The Red-Headed League

A pawnbroker named Jabez Wilson approaches Sherlock Holmes with a strange case. He had joined a peculiar organization called "The Red-Headed League," which paid well for copying the Encyclopaedia Britannica — only because he had fiery red hair. After eight weeks, the League suddenly disbanded without explanation. Holmes investigates and discovers that the seemingly bizarre job was actually an elaborate ruse to keep Wilson out of his shop for hours each day. Meanwhile, the assistant, Vincent Spaulding (in reality a notorious criminal named John Clay), was digging a tunnel from Wilson’s cellar to the nearby bank vault. Holmes foils the plot just in time, revealing that the League was a clever distraction for a massive gold robbery.