Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb, The The. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb, is the ninth of the twelve stories collected in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. A young London engineer, contracted to service a hydraulic press at a country house, discovers that the owner is using the machine for illegal purposes. After confronting the owner, the engineer narrowly escapes death and loses a thumb when the owner turns on him. Holmes deduces the actual use of the machine and sets off to bring the evildoers to justice.