CHRONICLES OF THE LOST YEARS
(The Sherlock Holmes Series: Book 1)
A Sherlock Holmes Mystery
BUY CHRONICLES OF THE LOST YEARS RIGHT NOW AT YOUR FAVORITE STORE!
EBOOK: | AMAZON | ARE | B&N | iTUNES | KOBO | SMASHWORDS |
PRINT: | AMAZON PRINT | B&N PRINT |
“Cooper-Posey does a masterful job of recreating the style of Conan Doyle in this vivid, exciting tale.” — Toby Bromberg for Romantic Times Magazine
EXCERPT FROM CHRONICLES OF THE LOST YEARS
COPYRIGHT © TRACY COOPER-POSEY 2013
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Queen Anne Street, December 1903
It will come as a considerable shock to readers who know Sherlock Holmes only through my writings in The Strand magazine that my assertion that he was unique and certainly the most fascinating of subjects was fraudulent. There was another I knew—as equally as fascinating an individual. Her name was Elizabeth Sigerson.
It would seem appropriate that these two highly individual people should meet and indeed they did, in the spring of 1891 when Holmes was expending nearly all his energy in the final battle of wits with Moriarty.
Because of the omission of facts I have given the public concerning my very singular friend Sherlock Holmes, I feel I should complete the record here and if by some chance this memoir comes to light in a distant time, then so be it.
To begin at the beginning and include all the facts I must go back to the winter of the year 1891.
Winter of that year was unruly and unpredictable and I cannot recall another season that was so out of character as that year’s. Experts spoke of magnetic fluxes about the globe and the more common folk pondered the unusual arrays of temperature and the truly remarkable extremes. Record levels of snow would fall for two days, then unseasonable days of sunshine would turn the falls to floods.
The weather appeared to affect every person’s temperament and the number of crimes rose to an astonishing level. Sherlock Holmes was busy investigating numerous mysteries and would often of an evening arrive at my fireplace to bemoan the sheer quantity of his work and its correspondingly poor quality. Always he remarked on the common underlying cause of each motivation.
“Always it is the weather that is blamed, Watson.”
“Impossible! In every single circumstance?”
“I admit the little puzzle I was asked to solve today was not a result of the weather, but the weather did cause me to become acquainted with it sooner than some person anticipated.” He stretched his feet out to the fire.
“What puzzle was that?”
“A set of clothes found upon Dartmoor.”
I felt a small disappointment. “That seems a little ordinary,” I ventured to remark. “Clothing is abandoned and lost every day.”
“Not clothing like this,” Holmes replied. He stood and removed a cloth bag from the hat rack and emptied the contents onto the table. I moved closer and examined the clothing, trying to utilize my powers of observation as Holmes did.
I fingered the items, separating them. A shirt. A pair of trousers, waistcoat and a jacket, collar and cuffs and their pins. All were cut in small proportions. On the shirt, waistcoat and jacket there was a small tear in correspondingly identical positions. It was obvious that whatever instrument had caused the tear had passed through the material of all three garments in one pass. It would have to have been exceedingly sharp.
Holmes was watching me and I shrugged. “Perhaps the suit belongs to a youth. It is a peculiar size. Beyond that, I cannot guess.”
“These clothes were made for a woman,” he told me. He held up the trousers, displaying the length of leg. “The size of the waist is disproportionate to the leg for a man, but for a tall female, these would suit. The woman that owned these clothes was in her late twenties to early thirties and a liberal thinker. Unmarried, red-headed and neat. If it were she who secreted them, she is forward planner and in trouble of some sort. She is in hiding from some person or agency and these clothes would distinguish her too readily if found in her possession. My general impression is that she is highly intelligent and uses her mind logically. A unique woman I would very much like to meet, but I am afraid that is out of the question.”
I looked again at the clothes. “How on earth…?”
Holmes smiled good naturedly and threw himself into the chair. “I had a slight advantage, Watson, for I saw where this cloth bag had been secreted and well hidden it was, too. It was sheer unfortunate chance they were discovered. They were buried out on the moor, beneath a stone that was well covered with snow. Whoever it was that buried them—and I strongly suspect that it was the owner of the clothes, for she would not be the sort to let them fall into a stranger’s hands—she obviously intended that the clothes remain safely hidden under the snow, but the weather has undone her plans.”
“But to conclude she is red headed and unmarried….” I prompted him with disbelief tingeing my voice.
He moved his hand toward the clothing. “I gave you a clue, Watson. I drew attention to the proportion of waist size to leg. The neatness of the waist indicates she is young and has had no children yet. A married woman’s husband typically would not allow the frivolous activities indicated by these clothes, so she is unmarried. She is a liberal thinker and that is indicated by the styling of the clothes. Whatever their purpose, it would take a woman of rare talent to exploit them. Recall Irene Adler, if you will.
“She is neat, because the clothing has been cared for and was folded carefully inside the bag. This also indicates they have not been entirely abandoned. She is a redhead, as several long strands of hair about the collar of the jacket indicate.
“That she is a forward planner is indicated by the removal of any identifying tags at the neck and waist of each garment and their careful hiding place, which also indicates her desire to keep their owner’s identity a mystery. She thought she might need to retrieve the garments one day and did not throw them in the river or down the sewers. Hence my impression that she is intelligent and in trouble.”
“And the logical thinking?” I asked, allowing my admiration to reveal itself upon my face.
“She has carefully obliterated any possible evidence I might have seen near the hiding place and has managed to successfully disappear into the city and remain hidden for the two days I have been searching for her. The trail is cold now and I won’t find her without considerable effort.” Holmes leaned back in the chair, stretching out his legs.
“No, she is a very clever woman, Watson, who is hiding very successfully. It is a pity we will never have a chance to unravel the mystery, but my time is too limited.”
.WE’RE SORRY. DUE TO COPYRIGHT RESTRICTIONS, CHRONICLES OF THE LOST YEARS
IS NOT AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE IN CANADA..
| MAIN PAGE | EXCERPT | SERIES PAGE |
“…everything you expect from a Sherlock Holmes tale, twists and turns, brilliant reasoning and tenacious villains.” — Cocktails and Books