"Well, it is not for me to judge you [John Turner]," said Holmes as the old man signed the statement which had been drawn out. "I pray that we may never be exposed to such a temptation."
"I pray not, sir. And what do you intend to do?"
"In view of your health, nothing. You are yourself aware that you will soon have to answer for your deed at a higher court than the Assizes. I will keep your confession, and if McCarthy is condemned I shall be forced to use it. If not, it shall never be seen by mortal eye; and your secret, whether you be alive or dead, shall be safe with us" (Valley.209-12).
Holmes's decision to not use Turner's statement to get James McCarthy's case dismissed probably leaves McCarthy in for some serious emotional turmoil until the young man's finally acquitted. Also, even though Holmes says that "it is not for [him] to judge," by choosing not to turn over a killer to the police, isn't that choice itself a judgment? Do you agree with Holmes's decision? Do you think that it's fair that Holmes has this kind of power over his clients' lives?
Quote 8
"Get out!" said [Holmes to first-time jewel thief James Ryder].
"What, sir! Oh, Heaven bless you!"
"No more words. Get out!"
And no more words were needed. There was a rush, a clatter upon the stairs, the bang of a door, and the crisp rattle of running footfalls from the street.
"After all, Watson," said Holmes, reaching up his hand for his clay pipe, "I am not retained by the police to supply their deficiencies. If Horner were in danger it would be another thing; but this fellow will not appear against him, and the case must collapse. I suppose that I am commuting a felony, but it is just possible that I am saving a soul. This fellow will not go wrong again; he is too terribly frightened. Send him to gaol now, and you make him a gaol-bird for life. Besides, it is the season of forgiveness. Chance has put in our way a most singular and whimsical problem, and its solution is its own reward" (Carbuncle.205-11).
What do you make of this statement that "chance has put in our way a most singular and whimsical problem, and its solution is its own reward"? Why doesn't Holmes have a larger moral responsibility to supply the police in their deficiencies? Do you agree that Holmes's mercy is justified in this case?
Quote 9
When the commissionaire had gone, Holmes took up the stone and held it against the light. "It's a bonny thing," said he. "Just see how it glints and sparkles. Of course it is a nucleus and focus of crime. Every good stone is. They are the devil's pet baits. In the larger and older jewels every facet may stand for a bloody deed. This stone is not yet twenty years old. It was found in the banks of the Amoy River in southern China and is remarkable in having every characteristic of the carbuncle, save that it is blue in shade instead of ruby red. In spite of its youth, it has already a sinister history. There have been two murders, a vitriol-throwing, a suicide, and several robberies brought about for the sake of this forty-grain weight of crystallised charcoal. Who would think that so pretty a toy would be a purveyor to the gallows and the prison? I'll lock it up in my strong box now and drop a line to the Countess to say that we have it" (Carbuncle.69).
The Blue Carbuncle in this passage seems like a distillation of both the danger and the attraction of colonialism. The featured stone is immensely valuable, sure, but the means of its circulation through the world, from China to London, comes at the high price of "two murders, a vitriol-throwing, a suicide, and several robberies." Yikes. Staying put and avoiding such things seems like one potential recipe for safety in this otherwise topsy-turvy world.