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Welcome to Sherlock Holmes short stories. I'm Hugh Bonneville and from the Noiser podcast network,

this is The Adventure of the Illustrious Client, Part Two. Last time, Holmes and Watson were visited

by Sir James Damary, a well-regarded aristocrat who came with an urgent request on behalf of an illustrious client who wished to remain anonymous.

A dangerous Austrian nobleman Baron Gruner had seduced and gained complete control over a young woman named Violet de Merville.

Holmes was aware of the Baron and knew he was a master criminal who had recently escaped

justice in Prague after murdering his wife.

He now planned to marry Violet and the unnamed client wanted Holmes to stop the union

at any cost.

Holmes agreed to take the case and his first move was to confront Baron Gruner directly.

Gruner responded with a thinly veiled threat, reminding Holmes of all the unfortunate accidents

that had befallen those who tried to oppose him. Meanwhile, Holmes's criminal informant

Shinwell Johnson brought him a vital witness, Miss Kitty Winter, one of the Baron's former victims.

She told Holmes and Watson that Baron Gruner kept a leather-bound book documenting all the women whose lives he'd ruined, hidden in his study amongst his prized Chinese pottery.

Holmes arranged a meeting between Kitty Winter and Violet de Merville, hoping to warn the young

woman against the Baron's true nature.

But Violet was unmoved by Kitty's story, and remained completely loyal to Gruner. Holmes left feeling frustrated by Violet's refusal to listen,

and told Watson that he needed time to formulate a new approach,

as the young woman would not see reason.

Watson and Holmes then parted ways, but not before the great detective warned his partner

...