Barrie Roberts

"The Disappearance of Daniel Question" (2000)
Included in: The Strand Magazine, Issue IV, April-July 2000
Story Type: Pastiche
Canonical Characters: Sherlock Holmes; Dr. Watson; Mrs Hudson; (Martha; James Phillimore; Tobias Gregson)
Other Characters: Honoria Phillimore; Phillimore's Servants; Police Constable; Reverend Bledlow; Chief Inspector Robinson; (Peter; "Dumb" Danny Question; Seaman; Mission Nurse; Police Commissioner; Hawsley; Frank Smallfish; Naples Nuns; British Consulate Official; Cemetery Keeper; Black Hand Gang)
Date: Summer, 1923 / July, 1903
Locations: Holmes's Sussex Villa; 221B, Baker Street; Welton Square; Phillimore's House; Wharton's Row; Mission; Victoria Station; Watson's Home; Fulworth; Hawsley's House; East End; Cemetery; (Naples)
Story: Watson visits Holmes in Sussex. Holmes tells him that after twenty years, he thinks he has finally solved the Phillimore case.

Honoria Phillimore calls at Baker Street after her son James, proprietor of Phillimore's Commercial Bank, disappears after stepping into his house to fetch his umbrella. She tells them of his estrangement from his father, and the years he spent overseas, working in the bank's continental offices. After examing Phillimore's house and garden, Holmes takes an interest in a foreign-looking street sweeper, Dumb, Danny, who was present when Phillimore disappeared, and who has also vanished. Some months later, Phillimore's body is found in the Thames.

Holmes accompanies Watson back to London. After receiving materials from Scotland Yard, he reveals the involvement of the Black Hand Gang, and how a chance meeting with a retired schoolmaster led to the solution of the case,.

"The Mystery of the Addleton Curse" (1997)
Included in: The Mammoth Book of New Sherlock Holmes Adventures (Mike Ashley)
Story Type: Pastiche
Canonical Characters: Sherlock Holmes; Dr. Watson; (Stamford)
Historical Figures: (Jacques Curie; Henri Becquerel; Pierre Curie; Marie Curie)
Other Characters: Sir Andrew Lewis; Mr. Edgar; County officer of Health; Lantern Operator; Tony Lewis; Sir Andrew's Butler; Lady Cynthia Lewis; Dr. Leary; Mary Cummins; Mr. Swain; (Sir William Creedon; Sir Andrew's Excavators; McSwiney; Georgie the Boot Boy; Mrs. Henty)
Date: October, 1894
Locations: 221B, Baker Street; The Aldridge Institute; Sir Andrew's House; Addleton; Leary's surgery; The Goat & Boots Inn; A Train
Story: Holmes reads of the death from a mysterious illness of Sir Andrew Lewis, a patient whom Stamford had discussed with Watson. From the newspapers he learns of a curse upon a barrow that had been excavated by Lewis, of the death of Lewis's son from a similar disease, and of a number of deaths among the inhabitants of Addleton. He interviews Lewis's former colleague Edgar, who has publicly accused Lewis of removing a valuable item from the barrow. Holmes and Watson travel to Addleton, where Holmes learns that in addition to the deaths, there have also been miraculous cures in the village. He finally links the events in the village to researches he carried out during his Great Hiatus.

