Dear wofahulicodoc: search for "Sherlock Holmes vitriol face" brought up The Case of the Illustrious Client, in which super villain Adelbert Gruner gets vitrol in the face thrown by Kitty Winter, whom he had seduced, ruined, and discarded. Only thing blue in the story a rare Chinese ceramic treasure used as bait to get Dr. Watson into the villains house, so Holmes could break in and steal the villain's record of his having a hobby of previous infamies.

In case anybody is still interested, here's the URL:
http://members.fortunecity.com/beatlesound/holmes/illustrious_client.htm