How are Thaddeus Sholto and his home described? What is the purpose or possible effect of this description?

Just for
the sake of clarity this question refers to the Sherlock Holmes story The Sign of
Four by Arthur Conan Doyle.

Thaddeus Sholto is presented as a
strange little man, ingratiating and formally polite, but almost too polite, indicating perhaps
that he's putting on some kind of an act. It's noticeable that there's something particularly
weird about his facial features. They seem to be in a state of perpetual movement, constantly
jerking this way and that between scowls and smiles. Nature has played an additional cruel trick
on Sholto by giving him a pendulous lip beneath which protrudes a set of irregular, yellow
teeth. For good measure, Sholto is bald, despite his being only thirty years old.

As for Sholto's apartment it sticks out like a sore thumb in the rickety old house it
occupies. Though somewhat poky, Sholto's place is crammed from floor to ceiling with expensive
antiques, furnishings, and draperies. It's notable too that there's an air of Eastern luxury
about the place, with its two great tiger-skins and the large hookah, or water-pipe, that stands
on a mat in the corner.

The description of Sholto is perhaps designed to
throw us off the scent, as it were; to make the reader think that perhaps he's the one
responsible for the crime. The fact that he's able to fit out his small apartment with such
luxurious items only adds to our suspicions. Although Sholto turns out to be completely innocent
of any crimes, he's briefly placed under arrest by Athelney Jones.

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