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Madness“ mentioned in “The Engineer’s Thumb” [written up as “The Adventure of the Sealed Room” by Adrian Conan Doyle and dated April 1888 though erroneously set after Watson’s marriage; and as “The Case of the Colonel’s Madness” by June Thomson set in July 1890]. Ken Greenwald sets “The Case of the Baconian Cipher” in the same month. July. “The Adventure of the Second Stain“ [written up as “The Adventure of the Green Empress” by F.P. Cillié and set in July 1888]; “The Adventure of the Naval Treaty“ and “The Adventure of the Tired Captain“ [written up under that title by Alan Wilson]. August. “The Crooked Man.”

September. “The Five Orange Pips“. Despite internal inference that this story is set in 1887 it is clearly after Watson’s marriage, and after “The Sign of Four”. At this time Holmes commented that he had been beaten four times, thrice by men and once by a woman.

November. “The Case of the Exalted Client” by June Thomson, and “The Adventure of the Megatherium Thefts” by S.C. Roberts.

December. “The Blue Carbuncle.”

1890

Spring. “The Strange Case of the Tongue-Tied Tenor” by Carol Buggé.

June. “The Boscombe Valley Mystery“.

June/July. “The Adventure of the Purple Hand” by Denis O. Smith.

Autumn. “Sherlock Holmes and the Thistle of Scotland” by L.B. Greenwood.

September. Possible date for “The Adventure of the First-Class Carriage” by Ronald Knox.

October. “The Red-Headed League“.

November. “The Dying Detective“. The same date is chosen for “The Problem of the Purple Maculas” by James C. Iraldi.

1891

April/May. “The Final Problem“ leading to Holmes and Moriarty plunging over the Reichenbach Falls on 4 May.

1891/4

The Great Hiatus during which period Holmes travelled extensively, mostly in disguise. He states he spent two years in Tibet (under the alias of the Norwegian Sigerson – written up as “Murder Beyond the Mountains” by Ken Greenwald), then travelled to Persia, Mecca, Khartoum, returning to France where he undertook scientific experiments. This period is also covered by Nicholas Meyer in “The Canary Trainer” (a title suggestive of the 1895 case but not the same) which brings Holmes and the Phantom of the Opera together.

1894

February. “The Empty House“ (not April as recorded in the story). The story refers to Watson’s own “sad bereavement” following the recent death of his wife. March. “The Second Stain.” A different case to others with this title. Despite reference to Autumn this episode clearly happened earlier in the year. The episode must have been early enough in the month to allow for a further case, involving the arrest of Colonel Carruthers (about which we otherwise know nothing) and for Holmes to get bored for lack of cases before the onset of “Wisteria Lodge“. The story’s reference to 1892 is clearly wrong. This must be the same case as “The Papers of ex-President Murillo” referred to in “The Norwood Builder.” Summer. “the shocking affair of the Dutch steamship Friesland, which so nearly cost us both our lives“ [written up as “The Case of the Friesland Outrage” by June Thomson set in November 1894].

August. “The Norwood Builder“.

September. “The Adventure of the Dorset Street Lodger.”

October. “The Mystery of the Addleton Curse“ (based on “the Addleton tragedy and the singular contents of the ancient British barrow“ [also written up as “The Adventure of Foulkes Rath” by Adrian Conan Doyle set in 1894; and as “The Case of the Addleton Tragedy” by June Thomson set in November 1894]; “The Adventure of the Parisian Gentleman“ (based on the case of “Huret, the Boulevard assassin“) and “The Adventure of the Inertial Adjustor.”

November. “The Adventure of the Touch of God“ (based on the case of “the terrible death of Crosby the Banker“); “The Golden Pince-Nez“ and “The Sunreys of Canterbury” by Miles Elward.

From 1894-1901 Watson records that Holmes was “very busy”, with hundreds of private cases plus frequently being consulted on many major public cases. In “The Golden Pince-Nez” he refers to three volumes of his notes