friendships with Amyus, Matty and Virginia, and his admiration for his older brother Mycroft continues to increase. While travelling to America he meets an Irish violin player and tutor named Rufus Stone who begins to teach him how to play the violin, and although it seems Amyus disapproves of this relationship and finds music unimportant and wasteful, Sherlock seems by the end of the book to be fast friends with Rufus. He is fourteen years old. Mycroft Holmes Sherlock's older brother, who works in the innermost workings of the British government, comes to visit Sherlock and Amyus at Holmes Manor but says that he could not picture the idea of going to America, that he has a fixed orbit that he likes to stick to it. Matty Arnatt His friendship with Sherlock and his sense of adventure means that he helps Sherlock in his attempts to locate and identify John Wilkes Booth, which results in Matty's kidnapping to America. He is almost the exact opposite of Sherlock; ex: He is instinctive while Sherlock is calculating. Amyus Crowe His role with the Jacksons is revealed in the course of this adventure as well as his skills as a tracker and a hunter. He is a friend and father figure to Sherlock. Virginia Crowe Amyus Crowe's daughter. She is very headstrong and hates being inside. Likes to ride her horse, Sandia. She also seems to have emotions towards Sherlock that boggle his mind. Rufus Stone A violin player and tutor from Ireland who seems to be on the run from trouble in his home country. He travels to America to find a new life and spends the majority of the eight-day journey tutoring Sherlock on the violin. Unfortunately when he reaches America his past life catches up with him and he is forced to return to England where he meets Sherlock again. Mrs. Eglantine Mrs Eglantine is seen to have real power in Holmes Manor and appears to have some hold over her employers. Duke Balthassar Duke Balthassar is the mastermind behind the conspiracy, and because of a medical condition that runs in his family, he has developed a bizarre symbiotic relationship with leeches. They help his blood not clot and, for the most part, keep him alive. Background The Red Leech was mentioned in "The Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez", Watson is reviewing his journals of Sherlock's adventures and says "As