Elementary, My Dear Watson

by Elise Warner

Ferry across the Connecticut River, from Chester to Hadlyme, to a "Once upon a time," kingdom. Perched on the summit of "The Seventh Sister" the highest of seven imposing hills, is the formidable Gillette Castle. Built of local fieldstone, the castle with its tower and turrets, reigns over the lower Connecticut River Valley like a medieval fortress on the Rhine.

Within the castle are secret passageways, a staircase that disappears, a mysterious hide-a-way and locks that would challenge anyone but Sherlock Holmes.

Begun in 1914 and completed in 1919, at the cost of one ...