Sherlock Holmes and the American Angels (2007)
Story Type: Pastiche
Canonical Characters: Sherlock Holmes; Dr. Watson; Mrs Hudson; Stanley Hopkins
Historical Figures: (Benjamin Franklin; Bonnie Prince Charlie; William McKinley; John Burgoyne; Theodore Roosevelt)
Other Characters: Captain Carter; Marylebone Road Sergeant & Constable; Heather Mackenzie; Mrs McBride; Alistair McNair; Bookshop Assistant; Colonel Beaumont Swice; American Treasury Agents; Carriage Driver; Wullie; Mrs Mackintosh; James Czernowski-Stuart; Red Ewan Fergus Breck; Gordon Lachlan "Lacky" Stuart; Tam Chater; Villagers; Minister; Jock Snetton; Seamus Fisher; Jessie; Inspector McBrain; Dr Guthrie; Fisher's Woman; Mrs Herd; Piper; Swice's Messenger; (Police Superintendent; Mrs Forwell; Czernowski-Stuart Brothers; Maggie Drummond; Mary Macfarlane; Doogie Herd; Mungo Breck; Revenuers; Informer; Infantrymen; Laird; Professor Rutledge; Gypsies)
Date: Spring 1902
Locations: 221B, Baker Street; Regent's Park; Clarence Gate; Baker Street; Marylebone Road; Kensington; Braemar Hotel; Charing Cross Road; American Bookshop; A Train; Carlisle Station; Scotland; Inverness Station; Scottish Train; Strathcullar; Mrs Mackintosh's Cottage; Jetty; Strathcullar Inn; Inish Mor; Strathcullar Castle; Strathcullar Loch; Inish Beg
Story: Holmes deciphers coded messages in the papers referring to a device and a meeting in Regent's Park. When he and Watson investigate, they find a dead American at the meeting site. The names used in the coded messages lead Holmes to suspect a link to the Jacobite Rebellion and Stuart sympathisers. Hopkins is assigned to the case, and while he is consulting with Holmes, news arrives of a dead Scot at the Braemar Hotel in Kensington.

From Swice, the American Presidential Aide, they learn of a plot to recover the lost gold of Bonnie Prince Charlie, which will be used to finance insurgency in the USA, linked to the assassination of McKinley.

Holmes and Watson travel to the village of Strathcullar in Scotland, home of Czernowski-Stuart, who claimed descent from the Stuart dynasty. No sooner have they arrived, than they are shot at on the moors outside the village. The following day, Watson is called to examine the body of an American, resident in the village, who has been pulled out of the loch. They are invited to dinner by the laird in his castle on the loch, have a further attempt made on their lives, and visit a pagan island cemetery.

While Holmes is carrying out astronomical research in Edinburgh after carrying out measurements around the loch, Watson is summoned back to the castle, where the local doctor fears that the laird is being poisoned. An American musician arrives in the village and Watson goes ghost-hunting on Inish Beg. When Holmes reappears, the two of them dig up a dead dog.

Sherlock Holmes and the Crosby Murder (2001)
Story Type: Pastiche
Canonical Characters: Sherlock Holmes; Dr. Watson; Inspector Lestrade; (Algernon) Crosby the Banker; Mrs Hudson; (Mary Morstan; Head Lama; Baker Street Page; Baker Street Irregulars)
Historical Figures: (Bat Masterson; Texas John Slaughter; Edward Frederick Knight; Cochise; Micky Free; General George Crook; General George Armstrong Custer; Dr Walker; Don Miguel Peralta; Jacob Weiser; Jacob Waltz; Helena Thomas; Reiney Petrasch; Doc Thorne; Kit Carson; Aaron Mason; Two Ex-Soldiers; Cattleman; Army Patrol; Miner; James Reavis)
Other Characters: Graby; Walters; Beatrice Crosby; Boatman's Arms Landlord; Captain Jim Napley; Napley's Friends; Potboy; Mr Morris; Brian; Pally Usher; Wan Fat; Percy the Rattlesnake; Gordon's Messenger Boy; Gordon's Pageboy; Eskishay; Port; Inspector Hewitt; Augustus Crosby; Algernon Crosby; Crosby's Servants; Hampshire Policemen; Cabby; Lestrade's Men; (Colonel Crosby; Crosby's Mother; Crosby's Friends; Teddy Danziger / Indian Tommy; Gyrfalcon Crew; Billy; Mr Anderson; Mr Spendlove; American Sailor; Wan Fat's Grandson; Percy; Edmund Danziger; Portmadoc Harbour Master; Caernarvonshire Police; Police Surgeon; Camp Grant Doctor; Fort McDowell Surgeon; Dock Workers; George; Bradon Stationmaster; Bevington's Yard Engineman)
Date: May, 1894
Locations: 221B, Baker Street; River Police Mortuary; Graby's Chandlers Shop; Danziger's Room; Public House; Hampshire; Bradon; Bradon Lodge; Eacham; The Boatman's Arms; Morris's Boatyard; Waterloo Station ; Regent's Park; Chinatown; Wan Fat's Emporium; Portmadoc; Aboard the Gyrfalcon; Gordon's Hotel; Concert Hall; Romanov's; Brewers Lane; Bourton's Warehouse
Story: Lestrade brings Holmes a package containing the shrunken head of Crosby, a missing banker. The dead man's yacht, Gyrfalcon, is also missing, having been taken out by its American crewman, Danziger. The rest of Crosby is pulled from the Thames, showing evidence of torture. Holmes and Watson search Danziger's rooms, but are not the first to do so. From Crosby's widow, they learn of his passion for treasure-hunting. Interviewing the yacht's captain, Napley, they learn that the yacht took on extra ballast in Demerara at the same time as Danziger joined the crew, and that the rest of the crew, on the return voyage, were put ashore at Plymouth, while Crosby and Danziger sailed the rest of the way to Southampton alone.

