I long believed that Holmes loved as much the theatrics of his profession as the deductions themselves, and the Irving affair confirmed my suppositions.
A German anarchist had made threats upon the life of noted thespian Henry Irving and Holmes, rather than simply collar the fiend, chose to draw him out with an elaborate disguise — becoming Irving himself!
“For three nights I trod the stage, Watson, awaiting the anarchist to show himself. The Times praised Irving’s — my — performance. ‘Rare nuance,’ they wrote. ‘The definitive performance of this generation.’
“What the stage lost when I chose my profession was justice’s gain.”
Written for Holmes100‘s “Disguise” prompt
Published by Allyn
A writer, editor, journalist, sometimes coder, occasional historian, and all-around scholar, Allyn Gibson is the writer for Diamond Comic Distributors' monthly PREVIEWS catalog, used by comic book shops and throughout the comics industry, and the editor for its monthly order forms. In his over ten years in the industry, Allyn has interviewed comics creators and pop culture celebrities, covered conventions, analyzed industry revenue trends, and written copy for comics, toys, and other pop culture merchandise. Allyn is also known for his short fiction (including the Star Trek story "Make-Believe,"the Doctor Who short story "The Spindle of Necessity," and the ReDeus story "The Ginger Kid"). Allyn has been blogging regularly with WordPress since 2004.
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