Introduction

Dear readers:

 Good day. I am Dr. Watson at your service. It is convenient to clarify some aspects that I have mentioned in certain essays, although to-date I have not published all of them, and I can´t remember exactly what I wrote in each story, since I suffer from a strange mental illness that affects my memory, which I keep in secret, because my medical license would be suspended and perhaps my friend Sherlock Holmes, unable to enjoy of my attentions, would be locked up in a psychiatric institution.

Unfortunately, Sherlock Holmes is a special patient who is under my care, by order of the Queen. He suffers from various emotional traumas, coming from his childhood and adolescence, he isolates himself from people, and seeks refuge in his vices: drinking, eating and smoking, and in his thankless profession, being obsessed with restoring justice, helping victims and punishing the worst criminals. The latter is very positive since he has discovered the meaning of his life and has become an exemplary citizen, at the service of society.

However, his relationships with women are complex. On the one hand, he treats them very well and behaves like a true gentleman, and on the other hand, I know that he hates his mother (I didn´t know why before) and despises women, but, I realized his big family secret and I can´t reveal it for the moment, although the clues are found in my apocryphal text The Big Secret of Sherlock Holmes and His Struggle Against the Organization. In short, these traumas and personality traits explain why he cannot love any woman and has decided not to marry.

Although I admit that I was wrong. When the young Sherlock Holmes was defeated by Irene Adler, in March 1888, in A Scandal in Bohemia, I thought that he had decided not to mock women and treat them with more respect, but, at that time, I didn´t understand that this was a strange love-hate relationship between the two. More love than hate! The feelings are mutual!

Nonetheless, Irene Adler, who hates the European nobility and knows their intimate secrets, is an extortionist who has humiliated many nobles on the continent and in my homeland, and has been considered the best thief in Europe. Maybe she is one of the richest women in the world. She has been called the countess of crime and the black widow (possibly, she is responsible for the strange death of her husband Godfrey Norton, a suicide that is considered murder by Sherlock Holmes, the details are explained in The Big Secret of Sherlock Holmes and His Struggle Against the Organization). But, I say this with anger and frustration, Sherlock, who is sometimes her accomplice, calls her the golden lady, placing her on a pedestal and considering her worthy of being a European queen.

That damned woman has been a nightmare for us. Many times Sherlock Holmes has involved and fallen into worse emotional states because of her fault. The problem is that Irene Adler (her real last name is Adair) is as skilled as Sherlock, she is always one step ahead of him and knows very well that she exerts her charms on him. For this reason, many times, I have wanted her dead. Mycroft Holmes and Mary Morstan, on some occasions, also have shared my concerns.

Having failed in my goal of defeating Irene Adler, since there are no ways to capture her or make Sherlock Holmes give up his obsession with her, I decided to compile the most important adventures, in which they participated, expecting that one day there will be justice and Irene Adler will pay for her crimes, or she or one of her heirs (if they exist), at least will return a large part of that immense fortune, acquired illegally.

These are the stories I am presenting: The Assault on the Phenix Jewelry Store, Sherlock Holmes Discovers the Secrets of Wealth, The Illegitimate Brother of the Earl of Ducadia, The Strange Death of Irene Adler While Blackmailing Sherlock Holmes, The Adventure of the Theft of St Edward's Crown, The Trial of Sherlock Holmes, and The Secret Marriage of Sherlock Holmes and Irene Adler and Three Other Cases.

Finally, you can tell me that I am ungrateful. Supposedly, Irene Adler saved Sherlock Holmes' skin (almost found guilty of the alleged murder of Professor James Moriarty), but, you will realize my doubts... Was she even there? And if you ask me if in the end Sherlock married her or not, or if that clandestine marriage is valid, I prefer to let time give me more evidence...

 Greetings!

 Dr. John H. Watson.

London, January 1, 1908.

First decade of the 20th century.