Holmes sets Napley the task of finding the yacht. While they are investigating the boatyard where the yacht was moored, an arrow is fired at Holmes and Watson, which is later identified as of Apache origin. Holmes turns his attention to decoding a document intended to have been given to Danziger in the event of Crosby's death. 221B is burgled, and a reptilian visitor introduced. They visit Wan Fat's exotic animal emporium to learn its origins.

A telegram from Arizona reveals Danziger's true identity, and the Gyrfalcon is located. When they reach the yacht they find signs of bloodshed, and Scotland Yard receive a second shrunken head. A visitor from America provides clues to the meaning of the Crosby document, and its connection to the Lost Dutchman Mine.

Another attack is made on Holmes and Watson, but they recover the missing half of the document. Watson finds himself under siege in the Crosby house, and trapped in a pit full of gila monsters. The final confrontation with the Apache comes on the upper floors of a burned out warehouse.

Sherlock Holmes and the Devil's Grail (1995)
Story Type: Pastiche
Canonical Characters: Sherlock Holmes; Dr. Watson; Colonel John Vincent Harden; Mrs Hudson; Violet Smith; McMurdo (SIGN); Fred Porlock (Alfred Culbone); Baker Street Irregulars; (Mrs Turner; Professor Moriarty; Moriarty Gang; Colonel Moran)
Historical Figures: Nat Druscovich (Drew); Alfred Watkins; John Meiklejohn (Sergeant Malcolm); (Buddy Bolden; Henry VIII; Jack Horner; Abbot of Glastonbury; Chancellor Cromwell; William of Malmesbury; Nennius; Henry Irving)
Legendary Characters: (King Arthur; Amr)
Other Characters: John Vincent Harden, Jr; Hotel Clerk; Mrs Harden; Miss Harden; Miss Harden; Passer-by; Hotel Diners; Waiters; Assistant Hotel Manager; Laurence G. Crane; Winchester Tobacconist; Hotel Manager; Inspector Stubbington; Sergeant Morgan; Carriage Driver; Winchester Cabby; Kensall's Youths; Waitress; Mrs Kensall; McMurdo's Men; London Cabby; Wells Cathedral Visitors; Glastonbury Passers-by; Glastonbury Hotel Manager; Pageboy; Hotel Staff; Plain-clothes Scotland Yard Officers; Sergeant Turley; Constable Evans; Hereford Library Assistant; Ross Library Assistant; Wormlow Innkeeper; Tacky Boatman; Mr Williams; Mrs Williams; (Mrs Hudson's Relative; Reporter; American Ambassador; Police Chief; Drew's Men; Aunt Mimi; Worshippers; Charlie; Mr Garton; Garton's Son; Young Lord; Culbone; Kensall's Staff; Monk)
Date: Winter 1917-18 / April-June, 1895
Locations: The Strand; Simpson's; Hotel; 221B, Baker Street; Winchester; White Swan Hotel; Wayles Court; Kensall's Catering Company; McMurdo's Gym; post Office; Society of Saint Ophiocus Headquarters; Public House; Wells; Wells Cathedral; Glastonbury; Glastonbury Abbey; Hotel; Harden's London House; Hereford; Hotel; Hereford Public Library; Ross; Ross Library; The Tump at Wormlow; Inn; A Wood; A Train; Haverfordwest; Prescelly Mountains; Welsh Cottage; Bedd Arthur Gors Fawr; Eithbed
Story: 1918: Watson meets Harden, Jr. in the Strand and is reminded of the occasion on which his father, the tobacco millionaire, consulted Holmes.

