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“ ‘Fourscore and seven years ago,’ ” Prince Max promptly began, “ ‘our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation

“ ‘Conceived in liberty,’ ” Holmes finished.

“The start of the Gettysburg address!” I exclaimed.

“I could have told you that and saved much time and trouble,” the prince observed sadly, “if I had been able.”

“That could not be helped, Your Highness. When the consonants of the address are taken out, what remains are those that form the president’s message, his reply to your question as to what would be needed to end the war. ‘Abdication without succession. Renewed Allied attack imminent. Prompt reply vital.’ ”

“ ‘Prompt reply’!” the prince breathed, “and I was delirious! Mr Holmes, very many owe you great thanks. Did you have any difficulty in convincing the chief of our wireless services that your order came from me?”

“Oh, I have friends everywhere,” Holmes replied vaguely. “Also I had taken the liberty of using Your Highness’ stationery.”

And, I was sure, of forging the prince’s handwriting with mastery skill.

“The last time I called on the Kaiser,” Prince Max observed sadly, “he sent out word that he couldn’t see me as it was already seven o’clock and he was late in dressing for dinner. It was then five minutes past midnight. I fear it has been five minutes past midnight for my poor country for a long time, Mr Holmes. What is the date?”

“The tenth of November, Your Highness. All should be concluded tomorrow.”

“Hans, champagne.” We raised our glasses. “To the eleventh of November,” Prince Max said with tears in his eyes. “May the world never forget.”

That is why I pen these lines, so that the part that Sherlock Holmes played in those final days may be known to all. May the world never forget.

After this case Holmes retired again to his cottage in Sussex. Watson paid him the occasional visit but they were both now in their seventies and travelling became tiresome. By 1926 Watson had finished compiling the last of his notes. The final published story, “Shoscombe Old Place” appeared in the March 1927 Strand Magazine. Watson died soon after, but Holmes’s remarkable constitution kept him active well into the 1930s. It is somewhat bizarre that no death certificate exists for Sherlock Holmes, but I do know that his cottage in Sussex was sold in August 1939, just before the outbreak of the Second World War. Holmes was, by then, about eighty-six and is unlikely to have been involved in any further war-time investigations, but the fact that his death is not recorded in the United Kingdom is suggestive that, just before the outbreak of War, he emigrated. Where to and why I do not know. No doubt he had decided it was time for one last great adventure.

Appendix 1

A Complete Chronology of Sherlock Holmes Cases

There have been many attempts at producing a definitive chronology of Sherlock Holmes’s career, and whilst they may agree on some things many also beg to differ. This list is probably no different in that respect, but it is what I believe to be the position so far as I know it.

The list covers all known cases in which Holmes was involved, and attempts to date them as accurately as possible. The stories in bold print are the sixty stories in the original Doyle canon. Those in italics are the unrecorded cases noted by Watson. Where these cases have been written up by others their authorship is noted. Those in normal roman print are new (i.e. apocryphal) cases, not mentioned by Watson, but subsequently identified by others as found amongst Watson’s papers. This last list is not exclusive, as I have deliberately left out those cases which concentrate on other characters (e.g. Irene Adler, Billy the Page, Inspector Lestrade, Moriarty or Mrs Hudson) or which are very evident spoofs and not to be taken seriously, such as involvement with fictional characters created by others, like Dracula or Fu Manchu. There are also many minor pastiches that weren’t worth listing plus, I am sure, many others of which I don’t have copies.

The stories included in this anthology