SPOILERS!!!
Inspector Jones comes to Baker Street, summoned by Sherlock, who appears minutes later dressed up as an old sailor. He tells Watson and Jones that the reason why it has been difficult to find the launch is because it was repainted. He now knows the location, so Holmes, Watson, Jones and some of his men use a police boat to follow the "Aurora". There is an intense chase, and the launch is finally stopped. The second man who is an Andamese native almost kills Watson when he uses his blowpipe but he is shot dead.
Small is arrested and the treasure iron box rescued. Watson is tasked with taking the box to Miss Mary Morstan. The key is lost so when Watson is with the woman, he has to force the box open. The surprise is that the box is empty. There are no jewels. Watson cannot help saying "Thank God", and then he confesses that he loves her and he was aware that if she were a rich woman, he couldn't even consider loving her. Mary confesses that she is relieved as well and also loves him.
Watson then goes to Baker Street where Small is about to tell them his story. He says that when he realised that he was about to be captured, he opened the iron box and threw all the jewels into the Thames, so it is almost impossible to rescue them. He also says that he never intended to kill Bartholomew Sholto, and it was his accomplice, Tora, who acted of his own accord.
Then Small tells them that in his youth he went off the rails and had a problem with a woman, so his father got him into a unit in the army, bound for India. During that time, a rebellion took place and he was assigned to guard a fort. Then a group of Indians threatened to kill him if he didn't help them to attack a man coming this way that brought a box with the jewels of a rajah. The man was killed and the treasure taken. The box is hidden but the men are arrested.
During his imprisonment Small comes into contact with Sholto and Morstan, and he thinks he can use the part of the jewels that belong to him to gain his freedom. He tells his guards, Sholto and Morstan, that they can have a five percent of the treasure if they help him and the other three men get their freedom. Sholton wants more, but Small says that this belongs to the four of them. Sholto goes to recover the treasure and it is the last they hear of him.
When Small realises that he has been betrayed, he swears revenge, and with the help of Tonga he manages to escape the prison and they eventually get to England where Small learns where Sholto is. And then he started to follow Sholton until his death.
Jones takes Small away, and when Holmes and Watson are left alone, the latter tells Holmes that this may be the last case he witnesses as he is to marry Mary Marston. Holmes says that Mary seems a admirable woman, but he will never get married as romantic notions are not his thing. When Watson is about to leave, he sees that Holmes is about to use his cocaine again.
I enjoy the book, but the mystery was not so outstanding as the one in the first novel.
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