1895: With both Mrs Hudson and Mrs Turner away on family business, Holmes and Watson are staying in a hotel. Their fellow guests include the Harden family. John Vincent Harden is using a new stereoscopic camera to photograph London landmarks. The camera is able to increase the distance between objects, and may be useful in reading worn engravings. Holmes is shot at through the hotel window, but deduces that the real target was Harden. Initially dismissive, Harden calls Holmes to Winchester when his son is abducted outside a theatre, and tells him of a series of spoken threats from people who have not been there when he has turned to look for them.

Harden Jr escapes and tells of his capture, and rituals in the house in which he was held. A search of the house reveals their nature, worship of the Great Mother, and blackmail, to Holmes, who has recognised the presence of Drew, an associate of Moriarty's, in the case.

Holmes obtains bodyguards for Harden from McMurdo's boxing school, and visits Porlock, from whom he learns that Drew is continuing Moriarty's, and Henry VIII's, quest for the "Devil's Grail". An attempt is made to steal Harden's photographic plates in Glastonbury, and Holmes sets to studying them, and decrypts a message hidden there which puts them on the trail of the grave of King Arthur's son in Herefordshire, where Watson and Harden find themselves under armed siege in a wood.

Drawing a blank there, Holmes leads them on to the Welsh Mountains. There they uncover the Devil's Grail and come face to face with Drew, and Drew comes face to face with an armour-clad giant.

Sherlock Holmes and the Harvest of Death (1999)
Story Type: Pastiche
Canonical Characters: Sherlock Holmes; Dr. Watson; Mrs Hudson; Inspector Lestrade; (Killer Evans; Mycroft Holmes; John Vincent Harden; Young Stamford)
Other Characters: Constable Russell; Trap Driver; Mr Garrett; Potboy; John Barleycorn Customers; Sergeant Bullington; Charlie Coomber; Alice Moyce; Reverend Theodore Trentham; Vicarage Maid; Cecily Thorne; Albert Platt; Constable Wilkes; Yetcham Inspector; Superintendent Godden; Constable; Billy Hayter; Mr Hayter; Samuel West; John Barleycorn Chambermaid; Charlie Bates; Manor Gatekeeper; Trentham's Groom; Ali; Henry Devaux; George Devaux; Workhouse Clerk; Detective Inspector Hamblin; Swindon Police Officers; Swindon Constables; Swindon Sergeants; John Barleycorn Servant Boy; Villagers; Reapers; Harvesters; Charlie Wells; Mr Grainger; Carters; Children; Billy's Friend; Harris; (Hardbourne Police Superintendent; Wilf Harness; Maisie; Dazzy Cooke; Beatrice Collins; Fletcher "Fetchy" Collins; Mrs Collins; Collins's Children; Dr Ryall; Trentham's Niece; Cecily's Parents; Mission Doctor; Military Doctor; Non-Commissioned Officer in India; Indian Healer; Joseph Baker; Joseph's Parents; Berkshire Surgeon; Mrs Hayter; Wiggin; Mrs West; Stable-boy; Mrs Shallow; Swindon Railway Workers; Workhouse Night Clerk; Workhouse Master; Workhouse Nurse; Workhouse Inmates; Miss Walters; Victoria Burton; Toby Gregson)
Date: August, 1902
Locations: 221B, Baker Street; Paddington Station; A Train; Wiltshire; Weston Stacey; Railway Station; John Barleycorn Inn; The Mayfield; Church; Vicarage; Toadneck Manor; Berkshire; Yetcham Station; Police Station; Hayter's Cottage; Toadneck Manor Farm; Buckstone Wood; Bullington's House; Weston Manor; Swindon; Workhouse; Police Station
Story: Holmes is consulted by Constable Russell, whose superior, Sergeant Bullington has released a man who confessed to being an accessory to murder. Russell tells them of the death of Beatrice Collins during the previous year's harvest at Toadbury Manor, and Holmes and Watson travel to Wiltshire to investigate.

