"The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place" is the last of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories by Arthur Conan Doyle. The story is part of the short story collection The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes. It was first published in the US in Liberty in March 1927. It was published in the UK in The Strand Magazine in April 1927. The original title "The Adventure of the Black Spaniel" was changed before publication. Plot Head trainer John Mason from Shoscombe Old Place, a racing stable in Berkshire, comes to Sherlock Holmes about his master, Sir Robert Norberton. Mason thinks he has gone mad. Sir Robert's sister, Lady Beatrice Falder, owns Shoscombe, but it will revert to her late husband's brother when she dies. The stable has a horse, Shoscombe Prince, who Sir Robert hopes will win the Derby. He would be out of debt if that actually happened. Mason is not quite sure what he wants Holmes to investigate, but a number of odd changes have happened at the stable: Why has Lady Beatrice suddenly forgone her usual habit of stopping to greet her favourite horse? Why does she just ride on by in her carriage? Why has Sir Robert become so wild-eyed lately? Why has he given his sister's dog away to a neighbourhood innkeeper? Why does he go to the old crypt at night, and who is that man whom he meets there? Why have burnt human bones been found in the furnace at Shoscombe? Holmes decides to investigate on the spot. He and Dr. Watson go to Berkshire posing as anglers and learn some interesting things. The keeper of the inn where they are staying is the one who now has Lady Beatrice's dog, and it is quite an expensive breed, one that an innkeeper ordinarily could never afford. With the innkeeper's permission, Holmes takes the dog for a walk, and goes to Shoscombe, where he releases it as Lady Beatrice's carriage comes out of the gate. The dog dashes forward enthusiastically at first, but then flees in terror. Then, even though a maid and Lady Beatrice are supposedly the only two people in the carriage, it is a male voice that yells "Drive on!" Then there is the crypt. John Mason observes that a heap of bones there earlier is now gone. Holmes finds a coffin with a fresh, swathed body in it. Just then, Sir Robert