"The Dancing Men" is a story from "The Return of Sherlock Holmes" by Arthur Conan Doyle. In this tale, Sherlock Holmes, the brilliant detective, is approached by Hilton Cubitt, a distressed husband from Norfolk, who seeks Holmes' help in deciphering a series of mysterious drawings of dancing men that have been appearing on his property. These cryptic figures have deeply unsettled Cubitt's wife, Elsie, who has a secretive past linked to the United States. Holmes takes on the case, applying his exceptional deductive skills to crack the code. He meticulously studies the drawings and discovers they are a form of cipher. Holmes deciphers the messages, revealing they are threats directed at Elsie from a former associate in her past, an American criminal.