They visit the field in which the girl was killed and meet one of her school friends, who tells them of rumours of a strange creature with skulls seen by a local boy. A column of ants provides the first clue. They visit the church ossuary, and have tea with the vicar and his niece. Platt the Harvest Master tells them of another murder in Berkshire and his fear that a maniac is following the harvest gangs, and warns them against asking questions in the village. They travel to Berkshire and learn of the similarities, including a corn dolly clutched in the child's hands, between the two deaths. A metal disc found near the boy's body adds to their clues. A farm labourer sees a flying, buzzing, sparking cloud over the Mayfield.

Holmes and Watson intervene in a ritual trial at a standing stone. Holmes reveals to Watson that he believes the children were harvest sacrifices. The local police sergeant is killed.They visit the Devaux brothers at the Manor, and view their statue of Kali and hothouse full of Asian plants. Holmes returns to London to carry out further research, leaving Watson to visit the man they saved in the woods in Swindon Workhouse, only to discover that the man is dead, and to find himself under arrest. The harvest celebrations are disrupted by a thunderstorm and Holmes and Watson race to prevent the murder of another child.

Sherlock Holmes and the King's Governess (2005)
Story Type: Pastiche
Canonical Characters: Sherlock Holmes; Dr. Watson; Mrs Hudson; Mycroft Holmes; Inspector Lestrade; (Baker Street Irregulars; Dr Moore Agar)
Historical Figures: Anna Leonowens (Diana Fordeland); Anna Fyshe (Elizabeth, Diana's Grand-daughter); King Chulalongkorn (King Chula);
(King Mongkut; King Mongkut's Children; Louis Leonowens (Diana's Son); Avis Leonowens (Diana's Daughter); Sgt Thomas Edwards (Diana's Father); Mary Anne Glascott (Diana's Mother); Eliza Edwards (Diana's Sister); Patrick Donohoe (Diana's Step-father); Thomas Leonowens (Rupert Eland))
Other Characters: Major Ivan Kyriloff; Kyriloff's Aide; Professor Gregori Gregorieff; Anna Gregorieff; Hotel Waiter; Cabby; Agatha's Agatha Wortley-Swan; Mycroft's Courier; Baker Street Pedestrians; Lestrade's Constables; Count Stepan Skovinski-Rimkoff; Freddy; Police Sergeant; Nikolai Poliakoff; Goldstein's Daughter; Abram Goldstein; Captain / Colonel Henry Wilmshaw; Cabbie; Kyriloff's Bandits; Hotel Commissionaire; Hotel Page; Hotel Manager; Chula's Servant; Chula's Guards; Chula's Secretary; Chula's Servant; Chula's Attendant; Royal Clerk; Drayman; Hotel Employee
(Hotel Manager; Captain Johnny Parkes; Retired Officer; Lieutenant Harrington; Dr Legrange; Hyde Park Crowds; Hyde Park Police Officer; Green; Henry Cloke; Army Private; English Missionary; Skovinski-Rimkoff's Men; Katya Gregorieff; Russian Police Officer; Russian Official; Gregori's Parents; Informant; Agatha's Mother; Hungarian Embassy Ball Guests; French Police Inspector; Agatha's Father; British Ambassador; The Honourable Hermione Anstruther; Russian Ambassador; Agatha's Housekeeper; Agatha's Maid; Burriwell Milkman; Harry Barnton; Duc d'Errennes; Lord Bazelby; Paddington Station Crowds)
Date: Summer, 1897
Locations: 221B, Baker Street; Baker Street; Diana's Hotel; Mycroft's Office; Sussex; Burriwell; Agatha's Villa; A Train; Victoria Station; Hyde Park; The East End; Goldstein's Shop; India; Singapore; Russia; Vladivostok; France; Paris; Hungarian Embassy; Chula's Hotel
Story: Holmes is called on by Diana Fordeland (an author's note identifies her as Anna Leonowens), who, since returning to London from Canada, has been followed by two swarthy strangers. She had previously been governess to the children of the late King of Mongkuria, and is in London for Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, and to renew her acquaintance with the new King of Mongkuria, Chula. Having deduced a Rssian connection in the case, and a link to the unsolved murder of a British Army officer in Paris, Holmes consults Mycroft.

