I recently inherited a quaint English cottage in Sussex between Eastbourne and Pevensey that was once owned by my great grand-uncle on my mother's side. He was a well-known publisher at the turn of the century. Sometime in the neighbourhood of 1910, my great grand-uncle was having a pint at a local pub when he recognized Dr. John Watson at the end of the bar. My distant uncle struck up a conversation with Dr. Watson and bought him a couple of beers. Dr. Watson was visiting his friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, a retired consulting detective and now a local bee keeper. By the end of the evening, my relative succeeded in buying a set of stories from Dr. Watson for a considerable sum of money. The sale came with the condition that the stories would remain a secret and not be published until after the death of Watson's long-time literary agent, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. However, my great-grand-uncle died before Conan Doyle, and the stories sat untouched in a chest in the cottage attic for over nine decades.
I discovered the stories when I was cleaning the attic in preparation for my family's imminent arrival from the States. The transcripts were hand-written with many lines and paragraphs crossed out. The paper was old and stained. Each page had its corner creased and edges worn, probably due to many clandestine readings by my great grand-uncle. As a result, the original text was difficult to read. In places, I filled in some gaps based upon notes in the margins. Hence, any Americanisms are likely to be the fault of the editor, i.e., myself - with the exception of The Seance and The Fremont Brothers, which were edited by my father, Ronald Downing. In some stories, I changed the names to satisfy a request made by Dr. Watson in a letter to my great grand-uncle.
Some readers may doubt if these stories were actually authored by Dr. Watson. I have tried to authenticate these stories by successfully verifying the historical accuracy of many details described, such as Inspector Sweeny's persecution of the Legitamation League and the existence of the Alleged Lunatic's Friend Society. Furthermore, I am convinced that the deductions made in the stories are feasible, because many similar deductions were made in other documented historical cases. For those wanting to do similar research, I have mentioned some of the players in these other cases in the acknowledgments at the end of this book.
In the stories that follow, Watson documents some excellent examples of Holmes's perception and deductive powers. Several stories, including The Typist, The Doctor, The Baker's Bread, and The Missing Fiancé, provide the reader the opportunity to deduce the solution to a problem using the same information as Holmes. These mysteries were solved without requiring Holmes to leave the comfort of 221B Baker Street. In many ways, Watson fulfils Holmes's wishes that were expressed in The Abbey Grange by dwelling less upon the sensational details and instead presenting a more instructive series of deductive exercises.
Here is a brief overview of the stories in this collection,
in approximate chronological order:
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