British literature summaries - 2020

Short summary - His Last Bow
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle

VERY BRIEFLY

On the eve of World War I, Sherlock Holmes catches and delivers a Kaiser agent to Scotland Yard.

The action takes place in August 1914.

Kaiser agent von Bork talks with Baron von Herling, First Secretary of the Embassy. The secretary says that von Bork will soon arrive in Berlin, where he will have an amazing reception, because his activities in England are highly appreciated. It never crossed anyone’s mind that an athlete, a booler, a regular in nightclubs, a heedless loafer, as von Bork seems to be, is a clever agent.

Moved by the admiration of the secretary, von Bork shows his cache where important documents that discredit England are stored. Soon the main paper will join them. Also, von Bork tells who should bring it, and with what password.

The baron leaves, and von Bork, having transferred the necessary documents to his suitcase, meets a car that has approached the house. The man who arrived in it, an American, enters the house and sees a safe that seems unreliable to him. But von Bork dispels his doubts.

The American believes that his people were arrested due to the fault of von Bork. For the brought package, he demands money in advance. After giving the check, von Bork opens the package and finds in it a "Practical Guide for Bee Breeding." The American, who turned out to be Sherlock Holmes, with the help of Dr. Watson, who was driving a car, lulls the surprised German with chloroform.

While von Bork is sleeping on the couch, the great detective tells his faithful friend that they turned to him for help from the British counterintelligence. After two years of work, he went to von Bork. Now he will deliver the agent to Scotland Yard.