Lestrade brings news that a Russian nobleman, who had told Mycroft to warn Holmes off the case, has been shot at in Hyde Park. Diana reveals the details of her train journey through Russia to Holmes and Watson, while Colonel Wilmshaw reveals his beliefs regarding the Paris murder. Holmes and Watson race to forestall the abduction of Diana and her grand-daughter, and prevent an assassination attempt for fear of the fate that may befall the potential assassins.

Sherlock Holmes and the Man from Hell (1997)
Story Type: Pastiche
Canonical Characters: Sherlock Holmes; Dr. Watson; Mrs Hudson; Lord (Viscount Patrick) Backwater
Historical Figures: (Queen Victoria)
Other Characters: Cabby; Mr Predge; Wiggin; Inspector Ian Scott; James Lisle, Viscount Backwater / James Loveridge; Mortuary Attendant; Colonel Gerald Oliver Caddage; Caddage's Driver; Scott's Constables; Elihu "Tin-Fiddle" Williams; Backwater Arms Landlord; Funeral Congregation; Lady Patricia Backwater; Joseph Keep; Elisabeth Keep; Rupert Varley; Village Boys; Farmer Wells; Constable Stanley; Mrs Stanley; Magistrates; Squire Varley; Justices' Clerk; County Gaol Prisoners; Judges; Jury; Transport Prisoners; Henrietta Crewmen; Henrietta Guards; Point Puer Guards; Commandant; Point Puer Prisoners; Hunter; Jemmy the Pick; Hobart Soldiers; Convict Police; Wharfies; Thieves; Captain Nathan Winthrop; Mrs Winthrop; Mate of the Sarah Jane; Crew of the Sarah Jane; Arnold; Backwater's Grooms; Catherine; Tommy; Superintendent Thorpe; Peter Collins / Patrick Connors; Brothers of the Ring; Norfolk Island Convicts; Norfolk Island Guards; Soldier; Lieutenant Dawson; Juliet Jones Seaman; Skipper of the Juliet Jones; Pearl Divers; Caddage's Manservant; PC Wetherby; (Lady Felicia Eaglestone; Henry Ruthen; Dawson's Servant)
Date: Early Summer, 1886 / 1842
Locations: 221B, Baker Street; A Train; Backwater; Backwater Halt; County Mortuary; Backwater Hall; Caddage's Estate; Williams's Hut; The Backwater Arms; Church; Keep's House; Police Station; Magistrates' Court; County Gaol; Assize Hall; Portsmouth; Prison Hulk; Aboard the Henrietta; Rio de Janeiro; Australia; Cape Raoul; Van Diemen's Land; The Gates of Hell; Port Arthur; Point Puer; Eaglehawk Neck; Hobart; Aboard the Sarah Jane; California; Yerba Bueno; Backwater Park; The South Pool; Norfolk Island; Kingston; Caddage's Cottage; Aboard the Juliet Jones; Tumuroa; Hong Kong; Texas
Story: Watson reads in the papers of the death of the philanthropist, Lord Backwater, beaten to death by poachers. The new Viscount Backwater visits Baker Street, bringing a note his father had received, arranging a meeting with "The Man from Hell". Holmes deduces an Australian connection from the note, which he sets out to uncover.

