Page "Sherlock Holmes" Paragraph 34

Irene Adler was an American opera singer / actress who appeared in " A Scandal in Bohemia ".

She had had a relationship with the King of Bohemia, had a photograph taken with him, and was blackmailing him by threatening to send it to his fiancée, a German Countess / princess, the daughter of the Scandinavian king.

Thus, the king contacts Holmes for help.

Although Holmes succeeds in obtaining a photograph of the woman, Adler flees, making her one of two women ( along with three other men according to The Five Orange Pips ) to beat Holmes.

Holmes describes her as having " an angel's voice and a face that one would simply die for ".