(There Was Something Very Strange in All This)
by Billy E. Ross
It is stupidity rather than courage to refuse to recognize danger when it is close upon you." With these words Sherlock Holmes admirably succeeds in identifying the reason for his invitation to Watson to accompany him to the Continent for a week of rest and relaxation. The week proposed by Holmes became, for him, an extended period of world travels lasting for three years, 1891- 1894, and is known to Sherlockians as the Great Hiatus.
The Canonical sources for the world travels of Sherlock Holmes are The Final Problem and The Adventure of the Empty House. In these adventures we are introduced to Moriarty -- the Napoleon of Crime, the circuitous route followed by Holmes and Watson to reach Switzerland, the death-struggle between Holmes and Moriarty at the Falls at Reichenbach, a Norwegian traveller named Sigerson, and the travels of Holmes following his escape from Reichenbach.
The exploits of Holmes as chronicled by Watson in The Final Problem and The Adventure of the Empty House have been seriously challenged by many Sherlockian scholars. In fact, with the possible exception of our not too successful attempt to fix the exact location of the wound sustained by Dr. Watson at the Battle of Maiwand during the Second Afghan War, no part of the Canon has been more rigorously researched than these adventures.
The purpose of this trifling monograph is to briefly describe three apparent discrepancies surrounding the world travels of Holmes, including his battle with Moriarty at the Falls at Reichenbach. The discrepancies to be addressed are:
(A) Could Holmes have survived three years of travel, rest, and relaxation?
(B) Would Holmes have fled to the Continent in order to avoid Moriarty and his confederates?
(C) What really happened during the Great Hiatus?
In the discussion to follow, I have been guided by the following pronouncement made by Holmes in A Scandal in Bohemia: "It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly, one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts." An additional guideline is drawn from A Study in Scarlet. Here Holmes, as one who understands the art of illusion, reminds us that "What you do in this world is a matter of no consequence. The question is, what you can make people believe that you have done."
With the exception of an occasional few days away from London to pursue his interests in hunting and fishing, or to serve as a consultant in the investigation of a reported crime, Sherlock Holmes displayed little interest in travel, nature, or leisure time. In fact, with the exception of the drying room of the Turkish bath where Watson found Holmes " less reticent and more human than anywhere else," The Illustrious Client, Holmes appears to have abhorred relaxation of any kind thus, an investigation into the three queries cited above should provide us with interesting insights into the concept of Holmes as either World Traveller or Master of Illusion.
Query: Could Holmes have survived three years of travel, rest, and relaxation?
While Watson reports that Holmes engaged in some research and communicated with the Foreign Office during the Great Hiatus, the Canon is filled with evidence pointing toward the conclusion that without work which sufficiently taxed his mental facilities, Holmes was incapable of enduring long periods of non- involvement and that he tended to " turned to the drug as a protest against the monotony of existence when cases were scanty and the papers uninteresting," The Yellow Face. Further compelling evidence supporting the contention that Holmes was not an avid traveller is supplied by Watson. When asked by Holmes to go with him for a "week on to the Continent," Watson reports that "There was something very strange in all this. It was not Holmes' nature to take an aimless holiday "
"I never remember feeling tired by work," stated Holmes, "though idleness exhausts me completely," The Sign of Four. And with respect to a love of nature, we are told by Watson which the "Appreciation of nature found no place among his many gifts, and his only change was when he turned his mind from the evil- doer of the town to track down his brother of the country," The Cardboard Box.
In light of the evidence presented, much of it self-incriminating, one is forced to conclude the probability of Holmes surviving three years of travel, rest, and relaxation is extremely low. Thus, we are forced to question the reason for Holmes' desire to spend a week on the Continent.
Query: Would Holmes have fled to the Continent to avoid Moriarty and his confederates?
As you remember in The Final Problem, Holmes enters the residence of Dr. Watson in an excited state, expressing a fear of being killed by air-guns. He also informs Watson, that following a visit of 221B Baker Street by the Napoleon of Crime he has been nearly killed by a furiously driven two-horse van, a falling brick, and finally by "a rough with a bludgeon". The reason for these attacks according to the Master, was his refusal to accept the advice of Moriarty that "you must stand clear, Mr. Holmes, or be trodden under foot". In addition, Moriarty told Holmes that he is fully aware of every move Holmes has made to place him in the docks, but warned Holmes that " you will never beat me". and "If you are clever enough to bring destruction upon me, rest assured that I shall do as much to you". In response to this unveiled threat by Moriarty, Holmes delivered one of his most heroic public service pronouncements, " if I were assured of the former eventuality I would, in the interests of the public, cheerfully accept the latter," The Final Problem.