He and Watson travel to Backwater Hall, where the local police inspector turns out to be an old acquaintance. An examination of the corpse reveals signs of old lashings and a curious tattoo, that reveals something of his past. A visit to the tree under which the murder occurred reveals the sequence of events, and the presence of three men in addition to the Viscount. The trail next leads to a man who plays a violin made of tin, and a near disaster with a mantrap. The landlord of the village inn tells them how Backwater burned down the original Tudor Backwater Hall, and a document presented to his son after the funeral fills in the details of his life.

The document tells of Backwater's childhood, being brought up as an orphan in Backwater by Joseph and Elisabeth Keep. He and his foster-brother are falsely accused of arson, and transported to Australia, where they are initiated into the Brothers of the Ring secret society. After escaping, but seeing his foster-brother brought down by dogs in the attempt, he is taken to America aboard the schooner Sarah Jane.

After the reading, news comes that Backwater's sister has disappeared. Holmes travels back to London, but while he is gone, a second murder occurs, its victim leaving a cryptic message in his own blood. An exchange of ransom for Lady Patricia, warned against by Holmes, does not go according to plan.

After Holmes's return, a raid is launched on the estate's ice-house. There remains the mystery of what "The Black Queen" that the Brothers of the Ring are trying to retrieve, actually is. Inspector Scott discovers new evidence but is killed before he can deliver it, and shortly thereafter Holmes comes face to face with the Man from the Gates of Hell.

