Chronology of these short stories.
- CHAS - January 4-14, 1898
- SOLI - April 23, 1898. I changed the year from 1895, so that the date is actually Saturday, and the case doesn't conflict with 3STU
First published in March 1904, CHAS features the master blackmailer Charles Augustus Milverton, whose visiting card only vaguely calls him an "Agent." Watson says it has been "years since" this case happened and that someone concerned, probably the murderous woman, is now "beyond reach of human law" i.e. dead. Watson tells us he will conceal the date "or any other fact" that could give someone a clue. Many Sherlockians date this case post-Return, but there are some who date it pre-FINA, such as Brad Keefauver, who links this with Holmes's battle against Moriarty. The 1954 radio series starring Sir John Gielgud and Sir Ralph Richardson even made CHAS the first case, while splicing in STUD's introduction scenes. But CHAS depends on Watson and Holmes having lived "some years" together and learned to trust each other, so it should not be very early. Certainly not earlier than YELL for example, when they know each other intimately. Also, Milverton has electric lights in his house, and according to Gavin Brend, electricity did not reach that part of London until 1894. In Appendix One of June Thomson's book, she notes that some people argue that Milverton is rich enough to have installed lighting earlier as a luxury, but Sherlockian William Plimentel said that those private lighting systems used push buttons, and not the familiar toggle switches that make a "snick" sound.
D. Martin Dakin wrote in 1972 that actually most scholars date CHAS earlier than Watson's marriage, because Holmes and Watson need to be young enough to climb the 6-foot wall and run two miles. But he disagrees, saying that Watson's leg was aching in SIGN yet his leg was much better in HOUN (which Dakin dates to 1900), and he was a good runner. Dakin ultimately dates CHAS to January 1899, based on Baring-Gould's chronology. Personally, I could go either way on it being pre-FINA or post-Return because Watson says he's deliberately concealing the date; that could include him providing a false clue in the "snick" of the switch. That's the justification I use in my novel DIM because I want to set CHAS in the 1880s in that novel. However, this Chronology project is independent of my fanfic, so let's come to a conclusion based on the clues available, instead of distrusting the clues outright. Let's play out the post-1894 theory.
Watson says that he and Holmes went on one of their evening walks (like in RESI and YELL), and he describes it as a "cold, frosty winter's evening" so we at least know the season. That narrows the months to December, January, or February. So Holmes and Watson returned home at 6 PM to find a visiting card from Milverton, saying he'll come back at 6:30 PM. Holmes then launches into his description of Milverton as the worst man in London, like a serpent in a zoo. He calls him as cunning as the Evil One, another of Holmes's euphemisms for Satan. I wonder if that's meant to be sarcastic or if Holmes really has enough religious feeling to be cautious about naming the Devil. Holmes does refer to Satan and lesser devils in HOUN, Chapter 3.
Anyway, Holmes mentions that he's had to do with 50 murders in his career, but given how many of his cases aren't crimes or don't feature murder, I don't think that helps us deterimine the date. Meanwhile, it seems like Watson lives in Baker Street, and yet Watson didn't know about the case concerning Lady Eva Brackwell (Blackwell in American editions) until just now. Holmes says that an illustrious client brought her case to him, but it's ambiguous if he means a third party hiring him on her behalf, or if she herself is the "illustrious client." Some people seem to see royal connections to Bertie in multiple cases like BERY, CHAS, and ILLU. Anyway, Lady Eva is a beautiful debutante about to marry an earl in a fortnight, but Milverton is blackmailing her over past letters.
Then Milverton arrives and demands £7,000 for the letters. Without giving a month, he says that if the money is not paid on the 14th, there will be no marriage on the 18th. (This means that tonight is the 4th of the month, a fortnight before the wedding.) Negotiations fail, and after their attempted robbery, Milverton leaves. Holmes broods for half an hour before making a decision and getting into disguise as a "rakish young workman, with a goatee beard and a swagger." One could argue that Holmes needs to be young to pull off this disguise, but as he retired at about 49 in 1903, he's never very old in Baker Street. Besides, Escott is a plumber with a rising business, so he's not a green lad just out of school. Mid-30s might serve the purpose if he's charming enough. So in this disguise, Holmes disappears for days, working at all hours alone in Hampstead, until he finally confesses to Watson on the night of the 13th, just before the money is due tomorrow.
