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9th October 1890, a fateful day for solicitors

The date in the title is the date of the dissolution of the Red Headed League, as recorded by Dr. Watson in his almost eponymous account (“the Adventure of the Red Headed Leagueâ€?).

What I had forgotten is that the landlord of 7 Pope’s Court Fleet St., the HQ of the League, recorded his tenant as being a solicitor, William Morris.

Morris was, probably, a counterfeit solicitor. Even so, as remarked by Dr. Watson’s companion, he had benefitted Mr. Wilson, the red-headed pensioner by £30, and a deep knowledge of every subject coming under the letter “A” in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, before abruptly dissolving the League and ending Mr. Wilson’s income.

On these facts, Holmes had difficulty discovering the meaning of the events.

As far as I have heard, it is impossible for me to say whether the present case is an instance of crime or not, but the course of events is certainly among the most singular that I have ever listened to.�

Watson’s account is, thereafter, the account of the search for the meaning of the events, which, of course, was conditioned by the intentions of Morris, the solicitor, and his companions. That account should not be looked for here; it is better recorded by Watson.