The Sign of Four

E215237

Sherlock Holmes story detective novel novel

The Sign of Four is a classic Sherlock Holmes detective novel by Arthur Conan Doyle, featuring a complex mystery involving stolen treasure, a secret pact, and the deepening partnership between Holmes and Dr. Watson.

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All labels observed (2)

Label	Occurrences
The Sign of Four canonical	7
The Sign of the Four	2

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T1905642 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: The Sign of Four
Context triple: [Arthur Conan Doyle, notableWork, The Sign of Four]

A. Sherlock Holmes Faces Death
Sherlock Holmes Faces Death is a 1943 mystery film in the long-running Sherlock Holmes series, featuring Basil Rathbone as the famed detective investigating murders at a secluded English estate during World War II.
B. Holmes and Holmes
Holmes and Holmes is a Canadian home renovation reality TV series featuring contractor Mike Holmes working alongside his son to repair and improve houses.
C. Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon
"Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon" is a 1943 mystery film in the long-running Sherlock Holmes series, starring Basil Rathbone as the famed detective in a World War II–era espionage story loosely based on Arthur Conan Doyle’s "The Adventure of the Dancing Men."
D. A Study in Scarlet
A Study in Scarlet is the 1887 detective novel that introduced Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, launching Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous series.
E. The Valley of Fear
The Valley of Fear is a Sherlock Holmes detective novel by Arthur Conan Doyle that centers on a mysterious murder linked to a secret society and a dark past in the American coalfields.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: The Sign of Four
Target entity description: The Sign of Four is a classic Sherlock Holmes detective novel by Arthur Conan Doyle, featuring a complex mystery involving stolen treasure, a secret pact, and the deepening partnership between Holmes and Dr. Watson.

A. Sherlock Holmes Faces Death
Sherlock Holmes Faces Death is a 1943 mystery film in the long-running Sherlock Holmes series, featuring Basil Rathbone as the famed detective investigating murders at a secluded English estate during World War II.
B. Holmes and Holmes
Holmes and Holmes is a Canadian home renovation reality TV series featuring contractor Mike Holmes working alongside his son to repair and improve houses.
C. Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon
"Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon" is a 1943 mystery film in the long-running Sherlock Holmes series, starring Basil Rathbone as the famed detective in a World War II–era espionage story loosely based on Arthur Conan Doyle’s "The Adventure of the Dancing Men."
D. A Study in Scarlet
A Study in Scarlet is the 1887 detective novel that introduced Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, launching Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous series.
E. The Valley of Fear
The Valley of Fear is a Sherlock Holmes detective novel by Arthur Conan Doyle that centers on a mysterious murder linked to a secret society and a dark past in the American coalfields.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (46)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	Sherlock Holmes story ⓘ detective novel ⓘ novel ⓘ
adaptedAs	film ⓘ stage play ⓘ television drama ⓘ
author	Arthur Conan Doyle ⓘ
containsMotif	exoticism linked to the British Empire ⓘ locked-room style mystery elements ⓘ
countryOfOrigin	United Kingdom ⓘ
featuresCharacter	Inspector Athelney Jones ⓘ Jonathan Small ⓘ Mary Morstan ⓘ Tonga ⓘ
fictionalUniverse	Sherlock Holmes stories ⓘ surface form: Sherlock Holmes universe
firstPublicationYear	1890 ⓘ
followedBy	The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes ⓘ
form	prose narrative ⓘ
genre	detective fiction ⓘ mystery fiction ⓘ
hasDetective	Holmes ⓘ surface form: Sherlock Holmes
hasOpeningLine	“Sherlock Holmes took his bottle from the corner of the mantel-piece…” ⓘ
hasSidekick	Dr. Watson ⓘ surface form: Dr. John Watson
language	English ⓘ
literaryMovement	late Victorian literature ⓘ
literaryStatus	classic of detective fiction ⓘ
mainCharacter	Dr. Watson ⓘ surface form: Dr. John Watson Holmes ⓘ surface form: Sherlock Holmes
narrator	Dr. Watson ⓘ surface form: Dr. John Watson
notableAspect	depiction of Holmes’s use of cocaine ⓘ development of the partnership between Holmes and Watson ⓘ
originalTitle	The Sign of Four self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: The Sign of the Four
plotElement	romance between Dr. Watson and Mary Morstan ⓘ secret pact ⓘ stolen treasure ⓘ
positionInSeries	second Sherlock Holmes novel ⓘ
precededBy	A Study in Scarlet ⓘ
publisher	Spencer Blackett ⓘ
series	Holmes ⓘ surface form: Sherlock Holmes
settingLocation	London, England ⓘ surface form: London
settingPeriod	Victorian era ⓘ
targetAudience	adult readers ⓘ
theme	colonialism ⓘ greed ⓘ justice and revenge ⓘ loyalty ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (9)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Arthur Conan Doyle → notableWork → The Sign of Four ⓘ

Dr. Watson → appearsIn → The Sign of Four ⓘ

Sherlock Holmes stories → includesNovel → The Sign of Four ⓘ

A Study in Scarlet → followedBy → The Sign of Four ⓘ

The Valley of Fear → relatedWork → The Sign of Four ⓘ

Mrs. Hudson → appearsInWork → The Sign of Four ⓘ

The Sign of Four → originalTitle → The Sign of Four self-linksurface differs ⓘ

this entity surface form: The Sign of the Four

BBC Radio Sherlock Holmes series → includesAdaptationOf → The Sign of Four ⓘ

The Crucifer of Blood → basedOn → The Sign of Four ⓘ