Holmes tells Watson of his role as Escott and his engagement to Milverton's housemaid Agatha. It is callous that he romances Agatha for information, not caring about her broken engagement, while invoking chivalry about protecting Lady Eva's engagement. Sure, he claims that there's a rival who will cut Escott out at the first opportunity, but it seems that Holmes was intent on this scheme whether there was someone waiting in the wings or not. According to the notes in Klinger's New Annotated Sherlock Holmes, David Galerstein argued that Holmes must have had sex with Agatha in her room to get the info he needed, but that is absurd. As we see from Upstairs, Downstairs and similar period shows, housemaids don't have private bedrooms; they sleep in shared attics, and Agatha could be sacked and lose her character if caught having sex. Escott could not have stayed the night even if he wanted to; besides, there would be the risk that Milverton could recognize him if he glimpsed Escott sneaking out of the house. I believe Holmes when he says his courtship consisted of long walks and endless talks. Just because it's a cold winter doesn't mean they had to be in that house. They could drop into a tea shop if necessary or sit on a park bench cuddling for warmth while he whispers sweet nothings to her. Or witness how many hours-long walks that Holmes has with Watson himself, despite the chilly weather.
Anyway, Holmes romanced her because he plans to burgle Milverton's house tonight. Watson objects, but Holmes says it's morally the same as when they tried to rob Milverton. So Watson agrees in principle and wants to go with him, but Holmes tries to refuse his help, so Watson threatens to tell the police if he can't join in. Some Sherlockians think that Watson is too cautious about the burglary, but this is the dance they always do, like in BRUC and WIST. Watson worries that they will be caught, and wants to get a legal warrant, but he gives in easily enough for the adventure. That's why Holmes is so affectionate about good old Watson, and says "I know my Watson" at moments like this. He's amused at the idea that they might share a jail cell together. Also, Holmes acting as a burglar and safe-cracker is a nod to ACD's brother-in-law E. W. Hornung, who wrote about A. J. Raffles, the gentleman burglar. Holmes seems rather proud of his burgling kit, and Watson later tells us that Holmes has a hobby of opening safes.
So they get dressed in tuxedos to pose as theatre-goers; therefore the 13th can't be a Sunday night. Watson makes them black masks and wears tennis shoes. After a cold supper at 9:30 PM, they take a hansom cab to the Hampstead area at 11 PM, but walk the rest of the way to Appledore Towers. Agatha has locked up the guard dog for the night, and they break in to the greenhouse, ignoring a more direct door that Holmes assumes is locked and bolted. Holmes holds Watson's hand to guide him, apparently seeing well in the dark, like the cat they run across. They keep ignoring signs that someone must be awake in the house; Watson smells recent cigar smoke in a room, and there's a fire burning in Milverton's study, next to his bedroom. Why would that be, if Milverton went to bed at 10:30 PM as usual? Watson even discovers that the door to the veranda outside is unlocked. Holmes doesn't like it, and whispers instructions in Watson's ear again like in SPEC. Holmes listens at the bedroom door, but doesn't actually peek inside to confirm Milverton is there. He just starts cracking the safe while Watson watches excitedly.
Suddenly, Holmes hears someone coming and packs up his tools, retreating behind some curtains with Watson. Milverton soon enters the study, switching on the light and pacing before he sits at his desk and smokes. Clearly, he had been wide awake in another part of the house this whole time. Holmes squeezes Watson's hand to reassure him; they've touched quite a bit tonight. Holmes didn't quite shut the safe, though, so they are lucky that Milverton is too busy looking at papers to notice. Finally, an anonymous veiled woman arrives for her appointment with Milverton, posing as a servant selling letters. But she is actually a past victim, and she shoots Milverton dead before escaping out the door. Holmes locks the inside door then burns the letters from the safe. Then he and Watson run away as the household wakes up. They scale a 6-ft wall and run 2 miles away before they catch their breaths and hail a cab to return home.
