In Arthur Conan Doyle’s “The Adventure of the Six Napoleons,” what object is repeatedly destroyed?

In Arthur Conan Doyle’s “The Adventure of the Six Napoleons,” plaster busts of Napoleon are repeatedly destroyed.

The story first appeared in Collier’s in 1904 and was later collected in The Return of Sherlock Holmes. Inspector Lestrade initially treats the vandalism as a bizarre obsession with Napoleon. Holmes, however, notices that the attacks are connected and that the criminal is searching for something hidden inside one of the busts.

The objects are inexpensive plaster likenesses of Napoleon Bonaparte. Their destruction creates the story’s memorable pattern and gives Holmes a trail that links apparently unrelated crimes. The investigation eventually leads to a stolen jewel concealed within one of the statues.

The title can cause a small mix-up because it refers to six separate busts rather than six paintings or monuments. The central objects are specifically plaster busts. The story also shows the cooperation between Holmes and Lestrade, with the inspector bringing the unusual case to Baker Street.