Detective Inspector G. Lestrade, or Mr. Lestrade ( or ), is a fictional character appearing in several of the Sherlock Holmes stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle. Lestrade's first appearance was in the first Sherlock Holmes story, the novel A Study in Scarlet, which was published in 1887. The last story in which he appears is the short story "The Adventure of the Three Garridebs", which was first published in 1924 and was included in the final collection of Sherlock Holmes stories by Doyle, The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes. Lestrade is a determined but conventional Scotland Yard detective who consults Sherlock Holmes on many cases, and is the most prominent police character in the Sherlock Holmes series. Lestrade has been played by many actors in adaptations based on the Sherlock Holmes stories in film, television, and other media. Appearances in canon Lestrade is also mentioned in the novel The Sign of the Four (1890), though he doesn't appear in it. Fictional character biography History and personality Lestrade mentions his "twenty years' experience" in the police force in A Study in Scarlet. In the story, Holmes says Lestrade is "a well-known detective". It is observed by Holmes that Lestrade and another detective, Tobias Gregson, have an ongoing rivalry, and he identifies the two as "the pick of a bad lot. They are both quick and energetic, but conventional – shockingly so." Holmes regularly allows members of the police to take the credit for his deductions, including Lestrade in cases such as those in "The Adventure of the Empty House" and "The Adventure of the Norwood Builder". Lestrade is able to write in shorthand. Lestrade is initially doubtful about Holmes's methods, and he suggests that Holmes is "too much inclined to be cocksure" in "The Adventure of the Norwood Builder". He is "indifferent and contemptuous" of Holmes's exploration in "The Boscombe Valley Mystery". Holmes is openly rude about Lestrade at times, such as in "The Boscombe Valley Mystery" when he tells Lestrade "demurely" that he is unskilled at handling facts, and refers to Lestrade as an imbecile. In The Sign of the Four, Holmes says that being out of his depth is Lestrade's normal state (along with Inspectors Gregson and Athelney Jones). However, Holmes is generally more positive about Lestrade in later stories. In "The Adventure of the Cardboard Box", Holmes remarks that Lestrade's tenacity "has brought him to the top at