrupt the confrontation, causing Moriarty to lose balance and plunge into the water.

Moriarty opens the document to reveal a tic-tac-toe game, confirming the deception. Sigerson had foreseen this and positioned the real document for Sherlock to recover. The twist preserves the document from Moriarty's hands and aligns the ending with Sherlock's intervention.

The final scene follows Sigerson as he runs through a park to attend Jenny and Redcliff's wedding. Jenny tells him that she has called off the wedding, while Sherlock and Watson watch in disguise. Sigerson and Jenny reconcile and share a dance, bringing the tangled affair to a close.