Sherlock Holmes and the Railway Maniac (1994)
Story Type: Pastiche
Canonical Characters: Sherlock Holmes; Dr. Watson; Martha; Mycroft Holmes; Athelney Jones; Von Herling; Von Bork
Historical Figures: Mr. (Richard) Furze; Shunter (Walter) Mullet; Signalman (Alfred) Day; Inspector (Henry) Pile; Postman (Cecil) Cox; Edward VII; Alexander Snelwar; Leon Beron; Peter Piatkow; Steinie Morrison; Peter Hahn; Herbert Asquith; David Lloyd George; Sir Edward Grey; (Driver Robbins; Fireman Gadd; Driver Fleetwood; Fireman Talbot; Grocer (Alfred) Roberts; Sanders)
Other Characters: Bobby; Henry Borrowclere; George Jesson; Radley; Fourth Man; Waterloo Clerk; Plymouth Station Master; Hotel Pageboy; London & South-Western Clerk; Jonathan Y. Samuel; Eileen Neagle; Shipping Clerk; Driver Prust; Fireman Tarrant; Temple Combe Landlady; Salisbury Signalman; Station Workers; Diogenes Commissionaire; Francis Miller; Peterborough Hotel Manager; Commercial Hotel Landlady; Peterborough Station Porter; Boy; Postmen; Aberdeen Hotelier; Quayside Crowds; Fishermen; Danish Seaman; Russian Sailor; Russian Boy; Mr. MacKenzie; Station Master; Tall Seaman; Railway Guard; German Riflemen; Ghillies; Alex; Ian; Balmoral Servants; Grand Duke Alexei; Emily Norton; Louisa; Windsor Porter; Carriage Driver; Windsor Footman; Theobald G. Evans; Prison Warder; Prison Governor; Prisoners; Ticket Collector; Postmen; Telegraph Clerk; Wreck Survivors; Medical Men; Attendant in Mycroft's Department; Mycroft's Clerk; Buckingham Palace Footman; Mycroft's Footman; Howard Hugo; Two Ex-soldiers; Newsboy; Pall Mall Police officer; Police Inspector; Mortimer; Card Players; Watson's Boy; Carol Singers; Telegram Boy; Fulworth Children; Villagers; Political Branch Inspector; Von Bork's Guards; Crowds; News-Vendors; Claridge's Page' Reading Room Assistant; Doorman; Lady in Cab; Cabby; French Waiters; Sandleford Children; Lady on a Bicycle; Edmund Sinclaire; Mycroft's Men; Cottagers; Newspaper Boy; Mycroft's Assistants; Clerk; (Edward's Driver; Pierre; Clifford Broughton; Father James Gallagher; Gordon MacLeod; A. Alvarez; Arthur Kelly; Dr. George Scorfield; Alan Lennox; Priscilla Debenhoe; Manuel Pereira; Nathaniel Bramwell; Reverend Oliver Corlett; Percival Sheldon; Dr. Henry Barton; Captain Lymington-Keith; Anthony Edwardes; James Fuller; Myfanwy Morgan; Arthur Brown; Jack; Mr. Baker; Diogenes Porter; Diogenes Members; Bomber)
Date: Late September, 1906 - August, 1914 (1918-epilogue)
Locations: Holmes's Sussex Villa; The Sussex Downs; A Beach; Waterloo Station; A Train (Hampshire; Wiltshire); Plymouth; Golden Hind Hotel; London & South-Western Railway offices; Shipping Company offices; Temple Combe Station; Village Inn; Train Number 421; Salisbury; A Cab; Duke of Clarence Inn; The Diogenes Club; A London Hotel; Peterborough; A Hotel; A Train; Grantham Station; A Train; Aberdeen; Hotel; Quayside; A Tavern; a Fishing Village; Village Jetty; Village Inn; A Train; A Second Train; Ballater; Balmoral Castle; Watson's Kensington House; A Taxi; A Train; Windsor; Windsor Station; A Carriage; windsor Castle; Euston Station; A Train; Shrewsbury; Shrewsbury Railway Station; Shropshire County Gaol; A Train; Mycroft's office; Buckingham Palace; A Cab; Another Cab; Mycroft's Rooms; Osborne Street; The Warsaw Restaurant; A Public House; Oakley Green; Von Bork's House; Claridge's Hotel; A Cab; Scotland Yard; Horseguard's Parade; The House of Commons; Old Palace Yard; A Cab; Paddington Station; A Train; Reading Station; Another Train; Newbury; A Carriage; Sandleford; Hampshire; Siddenton Manor; A Railway Line; Sandleford Water; An Inn; (Paris; Charlie Brown's)
Story: Holmes is visited in Sussex by four representatives of the railway companies and asked to investigate two recent rail disasters. Traveling to Plymouth to investigate, he and Watson learn of two passengers who appear to have given false names after the second crash. A telegram intended for one of the passengers indicates that Mycroft has some involvement in the events.

They travel to Temple Combe to ride the route of the crashed train. There they learn of an astronomer who was in the village some time previously. Their train almost becomes the victim of another disaster. After visiting Mycroft at the Diogenes Club, they continue their investigations in Peterborough and Grantham, and learn of a royal connection in the case, which takes them up to Scotland where they face a gun battle with German agents, a meeting with the King, and an old adversary's daughter.

Some time later, they receive a summons to Windsor Castle, where Holmes reveals the results of his search for the astronomer. A call to Shrewsbury, however, proves to be a ruse to draw them to the scene of another disaster. Back in London, Holmes reveals that there is a spy in Mycroft's department. The King uses his influence with the German Embassy to bring matters to a halt.

Three years later, the King sends a message from his death bed for Holmes to continue the hunt for the railway maniac. While he is doing so, the Diogenes Club is bombed. Holmes must go to Russian dissident Beron for help in tracking down the German agent. In 1911 his quest is interrupted when the Prime Minister sets him on the trail of Von Bork. It is from Von Bork that Holmes gets his strongest lead in tracking down the railway maniac, and a chance remark from Watson takes Holmes back to the beginning of the case and the final clue.

NOTE: The Grantham grocer, Roberts, is clearly intended to be Margaret Thatcher's father.