In “The Adventure of the Red-Headed League,” Jabez Wilson qualifies for membership because he has red hair.
The story was first published in 1891 and collected in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Wilson, a London pawnbroker, tells Holmes that he was hired by the mysterious Red-Headed League and paid to copy the Encyclopaedia Britannica for several hours each day. The position ends abruptly when he is told that the league has been dissolved.
Holmes realizes that the strange employment is a diversion. While Wilson is away copying text, criminals use a tunnel from his shop to reach the nearby bank. Holmes, Dr Watson, Inspector Jones, and bank director Merryweather wait underground and capture John Clay and his accomplice.
The red hair is an arbitrary qualification designed to select Wilson and keep him occupied. The organization is not a genuine charitable society. The title is sometimes remembered as “The Red-Headed League,” while the story’s official title uses “The Adventure of the Red-Headed League.”