The next morning after breakfast, Lestrade tries to consult Holmes, who refuses to join the case. We at least get a description of Watson: "He was a middle-sized, strongly built man–square jaw, thick neck, moustache, a mask over his eyes." After Lestrade leaves, Holmes broods on the case until inspiration strikes during lunch. He springs up and leads Watson to a shop in Oxford street, where he points to a photograph of some famous woman. So today the 14th can't be a Sunday either. I looked at online calendars and was able to eliminate several winter months based on the 13th and 14th not being Sunday, but there are still multiple dates available. Baring-Gould narrowed it down based on meteorological data, but I don't have access to historical weather facts. I've opted for January 1898 here, but it could be many months from Dec 1894 to Dec 1901. (I will eliminate January 1897 because ABBE takes place in that month.) Watson moves out in mid-1902, and that's too close to the publication date of 1904 anyway. Dakin comments that Lestrade was probably retired by 1904, and that Watson felt secure that he and Holmes wouldn't be arrested for the confessed burglary due to Holmes's recent service to the presumably royal client in ILLU, dated Sept 1902.
Let's move on to SOLI, first published in December 1903. Watson begins by talking about Holmes's career "from the years 1894 to 1901 inclusive" when he was very busy. Watson also was engaged in those cases with him, which maybe tells us that he wasn't married or absent from Baker Street during those eight years. (But then why don't we hear about Watson moving out until 1902?) Compare this to the openings of SPEC and VEIL which are more vague about Watson's participation in Holmes's cases. Anyway, Watson says that Holmes is busy with a "complicated problem" for John Vincent Harden, "the well known tobacco millionaire" who is being persecuted somehow. Watson tells us that Holmes resents being distracted by another case at this time. Yet in IDEN, Holmes casually remarked about having 10 or 12 cases going at the same time. Has he changed policies post-Return, or is Harden's case particularly complex?
SOLI is a throwback to the damsel in distress classics like SPEC and COPP from the Adventures. Watson claims that the case began on Saturday April 23, 1895, but he is wrong and/or deliberately lying. That date was a Tuesday. When Violet Smith tells her story, it becomes clear that today must be Saturday, because all her problems happen just before and after her weekend visits to London. Also, as I said, 1895 conflicts with 3STU, when Holmes and Watson were away from London for weeks in spring of 1895. So they could hardly be solving John Harden's case as well as Violet Smith's case too. Therefore I moved SOLI from 1895 to 1898, when April 23rd was a Saturday. Perhaps Watson mistook his handwriting on the year, or perhaps he wanted to be discreet about John Harden, or the fate of Robert Carruthers.
Due to Violet Smith's determination to be heard, Holmes surrenders and is gracious to his new client. He can deduce that she is a music teacher and an ardent bicyclist. She tells them that her father James Smith was an orchestra conductor, but he died, leaving his widow and daughter very poor. Violet's uncle Ralph Smith went to Africa 25 years ago, and they hadn't heard from him since. Then in December "four months ago" there was an advertisement that they answered. A lawyer introduced them to Robert Carruthers and Jack Woodley, friends of her uncle. Violet casually mentions her fiancé Cyril Morton, and Holmes seems amused and pleased for her.
Carruthers and Woodley said that Ralph Smith died in poverty in South Africa, so they came to England to look up his family. Carruthers offers Violet a job teaching piano to his 10-year old daughter. (How convenient that he just happened to have a daughter for this scheme!) He offers Violet generous pay and says she can visit her mother every weekend, so she accepts. Carruthers seems like a respectable widower with no weird demands like Rucastle in COPP, but then he invites Woodley to stay for a week. The dreadful man clumsily woos her, and even when she refuses his offers of marriage, he grabs her and tries to kiss her. Carruthers stops him, and Woodley punches him out before leaving. Carruthers apologized to her.
