The Missing Three-Quarter.
The case begins Saturday, February 6, 1897.
Why?
THE STATEMENT OF MONTH AND (SORT-OF) YEAR:
"We were fairly accustomed to receive weird telegrams at Baker Street, but I have a particular recollection of one which reached us on a gloomy February morning, some seven or eight years ago, and gave Mr. Sherlock Holmes a puzzled quarter of an hour."
"We were fairly accustomed to receive weird telegrams at Baker Street, but I have a particular recollection of one which reached us on a gloomy February morning, some seven or eight years ago, and gave Mr. Sherlock Holmes a puzzled quarter of an hour."
THE SCOTLAND YARD REFERRAL:
"I’ve been down to Scotland Yard, Mr. Holmes. I saw Inspector Stanley Hopkins. He advised me to come to you."
"I’ve been down to Scotland Yard, Mr. Holmes. I saw Inspector Stanley Hopkins. He advised me to come to you."
THE STATE OF HOLMES’S BUSINESS:
"Even the most insignificant problem would be welcome in these stagnant days."
"Things had indeed been very slow with us, and I had learned to dread such periods of inaction, for I knew by experience that my companion’s brain was so abnormally active that it was dangerous to leave it without material upon which to work. For years I had gradually weaned him from that drug mania which had threatened once to check his remarkable career."
"Well, well, I have a clear day, and I shall be happy to look into the matter."
"Even the most insignificant problem would be welcome in these stagnant days."
"Things had indeed been very slow with us, and I had learned to dread such periods of inaction, for I knew by experience that my companion’s brain was so abnormally active that it was dangerous to leave it without material upon which to work. For years I had gradually weaned him from that drug mania which had threatened once to check his remarkable career."
"Well, well, I have a clear day, and I shall be happy to look into the matter."
THE RUGBY SCHEDULE:
"To-morrow we play Oxford. Yesterday we all came up, and we settled at Bentley’s private hotel."
"To-morrow we play Oxford. Yesterday we all came up, and we settled at Bentley’s private hotel."
REFERENCE TO A PAST VILLAIN:
"I have not seen a man who, if he turns his talents that way, was more calculated to fill the gap left by the illustrious Moriarty."
"I have not seen a man who, if he turns his talents that way, was more calculated to fill the gap left by the illustrious Moriarty."
THE SEASON REITERATED:
"‘Come, Watson,’ said he, and we passed from that house of grief into the pale sunlight of the winter day."
"‘Come, Watson,’ said he, and we passed from that house of grief into the pale sunlight of the winter day."
PUBLICATION DATE OF THE STORY:
August 1904.
August 1904.
WHAT THE BARING-GOULD ANNOTATED SAYS:
December 8, 1896.
December 8, 1896.
WHAT ZEISLER, THE KING OF CHRONOLOGY, SAYS:
December 8, 1896.
December 8, 1896.
THE BIRLSTONE RAILWAY TIMETABLE:
The year of this case can quickly be narrowed with a little math and a nod to Moriarty’s reign. It was plainly past 1894, as the mention of the late Professor indicates. And since it was published in 1904, the phrase "some seven or eight years ago" means it could not have been later than 1897. Past scholars have taken the history of Oxford-Cambridge rugby over the word of Watson in this case, choosing December over February, and selecting the year by who won. But trusting Watson must always be the first choice for the Sherlockian chronologer, or we discredit our best witness. Unless an old evening paper can be found with the exact wording Watson has transcribed in his text, we therefore must assume that the Oxford-Cambridge game was a special exhibition one, or even a purely student-organized bit of fun, that occurred in February and was not included in known records outside of the Canon.
The year of this case can quickly be narrowed with a little math and a nod to Moriarty’s reign. It was plainly past 1894, as the mention of the late Professor indicates. And since it was published in 1904, the phrase "some seven or eight years ago" means it could not have been later than 1897. Past scholars have taken the history of Oxford-Cambridge rugby over the word of Watson in this case, choosing December over February, and selecting the year by who won. But trusting Watson must always be the first choice for the Sherlockian chronologer, or we discredit our best witness. Unless an old evening paper can be found with the exact wording Watson has transcribed in his text, we therefore must assume that the Oxford-Cambridge game was a special exhibition one, or even a purely student-organized bit of fun, that occurred in February and was not included in known records outside of the Canon.
We can eliminate the year 1895, as Watson has earlier spoken of what great form, physically and mentally, Holmes was in that year, and in "Missing Three-Quarter," Watson is very concerned about Holmes returning to drug use. And while 1896 is a good possibility, the recommendation of Stanley Hopkins is a sign that Holmes was on Hopkins’s mind. And the February that we’ll soon be finding out Holmes was on Hopkins’s mind was February 1897. (More in the "Abbey Grange" segment.)
Having already broken with the official rugby schedules in favor of Watson, I’m going to have to climb further out on that limb to say that Overton and his team-mates came up to London on Friday for a weekend in the city followed by a Sunday game. February would be heating up for Holmes by the second weekend of 1897 (as we’ll see next story), so I’m going to have to date this one on Saturday, February 6, 1897. (But not without admitting that this has to be the toughest case that this chronologist has encountered thus far.)
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