The Musgrave Ritual

Musgrave and Holmes had been at university at the same time, and were casual
acquaintances. Musgrave himself was a member of one of the country’s oldest
established noble families.

Reginald Musgrave came to Holmes with two problems; the problem of two missing
servants from the Musgrave estate, and also the puzzle that was the Musgrave Ritual.

The two missing servants were the butler, Brunton, and a maid by the name of Rachel
Howells. Brunton had been with the Musgrave family for a number of years, having
previously been a school teacher. Brunton had a reputation as that of a ladies man, and
had previously been engaged to Rachel Howells, but the engagement had been broken
when Brunton had dumped Howells for another maid.

Musgrave though had fired Brunton subsequently, when he found his butler rummaging
through papers that had previously been in a locked cabinet. These papers included
those linked to the Musgrave Ritual. Although Brunton had been fired with immediate
effect, Reginald Musgrave had had a fit of leniency, and had allowed the butler to
resign, although Musgrave stipulated that Brunton should be gone within a week.

Reginald Musgrave then explained to Holmes about the family ritual, a verse dating
back to the 17th century. All male members of the Musgrave family line were required to
learn the verse from an early age.

The Musgrave Ritual reads as – “’Whose was it?’” ‘His who is gone.’ ‘Who shall have
it?’ ‘He who will come.’ ‘Where was the sun?’ ‘Over the oak.’ ‘Where was the shadow?’
‘Under the elm.’ ‘How was it stepped?’ ‘North by ten and by ten, east by five and by five,
south by two and by two, west by one and by one, and so under.’ ‘What shall we give
for it?’ ‘All that is ours.’ ‘Why should we give it?’ ‘For the sake of the trust.’”

Despite every male learning the ritual, no Musgrave had knowledge of what it actually
means.

Shortly after being “fired”, Brunton disappears from the Musgrave estate, leaving behind his
possessions, and this disappearance seems to affect Rachel Howells badly, for the maid seems
to have had a mental breakdown. Howells herself then disappears, and the theory is that she
had killed herself in the nearby mere. The mere is dredged, but no body is found, although the
dredging does produce a sack containing some old metal and coloured stones.

Holmes then accompanies Reginald Musgrave down to the Hurlingstone estate and the
old Musgrave manor house at its centre.

Holmes realises that the Musgrave Ritual is a set of directions that have to be followed,
and the detective also realises that Brunton must have also figured this out. Holmes’
theory is confirmed when he discovers that Brunton had been trying to find out the
height of an old elm tree that had once stood in the grounds of the estate. Luckily, it is a
height that Reginald Musgrave actually knows, for it had once been a maths problem
set by a tutor in his youth.

Making use of the position of the elm tree and oak tree allows Holmes to follow the
directions set down in the Musgrave Ritual, and soon the detective finds himself in a
cellar beneath the old house. There he finds a stone slab with an old iron ring
embedded in it; and by looking at the ring it is evident that it has been used recently.

Lifting up the stone slab even a few inches requires all of the strength of Holmes, and
one of the local policemen. Beneath the stone slab is a small cavity, and within the
cavity is the body of the suffocated Brunton.

All is now clear to Holmes, and he explains all to Reginald Musgrave. Brunton during his period
of employment had discovered that the Musgrave Ritual was a treasure map, a map to
something extremely valuable. Brunton’s dismissal from the estate had given him only a few
days though to get his hands on the treasure, and so he had enlisted the help of Rachel
Howells. Brunton was of course under the mistaken belief that the maid was still in love with
him; although the very opposite was true.

Brunton had got into the cavity and had passed the contents of it to Rachel Howells, but
before the butler could exit the hole, the supports keeping the slab upright had given
way, or had been kicked away by the maid.

Holmes also has a theory about what was hidden in the cavity, and asks to see the sack
and its contents, which had been dragged from the mere. Holmes cleans up the metal
and stones, and reveals a gold crown, deducing that it had once been a crown of King
Charles I, as the ritual dates from that period.

It was likely that a Musgrave had been entrusted with the crown during the English Civil
War, but had been killed before King Charles II had been crowned. The Ritual was all
that was left to allow for the crown’s finding, but its meaning had never been passed on.

Holmes also suggests that rather than kill herself, Rachel Howells had probably left the
country to start a new life.

Holmes brings his recital of the case to a close by telling Watson that the crown is still
on the Musgrave estate, although not on public display, but if the doctor wishes to see
it, then it can probably be viewed as a favour to Holmes.