The Mammoth Book of New Sherlock Holmes Adventures (84 page)

1889

March. “A Scandal in Bohemia“. Despite the internal dating of March 1888 this is clearly set after Watson’s marriage. This is the case which deals with Irene Adler.

May/June. “A Case of Identity“. At this time Holmes reports he has some ten or twelve minor cases in hand. He had also just helped clear up “
The Dundas Separation Case
“. The case refers back to Holmes tracing the “
husband of Mrs Etherege
“ which probably happened a year or two earlier.

June. “The Adventure of the Fallen Star“, “The Stockbroker’s Clerk“, “The Man with the Twisted Lip“ and probably “The Engineer’s Thumb“. Either now or earlier was also the case of “
Colonel Warburton’s Madness
“ mentioned in “The Engineer’s Thumb” [written up as “The Adventure of the Sealed Room” by Adrian Conan Doyle and dated April 1888 though erroneously set after Watson’s marriage; and as “The Case of the Colonel’s Madness” by June Thomson set in July 1890]. Ken Greenwald sets “The Case of the Baconian Cipher” in the same month. July. “
The Adventure of the Second Stain
“ [written up as “The Adventure of the Green Empress” by F.P. Cillié and set in July 1888]; “The Adventure of the Naval Treaty“ and “
The Adventure of the Tired Captain
“ [written up under that title by Alan Wilson]. August. “The Crooked Man.”

September. “The Five Orange Pips“. Despite internal inference that this story is set in 1887 it is clearly after Watson’s marriage, and after “The Sign of Four”. At this time Holmes commented that he had been beaten four times, thrice by men and once by a woman.

November. “The Case of the Exalted Client” by June Thomson, and “The Adventure of the Megatherium Thefts” by S.C. Roberts.

December. “The Blue Carbuncle.”

1890

Spring. “The Strange Case of the Tongue-Tied Tenor” by Carol Buggé.

June. “The Boscombe Valley Mystery“.

June/July. “The Adventure of the Purple Hand” by Denis O. Smith.

Autumn. “Sherlock Holmes and the Thistle of Scotland” by L.B. Greenwood.

September. Possible date for “The Adventure of the First-Class Carriage” by Ronald Knox.

October. “The Red-Headed League“.

November. “The Dying Detective“. The same date is chosen for “The Problem of the Purple Maculas” by James C. Iraldi.

1891

April/May. “The Final Problem“ leading to Holmes and Moriarty plunging over the Reichenbach Falls on 4 May.

1891/4

The Great Hiatus during which period Holmes travelled extensively, mostly in disguise. He states he spent two years in Tibet (under the alias of the Norwegian Sigerson – written up as “Murder Beyond the Mountains” by Ken Greenwald), then travelled to Persia, Mecca, Khartoum, returning to France where he undertook scientific experiments. This period is also covered by Nicholas Meyer in “The Canary Trainer” (a title suggestive of the 1895 case but not the same) which brings Holmes and the Phantom of the Opera together.

1894

February. “The Empty House“ (not April as recorded in the story). The story refers to Watson’s own “sad bereavement” following the recent death of his wife. March. “The Second Stain.” A different case to others with this title. Despite reference to Autumn this episode clearly happened earlier in the year. The episode must have been early enough in the month to allow for a further case, involving the arrest of Colonel Carruthers (about which we otherwise know nothing) and for Holmes to get bored for lack of cases before the onset of “Wisteria Lodge“. The story’s reference to 1892 is clearly wrong. This must be the same case as “The Papers of ex-President Murillo” referred to in “The Norwood Builder.” Summer. “
the shocking affair of the Dutch steamship
Friesland,
which so nearly cost us both our lives
“ [written up as “The Case of the
Friesland
Outrage” by June Thomson set in November 1894].

August. “The Norwood Builder“.

September. “The Adventure of the Dorset Street Lodger.”

October. “The Mystery of the Addleton Curse“ (based on “
the Addleton tragedy and the singular contents of the ancient British barrow
“ [also written up as “The Adventure of Foulkes Rath” by Adrian Conan Doyle set in 1894; and as “The Case of the Addleton Tragedy” by June Thomson set in November 1894]; “The Adventure of the Parisian Gentleman“ (based on the case of “
Huret, the Boulevard assassin
“) and “The Adventure of the Inertial Adjustor.”

November. “The Adventure of the Touch of God“ (based on the case of “
the terrible death of Crosby the Banker
“); “The Golden Pince-Nez“ and “The Sunreys of Canterbury” by Miles Elward.

From 1894-1901 Watson records that Holmes was “very busy”, with hundreds of private cases plus frequently being consulted on many major public cases. In “The Golden Pince-Nez” he refers to three volumes of his notes about the cases, which include “
the repulsive story of the red leech
“, and “
the Smith-Mortimer succession case
“ [written up as “The Case of the Smith-Mortimer Succession” by June Thomson set in September 1894].

1895

Watson highlights 1895 as a year when Holmes was on top form. Cases included “
the sudden death of Cardinal Tosca
“ to “
Wilson, the notorious canary-trainer
“ [written up as “The Adventure of the Deptford Horror” by Adrian Conan Doyle and set in June 1895; as “The Case of the Notorious Canary-Trainer” by June Thomson set in January 1895; and as “The Adventure of the Notorious Canary Trainer” by Ken Greenwald though this is set in Summer 1908] both of which happened in the first half of the year.

March. “The Adventure of the Persecuted Painter“; “The Three Students“.

