The Red-Headed League

by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

The Red-Headed League: Situational Irony 1 key example

Situational Irony
Explanation and Analysis—The Innocent Assistant:

In an example of situational irony, the pawnbroker Wilson’s seemingly innocent assistant "Spaulding" turns out to be the criminal mastermind Clay. While Wilson believed that Clay helped him secure a job with the Red-Headed League because Clay cared about his boss’s financial well-being, it turns out that Clay made up the existence of the league to lure Wilson away from the office while he dug a tunnel toward a nearby bank in order to rob it from below.