A Study in Charlotte

James goes through his father’s file on the Holmes family. He’s particularly interested in tabloid clippings related to Charlotte’s history. August Moriarty was hired as her live-in tutor when she was 14 and he was 20. He was accused of supplying Charlotte with cocaine, which ended his academic career, while Charlotte was sent away to school in the US. James ponders the Moriarty family’s feelings toward Charlotte: “Sure, they weren’t all bad, but enough of them were, and after this business with August, every last one would have reason to be out for Charlotte’s blood” (239).

Since Charlotte has refused to call her brother Milo for help, James takes matters into his own hands. He knows Charlotte’s cell phone passcode and texts Milo to request assistance: “Your sister is making a massive mistake, one that might cost her life. I need your family’s help” (241). James pleads with Milo to come to Connecticut at once.

Shortly afterward, Charlotte realizes that James has contacted her brother, and she storms out of the house. He goes searching for her and only belatedly realizes that she’s hiding under the house’s front porch. She kept a stash of oxycodone in her bootheel and has taken a large amount of the drug.