Chronology part 7

Chronology discrepancies in these short stories

• NOBL - October, 1887
• SCAN - March 20-22, 1888
• STOC - June 1888. Watson explains how he bought his Paddington practice months earlier.

First, NOBL was published in April 1892, and Watson refers to the case as a "four-year-old drama" that has been eclipsed by other scandals. That could mean 1888, unless Watson is being approximate or disguising the date. Watson also says that the case took place a few weeks before his own marriage; I have already chosen 1887 for SIGN. Watson speaks of "high autumnal winds" making his war wound ache, though he is vague about which limb has the jezail bullet. The noble client's letter must have arrived while Holmes was out walking alone; it makes an appointment for 4 PM, and Watson says it's 3 PM after Holmes reads the letter to him. (Usually Holmes asks Watson to read to him.) Anyway, Holmes looks up Lord St. Simon in his reference book. He was born in 1846 and is 41 now, implying that the year is 1887 (unless Robert's birthday is after October).

For once, Watson is able to astonish Holmes, who didn't know about the recent wedding and the disappearance of the bride Hatty Doran. A newspaper announcement on Wednesday said that the wedding had taken place, but it implies that the couple will go on honeymoon together, because the disappearance was initially hushed up. However, probably due to rumors from guests at the wedding breakfast, the truth does come out the next day. Watson reads yesterday's paper: "The ceremony, as shortly announced in the papers of yesterday, occurred on the previous morning." To be clear, that means the wedding occurred on Tuesday morning, was reported on Wednesday, and on Thursday the newspaper revealed the drama about the runaway bride and the police investigation. Thus today is Friday, looking back at the wedding on Tuesday.

At 4 PM, the page-boy announces Lord St. Simon, who gives a few details about Hatty's past and about his jealous ex Flora Millar. He gives crucial clues about the church wedding and an overheard conversation with Hatty's maid Alice. Later, Lestrade arrives with the bag of clothes fished out of the Serpentine River. Holmes uses the note (and the hotel bill on the other side) to solve the case that same Friday evening. (Holmes leaves at 5 PM and returns at 9 PM for supper.) The bill is dated Oct 4th, and it includes both breakfast and lunch. This must be from the day before the wedding, since after all, Hatty disappeared during breakfast. When Holmes explains how he traced the hotel bill, he says "an American gentleman, had left only the day before, and on looking over the entries against him, I came upon the very items which I had seen in the duplicate bill." This is confusing. Does Holmes mean that the Moultons changed hotels on Thursday? He can't mean that the October 4th bill was yesterday. Today is Friday and the wedding was Tuesday.

But if the Moultons didn't leave until Thursday, then why did Frank have a bill on Monday? I'm getting discombobulated again. Maybe on Monday Frank knew about the wedding but wasn't sure if Hatty would want him, so he paid his bill off while looking into whether he should leave town tomorrow. Instead, Hatty did want to see him, so Frank checked back into the hotel as "Mr and Mrs. Moulton" on Tuesday. They hid out there and threw away the bridal clothes in the river; they didn't leave that hotel until the Thursday news reports. So in summary, the hotel bill is Monday Oct 4th, the wedding is Tuesday Oct 5th, the hushed up news is Wednesday Oct 6th, the real news is Thursday Oct 7th, and Holmes solved the case on Friday October 8th. Only problem is, those dates match 1886, not 1887! I was going to give up in frustration, but then I realized, this is no worse than the weekday problems with STUD and SCAN. So chalk it up to Watson mixing up his weekdays again, or deliberately trying to screw up the dates to protect the noble client. Let's just call this vaguely October 1887.

Speaking of "Scandal in Bohemia," Watson says he dropped by Baker Street on March 20, 1888, on his way home from seeing a patient. He had drifted apart from his friend due to his marriage, while Holmes "alternat[ed] week to week between cocaine and ambition," so it's somewhat vague how long Watson has been married. Perhaps Watson married in November or December 1887, then left for his honeymoon, then started his practice without visiting 221B again. Hence Holmes's surprise that Watson went into medical practice and gained 7.5 pounds.

Anyway, Watson arrives in the evening at 7:30-ish, and the king arrives at 7:45 PM for his appointment. The king swears them to secrecy for two years, implying that he just needs to get married and have an heir before the scandal breaks out; the story is published in July 1891. Then the king states the case, saying that he knew Irene Adler 5 years ago when he was Crown Prince and 25 years old. Irene Adler is probably the same age since she was born in 1858. The king seems to excuse himself as young and foolish while imagining Irene was an "adventuress" and a jealous blackmailer; she could simply have been young and foolish 5 years ago, and now she's angry about the king burglarizing her and waylaying her repeatedly.

In any case, Holmes says they have "3 days" before "next Monday" when the engagement is announced. This is strange, since March 20th is a Tuesday; they actually have 5 days until Monday. But perhaps Holmes means 3 business days because he's not counting the weekend for some reason. Anyway, the king leaves cash, then Holmes asks Watson to come back the next day at 3 PM. However, Holmes is late to this appointment. At 4 PM on Wednesday, Holmes returns as a drunken-looking groom, changes out of his disguise, then tells Watson that he witnessed Irene marry Godfrey at almost noon. (The whole wedding is puzzling, as it does not conform to standard wedding practices. Before 1886, there was a law saying that weddings needed to be performed before noon. That's why wedding breakfasts exist. After the Marriage Act of 1886, weddings could be performed up to 3 PM. It tempts me to think that Irene and Godfrey married close to 3 PM, not noon, and then Holmes spent an hour arranging the staged scuffle at Briony Lodge. But then again, Holmes had asked Watson to come at 3 PM, so why would he still be hanging out at Briony Lodge at that time time?) 

Soon Holmes tells Watson his plan over an early dinner, then disguises himself as the old clergyman. At dusk, 6:50 PM, they pull the fire trick on Irene, then go back to Baker Street while Irene follows them in disguise. Watson stays overnight, then they go with the king back to Briony Lodge on Thursday morning. Irene got up earlier than them though, and left with her husband, leaving behind only a midnight letter and the photo.

Now for STOC, which takes place on a Saturday in June, after Watson's marriage. "For three months after taking over the practice I was kept very closely at work and saw little of my friend Sherlock Holmes." He saw Holmes for SCAN in March, but apparently hasn't visited again, so Holmes drops in at Paddington with a Birmingham case. Watson mentions that his neighbour covers for his absences, and Holmes deduces about their two practices based on the wear on the steps. That's the history, but as Watson said, the practice declined under Old Mr. Farquhar, due to his illness. There's no guarantee that Watson will build it back up, especially if he's going to go off with Holmes at a moment's notice. Most chronologists date this case as June 1889, but as you see, I'm going with 1888.