“We’ll have to wait and see,” said Mr. Headley. “From my reading, it seems to be set prior to the events at the Reichenbach Falls, as otherwise Conan Doyle would surely have been forced to explain your reappearance. Don’t you have any memory of this case, Holmes—or you, Doctor Watson, of recording its details?”
Both Holmes and Watson told him that the only details of the Hound of which they were aware were those they had read, but then admitted that they were no longer entirely certain whether those memories were the result of reading the first installment, or if their own personalities were being altered to accommodate the new story. Mr. Headley counseled caution, and advised Holmes and Watson not to overreact until they learned more about the tale. Mr. Headley made some discreet inquiries of the Strand, but the magazine’s proprietors were tight-lipped about the return of Holmes to their pages, grateful only for the spike in subscriptions brought by his reappearance, and Mr. Headley’s efforts were all for naught.
So he, along with Holmes, Watson, and the British reading public, was forced to wait for the arrival of each new monthly instalment of the story in order to try to discern Conan Doyle’s intentions for his creations. As time went on, though, it became clear that the story was indeed historical in nature, preceding the events of “The Final Problem.” As an experiment, Mr. Headley withheld the conclusion from Holmes, and then questioned him about its contents. Holmes was able to describe in detail how Rodger Baskerville had embezzled money in South America, taken the name Vandeleur, and opened a school in Yorkshire that closed following its descent into infamy, all of which was revealed in the final part of the story that Holmes had yet to read. From this they were able to establish that Conan Doyle, by revisiting his characters, was effectively creating new memories for Holmes and Watson which, although mildly troubling for them, was not a disaster.
Nevertheless, Mr. Headley was unable to assuage a growing sense of impending doom. He began to keep a very close eye on the Strand, and he paid particular attention to any and all rumors about Conan Doyle’s literary activities.
The rumblings began in the autumn of 1903. Mr. Headley did his best to keep them from Holmes until, at last, the October edition of the Strand was delivered to the Caxton, and Mr. Headley’s worst fears were realized. There, handsomely illustrated by Paget, was “The Adventure of the Empty House,” marking the return of Sherlock Holmes, albeit initially disguised as an elderly book collector. Mr. Headley read the story in the back office of the Caxton, with the door locked and a desk pushed against it for added security, locked doors being no obstacle to any number of the library’s residents, Holmes among them. (Mr. Headley had endured a number of awkward conversations with the Artful Dodger, who the librarian was convinced was stealing his biscuits.)
To be perfectly honest, the explanation of how Holmes had survived the incident at the Reichenbach Falls rather strained Mr. Headley’s credulity, involving, as it did, the martial art Baritsu and a gravitationally unlikely ability to topple from a cliff yet somehow land on a path, or perhaps not fall and just appear to land on a path, or appear to fall and—
Never mind. Some business about Tibet, Lhasa, and Khartoum followed, and dressing up as a Norwegian, and it all made Mr. Headley’s head hurt, although he admitted to himself that this was due in part to the potential consequences of Sherlock Holmes’s return for the Caxton’s Holmes. He would have to be told, of course, unless he was already aware of it due to a sudden change in his memories, and a previously unsuspected ability to speak Norwegian.
Mr. Headley felt that he had no choice but to visit the rooms of Holmes and Watson to find out the truth for himself. He moved the desk, unlocked the door, and headed into the library, stopping off in the dictionary section along the way. He found Watson napping on a couch, and Holmes doing something with phials and a Bunsen burner that Mr. Headley suspected might not be entirely unrelated to the production of narcotics.
Mr. Headley took in the dozing figure of Watson. One additional unpleasant piece of information contained in “The Adventure of the Empty House” was that Watson’s wife, Mary, appeared to have died. This might have been more awkward had it not been for the fact that the Watson living in the Caxton had no memory of being married at all, perhaps because his wife hadn’t figured much in the stories, or not in any very consequential way, and therefore hadn’t made much of an impact on anyone involved. Still, Mr. Headley would have to mention Mary’s demise to him. It wasn’t the sort of thing one could brush under the carpet.
For now, though, his main concern was Holmes.
“Everything all right, Mr. Holmes?” asked Mr. Headley.
“Is there any reason why it shouldn’t be?” Holmes replied.
He didn’t even look up from his workbench. A sweet, slightly spicy scent hung in the room. It made Mr. Headley’s head swim.
“No, no, none at all. Um, is that some kind of narcotic I smell?”