Two weeks ago, April 9th, Violet noticed someone following her by bicycle while she rode to the train station in Farnham. The same bearded man followed her when she returned on Monday the 11th. The next weekend, the man follows her again on bicycle. Mr. Carruthers decides to order a horse and trap to keep her safe on these trips, but they were not delivered in time for this morning on April 23rd. She tried to find out the man's identity by tricking him into riding closer, but he disappeared, so now she's consulting Holmes for help. He deduces that the strange man must have gone Charlington Hall, near the road. Holmes questions her about her romantic admirers, and Violet admits that Mr. Carruthers seems interested, though he doesn't say anything and behaves like a gentleman. Unlike Woodley.
Holmes promises to investigate her case but gives Violet no definite advice, other than to keep him informed of developments. She leaves, presumably to go visit her mother for the weekend. Holmes discusses the case with Watson, saying they need to find out the residents of Charlington Hall and figure out why the rich Carruthers can pay Violet so much money, yet he doesn't keep a horse and carriage at his house. Holmes then tells Watson that he must go down to Farnham on Monday, since Holmes is too busy to go himself. He gives instructions on what to do there but he definitely says "act as your own judgement advises" too. So on Monday the 25th, Watson take an early train to Farnham. On the lonely road, he hides and watches Violet Smith chase off the other bicyclist this time; she's definitely no shrinking Violet. Watson sees the bearded man go to the hall, then he inquires about the real estate, as Holmes asked him to, and is referred back to London.
When Watson returns to 221B and reports in the evening, Holmes is such a jerk to him about the terrible job he did. But when Holmes goes himself on Tuesday afternoon, it's not like he does much better, and he has a public fight with Woodley. So despite his "discreet inquiries" at the pub, the villain now knows he's being investigated by outsiders. Isn't this the exact problem of causing alarm everywhere that he complained of in LADY? Why does Holmes keep sending Watson out alone if he's never pleased with the results? Holmes was most complimentary to Watson in HOUN, but even then he deceived Watson by hiding out on Dartmoor because he didn't fully trust him. Why order him to go by himself, in the first place? He's lucky that Watson forgives these insults. At least Holmes admits that "however enjoyable, my day on the Surrey border has not been much more profitable than your own."
Anyway, on Tuesday morning Violet informed them by letter that Mr. Carruthers proposed marriage to her. She refused him, but now things are all awkward and unprofessional. She does still see him as more sincere and honourable than the odious Woodley. Then on Thursday April 28th, Violet writes another letter to them. Woodley has shown up again, talking to Carruthers about something excitedly; this meeting must have been on Wednesday, because she comments that Woodley did not stay the night at the house. But Thursday morning she saw him slinking about, so he must be staying somewhere in the neighborhood. Violet has decided to quit the job and go home on Saturday for good. Carruthers says the horse and trap will be ready for her.
Holmes says they should both go down on Saturday to make sure she gets home all right. Watson realizes that Holmes anticipates real danger, not just a silly secret admirer. So on Saturday April 30th, they travel to Farnham, but they are almost too late. Violet was going to take an early train, but she was kidnapped on the road, and Watson has to stop the empty dog-cart. (So great when Watson does it in the Granada episode!) They get on the dog-cart and turn it around to drive back. The run into the bearded man on the bicycle, who threatens them with a gun. They run together to Charlington Hall and find the wounded driver Peter in the bushes. They leave him to search for Violet.
