This image is from the 1892 Sherlock Holmes short story The Blue Carbuncle, which is found in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. In it, Watson- who is married at this time- pays a Christmas visit to Holmes and finds him enjoying the holiday by examining a shabby hat. The previous day, a police officer had interrupted a scuffle between some ruffians and a man carrying a Christmas goose which they are attempting to steal. In the course of fending them off, the man accidentally breaks a window. At the appearance of the officer, all take to their heels including the man with the goose, who apparently assumed that he would be arrested for breaking the window. As he runs, he drops both the goose and his hat which the Officer Peterson picks up. Far from blaming the fellow for the window, Peterson wishes to return his property to him and brings the hat and bird to Holmes, hoping that he will be able to track down the owner. Bored and willing to take any case no matter how inconsequential, Holmes agrees and takes the hat, though he tells Peterson to take the goose home with him and cook it before it spoils. As Holmes applies his methods of deduction to the hat, astonishing Watson once again, Peterson returns in a state of excitement. While preparing the goose for roasting, his wife found a precious gem- the blue carbuncle- in its crop. The gem had recently been stolen from the Countess of Morcar and the police have made an arrest in the case, but the carbuncle had not been recovered. Finding the owner of the hat has now gone from being an intellectual exercise to being an integral part of investigating a jewel robbery.
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