In the first adventure, that of Charles Agustus Milverton, Homes has to deal with the most loathsome man he has ever known and actually invite him to his flat to negotiate no matter how repulsive this is to holmes' feelings. Holmes is hired by the débutante Lady Eva Blackwell to retrieve compromising letters from a blackmailer: Milverton, who causes Holmes more revulsion than any of the 50-odd murderers in his career. Milverton is "the king of blackmailers". How Holmes tries to help his client is an exercise in ingenuity and stealth. The second adventure is The Red Circle. His landlord, Mrs. Warren, comes to his pleading for help with a very odd lodger. A youngish, heavily bearded man, who spoke good but accented English, came to her and offered double her usual rent on the condition that he get the room on his own terms. The terms are so strange and odd that Holmes accepts her as a client and starts, with the smallest shred of evidence, to unravel a mystery with murder lurking around every corner.
