There were times, during my long and intimate acquaintance with Sherlock Holmes that I found myself embroiled in scandal, intrigue, and outright danger. There were also many brushes with death, threats of great bodily harm from the n'er-do-well du jour, and vows of revenge – some of which amused Holmes to no end, others which left us quivering with fear. Through it all though, neither he nor I ever considered the possibility that anyone would want to harm us for carrying out justice while solving the mystery of a crime.

 

Therefore, it came as a horrible shock to both of us when the seeds of justice sown many years prior grew into an unfortunate incident, which to this day remains personally painful for me to recount. It was a disgraceful, embarrassing, and humiliating affair, and it shook the very foundation of the strong friendship Holmes and I had forged.

 

Since there are only a few of you who know of the existence of the documents in the strong box housed at Cox & Company, and have kept to your vow of secrecy as those stores are revealed to you, it is only fitting that I share the horrid, yet intimate details of this singular affair, which while being heinous in nature, managed to cause the relationship between Holmes and myself to blossom from deep abiding affection to sensual love.

 

I do want to warn you that some of the details in this account are shocking in nature, and may disturb those of you who are not familiar with the more intimate aspects and the actual depth to which our relationship grew. If you are uncomfortable with the dealings of physical relations between men, I implore you to turn away now, for it may well upset those of a more genteel upbringing.

 

This account is one of the few times that Holmes and I collaborated on the details of a case. While I cannot vouch for events that took place while I was not in attendance, I can assure you that Holmes has an excellent memory, and a natural flair for story-telling, despite his sarcastic and biting commentary to the contrary.

 

But enough chatter from me. Let us now go back to that fateful spring, ten years ago...