The queries to be asked about the reaction of Holmes to the words and deeds of Moriarty and his confederates, in light of his casual response to the death threat stated by Moriarty, are (1) Why did Holmes go to the Continent? And, (2) Why did he take Watson?
According to Holmes, his reason for going to the Continent was to place some distance between himself and Moriarty. "To those of us who know Holmes this is incredible. He was never one to shirk danger, as he had told Moriarty himself in no uncertain terms a short time before. The only possible conclusion is that Sherlock Holmes was luring Professor Moriarty into a trap," (William S. Baring-Gould, 1967, p.306).
This explanation takes on added credence when we remember that Watson, in A Scandal in Bohemia, tells us that "All emotions were abhorrent to his cold, precise but admirably balanced mind". Thus, we are left with the belief that Holmes, being a man without fear, invited Watson on his trip to the Falls at Reichenbach to make sure Moriarty observe his departure and would follow. In addition, we are led to believe that Holmes walked in front of Moriarty down the narrow path leading to the Falls in order to give the Napoleon of Crime a false sense of confidence. Then, as Moriarty "rushed at and threw his long arms around " Holmes, the Master employed "baritsu, or the Japanese system of wrestling " to cause Moriarty to lose his balance and be killed in his fall to the bottom of the Falls.
Final Query: What really happened during the Great Hiatus?
In The Adventure of the Empty House signaling the return of Sherlock Holmes to London, we are advised the Master had travelled two years in Tibet, used the name Sigerson, passed through Persia, looked in on Mecca, paid a short visit to the Khalifa at Khartoum, and spent the remaining time in a laboratory in France doing research into the coal-tar derivatives.
The exploits of Holmes as recorded by Watson in The Final Problem and in The Adventure of the Empty House are seen as preposterous by many Sherlockians and led Edgar Smith, one of our most brilliant scholars, to state in his article Sherlock Holmes and The Great Hiatus, "here is a tale compounded of fallacy, anachronism and paradox." " an itinerary that starts from the realm of the merely improbable and carries us swiftly to the never-never land of the globally impossible." The doings at Reichenbach, we may all agree, are veiled in the midst of considerable doubt. But the years of the Hiatus which lie beyond are enshrouded in a fog so thick that the streets of London itself have never known its like," William Baring-Gould, 1967, p. 320.
Several additional categories of questions have been raised relative to these adventures. One category of questions focuses on the correctness of Watson's reporting. For example, did Holmes visit a head Llama or Lama, and did he employ baritsu or Ju-Jitsu in defeating Moriarty?
Among the most interesting answers to the query, what really happened during the Great Hiatus, are those supplied by Stanley McComas and Edgar Smith. Smith contends that Holmes spent the years of the Great Hiatus not in Tibet, Persia, Arabia, the Egyptian Sudan, and the South of France, but in the United States, Baring-Gould, 1967, p.325. Holmes, according to Smith, was here to investigate the murder of Andrew and Abby Borden and was responsible for establishing the guilt of Lizzie Borden. McComas on the other hand, believed that Holmes, after Reichenbach met and married Irene Adler in Florence.
My personal theory relative to The Final Problem and The Adventure of the Empty House is more simplistic than others that have been presented in this monograph. My theory is that the literary agent for Watson, Arthur Canon Doyle, negotiated a most lucrative contract with his publishers while paying Watson a mere pittance for his creative efforts. When the number of adventures prepared by Watson diminished in 1890, Doyle becomes furious. In an attempt to urge Watson to write more adventures, Doyle threatened Watson's livelihood by stating if he did not write more adventures quickly, he would destroy Holmes as a popular international hero. When Watson did not accept Doyle's terms, Doyle wrote and had published The Final Problem. Watson, following a period of disbelief and uncertainty, finally related the problem to Holmes who quickly established Doyle's guilt. Following a period of negotiations, ending in the near death of Doyle at the Falls of Reichenbach, Doyle agreed to write and publish The Adventure of the Empty House and relinquished further involvement in the publishing of the adventures of Sherlock Holmes. One positive effect of the non- involvement by Doyle was the dropping of the drug usage by Holmes in all future adventures. This had been a fabrication demanded by Doyle in an attempt to boost sales.
The theories advanced in this trifling monograph while not answering the question "was Holmes a world traveller or a master of illusion" have been and will continue to be debated whenever Sherlockians gather to raise the traditional Canonical toast to the Master. Did Holmes do everything he said he did? Was Holmes less than open in reporting to Watson and Watson less than open in reporting to us? Or, perhaps one must construct his or her own theories relative to what really happened at Reichenbach and during the Great Hiatus. A fact clear to all Sherlockians, regardless of his or her philosophic position, is that Holmes lives in Sussex and is occupied with his research, his bees, and his memories. World Traveller or Master of Illusion, one fact is clear, the streets of London are safer because he lives.