They hear a scream and rush into a clearing that Carruthers calls a "bowling-alley" but Watson calls a glade. Williamson, the defrocked priest from the Hall, has performed a wedding between Woodley and Violet Smith, who is gagged, so how was she able to scream? Woodley tells Carruthers to take of his stupid beard, and they fight, until Carruthers shoots him. Williamson has a gun too, but Holmes draws his own weapon and introduces himself. Watson disarms the ex-priest and Carruthers, while Holmes takes charge. The wounded Peter has recovered enough to join them, so Holmes sends him with a note to the police station. (Are you sure he won't be too woozy to drive the dog-cart?) Holmes orders the rest of them into the house, making them carry in Woodley too. Watson treats the guy in bed and says he'll survive. I'm not sure if Violet is recovering in another room of the house, because Watson only mentions Holmes sitting with Williamson and Carruthers in the dining-room, and they do talk like she's not present. I hope Holmes assured her the marriage was illegal so she wouldn't worry; she is his client after all.
Anyway, in the dining-room, Holmes tells his two prisoners that the forced marriage is no marriage. Carruthers confesses that he loves Violet Smith and couldn't stand the thought of her caught in the clutches of Roaring Jack Woodley. Holmes rightfully asks why he didn't warn Violet of the danger instead of following her in disguise. Carruthers says that he couldn't bear for her to leave him even if she didn't love him back. Watson calls his love selfishness. Then Carruthers shows them the telegram about Ralph Smith dying, and Holmes deduces that Ralph must actually be rich, so they were conspiring to marry Violet to gain control of the money. When Woodley quarrelled with Carruthers, he took up with a new partner, the disrespectable Williamson.
Carruthers found out that Woodley and Williamson were at Charlington Hall, so that was when he started following her on bicycle. Unfortunately we get a continuity error as Carruthers says that "two days ago" Woodley showed him the telegram. That was Thursday, but Violet's letter spoke about Woodley reappearing the day before and not staying the night. It was Wednesday, not Thursday. Oh well. So Woodley and Williamson kidnapped her this morning on the road, and Carruthers was late also in following her dog-cart. The rescue party found her just in time to prevent Woodley from probably taking her into the house to rape her. How awful. (And I heard somewhere that Doyle's editor disliked this story and complained that there was no crime in it. There's fucking plenty of crime in this, with kidnapping and assault, before we get to what they would have done next!) Soon the local police arrive, and Holmes tells Watson to go see Violet Smith. They will take her home to her mother in London and telegam her fiancé Cyril to join them. (But I'm sure the police would make everyone stay long enough to get witness statements about the crimes that took place this morning.)
Holmes is rather forgiving, saying that Carruthers has made up for his part in the original evil scheme; he gives Carruthers his card and offers to testify on his behalf during his trial. Watson wraps up the story by telling us about Violet's happily ever after with Cyril, and her inheriting the fortune from her uncle Ralph. He has no notes about Bob Carruthers's fate, but he thinks that the law was lenient with him, sentencing him only to a few months. I wonder why Watson doesn't say what punishment Woodley and Williamson received? And who took care of Bob Carruthers's 10-year old daughter while he was in prison? I think there's one adaptation of the story where Violet Smith offers to care for the girl, though I don't remember which one it was.
Wait a minute, why was the interview in December, but the case doesn't take place until April? Was Violet working for Bob Carruthers for 4 months before Woodley started showing up lately? That doesn't sound right, with how impatient and rash Woodley is. However, Violet did say that Carruthers and Woodley were "on a visit" from South Africa in December. So maybe Carruthers told them that he needed time to move his daughter from South Africa to England, and he would contact them afterward? So Violet and her mom had to continue waiting for 4 months before Carruthers got his household settled in Farnham. Could it be that the daughter is a fake daughter borrowed from some confederate, and she had some other home to go to? Presumably Woodley was back in South Africa checking whether Ralph Smith was still alive. Maybe they thought he was dying in December, but he somehow recovered and hung on longer. So they watched him for a few months before they returned to England in April, or at least the spring, when they made arrangements for the house and the servants, such as Mrs. Dixon the housekeeper and Peter the groom. Whatever the case with the 10-year-old girl, I hope she came out all right.
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