I just finished reading your remarkable story and I am almost dumbstruck by its power. You take Doyle's characters and flesh them out more fully than even he could have ever done. It was most satisfying. Also, you had me on pins and needles with Thucydides' description of the plague that followed his war because of my knowledge of the Spanish Influenza pandemic that erupted in 1918, (Great-Grandpapa Facepalm being one of its casualties). This was reinforced when Watson went on to remark that there were a great number of chickens in his camp. Yikes! I don't know if there was a correlation between birds and that strain of influenza, but Yikes nonetheless! Fortunately, that proved to be a false lead and I breathe a sigh of relief to know that our friends will be reunited in peacetime Sussex.