April. “The Solitary Cyclist“. Watson undertook the initial investigation of this case because Holmes was busy with the case of the “
persecution of John Vincent Harden the tobacco millionaire
“ [a case later written up as “Sherlock Holmes and the Devil’s Grail” by Barrie Roberts; and as “The Case of the Millionaire’s Persecution” by June Thomson]. This month is also cited for “The Adventure of the Marked Man” by Stuart Palmer and “Sherlock Holmes and the Mysterious Friend of Oscar Wilde” by Russell A. Brown.

May. “Prisoner of the Devil” by Michael Hardwick. July. “The Adventure of Black Peter“. About this same time occurred “The Ball of Twine” by Miles Elward.

September. “
The Case of the Harley Street Specialist
“ (written up by June Thomson: it recounts Holmes’s dramatic introduction to Dr Moore Agar referred to in “The Devil’s Foot”). The same month is the timing for “The Case of the Featherstone Policeman” by Tony Lumb (despite the erroneous internal dating of 1893) and “The Hentzau Affair” by David Stuart Davies. October. “The Case of the Man Who Was Wanted” [
aka
“The Adventure of the Sheffield Banker”] by Arthur Whitaker, a story once believed to be by Doyle but clearly apocryphal. It contains many inconsistencies including a reference to Watson’s wife still being alive. If that is true this story may fit better into October 1889.

November. “The Bruce-Partington Plans“. This case also refers to Brooks and Woodhouse, two of some fifty criminals who would wish to see Holmes dead. December. “The Adventure of the Grace Chalice“ based on the case of Henry Staunton.

1896

Spring. At some early part of this year Holmes helped Mr Fairdale Hobbs, a small matter later referred to in “The Red Circle”.

Summer. “The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax“. At the time of this case Holmes was involved with the problem of “
old Abrahams in mortal fear of his life
“ an episode later written up as “The Case of the Shopkeeper’s Terror” by June Thomson.

October. “The Veiled Lodger“. This case also refers to the case of “
the politician, the lighthouse, and the trained cormorant
“ which could have happened at any time up to Holmes’s retirement [WR. Duncan Macmillan wrote this up as “Holmes in Scotland” and dated it August 1899 or 1900; June Thomson wrote it up as “The Case of the Abandoned Lighthouse” and set it in July 1903]. “The Adventure of the Suffering Ruler“.

November. “The Sussex Vampire.” Ken Greenwald set “The Adventure of the Headless Monk” in the same month. This month would also encompass the little episode of “The Field Bazaar” and the second case of “The Repulsive story of the Red Leech“.

Winter. “The Case of the Demon Barber” by Ken Greenwald.

1897

January. “The Abbey Grange“.

February. “The Red Circle“ and “The Adventure of the Faithful Retainer.”

March. “The Devil’s Foot“ which follows from Holmes’s health suffering due to pressure of work.

July. “The Dancing Men“.

December. “The Missing Three-Quarter“. This is also the likely date for “The Silent Night Before Christmas” by Gene DeWeese, set at Christmas.

1898

April. “A Trifling Affair” by H.R.F. Keating.

May. “The Egyptian Hall Adventure” [aka “The Randolph Case”] by Val Andrews.

July/August. “The Retired Colourman“. This case ran into the case of “
the two Coptic Patriarchs
“.

1899

December. “The Adventure of the Iron Box” by Ken Greenwald.

1900

February. “The Case of the Suicidal Lawyer“ based on “
The Abergavenny Murders
“ which is noted as coming up for trial at the start of “The Priory School”.

May. “The Six Napoleons“, followed immediately by “
The Conk-Singleton Forgery Case
“.

September. “The Out-of-Date Murder” by Ken Greenwald.

1901

April. “The Legacy of Rachel Howells.”

May. “
The Case of the Ferrers Documents
“ [written up as “The Adventure of the Dark Angels” by Adrian Conan Doyle] and “The Priory School“.

October. “The Problem of Thor Bridge“, a case which followed a month of trivialities and stagnation. This case refers to earlier cases which are undated but which probably happened during the 1890s and include “
The Disappearance of the cutter
Alicia”, and the fate of “
Isadora Persano
“ with its worm unknown to science [written up as “The Case of the Remarkable Worm” by June Thomson set some time after Watson’s first marriage].

1902

Spring. “Sherlock Holmes and the Arabian Princess” by John North [Val Andrews].

May. “Shoscombe Old Place“.

June. “The Three Garridebs“. In this same month Holmes refused a knighthood “for services which may perhaps some day be described.” After this case Watson moved out of Baker Street and set up practice again.

July. “The Revenge of the Hound” by Michael Hardwick.

September. “The Illustrious Client“.

1903

January. “The Blanched Soldier“. In this story told by Holmes himself, not Watson, Holmes refers to Watson having “deserted” him for a wife. Whilst Watson had indeed remarried, he had far from deserted Holmes and was involved in the case for the “
Sultan of Turkey
“ presented here as “The Adventure of the Bulgarian Diplomat“.

June. “The Mazarin Stone“ and “The Three Gables“. Sometime around now would also be the case of “The Phantom Organ” by John Taylor.

September. “The Creeping Man“.

October. Holmes retires to a house on the Sussex Downs and spends his time beekeeping. In “Exit Sherlock Holmes”, Robert Lee Hall suggests the retirement was prompted by the reappearance of Moriarty.

1906

April. “The Brighton Pavilion Mystery” by Val Andrews, which is entirely apocryphal. At this time Holmes was with Watson in America and resolving “The Enigma of the Warwickshire Vortex.”