I'm Hugh Bonneville and welcome to Sherlock Holmes' short stories, the series where we delve into the files of fiction's most brilliant detective,

following his keen mind and unerring instincts from the first subtle clue to the final dramatic revelation.

This time, we embark on Sherlock's most consequential case to date,

the adventure of the second stain.

When a highly sensitive letter vanishes from a government minister's dispatch box,

the Prime Minister himself turns to the great detective for help. The document's contents are so explosive that it could spark an all-out

European war, and every hour that it remains missing brings the continent closer to catastrophe. From the hallowed halls of Westminster to the bloodstained chambers of a murdered international spy,

homes must unravel a tangled web of political intrigue, hidden motives and subterfuge before disaster strikes.

From the Noyser podcast network, this is The Adventure of the Second Stain, part one.

I had intended the adventure of the Abbey Grange to be the last of those exploits of my friend,

Mr Sherlock Holmes, which I should ever communicate to the public.

This resolution of mine was not due to any lack of material, since I have notes of many hundreds of cases to which

I have never alluded, nor was it caused by any waning interest on the part of my readers in the

singular personality and unique methods of this remarkable man.

The real reason lay in the reluctance which Mr. Holmes has shown to the

continued publication of his experiences. So long as he was in actual professional practice,

the records of his successes were of some practical value to him. But since he has definitely

retired from London and betaken himself to study and bee farming

on the Sussex Downs, notoriety has become hateful to him, and he has peremptorily requested

that his wishes in this matter should be strictly observed. It was only upon my representing to him that I had given a promise that the adventure

of the second stain should be published when the time was ripe, and pointing out to him

that it is only appropriate that this long series of episode should culminate in the most

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