The Masks of Death plot
"The last adventure of Sherlock Holmes."
The story is set in 1913. Sherlock Holmes, nearly retired, is persuaded by Scotland Yard's Alec MacDonald to investigate a baffling case. Three bodies were found in London's East End - with no apparent cause of death. But judging by the expression on their faces, they died in conditions of unspeakable terror. Holmes, accompanied by Doctor Watson, begins his investigation, but before making any significant progress, he is visited by the Minister of the Interior and a German diplomat, Graf Von Udo Felseck. They tell him how a German envoy, on a secret mission in Britain, has gone missing from Von Felsecks' home in Buckinghamshire. Only if Holmes can track him down will war between the two countries be avoided. Are all matters connected, and is his client honest?