Holmes receives a message from Inspector Gregson about a strange case in an abandoned house on Brixton Road: the body of an elderly American was found there, and the word "Revenge" was written in blood on the wall. The case is led by Inspector Lestrade, who does not perceive Holmes as a detective. Some time later, another American, Joseph Stangerson, who was suspected of the first murder, is killed with a knife in a hotel; the word "Revenge" is also found written in blood on the wall at the crime scene.