The Engineer's Thumb.
The case begins Sunday, June 30, 1889.
Why?
SIGNIFICANT SEASON AND YEAR REFERENCE:
"It was in the summer of ‘89, not long after my marriage, that the events occurred which I am now about to summarize."
"It was in the summer of ‘89, not long after my marriage, that the events occurred which I am now about to summarize."
STATE OF WATSON’S PRACTICE:
"I had returned to civil practice and had finally abandoned Holmes in his Baker Street rooms, although I continually visited him and occasionally even persuaded him to forego his Bohemian habits so far as to come and visit us. My practice had steadily increased, and as I happened to live at no very great distance from Paddington Station, I got a few patients from among the officials."
"I had returned to civil practice and had finally abandoned Holmes in his Baker Street rooms, although I continually visited him and occasionally even persuaded him to forego his Bohemian habits so far as to come and visit us. My practice had steadily increased, and as I happened to live at no very great distance from Paddington Station, I got a few patients from among the officials."
TIME OF WATSON WAKE-UP:
"One morning, at a little before seven o’clock, I was awakened by the maid tapping at the door to announce that two men had come from Paddington and were waiting in the consulting-room."
"One morning, at a little before seven o’clock, I was awakened by the maid tapping at the door to announce that two men had come from Paddington and were waiting in the consulting-room."
THE TIMES OF VICTOR HATHERLY:
"He was young, not more than five-and-twenty . . ."
"I have had considerable experience of my work during the seven years that I was apprenticed to Venner & Matheson, the well-known firm, of Greenwich. Two years ago, having served my time, and having also come into a fair sum of money through my poor father’s death, I determined to start in business for myself and took professional chambers in Victoria Street."
"During two years I have had three consultations and one small job, and that is absolutely all that my profession has brought me. My gross takings amount to L27 10s. Every day, from nine in the morning until four in the afternoon, I waited in my little den, until at last my heart began to sink, and I came to believe that I should never have any practice at all."
"Yesterday, however, just as I was thinking of leaving the office, my clerk entered . . ."
"He was plainly but neatly dressed, and his age, I should judge, would be nearer forty than thirty."
"He was young, not more than five-and-twenty . . ."
"I have had considerable experience of my work during the seven years that I was apprenticed to Venner & Matheson, the well-known firm, of Greenwich. Two years ago, having served my time, and having also come into a fair sum of money through my poor father’s death, I determined to start in business for myself and took professional chambers in Victoria Street."
"During two years I have had three consultations and one small job, and that is absolutely all that my profession has brought me. My gross takings amount to L27 10s. Every day, from nine in the morning until four in the afternoon, I waited in my little den, until at last my heart began to sink, and I came to believe that I should never have any practice at all."
"Yesterday, however, just as I was thinking of leaving the office, my clerk entered . . ."
"He was plainly but neatly dressed, and his age, I should judge, would be nearer forty than thirty."
SIGNIFICANT DAY REFERENCE:
"It appeared in all the papers about a year ago." "Listen to this: ‘Lost, on the 9th inst., Mr. Jeremiah Hayling, aged twenty-six, a hydraulic engineer.’"
"It appeared in all the papers about a year ago." "Listen to this: ‘Lost, on the 9th inst., Mr. Jeremiah Hayling, aged twenty-six, a hydraulic engineer.’"
WHAT THE BARING-GOULD ANNOTATED SAYS:
September 7, 1889.
September 7, 1889.
WHAT ZEISLER, THE KING OF CHRONOLOGY, SAYS:
September 8, 1889.
September 8, 1889.
THE BIRLSTONE RAILWAY’S TIMETABLE:
It’s the summer of 1889. Watson is not only married, his practice is well established, and he is high on Holmes’s abilities over Scotland Yard, steering Hatherly away from the police and toward his old friend. Watson is also still in close enough contact with Holmes and Mrs. Hudson to expect that showing up with a guest for breakfast will not be an imposition -- the kind of thing only a close family member can get away with, so he is not far out of their lives. As both BOSC and TWIS took place in June of that summer, and both featured Holmes succeeding significantly where the police had failed, I would have to place ENGI close on the heels of those two cases, the latter of which occurred on June 21.
It’s the summer of 1889. Watson is not only married, his practice is well established, and he is high on Holmes’s abilities over Scotland Yard, steering Hatherly away from the police and toward his old friend. Watson is also still in close enough contact with Holmes and Mrs. Hudson to expect that showing up with a guest for breakfast will not be an imposition -- the kind of thing only a close family member can get away with, so he is not far out of their lives. As both BOSC and TWIS took place in June of that summer, and both featured Holmes succeeding significantly where the police had failed, I would have to place ENGI close on the heels of those two cases, the latter of which occurred on June 21.
As "the 9th inst." means "the 9th of this month," we know that Jeremiah Hayling’s disappearance was in all the papers sometime in the latter two-thirds of the month he disappeared in, which was "about a year ago." This would seem to confirm dating the case in the final part of June.
The fact that the maid has to wake Dr. Watson up at 7 a.m. during the early-dawn month of June says "sleep-in Sunday" to me, and adding that to all the preceding data, I place "Engineer’s Thumb" on Sunday, June 30, 1889.
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