I am currently reading Mrs Dalloway in advance of April’s book club discussion, and its occasional references to “empire” reminded me of something that struck me about The Sign of the Four.
All of the characters, including Holmes and Watson, seem to accept as valid (or at least unquestioned) the plundering of the Agra treasure from its original Indian owner. Any argument over dividing the spoils is limited to how this immense wealth is to be shared between the thieves or later beneficiaries, and nobody at any point suggests returning the treasure to its original home. The unspoken assumption is that the representatives of the British Empire are entitled to claim for themselves the riches of countries such as India. Nowadays, I imagine there would be support for returning the stolen fortune to its place of origin.
I won’t speculate on where the treasure came from before the Rajah amassed it! Perhaps all treasure is an ill-gotten gain, to some degree, when taken back to first principles.