Jonathon Small tells Sherlock the whole story of the treasure. He was a guard in Agra. He commanded two men and one night they attacked him stating they would kill him or he had tohelp them kill the wealthy man with the treasure and become rich. Small agreed to help them and ended up killing the wealthy man. The four friends found a place to hide the dead body and the treasure. However, the men got caught for the murder and were sentenced to imprisonment with hard labor for the rest of their lives. Smalls was then transferred to the Andaman Islands where Captain Morstan and Major Sholto were in charge.
 Smalls noticed how Morstan was running out of money to play poker with his friends on the Island. He offered Morstan and Sholto a part of the treasure if Smalls could be free. They both agreed to this plan and Smalls gave Sholto the location of the treasure to make sure it was there before letting the convicts go. However, Sholto took the treasure back to England instead. 
This is when Small met his companion, Tonga. Small saved Tonga’s live and Tonga became very attached to Small. Tonga helped Small escape and they came back to England and found where Major Sholto lived and where the ones at his window when he died. 
Then Small heard that the treasure had been discovered and went to Bartholomew’s house immediately. Small could not get the treasure with his wooden leg and had Tonga do it. Small had planned to get the treasure while Bartholomew was out of the room eating his dinner, but when Tonga arrived he was still there. Tonga killed Bartholomew and they left with the treasure. After Small concludes his tale, he is taken into custody and the police force takes all of the credit for Sherlock’s work. Watson asks Holmes what he will get out of solving the case and Sherlock replies that he still has his cocaine. 
The major theme in this book is justice. Jonathan Small wants justice because Major Sholto took his treasure. Sherlock Holmes wants justice because he is a detective and wants to help Ms. Morstan. Both the protagonist and antagonist want justice in some shape or form and eventually find it.