The Adventure of the Abbas Ruby is a tale within The Exploits of Sherlock Holmes pastiche collection. It was written by Arthur Conan Doyle's youngest son, Adrian. While the first part of the collection was penned with the aid of John Dickson Carr, this offering was Adrian Conan Doyle's alone. All told, the son spins a far-looser yarn than does the father... in a manner quite oddly reminiscent in vibe to that of The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes.
That, however, is a line of thought for another time. Mostly. Succinctly, Case-book is oft-seen as the least part of the Holmesian canon, a part which sometimes bears questions of the elder's authorial authenticity. Or perhaps, as some scholars would like to believe.
Digressing to the intent of this article, Who is Andrew Joliffe? He is, as we meet him, the panicked-to-shock butler of one Sir John Overton, horticulturist of note. Joliffe is now the (wrongly, he swears) prime suspect in the theft of the Sir's Abbas Ruby, and also, as he admits to Holmes, an ex-con on account of his role in the theft of the Catterdon diamond. These days, however, he is mainly preoccupied with the idea of saving his wages in order to buy his own cigar shop.
On the heels of The Hound of the Baskervilles case, does Joliffe barrel into 221b during a blizzardly night. ""Surely a client, Watson," Holmes replied, laying aside his book. "And on urgent business," he added, with a glance at the rattling window-panes." The comedically bundled-up for bear stout gent first passes out upon his arrival. He is revived via Watson's brandy, and then Holmes' newest client tells fully of his woe just in time to be dragged off by Inspector Gregson of Scotland Yard.
"Rest assured I will do my best for you [,Joliffe]. Well, Gregson, we will detain you no longer." Says Holmes.
::: A POEM :::
There once was a man named Joliffe,
For our purposes, his name rhymed with cigar leaf.
He got into trouble and it nigh came back to him double,
Though Holmes thought the whole thing most improbable--
Solving the case he split his reward & with that Joliffe got to sell leaf.
::: very :::