During a cold, snowy day, a distressed man rushes to Baker Street to ask for Holmes’s help in restoring his honor. The man, Alexander Holder, is a banker who has been given a priceless artifact, the Beryl Coronet, as security against a loan. The coronet belongs to one of the “highest, noblest, most exalted names in England” (210). Its loss would not only be a financial disaster but also a huge scandal. Consequently, Holder decides to bring the coronet to his home for safekeeping. That evening, he tells his family: his son, a young man given to gambling and wasting money, and his niece, Mary, a quiet, dutiful woman.

In the middle of the night, the banker wakes to find his son holding the coronet with several jewels missing. Holder is certain that his son stole the jewels to pay off his debts, but the young man is offended by the accusations and refuses to say anything more on the matter. The police are called in but are unable to find the missing pieces.

The older man requests Holmes’s help in recovering the jewels as otherwise his professional life will be over. The detective examines the house and its surroundings and based on the footprints left in the snow deduces that the son is indeed innocent.