Detective Jones Character Analysis in The Red-Headed League

Detective Jones is the incompetent policeman assigned to the case. Sherlock Holmes describes him as an “imbecile” in his profession. Jones does not even manage to catch a criminal: only Holmes successfully grabs John Clay, whereas Jones loses his grip on Archie and allows him to escape. Fortunately, Holmes had arranged for three other policemen to guard the other end of the tunnel, ensuring Archie’s eventual capture. Although it seems that Holmes was right not to trust Jones, Jones is also rather defensive, as he doesn’t like to admit that Holmes is better at his job than he is.

Detective Jones Quotes in The Red-Headed League

The The Red-Headed League quotes below are all either spoken by Detective Jones or refer to Detective Jones. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

). Note: all page numbers and citation info for the quotes below refer to the Bantam Classics edition of The Red-Headed League published in 1986.

“You may place considerable confidence in Mr. Holmes, sir,” said the police agent loftily. “He has his own little methods, which are, if he won't mind my saying so, just a little too theoretical and fantastic, but he has the makings of a detective in him. It is not too much to say that once or twice, as in that business of the Sholto murder and the Agra treasure, he has been more nearly correct than the official force.”

Related Characters: (speaker),

Page Number and Citation: 280

Explanation and Analysis:

Detective Jones Character Timeline in The Red-Headed League

The timeline below shows where the character Detective Jones appears in The Red-Headed League. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Later that night, Holmes and Watson reconvene. They are joined by Detective Jones, the policeman assigned to the case, and Mr. Merryweather, the manager of the City and... (full context)

...and grabs the boy. The boy’s accomplice, Archie, plunges back down the hole, as Detective Jones fails to catch hold of him. Holmes addresses the captured boy as John Clay, and... (full context)

Jones pulls out a pair of handcuffs, and Clay balks at the idea of Jones touching... (full context)